Chapter 2
Jake stretched out on the sofa. He was tired from his day spent moving, but not inspired to go to bed. Not yet and sure as hell not alone.
There had been too many solo nights in the past eight or nine months. He’d tried dating, but no woman he’d asked out was Lily, and he couldn’t seem to get interested in anyone else. Knowing he’d set up both himself and the woman in question for failure, he’d stopped asking and expecting the impossible.
Which left him alone, edgy and irritable.
There was a Mariner game on TV. He reached for the remote, but before he could grab it, the phone rang.
“It’s me,” Lily said when he’d picked up the receiver. “Am I interrupting?”
“Sure. I have two coeds doing the dance of the seven veils right here in my living room.”
He heard the smile in her voice as she spoke. “Yeah, I’m flaked out, too. Moving is a lot more work than I remembered. Of course, after college, everything I owned could fit in the back of a pickup truck. When did I get all this stuff? And why?”
“It seemed important at the time. Remember that oak bookcase you had to have? And the dining-room table? I nearly threw out my back with that one.”
She sighed. “But it’s beautiful and it looks great in my dining room. So when are you going to sell me that gorgeous hutch of yours? The one your grandmother left you? You know you don’t appreciate it, and if she’d known how much I wanted it, she would have left it to me.”
He grinned at the familiar argument. “But she didn’t. Maybe one day, if you’re really good, I’ll let you make me an offer.”
“Huh. Like I believe that. You just like having something to hold over me.”
“That’s true. So what’s up? Is the house getting to you?”
Lily hesitated long enough for him to realize that he’d spoken the truth. One part concerned, two parts amused, he sat up.
“Let me guess,” he said. “You’re scared.”
“I’m not scared. It’s just the house is, you know. Big.”
“I thought you liked that about it.”
“I do. It’s just there are weird noises. House noises. I’m not familiar with them yet.”
He chuckled. “Are you going to make it through the night?”
“Of course.” She sounded insulted. “I’m perfectly capable of surviving here by myself. In fact I like living alone. It’s just so empty and some of the floors creak.”
“By themselves or when you’re walking?”
“When I’m walking. I’m not saying the place is haunted.” Lily’s breath caught. “You don’t think it could be, do you? It’s an old house. Who knows what happened here?”
He shifted so he could put his feet on the coffee table. “You’re not seriously worried about ghosts are you?”
“No. Just first-night creeps. I’ll be okay. Maybe I should get a dog. A really big one.”
“Only if you want to be cleaning up after it.”
“Oh. Good point. Maybe a cat, although I don’t think a cat would be much protection. Is it cold there? It’s cold here.”
Jake figured the outside temperature was all of fifty-five. “Turn on the heat.”
“I guess. Or I could just get another blanket.”
“You’re in bed?”
“Uh-huh.” Humor returned to her voice. “Want to know what I’m wearing? It’s the cutting edge of maternity chic. There are barnyard animals dancing across my belly. Pretty sexy, huh?”
He knew she was joking and expected him to join in, but all he could think about was Lily curled up in a big bed and him sliding in beside her. He imagined himself spooning with her, his front against her back, his hand sliding around to cup her breasts while her tight, round fanny nestled against him. He could smell her soft skin and hear her breathing.
He closed his eyes and fought back a groan. For one thing, lusting after a pregnant woman was probably illegal. For another, if Lily knew he was having sexual fantasies about her she would cuff him, then call him a pervert. And the most pressing reason to knock it off was the sudden lack of blood in his brain and the hardness in his groin. Being tired and sore from moving wasn’t enough. Now he had to deal with the physical manifestation of unfulfilled desire. Could the day get any worse?
“I grossed you out, huh?” she said, sounding resigned. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m sure you look great in barnyard animal PJs.”
“You don’t believe that for a second. The truth is I’m a cow myself. Huge and bovine-like. But I used to be sexy, right? I mean before the baby? And attractive. Although not attractive enough to keep Michael from standing me up at the altar.”
“Don’t go there, Lil,” he told her. “Michael was an idiot and you’re lucky to have him out of your life.”
“I know and I’m really glad, it’s just sometimes…” She sighed again. “I don’t know. I wonder where it all went wrong. Why did I fall for him in the first place? Shouldn’t I have seen the truth?”
“Sometimes we can’t see what’s right in front of us.”
He hadn’t figured out his feelings for Lily until it was too late, Jake thought grimly. A few months earlier and he could have told her before she’d met Michael. Maybe she wouldn’t have been interested, but at least the information would have been out there and he wouldn’t have spent the past nine months wondering.
“You’re getting philosophical on me and that always makes me nervous,” Lily said. “I think you need to watch some sports or something because—”
A strange sound came through the phone line—a metallic ripping, then a huge crash. Jake sat up straight and clutched the receiver.
“Lily? Are you okay? What just happened?”
“I—I don’t know. Something bad though. That was not a good sound. And I can hear a rushing noise. Like water. You don’t suppose the Willamette River just flooded into my dining room, do you?”
“No, but be careful anyway.” He stood, torn between staying on the phone with her and heading for her place. “I’m going to call you right back from my cell.”
“Okay.”
He ran to the front of his house, grabbed his jacket and his keys, then raced toward his truck. As he started the engine, he hit the auto dial for her home number. She picked up instantly.
“There’s water everywhere,” she said, sounding more stunned than frantic. “Like a real river through my dining room. I’m on the stairs and I’m kind of afraid to step into it. Where do you think it’s coming from?”
“Broken pipe. Maybe the water heater.”
“This isn’t good. I have to say, so far the home-owner experience isn’t what I expected.”
Despite his concern, he smiled. “Just your luck, Lil. I’ll be there in less than five minutes. Don’t move off the stairs and if the water starts rising, head up to the second floor.”
“Okay. You sound so confident and sure of yourself. It’s the rescue thing, isn’t it? You’re comfortable in that role.”
“Yeah, sure. I’m a hero to my bones. Hold on and I’ll be there to get you.”
“Thanks, Jake. You’re the best.”
He hung up. The best, huh? Best what? Friend? He wasn’t interested in that. He wanted Lily to see him as the man of her dreams. What were the odds of that ever happening?
* * *
Lily stood watching two or three inches of water pouring through her downstairs. Whatever the cause, it couldn’t be a good thing. Not when ancient carpeting and hardwood floors were getting soaked.
“My insurance agent is going to hate getting this call,” she murmured, knowing there was no point in getting upset. Panicking wouldn’t help either her or the baby and with Jake on the way, what was there to worry about? Still she couldn’t help feeling that getting the house back to rights wasn’t going to be easy.
The rush seemed to have slowed some. At least the water wasn’t rising. She took a step toward the main floor, then stopped. If the water heater had exploded or something, the water could be really hot. She was barefoot. And wearing really ugly pajamas.
“Oh, great,” she muttered, knowing Jake had seen her at her worst, although not by much. She’d washed off her makeup and pulled her hair up on top of her head. To make matters more embarrassing, she had cows and pigs frolicking across her mid-section.
She heard a key in the front door. Thank goodness she’d given Jake a spare before he’d left.
“Lily?” he called as he opened the front door.
“Up here.”
She took another step down as he walked into the foyer.
The entrance area was raised up, giving him a dry place to crouch and stare at the water. When he raised his gaze to hers, she wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Then the corners of his mouth turned up.
“This would only happen to you,” he said.
“Tell me about it. Any guesses?”
He tested the water with his fingers. “It’s warm but not hot. I’m going to go with the water heater causing this. So where’s the main shut-off?”
She folded her arms under her breasts and sniffed. “You probably think I don’t know, but I do. It’s in the mudroom behind the kitchen. Your key will open the back door if you don’t want to wade through.”
“I’ve walked through worse,” he told her as he crossed through to the kitchen. Before he disappeared, he turned back to her. “Stay there on the stairs until I see what’s going on.”
“Promise.”
In less than five minutes he’d turned off the water and checked out the water heater, which was ripped open and on its side.
“Was it bolting for freedom?” Lily asked as she stared at the twisted hunk of metal. “Should I take the defection personally?”
“It was older than both of us. I think it simply fell apart from age.”
“Something we can all look forward to,” she murmured feeling more numb than upset. “What will the insurance cover?”
“Most of the damage. You’ll need to call them first thing in the morning. We can get a crew out to dry the place. I’m guessing the hardwood floors will have to be refinished. The carpet’s a goner.”
“I’m glad I didn’t like it.”
He put an arm around her. “The good news is the water went through fast and didn’t have a whole lot of time to soak in. I doubt the drywall will have to be replaced. You’ll get a new water heater out of it.”
She tried to get excited about that, but all she could think was that she’d owned the house for less than twenty-four hours and she’d already had a really big thing go wrong.
“You don’t think this is a sign, right? I mean no one is trying to tell me I should have stayed in my apartment?”
He rubbed her back. “Are you okay?”
She tried to stay strong, but it was difficult when surveying the damage. “I haven’t even been here a whole day.”
“Come on.” He led her through the kitchen to the stairs. “Go pack a few things. You can stay with me until this is all sorted out.”
“You want me to leave?”
“I had to turn off the water. You don’t have a water heater and your entire downstairs is soaked. Do you want to stay?”
She shook her head, afraid that if she tried to speak she would cry. This wasn’t really happening. It couldn’t be.
“Hey.” Jake touched his index finger to her chin. “It’s going to be okay. I’ve seen a lot worse.”
“I know. I’m really lucky.”
He smiled. “I don’t think lucky describes your situation, but you’re safe, this is all fixable and you’ve got a place to stay.”
She sniffed. “You’re a good friend.”
“I’m a friend who expects you to cook me dinner while you’re living with me.”
She gave a strangled laugh that was perilously close to a sob. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She settled against him, liking how strong he felt. Jake was solid—physically and emotionally. He always had been.
She pressed her nose against his shirt and inhaled the scent of his body. He smelled sexy and male. Her mood lifted as she thought about how horrified he would be if he knew she’d thought of him as sexy. Jake saw her as a sister—currently a very pregnant sister.
“Come on,” he said, leading the way up the stairs. “I’ll help you pack.”
In less than an hour, she was tucked into his guest-room bed with a cup of hot chocolate on the nightstand. Despite what had happened, she felt safe, comfortable and optimistic. And guilty for dragging Jake out in the middle of the night.
“Better?” he asked from the doorway.
She nodded. “I know the house is going to be okay, once it’s dry. My big worry is that I’m taking advantage of you. First you helped me with the painting and tile, then the move, now this.”
He crossed to the bed and sat down next to her. His dark hair fell across his forehead and his eyes crinkled as he smiled.
“Who goes with me every year to help me buy birthday presents for my sisters and my mom?”
She dismissed the question with a wave. “But that’s shopping. I like to shop.”
“Uh-huh. And who taught me how to cook the best chili in the firehouse?”
Lily thought about all the compliments Jake’s fellow firefighters had given her and grinned. “That was pretty special.”
“And who picked out my living-room furniture and helped me when I tore out the backyard to put in the big patio?”
“That would be me.”
He shrugged. “That’s what we do for each other. We’re there at crunch time.”
“I know, but things have felt inequitable since the whole Michael disaster. I don’t want you to feel I’m taking advantage of you.”
“I don’t.”
He probably didn’t, she thought fondly. Jake was that kind of man. The good kind.
“You’re very special,” she said as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “One of these days you’re going to meet someone amazing, get married and forget I even exist.”
“That will never happen.”
“Want to bet?”
He studied her face. “I’ll never forget you, Lil. You know that.”
Her throat got all tight and something unexpected quivered in her stomach. This wasn’t the baby—she’d grown used to those fluttery feelings. This was something else. Something…erotic.
Horrified, Lily sank back against the pillow. What was wrong with her? Was this a hormonal reaction to her pregnancy? She hadn’t had any serious food cravings. Couldn’t she just want cookie dough ice cream or pound cake? Did she have to get the nibbles for Jake?
“I know,” she said, going for cheerful and having a bad feeling the words came out kind of squished. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
He nodded and rose, then headed for the bedroom door. She watched him go.
When she was alone, she reached for the hot chocolate and considered the problem. Whatever was wrong with her, she had to get it fixed and pronto. Maybe she was just reacting to the whole rescue thing. Jake had experienced women wanting to go out with him after he’d saved them from a burning building. He was a fire fighter, which meant he had built-in hero potential.
Her water heater had committed suicide and he’d been there in a flash. Of course she was feeling stuff.
But what that “stuff” might be and what it could mean was better left unexplored. She and Jake had been friends forever. She didn’t want anything to mess that up.
* * *
Jake had a bad feeling that living with Lily was going to be a unique brand of hell, so he was grateful when he had to work the next day. Twenty-four hours away from her would go a long way to restoring his equilibrium. At least that was the plan. When he walked into his house the following morning and found her cooking breakfast in his kitchen, he had to re-evaluate his strategy.
She stood in front of the stove, turning bacon. She wore brightly colored scrubs—teal pull pants and a print shirt, white shoes and no jewelry. Her still-damp hair had been pulled back into a braid. She looked beautiful.
As he paused in the utility room to pull off his boots, she called out a greeting.
“I can’t remember the last time I got up early enough to cook eggs and bacon, so be sure to put a star by this day on the calendar.”
“I’ll do that,” he said, hating how just the sound of her voice made his chest tighten. A midnight call to a car fire might have robbed him of several hours of sleep but it had done nothing to impede his libido. Damn it all to hell if he didn’t want Lily just as much this second as he had when he’d left.
“How was your shift?” she asked.
“Good. Busy.” He walked into the kitchen and headed for the sink to wash up. “Nobody got dead.”
She smiled at him. “I’m glad.”
“Me, too.”
He scrubbed his hands, splashed water on his face and reached for a towel. From there it was a short walk to the coffee.
“Did you get any sleep?” she asked.
“A few hours.”
“You could go to bed for a few more,” she pointed out as he filled a mug to the very top.
“Too much to do. What happened yesterday? Did you get everything lined up?”
“I did.” She motioned to the table, then served the breakfast. “Even as we speak, large fans are drying out the floor. The carpet is completely destroyed, but the hardwood seems okay and because the water went through so quickly, most of the sub flooring was spared. I have a new water heater coming in and if all goes well, I’ll be back in my house in about ten days.”
He was torn between needing her gone for the sake of his sanity and never wanting her to leave.
“Sounds good,” he said as he picked up his fork. “You got a lot done.”
“You left me the names of really good people. After my insurance agent got over the shock of what had happened, she sent out an adjuster and we’re all set to go.”
Lily sat opposite him and picked up a piece of bacon. “Once again I owe you.”
Jake scooped up eggs and shook his head. “We’re even. I can’t remember the last time anyone cooked me breakfast.”
“If you dated women who were old enough to cook, that would be a start. Or you could go over to your mom’s house. She would be delighted to have you around.”
“No thanks,” he said. “It’s enough that I live across the street and two houses down from my mother. I don’t need to be running over there every morning. She already thinks I don’t have enough of a life.”
Lily smiled. “You love the attention.”
“Sometimes.”
His dad had passed away ten years ago, leaving Jake the man of the family. He’d been in his twenties and more than willing to take on the responsibility. After all, how much could there be? He was the baby of the family. His three sisters were happily married and his mother had been ruling the world since before his birth.
But upon the death of his father, she’d alternated between fiercely independent and a need to cling. In a moment of weakness, Jake had made an offer on the house he now lived in and had set himself up for a lifetime of living within shouting distance of his mother.
“She’s terrific,” Lily said. “It’s not as if she ever just bursts in on you.”
“Right. She always calls to say she’s on her way over. Never mind that I might want to go out or have company.”
Lily raised her eyebrows. “Ooh, sleepovers. That could be a shock. After a night of amazing passion you wake up to find your mother in the doorway.”
“It’s never happened.”
“Gotten close?”
He grinned. “A couple of times.”
Lily’s humor faded. “What is she going to say when she finds out about me?”
“She’s going to think my taste in women has improved.”
“Are you sure she won’t be upset?”
“Of course not. She adores you.”
“And I adore her. Along with your sisters.”
Lily had been an only child. He had always thought one of the reasons the two of them had stayed friends was his family. Lily loved the big, noisy holiday celebrations, the excess of kids running around.
He glanced at her stomach. “They’re counting the days until Sam is born.”
She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t said anything about me naming the baby Sam, have you? I don’t want them to think I have lousy taste.”
“It’s a great name. But they don’t know about it.”
“That’s a relief.” She sipped her tea, then looked at him over the rim. “We need to talk.”
Four words every man dreaded hearing. “What about?”
“Me moving to a hotel. I can’t stay here for a couple of weeks.”
If he had his way, she could stay forever.
“Want to tell me why not?”
She set down her tea. “It wouldn’t be right. You have a life. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”
“Meaning what? You’re going to put a crimp in my dating style?”
“You have to admit that bringing your latest conquest home to a pregnant friend isn’t going to ensure a smooth evening.”
“No problem. I’m not seeing anyone right now.”
“But—”
He shook his head. “Lily, you’re welcome to stay. We have a good time together and we get along. Plus, you’ll feel guilty and do a lot of cooking. What’s not to like?”
She touched his hand. “I don’t want you to end up resenting me for invading your life.”
“That’s not going to happen.” If only it would, then he would know he was finally getting over her.
She took another bite of bacon, chewed, then swallowed. “Okay, but I want you to promise you’ll tell me the second I start to be a pain.”
“Done.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I. When you start really bugging me, I’ll let you know and then help you move into my mom’s place.”
Lily winced. “I adore your mother, but I think I’d prefer a hotel. A week in her house and I’d gain about fifty pounds from all the rich food.”
“Plus she’d talk your ear off.”
“I don’t know that I’d mind that.” She reached for the bowl of cut-up fruit she’d set in the center of the table. “Any other house rules you want to discuss?”
“How about no sleepover dates?”
“I don’t want to crimp your style.”
“I mean for you.”
She froze with a spoonful of fruit half way between the bowl and her plate. Her eyes widened, then her lips curved.
“You are so kidding. Me? Have a man around? Not likely.”
“Giving up so easily?”
“The disaster that was my ex-fianc;aae was many things, but easy wasn’t one of them. In the immortal words of my generation—been there, done that.”
Jake had been sure there wasn’t anyone significant in her life, but he’d wanted to ask just in case he’d missed something. Now that she was getting over Michael and settling in with the idea of a baby, he needed either to come clean with how he was feeling or get over her. Only three things held him back: finding the right words, the concern that he was changing the rules and therefore their relationship, and the realization that the first time he’d started to tell her he was in love with her, she’d announced she was in love with someone else, and the second she’d told him she was pregnant. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what would happen the third time around.
She finished dishing up her fruit. “So we have the house rules in place? I promise not to leave my lingerie hanging in the bathroom and you promise to compliment me on my cooking.”
“You have your own bathroom, but either way I wouldn’t mind the lingerie.”
She laughed. “Let me tell you, when a woman gets seriously pregnant, her lacy things take a quick turn for the practical.”
“I might think they were sexy, too.”
“I doubt it.”
She was wrong, but he didn’t tell her that. She wouldn’t believe him and he didn’t want to try to convince her. Not when she had to leave for her shift at the hospital in a few minutes. But soon, he promised himself. Very soon.