Manhunting (26 page)

“Tell me you’re not over me,” Jake said.

“I’m not over you,” Kate said into his chest. “I’m never going to be over you. It’s my curse in life.”

“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Jake said fervently. “I thought you were really going to walk out.”

“I was,” Kate said. She took a deep breath and tried to pull away from him. “I may still. I have a list of demands.”

“You can have them,” Jake said, pulling her back close to him so she couldn’t walk away. “All of them. Anything you want.”

“You won’t like them,” Kate said.

“I’ll live.” He looked down at her and smiled, and she felt herself melting into him again. Before she could surrender completely, she pulled Jessie’s list out of her pocket and shoved it at him.

“What’s this?” he asked, taking it with one hand while keeping the other arm wrapped around her just in case she changed her mind, and she said, “Those are my demands. You’re going to hate them.”

He looked at the list and said, “You have really terrible handwriting.”

“That’s Jessie’s,” Kate said, feeling like a fool. “Give it back. It’s dumb.”

“No,” he said and read, “‘Number one: He won’t call.’” He looked at Kate, confused.

“Well, you didn’t call,” Kate said.

“I’ll call. I’ll talk morning, noon, and night. Does it have to be on the phone?”

“Give me the list.” Kate said, reaching for it but he held it out of her grasp.

“‘Two: He thinks he might love her,’” Jake read. “Why does this list make no sense?”

“You said you only thought you loved me,” Kate said. “It was a worry.”

“Your worries are over,” Jake said, looking at her with such certainty that she was stunned. “I’m nuts about you.”

“Oh,” Kate said.

He went back to the list. ‘“Three: He hates confrontation and manipulation,’” he read. “Well, that’s true enough. What’s the problem?”

“You’re going to have to choose one or the other or we won’t be talking much,” Kate said. “Do you want me to confront or manipulate?”

Jake sighed. “Confront. You will anyway. What’s number four? ‘He’s not working.’” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Want to bet? Come here.” He drew her around to the other side of the desk, sat down in the desk chair, and pulled her into his lap, still holding on to her. “Okay, this is iffy because it’s not exactly a career. See the nice computer?”

“Yes,” Kate said.

“I’m playing the market again,” Jake said. “It’s not a career in the finest sense of the word, but...”

“What?” Kate said and leaned forward in his lap to look at the screen.

“You were right,” Jake said. “I was rotting. But I don’t want to go back to the rat race. So I thought I’d just stay here and be a slow rat. And maybe, someday, maybe, I’ll try Templeton Financial Services. Like it?”

“I’m amazed,” Kate said, and Jake pulled her back close to him while he looked at the list.

“‘Five: He runs away from commitment.’” Jake read. “Forget that. I’m committed. ‘Six: He thinks there’s no career for her there.’ I took care of that already when I talked Nancy into the bar idea. ‘Seven: He doesn’t want to get married.’”

“I do,” Kate said. “I really do. Rings, in a church, the whole thing.”

“Good,” Jake said. “I spent a lot of money on these.” Taking a deep breath and holding her close to him with one arm, he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small ring box.

“Rings?” she said, sitting up away from him again as he handed her the box. “You bought rings? You didn’t call me for six weeks, but you bought rings?”

“I wanted to have them when I proposed,” Jake said, watching her as she opened the box. “I do not enjoy this stuff, and I thought that maybe I could just hand them to you and you’d be so stunned...”

“I am stunned,” Kate said, looking at the rings. There were two carved wedding bands and a solitaire.

“There’s more,” Jake said. “I bought a house.”

“A house,” Kate said. “You bought rings and a house.”

“It’s just an old cottage on the lake,” Jake said, looking worried. “Did I screw up again?”

“You bought a house,” Kate said. “What are you going to do with the house and the rings if I don’t say yes?”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Jake said fervently. “I’ve been having nightmares about that.”

“Propose,” Kate said.

“Will you marry me?” Jake said.

“Yes,” Kate said and put the solitaire on her finger.

Jake pulled her back close to him and said, “Thank you,” with such heartfelt gratitude and relief that Kate was amazed all over again.

“You really do want this,” she said.

“I really do want this,” he said.

“Then why six weeks...” she began, and this time he interrupted her.

“Listen, I know you’re sure about this, but you’re sure about everything,” he said, his voice filled with love and concern. “I’m not sure about anything. I worry. And let’s face it, it’s not always going to be easy with us.”

“I know,” Kate said.

“I wanted to be sure when I asked you,” Jake said, looking at her with more love than she could bear. “And now, I’m sure.”

“Oh,” Kate said and swallowed. “I still can’t believe you bought a house and ring and let me cry for six weeks. Don’t ever—”

“That’s what I mean,” Jake said. “I don’t think I ever will, but I just didn’t know how to ask you. I didn’t even know how after I was sure. Look how badly I handled this. And we’re going to hit this again. I will try my best, but I’ll screw up and you’ll fly off the handle and we’ll fight.”

Kate swallowed again. “I know.”

“But the important thing for me,” he said, looking into her eyes, “is that whatever problem we have, we can solve, because nothing will ever be as bad for me as being away from you. Nothing.”

“Oh,” Kate said.

“Kate?” Jake asked when she’d been quiet for a while.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” Kate said, trying not to cry. “I thought I’d come back here and you might be glad to see me, and you might tell me you thought you loved me but you weren’t sure, and you might even reluctantly marry me, but I never thought...”

Jake held her tighter. “Have I been that big a jerk? I thought you knew—”

“No,” Kate said. “But I do now. Now that you’ve told me.” She flashed her solitaire in the lamplight and then looked at it more closely. “These carvings. On the band. Are these fish?” she asked finally in a strangled voice.

“I had to have them made specially,” Jake said.

“Fish?” Kate asked again, looking at him and loving him so much, she was almost paralyzed by it.

“Some of our best moments were in front of the fish,” Jake said. “I didn’t want to get you an ordinary ring. You’re not an ordinary woman.”

“Fish,” Kate said. “Have I mentioned that I’m going to love you till the day I die?”

“You’d better,” Jake said. “Because that’s how long you’re going to have me around.” He waited a beat and then added, “Unless you kill me in bed. Go ahead and try. I don’t mind.”

Kate looked at the ring on her finger again. “I’m engaged,” she said, and flashed it in the light again.

“Well, you’ve been that before,” Jake said as she admired her ring. “That’s why I think we should get married this weekend.”

“What?” Kate said, startled. And when she turned her face to his, he kissed her, pulling her so close she felt like he’d never let her go. She kissed him back, loving the way his lips felt on hers, the gentle tickle of his mustache on her skin. And when he broke the kiss, she clung to him and buried her face in his shirt because it felt so good to be pressed against him, so safe to have his arms wrapped around her. He felt like home, and she’d never been there before.

“Engagements don’t work with you,” Jake said into her hair. “Those other guys, they waited too long. They let you get away.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kate said, turning her face up to his again. “If you think I’m leaving you, you’re crazy. You proposed and I’ve got the fish to prove it.”

“Of course, that was partly your fault,” Jake went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “You and your plan.”

“Hey.” Kate straightened. “My plan worked just fine. I got you, didn’t I?”

“And I was part of your plan?” Jake grinned at her. “I don’t think so. I think I hijacked you, babe. Blindsided you while you were twit-hunting. The best thing that ever happened to you was me showing up and that plan going south.”

Kate started to protest and then stopped. He was smiling at her with so much cheerfully confident love that she went dizzy just looking at him. He was tall and dependable and successful at life, a guy with a great sense of humor who was terrific in bed and would love her to the point of madness to the day she died.

“What was I thinking?” she said, and relaxed back into the warm arms of the best plan she’d ever made, planning to stay there forever.

MIRA

ISBN 1-55166-618-9

MANHUNTING

Copyright © 1993 by Jennifer Crusie.

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