A Week Till the Wedding (16 page)

Maybe it was the feel of her skin against his, the memory of her beneath him, the lingering sounds of her laugh and her sigh and that catch deep in her throat, but Jacob had the sudden and unwanted revelation that a part of him had been missing all this time. He’d lost himself in work, and along the way he’d allowed himself to forget what it was like to be more. To have someone to talk to at the end of the day. To have a person in his life that he couldn’t live without.

He didn’t want her for two weeks, wouldn’t be satisfied with a fling. He didn’t want to court her, enjoy her company for a too-short period of time and then go back to the way things were. No, he wanted all of her, heart, body and soul.

“Come back to San Francisco with me,” he said, the words pouring from his mouth without thought.

“Really?” She backed away sharply; her eyes caught his and held them.

“Really.”

Daisy moved in again, resting her head against his chest. She drifted closer, and her hands skimmed his back. “Maybe you should think it over and ask me when we’re not naked.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not thinking with the big head, at the moment.” It was meant to be a tease, he could tell, but there was also a touch of uncertainty in the words. He’d hurt her. He didn’t want to hurt her ever again.

“I won’t change my mind.”

Her hands settled on his hips. They continued to dance, skin to skin, barely moving, caught up in the movement and in each other. “Don’t you travel a lot?”

“Yes, but what...”

“What am I going to do while you’re gone?” He heard the anxiety in her voice. “If I were to go with you, if you still want me in the morning and you ask again and I say yes, if...” Her breath caught on one of her many ifs. “I don’t know anyone there. I don’t even know anyone on that side of the country.”

“You know me,” Jacob argued. “You could travel with me part of the time, and you’ll meet other people there. You’ll make friends right away. Who wouldn’t love you?”

She hesitated, but not for long. “I have friends here, a business...a home that’s paid for. My sisters are close by. I can’t just put my life on hold and move because the sex is great.”

Did she think that was all they had? Was she right? “We can work it out.” He’d said that seven years ago, but nothing had worked out. Did she remember that, as he did? His invitation had been foolish, not well thought out at all. He was never impulsive, but that’s what asking her to come home with him had been. Impulsive, his heart speaking instead of his head.

“You don’t need me, Jacob,” she whispered. “This is just...old memories, the past, one last hurrah...”

“What if it’s not?” He pulled her closer, dipped his head to whisper against her ear. He didn’t have all the answers. He only knew he wasn’t ready to let her go. Not yet. “I need to think about it,” she said. “And so do you.”

Daisy let her hands drop to his butt cheeks and squeeze gently.

“Are you trying to change the subject?” he asked.

“Desperately.”

Maybe she was right. He wasn’t thinking things through; he hadn’t allowed himself to work out the details. He worked long hours; he traveled around the world. As much as he liked the idea of coming home to Daisy every night...she’d be miserable. He didn’t want to make her miserable; he wanted to make her happy. So simple. Not so easy. He should’ve thought this through before asking her to come home with him, should’ve anticipated all her questions and had answers ready. Instead he’d just blurted out the invitation without a single thought beyond keeping her.

He didn’t want his brain to get caught up in all the problems, not right now.

“I didn’t realize how much I’d missed you until I walked into Bell’s Beauty Shop and Small Engine Repair and saw you standing there,” he confessed.

“I’ve missed you, too,” she said, but there was a sadness in her voice that told Jacob she wasn’t even considering leaving Bell Grove behind to be with him. She’d missed him; she’d miss him again, when he was gone.

The dance, her flesh on his, the maddening knowledge that they didn’t have forever...his brain was spinning, and he didn’t like it. Life was black and white, good and bad, right and wrong. When he was with Daisy, everything was washed in shades of gray.

Jacob lifted Daisy off her feet and carried her back to bed. He tossed her onto the mattress; she bounced and laughed and then he was on her, his mouth against hers, his fingers on and in her body. There was no question about
this,
no shades of gray when they were in bed together. And then he was completely inside her and nothing else mattered.

* * *

Who wouldn’t love you?
Jacob had asked as they danced, skin to skin, in her bedroom.

What Daisy had wanted to say was
You. Or am I wrong about that? Do you love me? Say the words, make me change my mind. Tell me I’m more important than any career. Tell me that you love me.
Instead she’d offered a logical argument.

For as long as she could remember, logic had been a large part of every decision she made. What choice had she had? Thrust into the role of guardian too soon, taking on a demanding job at a young age and with no warning, she’d done what she had to do. Logic told her that she and Jacob didn’t have anything in common anymore. Logic reminded her that no matter how wonderful it was having him back in her life for a while, it couldn’t last. There was much more than the countless miles between them. They lived in different worlds.

She loved having Jacob in her bed, waking up, reaching out, touching his body. How would she ever go back to sleeping alone? It felt so right to have him beside her, as if he should’ve been there all along, as if he’d never leave her again. Tonight—this morning—he didn’t creep out of bed and move to the couch. No, he stayed with her all night. They made love, they talked, they laughed. They danced.

As the sun came up, Jacob slept on. Daisy couldn’t. Thoughts of what might’ve been, what might still be, kept her awake. Maybe she should’ve just said yes when Jacob had asked her to go to California with him. Maybe she just should’ve trusted her heart and her body and dismissed all the logical reasons why she shouldn’t go anywhere with him. It wasn’t like Bell Grove was going anywhere. If she went to California and it didn’t work out, she could always come home.

With her tail between her legs and defeat in her broken heart. That was what held her back, the very real possibility that her heart would be broken all over again. But was that very real possibility any worse than not taking a chance?

Jacob was still sound asleep when she cuddled up against him, put her mouth next to his ear, placed a hand against his hip and whispered, “Yes.”

* * *

Jacob wasn’t sure what had awakened him, but slowly and surely he came awake. It was still dark out, but the clock told him morning was coming. Daisy was nestled against him. Her breathing and the way she held her body told him she was not sleeping.

He rolled into her, wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “You should get some sleep.”

“I can’t,” she said, her soft words warm against his skin.

“Am I keeping you awake?”

“Yes.”

Had he been snoring? Taking up too much space in the bed? “I can move to another room, sleep on the couch if I’m...”

Her hold on him tightened, and she threw one leg over his as if to hold him in place. “Don’t you dare go anywhere. Not tonight,” she added in a lowered voice.

It was so natural to tilt her face up and kiss her. She was right there, in his arms, so close she was almost a part of him already. The kiss deepened, her hands wandered and so did his.

She’s mine. I’ll never let her go again.

Yet as much as he wanted to believe that, he knew that nothing had changed. The clear light of day dispelled some of the emotion from the previous night. Her life was here and his was not. She
wasn’t
his anymore and might never be again; and when he left Bell Grove it was very possible he’d have no choice but to let her go.

Chapter Eleven

“W
hat? Is this some kind of a joke?” Daisy felt the floor beneath her spinning. Why now? Everything had been going so well. She’d hummed like a complete loon as she’d walked to work today, leaving Jacob asleep in her bed. Naked and rumpled. Beautiful. She’d smiled as she’d waved to neighbors who were walking their dogs or sitting on front porches drinking coffee. Her body ached, but it was a good ache. The song she kept humming was one they’d danced to last night.

She’d wondered more than once if Jacob would ask her to go to San Francisco with him when they weren’t both naked. She wondered if she’d say yes while he was awake and could hear her.

Logic was highly overrated when it came to love.

It had been such a wonderful morning...for a while. Her short-lived happiness had come crashing down around her without warning, as if the universe was displeased that she was content. As if it wasn’t in the cards for her to have everything she wanted.

Daisy—and her parents before her—had rented this space from the Chestnut family for more years than she could count. They hadn’t had an actual lease since before her folks had died. The rental agreement went month to month, and they discussed expenses if they went up or down. Of course, expenses never went down. Still, she’d never felt the need for a lease. In this part of the world a handshake was as good as a contract, anyway.

Well, apparently that was no longer the case. Martin Chestnut was standing in front of her, his face a little pale as he explained what had happened. Someone had bought up this entire side of the square. Every space, every store. Including hers. The offer that had come his way had been too good to pass up.

She had a week to get out. A week! The other tenants along the strip would be allowed to stay; they’d simply be paying a new landlord. But the new owner wanted
this
space emptied.

There was a lifetime of memories here, she made her living here! The house was paid for, but she did have living expenses. Mari was still in college. Daisy needed food, she had to pay her property taxes and that old house was in constant need of some sort of repair. She had savings, but not enough. Maybe she had been considering leaving town with Jacob, if he asked again. But facing the reality of leaving everything behind was very different from fantasy.

“I’m sorry,” Martin said, not for the first time. “But I’d be a fool to let a chance like this one pass me by.”

“Yeah, yeah, you said that already.” She waved off his offered excuses. “Who’s the buyer? What do they plan to do with the space? Do you know of another space I could move to, at least temporarily?”

Even as she asked, she knew another space wouldn’t do. It was in
this
space that her parents had lived and laughed,
here
that she still felt their presence, some days.

All idyllic thoughts of a new life elsewhere had been ejected from her head. Another chance with Jacob wasn’t a done deal anyway, it was just a dream. A lovely fantasy fueled by sex and memories. Belle Grove was home; this shop was
hers
. Well, apparently not as much hers as she’d thought.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, and no. Sorry.” Martin backed toward the door as if he expected her to shoot him in the back if he dared to show it to her. “I’m thinking of retiring soon, and this was just...”

“Too good to pass up,” Daisy snapped. “Yeah, I got that.”

When he was gone, Daisy collapsed into her client chair, breathless. She felt as if someone had pulled a rug out from under her. Her business! Everything she’d worked for! Her home, her way of life, all of it just
gone
. For a while she allowed herself to panic, to imagine the worst—which included homelessness and complete destitution—and then her heart slowed and a strange clarity washed over her.

It wasn’t hers, not really. This shop, her home, they were all she had left of her parents. This was
their
life,
their
dream. Had she been trying to keep them alive by stepping into the life they’d left behind? Was that what held her here?

Even though it was legally hers, this shop had never been her dream. She’d taken over because it had seemed the best choice at the time. The only choice, to be honest. She’d had sisters to raise and the insurance money had only gone so far. It wasn’t like her folks had expected to die too soon and made plans accordingly. Daisy loved her home, but she still slept in her old bedroom because she couldn’t make herself move into the master suite that had been her parents’. That was their home, still, not hers.

She had stepped in and taken over their life, and somewhere along the way she’d given up on building one of her own. Why had she never seen that so clearly before this moment when the business was being yanked out from under her?

Recognizing what she’d been doing made it possible for her to truly think beyond today for the first time in years. She’d loved her parents dearly, loved them still, but she couldn’t bring them back. She couldn’t replace them, either. Tears filled her eyes, dribbled down her cheeks, and she mourned her mother and father all over again. It still seemed wrong to walk away from everything they’d built, to let it die as they had died, but maybe it was time.

If Jacob asked her again to move, if he made the offer when they both weren’t naked and thinking with something other than their brains, she’d definitely say yes. No second thoughts this time. Even if he didn’t ask, even if that opportunity had passed...it was time for her to move on, time to start something new.

New.

Her initial panic faded away entirely. Yes, she’d miss her friends if she left Bell Grove, and she’d certainly miss her childhood home. But that’s all it was, her
childhood
home. Her life had just opened up in an unexpected and oddly exciting way, and once she pushed past her initial panic she realized that she’d just been set free.

She had a little savings, and if she could sell the house quickly she and her sisters would have a sizable bit of cash to split. That would help with Mari’s college expenses. She could sell the furniture, too. Looking at it objectively, there was very little in her home that she’d want to take with her. A few keepsakes, but other than that it could all go.