Chapter 13
13
W hen he caught himself adjusting the utensils on the table for the twelfth time, Jake knew he needed to get his ass in gear.
It was a heady feeling, ignoring his instincts and following the advice of people he had come to trust. Jake took one final look around his small apartment, ninety-nine percent sure he’d remembered everything. He pulled the door closed behind him, then got his truck started so the interior would be toasty warm when he picked up his date.
The thirty-second drive from his apartment under the art studio over to the main house wasn’t long enough for his nerves to drop out of overdrive.
He stopped on the front porch, hesitating before simply walking in like he usually would.
A mocking laugh escaped. He was literally living in the house. There was no reason why he needed to stop and knock.
Which meant he was chuckling softly as he swung the door open and got his first glimpse of Tansy.
He’d caught her in mid-motion, twisting away from the kitchen where Petra and Sydney leaned against the kitchen counter. The brief glimpse of her friends was all that registered before the only image dazzling his gaze was Tansy. Her body enveloped in the softest-looking blue cloud, hair tousled around her shoulders, just waiting for him to run his fingers through it. Her eyes?—
She lifted her chin slightly as if in a challenge, and mischief flashed. With something else. A softness, just the trace of an emotion that said what he needed to do right now was to be very clear about exactly how beautiful she was.
“ Christ .”
Tansy’s lips quirked upward.
Damn it to hell. That wasn’t what he wanted to say, but he couldn’t seem to find actual words and make them come out. All he could do was stare, mouth working up and down in his best fish imitation.
Thankfully, Tansy seemed more pleased than worried by his faulty communication skills.
“You have struck him speechless,” Petra pointed out helpfully. “I knew Aiden would be pissed not to be here to see this.”
“We can fix that,” Sydney offered. She pulled out her phone and held it up as if she was about to take a video.
Jake thrust his hand toward them, his gaze still firmly fixed on Tansy. “Hello, beautiful.”
A full smile bloomed on her face. “Hello, handsome. Are you ready to take me away from here before they start the next round of torment?”
Jake stepped forward and offered his arm. “I’d say something about rescuing the damsel in distress, but I think you’re rescuing me just as much.”
Tansy slid into position at his side, and they headed for the door at a quick pace. “Don’t wait up for us,” Tansy called over her shoulder as she nabbed a coat off the side hooks and all but dragged Jake out the door.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Sydney called.
“That sentence is such a waste of air,” Petra complained. “Some time you’ll have to make an actual list of what you wouldn’t do so we can explain this to you in detail.”
Jake pulled the door closed on the friendly teasing and put his attention back on Tansy. “Now that we’re alone, can we try that again? Hi, Tansy. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. I’m looking forward to spending the night with you.” Tansy followed willingly as he guided her to the truck and popped her into the driver side door. She slid to the middle seat and stayed there.
Spending the night. Thank goodness and thank God. He didn’t want to assume, but he really hoped that meant he got to wake up with her in his arms.
As usual, she waited until they were on the highway before starting the inquisition. “You didn’t turn toward Heart Falls. I assume we’re headed out to Diamond Valley?”
“Nope.”
Tansy leaned to the side and peered into his face. “Curious. Well, since this is the master-planned date of excellent dates, I trust you. Although, I have to say Sydney spilled the beans that my friends might have tried to give you dating advice over the past couple of days.”
Dangerously true. “It’s a good thing I think they like me. I can’t imagine what they would have suggested if they were trying to warn me off.”
Tansy groaned. “Like what?”
“Sydney insisted you are secretly afraid of the dark. Under no circumstances should I ever let you be anywhere without the lights on as bright as possible.”
“I don’t mind doing things with the lights on. Sometimes,” Tansy teased.
Anticipation just might kill him. Then again, Jake planned to enjoy every step of the night including these little moments of torment. “Petra gave good and bad advice. She had a whole collection of candles, and she wanted me to pick out one so I could offer it as a gift.”
“I like candles,” Tansy informed him. “Not as much as Petra, but I do like them.”
“Nearly every candle she offered had some reference to dicks.”
A snicker escaped her. “Of course, they did. I know she’s got a candle from your brother that’s labeled Big Dick Energy .”
“And that’s a thing I didn’t need to know.”
Tansy beamed at him. “What other bad advice did you get?
“Kelli told me to make sure that I dressed right. That you really appreciated a man who was comfortable in bold-coloured clothing.”
She leaned away far enough to look him over. “I take it you decided that advice was for the birds. I mean, while you look very dapper in your black jeans and black and gray shirt, neither are very bright or bold.”
“I just smiled and nodded when she gave me her whole line of suggestions. I think she needed something to entertain her.”
“Yeah. She’s due any day. How did she look?”
“If I say like a bubble about to pop, am I edging into too-rude-for-words territory?”
“As long as you say it to me and not her, you’re okay,” Tansy assured him. She twisted to peer out the window because he’d pulled to a stop at their destination. She glanced back, a frown creasing between her brows. “We’re at the lookout for Heart Falls waterfall.”
“Appetizers al la fresca,” he informed her as he pulled her out his side of the truck and reached into the truck bed for the picnic basket he’d prepared ahead of time. He tossed a blanket over his shoulder and took her hand and guided her along the trail toward the bench seat less than a five minute walk away.
He’d been out earlier in the day and cleared both the walking path and the bench seat, so all he had to do was throw the blanket on the seat as a cushion and guide Tansy onto it.
“Hold this for a sec.” He passed her the basket and reached behind the bench for the folding table he’d stashed there.
Moments later he had the table in front of them arranged with a tablecloth, two small mugs, and a lit candle.
Tansy leaned forward then snickered appreciatively. “ Come On, Baby, Light My Fire. ”
“It truly was the least offensive of them,” Jake told her earnestly.
“I like it.” Tansy tucked herself under his arm and focused on the view before them.
The water pouring over the edge of the cliffs into the pool below was at less than fifty percent but still spectacular. Ice dams and icicles clung to the edges, and in the middle where the downpour hit the lake surface, a circle had formed in the ice.
“It’s pretty here,” he said quietly, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts.
“I love the view,” Tansy agreed. She pointed, tracing her finger in the air. “The heart shape of the lake gives the falls and the town their name. Sasha’s grandparents donated this section of land to the town a year before my family moved here. I’ve always loved coming here.”
Jake curled his arm around her shoulders and considered all the directions he could take the conversation at that moment. Ask about her family moving to town, ask about the Stones, who were no longer in the picture.
Ask if she was ready to have the daylights kissed out of her?
But the advice he’d been given that truly made sense was to be himself and focus on them, here and now.
He squeezed her shoulders briefly then reached for the basket. “Ready to start our dining experience?”
“Absolutely. What culinary delight have you created for me?”
“You have to help cook this course,” he warned.
She held off from rolling her eyes. Barely. “Imagine that.”
“Only because this takes multiple hands. We’re having s’mores.” He pulled out marshmallows, chocolate, and cookies.
“For an appetizer?”
“I hear life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.”
Sweet approval shone in her eyes. “My thoughts exactly. Are we roasting over the candle?”
He pulled out the mini torch he’d ordered and held it in the air. “Not that I don’t like apple-cinnamon-scented wax, but this might make things go faster.”
She pulled out a couple of marshmallows, broke off some chocolate, then stabbed the first marshmallow. She lifted the fork for him. “Ready. Light me up, baby.”
He clicked the trigger, careful to aim it to the side.
Nothing happened.
He clicked again.
Tansy snickered.
“One comment from you about all talk and no fire—” he warned.
“What about all wood and no flame?”
The torch lit, flickered feebly, then went out with a hissssss .
Inside, amusement rose hard and fast. Jake tried to keep from laughing, but when he glanced at Tansy to find her staring into the distance, lips compressed tightly as if she were desperately trying to hold it together, he caved.
He threw back his head and laughed until the sound echoed off the hillside. Her bright happiness joined his, and suddenly she was in his lap, hugging him tight as she cupped his face and grinned down.
“We’ll save the s’mores for later. I need to give you something else right now instead.”
She leaned in and kissed him, and the not-so-perfect beginning to their date turned into an awesome beginning at lightning speed.
Jake wrapped his arms around her, sliding his hands under her coat. Stroking and smoothing his palms over the silky smooth fabric of her dress.
Sexy, warm woman nestled in his lap, her tongue teasing with his—it was amazing. Not perfect, but it was a fine first step on the way there.
Necking on the bench overlooking Heart Falls was a slice of hometown heaven.
Of course, when Jake adjusted position and kicked over the table, followed by the picnic basket tipping over and spilling all its contents, Tansy stopped kissing and started snickering.
“Don’t squirm any harder,” he warned.
“The bench won’t tip,” she assured him.
Jake picked her up as he stood, guiding her feet to the ground carefully. “I’m more worried you might end up kneeing me somewhere that will stop the evening before it’s begun.”
The warning was enough to make her legs go limp, but not enough to stop the amusement.
She helped him pack, and they headed back to the truck. “I still enjoyed my appetizer course,” she informed him.
“Me too.” He stole another kiss as she crawled into the cab, and another before he started the engine. They got distracted for a while. He hadn’t put the truck into Drive, and she was tempted to crawl over him right then and there.
Jake broke their embrace, pressing their foreheads together. “Not that I want to stop, but we need to.”
“You have an agenda?” Tansy asked.
“I have a timer going off in fifteen minutes,” he admitted.
“Planning sometimes sucks,” she pointed out.
They pulled apart, then had to wipe down the inside of the windows to clear away the steam. She was still hooting with amusement when he pulled back on to the main highway.
When he took the turn that led them straight back into High Water lands, Tansy frowned. “You forget something?” she asked.
Jake parked in front of his private apartment, tossing a shy glance her way. “I cooked for you tonight.”
It felt as if a finger traced up her spine. Not scary, but very, very intimate. “That sounds lovely. Let’s go rescue your timer.”
She’d been in Petra and Aiden’s suite any number of times. Jake’s was slightly smaller. One bedroom sat off an open kitchen slash living space, with a decent-sized bathroom to finish the apartment. The finishing touches were mostly complete, but Jake hadn’t done much decorating yet.
But the scent as he guided her in the door offered the most home-like feeling ever.
“Meatloaf?” she wondered aloud.
Jake hurried to the stove and checked the timer. He turned off the heat before slowly twisting. The slightest flush coloured his face. “My mom’s recipe.”
Oh my. Tansy stilled.
The guys talked a lot about their stepdad, Jeff. He’d made a huge impression on them, and had been the motivation for starting High Water in the first place. Tansy had heard the phrase pay it forward so many times it had also become part of her mantra.
But their mom?
Tansy took off her boots and hung her coat then made her way to beside Jake. He pulled a head of lettuce out of the fridge and was working on a salad. “Can I help with anything?”
“I’ve got the meal under control.” He tilted his head to the side. “If you want, you can open the wine. Or if you’d like something else to drink, check in the fridge. I put a few options in there so you could choose.”
“Of course, you did,” Tansy teased softly. “Wine is wonderful.”
She went to work on the cork as he assembled the salad with far more skill than expected. Not that she’d thought he couldn’t cook, but?—
No, she really had thought that. Tansy left the bottle open to breathe and leaned a hip on the counter and watched him. “Tell me to take a hike if I’m being too nosy, but I’m surprised to see how competent you are.”
A low chuckle escaped him. “You are hell on a man’s ego.”
“Sorry. I meant right now, in the kitchen, considering how often you used to ask me to cook for you. Not because I don’t think you’re capable, but past history says something different than what the amazing scent in this room says.”
He finished tossing the salad and put the bowl on the already set two-man table strategically placed to separate the kitchen from the living room. He didn’t answer as he pulled the meatloaf out and placed it on a hot pad to rest for a few minutes.
Tansy approved, of course.
A moment later, Jake pulled out a chair for her. She sat, breathing deeply as he stroked his hands over her shoulders in a gentle caress.
By the time he sat in the chair kitty-corner to her, she had a plate full of food and a glass of red wine in front of her. “It looks delicious.”
It truly did. The salad had all sorts of extra vegetables including crisp red peppers and the teeniest perfect curls of carrot. The meatloaf had crumbling caramelized corners and a savory juice pooling next to a mound of whipped potatoes.
Jake lifted his glass. “To women who know how to cook.”
Tansy clinked her glass with his. “You’re sweet.”
They both dug in. Tansy nearly moaned as the meatloaf hit her tongue. The buttery richness of the mashed potatoes mixed perfectly with it, and she shook her head as she stared over at Jake. “I need your recipe.”
He raised a brow. “A high compliment indeed.”
“The highest.” Tansy hesitated then decided to hell with it. She wanted to know more. She wanted more of this sensation of finding out exactly what it was that made Jake tick. “You said it’s your mom’s?”
Jake laid his fork on the table and leaned back slightly, wine glass in hand. He stared into the deep burgundy depths and answered slowly. “My mom was a great cook. Simple stuff, usually, because that’s what we could afford. And that’s what she had time for, especially after our dad was no longer in the picture. Single moms don’t do a lot of fancy cooking.”
“I imagine they don’t. Not moms with three boys who could demolish everything she put in front of them and then some.”
Jake laughed, placing his glass on the table. “There was always bread and butter to help fill us up, but Mom liked making different things for us to try. Even if it was just a new type of salsa to go on top of whatever meat we had that day. Declan didn’t care what he ate as long as it was enough until the next meal. Aidan happily shoveled anything down, but cooking was something I did with my mom.”
Tansy laid her hand on his thigh. “That must have made it even harder when you lost her.”
He nodded. He hesitated for a moment then swallowed hard, speaking slowly as if making a confession. “When she died, I went on a hunger strike for a while. Not because I was protesting anything, but because everything they put in front of me reminded me of her. I just couldn’t swallow.”
God. Tansy squeezed lightly. “That makes total sense.”
Jake met her gaze, linking their fingers. “I hated cooking after that. Would do just about anything I could to avoid it.”
“Including hiring me when it was your turn to feed the family?”
“That was part of the reason,” he admitted. He lifted his free hand and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “The other reason was because there’s something about you I just couldn’t seem to stay away from.”
Bubbles in her belly, lightning in her blood. The food still smelled wonderful but there was something that Tansy craved more. “Can we dance? If I’m not interrupting your perfect plans too much.”
Jake rose to his feet, bringing her with him. “I’m working on my spontaneity, remember?”
He got music started, and as a slow ballad crooned in the background, he pulled her into his arms, dancing in the three by three space between his dining room table in the back of the couch. A slow rocking dance with them pressed tight to each other.
Tansy rested her cheek on his shoulder and savoured the closeness.
“There’s a moment when life changes,” she said. Screwing up her courage, willing herself to let him see a bit more of her truth as well. “Sometimes it’s from the good to the bad, like losing your mom. Sometimes it’s from the bad to the good. It’s as if you can remember every single detail of that one moment in time, like a snapshot that’s completely three dimensional. That’s what it felt like when I met the Fields family. When Mom and Dad picked me up and brought me home and there was Rose, and Ivy, and Fern. Suddenly it didn’t matter how bad my world had been before, this was everything good. I had a hard time believing it was real.”
Jake brushed his hand up and down the middle of her back, dancing her slowly as the music pulsed in the background. “You’ve said before that they’re pretty perfect as a family.”
“They were a miracle. Still are,” Tansy admitted. “Sometimes I can’t believe that I’m worthy of being loved as much as I am.”
They danced in silence for a minute, Jake’s strong arms around her, his fingers tight with hers. Then he eased back and lifted her chin toward him. “Your dad called and asked me over. After the wedding.”
Tansy didn’t resist rolling her eyes, not even for a second. “Of course, he did.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Pretty perfect family, remember?” She met his eyes. “Except for the invasive as hell and being butt-inskies part.”
“He said he needed help fixing the porch swing.” Jake snorted. “I think he undid a single loop of chain. We sure fixed it easily.”
Tansy linked her fingers behind Jake’s neck. “So? What did my papa really want?”
“Not to share your secrets, but to give some fatherly advice.” Jake took a deep breath. “I told you that day that I didn’t need to know your past, and I meant it, but I think part of me still expected that I’d eventually find out. So, here’s your dad, and out of the blue he’s telling me this story about a wild night in college where he ended up knee deep in a mud bog. After we got done laughing, he said no matter how embarrassing, sharing a tale like that makes him remember how grateful he is for friends who haul him out of trouble, and how after, he was determined to be smarter.”
Too funny. “I’ll have you know that tales of the Wild Mud Bog Night has never been shared with me, so I will be poking him.”
“It was classic,” Jake agreed. “But also a great example of his final point. Memories that make a person smaller or less instead of empowered, those are not worth sharing.”
Her father and her family knew her to the core because it was true. The past caused her nightmares. She worked to this day to believe she was worth being loved.
“Simply put, some stories help us move forward, but others drag us back.” Jake shook his head. “I would never want you to share anything that makes you smaller or hurts you. Your past is done. It might have influenced who you are today, but you’re the one who bravely stepped into the future. You made changes and made a life. This life.”
Her throat had gone tight. “I promise I’m not breaking into buildings all over Heart Falls.”
“I know that. Neither am I—” She startled for a moment, and he winked. “I got trained with lockpicks in my work as well. Having the skills isn’t what gives us our job description.”
“I never saw that one coming,” Tansy admitted with amusement,
He stared at her mouth. “I like who you are, Tansy Fields. I like all sorts of things about you.”
They’d stop moving. She had no idea what song was playing in the background because all she could focus on was his mouth. “This would be a good moment for you to kiss me. Plus whatever else you have on your perfect date agenda.”
His lips quirked up at the corners. “No checklists, remember?”
But he did kiss her. Lips pressed to hers, a gentle pressure that built rapidly as he curled his arms around her and squeezed their bodies closer. When he nipped at her lower lip, Tansy gasped. He took advantage, sweeping his tongue in and teasing until they were both gasping for air.
Tansy slipped her fingers between them, working on the buttons of his shirt. Jake bunched up the fabric of her dress, bringing it higher until he could slide a hand under the fabric and skim upward to meet the bare skin of her back.
Hands roaming, mouths lingering. A slow steady seduction where Tansy definitely did not know what would happen next. He kissed along her jawline, lingering in the spot under her ear that made goosebumps rise.
He caught her fingers to his lips, nipping at the tips before sucking one into his mouth briefly.
Tansy moaned, and suddenly her dress was being lifted over her head. He licked the line along the edge of her bra, darting to the side and biting her nipple through the sheer fabric.
Then his fingers were in the waistband of her leggings, and moments later, Tansy stood in nothing but her bra and panties in the middle of their impromptu dance floor.
She approved, but there was one small problem. She caught his hands before he could remove anymore of her clothes. “Your turn.”
She would have made it a slow, teasing event. Undoing one button at a time, pushing off his shirt and letting her mouth wander over all the naked skin she revealed.
Instead, Jake pulled his shirt up and over his head, flinging it to the side before undoing his jeans and dropping them on the spot. The hard length of his erection pressed the front of his boxer briefs.
Neon red boxer briefs.
A snort escaped. “Those are…”
“You like them?” Amusement tinged his words. “In case Kelli was right and you’re gaga over bright colours.”
“Very sexy.” Tansy drew a slow line down his shaft with her finger, .
His entire body shook with the shiver that rolled over him. “You’re fucking killing me,” he groaned.
Anticipation was a wonderful thing, but they’d already had weeks of it. Tansy caught Jake by the hand and stormed toward the bedroom.