That Thing Called Love (25 page)

Aside from donning a life vest, she’d already managed to neglect every boating safety measure that Emmett had ever taught her. She hadn’t bothered to check the boat’s fuel level before she’d taken it from the inn’s dock, for starters. It was maintenance’s job to keep the tanks topped off...when a guest checked out an inn boat. But when a family member or employee used one, it became that person’s responsibility. The same applied to making sure there were oars in the craft.

Only a few guests had used the boats recently, so the kind of too-few-hands, too-much-to-do situation that might allow maintenance to let the upkeep of one slip through the cracks was highly unlikely. It wasn’t a stretch then to assume this was the boat Austin and...
he
had taken fishing the other day.

Which was neither here nor there. Because even if they’d neglected to fill it up when they were through, it didn’t let her off the hook. Anytime you took a boat with an engine out, rule one was always,
always,
to make sure it had a full tank.

Rule two was that each boat contain a full set of oars—in case you screwed up rule one.

She had not only ignored both rules, she’d also stormed off without her cell phone. She’d come straight over here to have her breakdown.

And boy had she. She’d wallowed in her grief, refusing to get a grip until her head was so stuffed from sobbing she could barely breathe. That’s when she’d decided to head back to the inn so she’d have time to apply enough ice and makeup to conceal her misery from Austin. Because if his father hadn’t run like a thief, the teen would no doubt be riding his own Misery Express tonight. He wouldn’t need hers, as well.

She hadn’t made it more than half a mile across the canal before the boat had started sputtering. A moment later it was flat out of gas. Realizing what had happened, she’d planned—despite the growing choppiness of the water—to row the rest of the way home.

Only to discover she was missing an oar. Then the smarter option had become returning to Oak Head, since it was both closer and not bucking the tide.

So here she was, if not shipwrecked, exactly, then marooned for who knew how long, chilled, hungry and feeling like a colossal fool on so many fronts it was impossible to narrow them down. She could see Razor Bay’s and The Brothers’ lights, but they might as well have been a hundred miles away instead of the two she knew it was.

The only saving grace of this entire gawd-awful evening was that she’d put the kibosh to her damn crying jag over he-who-would-not-be-named. Given the far from bright night, however, she sure wished she had a lighter or a book of matches so she could build a little fire for some warmth and comfort and—more importantly—to guide whoever ultimately came looking for her. The moon was out, but it wasn’t even half-full and was playing peekaboo with the clouds.

With a pitiful sigh, she rubbed her tender, tear-swollen eyes and killed some time balancing rocks atop each other, building two short but fairly complicated cairns. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been pacing the beach to keep warm when she heard a boat roaring across the canal in her direction, it’s bow slap, slap, slapping against the chop. As its running lights grew nearer, she raced down to the water, waving her arms and screaming her head off, but the moon had gone behind a cloud again, and calling out was probably a waste of breath, given the noise the powerful engine made. She damn near started bawling again at the thought of it speeding by.

But miracle of miracles, the driver turned before reaching Dabob Bay and cut the engine to drift ashore. He landed up the beach near the spot where she’d picnicked with Austin and...him.

Unable to believe her luck, she started running. “Hey!” she yelled, waving her arms overhead again.
“Hey!”

She was met with silence for a moment. Then feet hit the beach. “Jenny? Jesus, are you all right?”

She stopped short. Dear God, the hits just kept coming. Didn’t it
figure
it would be Jake?

All the feelings she’d managed to bury beneath her more immediate problems resurfaced with a vengeance, and she pivoted to storm back the way she’d come. The last thing she needed right now was to be rescued by
him.
She’d rather be stranded. She’d rather spend the night alone.

Her pace faltered as common sense took over. No, she really wouldn’t. She was cold, exhausted and hungry and she wanted the hell
off
this peninsula. If accepting a ride from him was her ticket home, well, then, so be it.

But she wasn’t saying one word more to him than she had to.

She turned around and started back up the beach again, heart thundering in her chest to see that, while her back had been turned, he’d gotten very close.

He strode right up to her and grasped her upper arms, his gaze all over her, just as the damn traitorous moon broke through the clouds.

For God’s sake, was there
no
justice in the world tonight? Because, of course she wasn’t one of those women who cried all pretty. So was it truly necessary to shine a spotlight on her blotchy skin and swollen, tear-ravaged eyes?

“Are you okay?” he demanded again.

“Yes.” She wanted to shake his hands off her, but something in his eyes made her stand very still beneath them.

“Jesus,” he breathed. “Ever since Dan told me you’d taken a boat out and hadn’t come back, I’ve had every horrendous possibility that can happen in a boat—and a helluva lot more that can happen anywhere—running through my head. What the
hell,
Jenny!”

He hauled her into his arms. “I made a decision on my way over here,” he said, roughly stroking her hair, her back, with blessedly warm hands. “I’m moving my base of operations to Razor Bay.”

Jenny’s heart stopped, only to immediately resume in triple time. But she told herself not to read more into it than was there. Disengaging herself from all that lovely heat, she took a giant step back. “I thought you didn’t like it here.”

He made an aborted move as if to reach for her, but then dropped his hands to his side. “It’s grown on me.”

“That’s...good,” she said with commendable calmness, all things considered. “It will mean the world to Austin.” It might mean hell on earth for her, being so close to Jake on a physical basis while worlds apart emotionally, but she’d just have to do what she’d told him and suck it up.

“I didn’t make the decision strictly for Austin, Jenny.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he stepped closer. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I had a rough ride over here hoping to hell I’d find you here but fearing you’d been drowned or injured or, hell, kidnapped or raped.” He shook his head as if to clear those images. “It made me realize you were right. I
was
an idiot.”

Her heart was so firmly lodged in her throat she could barely breathe. “Was?” she croaked.

“Yeah. I’m a helluva lot smarter now.” He took another step closer, and one hand came out of his pocket to stroke a strand of hair away from the corner of her mouth. His thumb followed up the gesture with a soft circular rub against her lower lip. “It’s funny how fast a good scare can cut through the bullshit. And bull is what I was slinging earlier at your place. You were right. You saying you love me scared the bejesus out of me. Because, God, I love you, Jenny. I likely have for a while now, but I was so damn busy protecting my heart in case you didn’t love me in return.” His dark brows slanted. “Or even if you
did,
what if you changed your mind?”

He shook his head. “This was all subconscious, you know? I’m not real big on psychiatry, but in this case, the panic attacks I had every time I felt the least bit happy were clearly trying to tell me
something.
I think I had so many ways it could go south running like a ticker tape at the bottom of my screen that I refused to let what I really
wanted
work its way to the surface. I’d already decided we needed a more honest talk than I’d given you. But then, when Dan came by and I heard you were crying and had gone out on the canal, I thought of all the awful things that could’ve happened when you didn’t come home. And I simply...knew.”

And just like that she could breathe again. But it had been a rough night for her, too, and she wasn’t quite ready to let him off the hook. “What makes you think those things
won’t
happen?”

He shrugged. “They might. But one thing about being in the midst of the longest fifteen minutes of your life, it teaches you not to throw away the best thing that ever happened to you because of something that might never take place.”

He stepped close, wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and bent to rest his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said in a raw voice. “I can’t promise I’ll never do it again, b—”

She dipped her chin in solemn agreement. “Because you’re a guy.”

Drawing his head back to look at her, he gave her a crooked smile. “Right,” he agreed drily. “But a guy who will love you as long as he draws breath. And I’ll do my damnedest to keep my crap to a bare minimum.”

“Okay,” she said. “So will I.”

“Do your best to keep my crap to a minimum?”

She slung her arms around his neck and laughed up at him. “I meant my own, actually, but that works, too.”

He gave her a look so full of love her heart clutched. “Nah, you haven’t got any,” he said with marvelous sincerity. “You’re like the most perfect person I’ve ever met.”

“Oh, honey, you go into a relationship thinking that, you’re probably gonna be disappointed. I have my share of issues. Still.” She raised onto her toes to press a kiss against his lips, before settling back on her heels. “I love you,” she said softly. “So, so much.”

Then she shot him a cocky smile. “And an imperfect man who thinks I’m ideal?” She hitched herself up to wrap her legs around his waist. “I can so live with that.”

EPILOGUE

Sunday, July 8

“S
O
,
YOU
’
RE
LEAVING
TOWN
tomorrow, huh?”

Jake’s hand, in his cargo pants pocket, ceased rolling a small box end over end. He gave his brother a solid punch to the biceps with his free fist.

Holy Mary, mother of—

He resisted shaking his hand, but
damn.
He kept himself in shape, but Max was like the proverbial brick shithouse. “Tuesday,” he corrected. “And it’s only for three weeks tops, then I’ll be back home.” He turned the box over once more and looked around as Jenny, Tasha and Rebecca banged through the back door, chatting and carrying covered dishes out to the table he’d helped set up for the
come-back-soon
barbecue they were throwing him in Jenny’s tiny backyard.

At his side, Max said, “It’s odd to hear that word coming from your mouth.”

“What,
home?
” Tearing his attention away from Jenny, he grinned. “Yeah, surprised me, too. But you can forget everything I ever said about Razor Bay, because for the first time in my life it really feels like home.” Catching one of the box’s rounded corners with his thumb, he rotated it in his palm.

Max’s miss-nothing cop eyes tracked the motion. “You have something you’d like to share with the class, Mr. Bradshaw?”

“No, ma’am.” Closing his fist around the tiny box, he pushed his hand deeper into his pocket. “But damn decent imitation of Ms. Harris,” he said drily, naming the humorless history teacher from high school. “Man, that woman was so buttoned-up, I spent part of every class trying to visualize her doing that take your glasses off, let your hair down, turn into a bombshell thing that was so popular in the old black-and-white movies.”

Max looked as if he were trying to visualize it for himself. He shook his head.
“Naaaah.”
He shot Jake one of his rare grins. “No way I can make that fly.”

“I never could, either. But I always tried.”

Nolan Damoth’s little brother, Josh, speeding on a sugar high, shot around the corner of the cottage, zigzagging ahead of his dad and shrieking maniacally. The kid’s behavior could be laid directly at the feet of Austin, Nolan and Bailey, who were practicing bike tricks in the small parking area. Until the women had put a stop to it, the teens had wasted a lot of pop by opening a can, taking a few sips then wandering away. And the next time they were thirsty, instead of expending effort looking for the ones they’d left behind, they’d simply grabbed fresh sodas out of the cooler. Josh had managed to help himself to several of the abandoned cans before Jenny and Rebecca had caught on, and was now solidly wired.

Max’s massive body abruptly blocked the wild-eyed kid from Jake’s view. Finding his left forearm gripped, he looked down to find his brother’s hard hand firmly wrapped around it. “What’s your problem, man?”

“Let’s see what’s so damn interesting in your pocket,” his brother ordered.

Jake kept his hand firmly in place but arched his eyebrows. “Sure you want to go there? Maybe I’m just happy to see you.”

Max’s grip loosened as he threw back his head and laughed.

It was such a great and infrequent sound that Jake relaxed his guard, and the next thing he knew Deputy Dawg had pulled his hand from his pocket.

Max’s laughter died and his fingers went slack, then dropped away as he stared at the ring box in Jake’s fist. “Jesus. Is that what I think it is?”

“Dunno. What do you think it is?”

“An
engagement
ring?”

Jake gave the small velvet box a fond look and smoothed his thumb over its slightly curved top. “Give the man a cigar.”

“Jesus, Jake, you haven’t even known Jenny three whole months.”

He shrugged. “Damn near. Long enough, at any rate, to recognize she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You said it yourself, bro—she’s special. And I want to marry her.” He narrowed his eyes. “You wanna take a big step back if you’ve got a problem with that. Because I’ll fight you right down to the ground over this. I’d hate to do that, because we’ve been getting along real well, but I will.”

His brother stared at him for a moment. Then his wide shoulders relaxed and he nodded. “I think she probably
is
the best thing to happen to you—along with my nephew, of course.” He thrust out a hand. “Congratulations.”

Jake ignored the hand and hauled his brother in for a hug—or as close to it as guys got, since it was more a bumping of chests and a slap on the back. “Thanks,” he said, stepping back. “But keep this under your hat. I haven’t actually asked her yet, and for all I know she might agree with you and think it’s too soon.”

“What’s too soon? And were you two
hugging?
”

His heart stumbled. Thrusting the ring box back in his pocket, he turned to slide an arm around Jenny’s shoulders as she walked up to them. He hugged her to his side and felt his heart level out beneath a wash of warmth as she wrapped her own arm around his waist and leaned against him trustingly.

“Hell, no,” Max said. “The clumsy fool tripped.”

“Okay.” She gave him a skeptical look, then turned to Jake. “I just caught the tail end of your conversation. What’s too soon?”

“Something I want to discuss with you later.”

“‘Discuss,’” Max marveled. “Listen to you, sounding all mature. Who’da thought we’d ever see that day?” Then he looked past Jenny, his humor fading. “Oh, hell, what’s she doing here?”

Jenny glanced over her shoulder and a wrinkle formed between her delicate brows when she turned back. “Who, Harper? I invited her. She’s only been in Razor Bay a week, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to meet a few locals.” She gave Max an assessing look. “Do you have an objection to that for some reason?”

“Huh?” He pulled his gaze back to her and a dull flush climbed his cheeks. “No, of course not. It just...caught me by surprise.” He looked at his watch. “Hey, it’s almost five—I think I’ll have a beer.” He shot Jake a look. “You want one?”

It was rare to see his brother rattled and Jake was tempted to prolong the treat. But this was about women and attraction and feeling outclassed, and sometimes guys just had to stick together. “You bet.”

Max beat a hasty retreat.

Jenny looked up at him. “What was that all about?”

“Beats me.” Hey, he really didn’t know for sure.

“O-kay. Let’s talk about what you plan to discuss with me.”

“We’ll definitely do that—later.” Jake leaned down to plant a kiss on Jenny’s lips and didn’t raise his head until gagging noises started issuing from behind him. He looked over his shoulder.

“Dude! Get a room,” Austin ordered. “It’s bad enough I see this action going down all over my house and yours, too—you gotta start in in front of the neighbors?” But the boy’s green eyes were alight with the same joy that had been shining in them ever since Jake had told him they were staying in town.

“You wanna talk action?” Jake inquired smoothly, sending a pointed glance toward Bailey.

Austin took a hasty step back. “Nah. It’s a party. That was just a little FYI, dude. They build walls for just this sort of thing.” And, laughing, he turned back to his friend and his girl.

Jenny turned to Jake—and promptly revisited the previous conversation. “Why not discuss with me now?”

“What—oh, the something I wanna discuss with you that you only know about because you eavesdropped earlier?”

“Yep. That.” She grinned at him without a shred of discomfiture. “Why not discuss it now?”

“Because, my darling Jenny, we’ve got company and we’re going to do it later.”

She sighed. “Fine. But don’t think I’ll forget.”

He laughed. “Trust me. The thought never even crossed my mind.”

* * *

I
T
WAS
CLOSING
ON
MIDNIGHT
when Jenny walked into her living room. Jake was sprawled out, eyes closed, in the overstuffed chair and she went over and climbed aboard, wedging a knee on either side of his thighs.

He cracked an eye open. “Hey. Austin finally crashed, huh?”

“Yeah. I hated to separate you two, because I know how much he wants every minute he can get with you before you leave. But he was running on fumes.”

“So now it’s just you and me.” Looking up at her with heavy-lidded eyes and a sleepy smile, he rubbed his hands up and down her thighs.

“Yes, it is.” She arched beneath his touch, put her hands over his—and held them still. “It’s also later. Let’s discuss.”

With a wry smile, he slid his fingers out from beneath hers and arched his left upper torso as he dug a hand into a deep pocket in his cargos. “This isn’t exactly the way I envisioned doing this,” he murmured, pulling his hand out of his pocket. He held a little velvet box up to her, snapping open its top with his thumb. “Jennifer Salazar, will you marry me?”

She could almost swear an electric shock jolted through her heart, and she gawked at the marquise-cut diamond that winked up at her from its simple platinum setting. Her heart drummed with both joy and panic. Without taking her eyes off the ring, she said, “Jake, it’s too soon. You said so yourself.”

“No.
Max
said.”

That snapped her attention away from the ring, and she looked at him through slitty eyes. “You told him about your plans before you told
me?
”

“Not deliberately.” He shook his head. “Guy’s got a nose like a bloodhound. And I’m not proposing we get married next month—a long engagement is fine. You’re in charge of the where and when. But what I feel for you, Jenny? It’s like nothing I’ve ever known. Plain ol’ vanilla
love you
just doesn’t cover it. And I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

“That’s very...”

“Primitive,” he interrupted with a baffled laugh. “Tell me about it. Hell, if I were a dog I’d be pissing circles around you to warn off the other hounds. This is a huge departure from my usual relationships with women. I’ve spent my entire adult life seeking affairs with finite shelf dates—the more temporary, the better. And now...”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to own you, and I sure as hell have no ambition to control you.” He shot her a crooked smile. “Like
that
would be possible if it
were
my intention. I just wanna see the proof that you consider yourself taken shining from your finger.”

Jenny looked down at the ring again. “And this rock certainly does shine.” Her panic couldn’t have sunk faster if it had been fitted with cement boots. Only thrilled joy remained.

“It’s only a three-quarter carat,” Jake said with a shrug. “You’ve got delicate fingers—I didn’t think something you’d need a sling to support would suit you.”

Okay, really, what woman
didn’t
appreciate the man she loved taking things like the size of her fingers into consideration? Didn’t like hearing how much he wanted to inform the world of the depth of his love?

Her fingers suddenly itched with greed. “Well, I don’t know,” she murmured. “I think I should be the judge of that, don’t you?” She held out her left hand.

Jake’s face lit up. “You definitely should.” Plucking the ring from the box, he slid it onto her finger.

And stilled. “Damn. That looks so...right.”

She held her hand at arm’s length to get the full effect. “It really does. It fits, too.” She tore her gaze away to look at him. “How did you manage that?”

“I borrowed that little silver ring you sometimes wear from your jewelry box.” He rubbed his finger over the band of the ring. “So...will you wear mine?”

Curling her fingers, she brought her hand to her heart. “Just try and take it from me!”

He whooped and crunched up to kiss her. When he finally pulled back, it was only to press his forehead against hers, so close that he was all laugh lines and white teeth as he grinned at her. “You and me, Jenny? Whether we get married right away or sometime down the road, we’re going to be so. Damn. Good together.”

Her own grin felt every bit as big, and her forehead rocked against his as she nodded her agreement. She knew they’d have adjustments to make and that they might not always see eye-to-eye. But none of that mattered in this moment. Because when it came right down to it—

“Oh, man,” she said. “We absolutely will.”

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt of
Burning Up
by Susan Andersen!