Chasing Rainbows
Part Eighteen

Emma could feel Jacob’s eyes on her, but she remained as she was, talking to Walt. Every time she spoke to Jacob she seemed to anger him, say the wrong thing, and she hated that, but it was beyond her control! Walt was charming, in a way that bartenders usually were, and his flattery and little stories about Jacob were enticing. When Walt was finally called away to serve someone, she had no choice but to look up, move away from her secure position.

Jacob was sat at a table with three other men, a pack of cards had emerged and from somewhere and some poker chips. Emma watched as a game started, and Jacob laughed with the other men, tossing in chips and raising the stakes. His face lit up when he laughed, his deep blue eyes glittered, and his long elegant nose wrinkled, and a face that had seemed to symbolise everything that was oppressing her life became something else. Something she didn’t want to consider. She knew he was her type, she’d fancied him the moment she’d broken his vase in that Vegas mall, but that had taken a back seat when he’d started trying to dominate and control her life. When had all this changed? And how was she going to keep her head for the remainder of the twenty four hours.

He must have sensed her watching him, because he looked up and gave a secretive wink. It made her heart flutter in her chest and with a sigh she looked away, but everyone who wasn’t playing the game was watching it, there was no other source of conversation.

Emma realised she hadn’t thought about Hollywood and her upcoming role since she’d arrived in San Francisco, and as she looked desperately around the room, she spotted a commercial on the TV in the corner of the room for a movie about to open at theatres, staring Mr Theo Samuel himself. His strong angled face staring out from the screen, and it almost felt as though he was staring at her, disproving, angry. Her heart lurched for the second time in a few seconds, but she was unable to decipher why. If Theo didn’t approve of things then why should that bother her? Why should he care?

Bathroom! Emma stood a little unsteadily and made her way across the room, aware of the sensation of Jacob’s eyes watching her. In the privacy of the bathroom - not the greatest restroom she’d ever visited, she closed the lid on the toilet and sat on it, locking the door. Taking several deep breaths she tried to control her racing heart, the nausea rising in her stomach.

Pulling out her phone she checked the time, it was almost midnight, eight am back in London.

Isobel answered on the third ring, “Ems? What? Why?”

Emma laughed ruing the drinks she’d consumed that made her head fuzzy, “I want to come home Iz!”

Isobel laughed, “what’s happened chick? You having a good time? Is he looking after you?”

Emma closed her eyes, dropping her head back, and sighed, “yes...we had a boat trip around the Bay, dinner at the best restaurant, a horse and carriage ride...”

“Sounds wonderful, and romantic!”

Eyes still closed she groaned again, “it was VERY romantic. But it’s not real, none of this is real. Twenty four hours isn’t real life!”

Silence greeted her for a moment, until Isobel spoke, “that’s true Ems, but to be honest, he’s given you a peek at what it could be! He’s tried, hard. Is that wrong? Enjoy your time, come back, regroup then make your decision on what you want. Yeah?”

“How are you always so sensible? You always know what to say!”

Isobel chuckled, “now I’m on the verge of marriage I seem to be able to see relationship things so much clearer! Wish I had this vision in the formative years of my relationship with Nathan.”

Emma laughed, “we’d have been at your wedding five years ago!”

Opening the door back to the bar, she was instantly aware of eyes on her, and the warmth that caused. As she looked across the bar and met Jacob’s eyes, everyone at the table groaned, throwing their cards down in frustration at him winning, before starting all over again.

As the next hand was dealt, Jacob looked up and smiled at Emma again, then gestured with his head, pulling a seat up beside him. Emma reached for her drink then crossed the room to sit next to him, and he sighed, resting a hand on her thigh,

“Guys, you are truly screwed now! Emma’s my good luck charm!”

Emma swatted at him playfully, “no I’m not! Men just imagine I’m not here!”

Jacob chuckled as he threw a few chips down raising the game, and it was met with a groan from the other players. Whilst he won most of the next three hands, his hand remained on her thigh, a possessive yet fortifying gesture. She knew he was drawing strength from her being there beside him. It wasn’t long before two of the four were all chipped out. Jacob had won the majority of the haul, and as some of the other regulars in the bar cheered, Marcus, the dealer stood and chalked another victory to him on a scoreboard on one of the walls.

“We play for six months; the one who wins the most games gets the prize!”

Emma shuddered at the feel of his breath against her ear, at some point he’d stopped being a nuisance, “and the prize is?”

He smiled, “there are twenty players and we all put in two hundred dollars. So the prize is four grand!”

“Nice,” she murmured, “you’re quite the gambler!”

Jacob laughed, “not really, poker is all about odds and maths. It’s a calculated risk at best. Gambling? Now that’s what it feels I am doing with you!”

It took Emma a moment to contemplate that. Was she the prize or the opponent? She dreaded to think.

Jacob saw her pondering and grinned, “I don’t know where I am with you and I have no idea how this will work out. But I’m compelled to throw everything I have into this. Do you see?”

She bit her bottom lip as she nodded slowly, and to Jacob it was his undoing. He found her attractive, more than that. His body had betrayed him on so many occasions, and now that she was leaning into him, her warmth, her comfort, the familiarity he’d searched for all his life, all meant that this woman was rapidly becoming everything he was looking for in a woman.

Reaching out, he placed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, stroking the plump mark that her teeth had scored. “You confuse me Emma. Yet you compel me. I can’t get enough of you!”

Her breath caught as a hitch in her throat, and she had to swallow purposefully. Her dry mouth was unable to formulate words, and her eyes couldn’t move from their position - trapped by his.

He gave a husky chuckle, “even the way you breathe is exciting. I don’t know how you do it!”

The rasp of his voice was causing her body to shudder, her heart pound, and her breasts throb. She had a sudden urge to lean against him, rub her body against him. But she couldn’t do that, the small sliver of her psyche that wasn’t hypnotised by this generous man screamed at her, and she had to listen. Pulling back slightly she let out the breath that she’d seemed to hold for forever, and then dropped her eyes.

Jacob was wise to her, he’d been watching the throbbing pulse at the side of her throat, the flickering of her eyes, and he’d noticed the exact moment that the spell was broken. He’d enjoyed that flash, that slice of time when it seemed only the two of them existed. But as soon as her eyes dropped from his, he knew she was fighting him again. But this was her as close to giving in as he’d seen her.

His hand was still raised, though he’d lost contact with her mouth a few seconds earlier. But it was close enough to reach out and slide under her jaw, cup the side of her head, and force her face back to his, bringing her eyes to meet his again. There was a split second where her eyes widened, where she realised what he was about to do, but she didn’t have the time to react, before his lips found hers.

And suddenly the world as she knew it was over. Emma only had a brief recollection of her first ‘date’ with Jacob, and one of her last memories was them sharing a kiss. But her drink befuddled memory did not serve this event justice. She thought her heart had stopped, but then it had been racing like a train until the instant his lips touched hers. Now she wasn’t sure what was happening. His lips were like silk, smooth, soft yet SO insistent, teasing hers, and she knew she was following his every lead like a pliant obedient pet.

With a moan, half pleasure, half self chastisement, she tried to pull back. But Jacob had other ideas, he was taking her moan, her lips parting as acquiescence, and his tongue thrust into her mouth, seeking hers.

Emma felt as though she’d been pinned helplessly against a wall, completely at his command, and she was the least placid and submissive person of anyone that she knew. Suddenly the room appeared into her peripheral vision, the attention seeking and humorous coughs, that quickly became “the novelty of newlyweds will soon wear off” catcalls.

Placing her hand on Jacob’s chest she pushed firmly, trying to pull her mouth away from his, but he wasn’t keen to let her go. But she was as stubborn and persistent as him, and it felt as though she was emerging from far too long under water without oxygen. In fact as the lips separated, she felt herself gasp in air desperately.

He merely kept her in his arms, a smug smile on his face. From anyone else she’d want to treat the look with a slap, but there was something endearing about Jacob, and to see that much emotion, pleasure and pride in his eyes was like an aphrodisiac, she almost wanted to bask in his gaze. More catcalls brought them truly back to Earth with a bump, and Jacob was the first to speak.

“One for the road?” When she nodded he turned to Walt and ordered them both a drink, his arm still wrapped around her, his voice satisfyingly hoarse with emotion.

It was a cool evening, but they were both glad of the breeze to calm them both down when they finally left.

“I’m never going to live this down with the men in there!” He offered, linking his fingers through hers and leading her away from the waterfront.

Emma took a second to reply, the sensation of his hand over hers was recreating some of the wild feelings from earlier, and she wasn’t totally in control of everything. “Thank you for taking me there, I can see it’s an important place for you.”

He nodded, “I’m not that close to my family, and that bar, those old guys, they’re like brothers and uncles all rolled into one. They’re great.” He swung their entwined hands as he walked, before adding, “it was right that you met them!”

Emma pondered that thought as they strolled further away from the safe and comfortable bar, this was exactly as Isobel had predicted, Jacob was opening up his life to show her all that he was. They’d not discussed the practicalities of being married, where they’d live, how they’d make their two so different worlds collide.

“Don’t over think things Em!”

How did he know what she was thinking? She was still wondering that as he hailed a cab and bundled them both into the back. Every time she tried to question things, the future, him, her...he changed the subject, pointing out various sights, places that were important to him. All the time they were getting physically closer and closer, thighs touching, arms touching. When he reached across her to point out a small shop that had been his first employer, it was the final straw. His cheek brushed hers, and Emma knew if she turned even a fraction towards him their lips would align. Who knew where that would go? She was determined not to muddy the water any further by sleeping with him and chaste kisses in the seclusion of the taxi was definitely a stepping stone to that.

It was Jacob tilting her head to him that overruled her defence. And within a split second she was absorbed in a kiss that was as fiery as the first one, but the almost privacy loaded it with tension, anticipation and excitement. They were almost consuming each other when the cab driver coughed discreetly, indicating that they’d reached their destination.

Jacob, cursing the bad timing under his breath, leaned forward to pay him, then led the suddenly very distant Emma into his home. In the lounge she marched across the room to stand behind a sofa, distance, protection and avoidance.

“I love kissing you!” He knew he was pushing his luck as he stalked towards her, but there was no way he was getting to sleep knowing she was in his home. And his backup reasoning was, that if he could prove to her how good they were together, then there was more of a chance that she wouldn’t run away tomorrow and never want to see him again. He wanted to laugh when she raised her nose haughtily in the air in an attempt to avoid acknowledging that comment. “You can’t ignore me Emma.”

Emma paced further away, arms crossed, eventually she looked up and eyeballed him, “I didn’t come here to make things worse Jacob. I’m not about to roll on my back and get deeper into this. Do you hear me?”

Jacob’s eyes lit up as he smiled, “I hear you loud and clear...but I don’t believe you!” His eyes twinkled, “we work Em, you can only try and fight it! You know where your room is?” When she nodded, he moved to the door and smiled. “When you’re lying there alone, all frustrated, mine is the door to your left.”

He ducked out the door before the pillow hit the exact place his head had been.