Chapter 9
That wasn't what Jake expected to hear from Catherine after their stilted conversation at lunch.
"Pardon?" He needed to know for sure.
"I want you to kiss me," she repeated, confirming what he'd heard the first time.
"Now?" he asked gently. "Or just as a general notification of something we should do?"
"Now." The word sounded forced, and she made no move toward him to aid in the kissing process.
Instead, he moved until he came to a stop in front of her. "What made you decide now is the time?"
"The photo call is tomorrow. If we do this now and it’s awkward, we can go our separate ways rather than be trapped in the cottage for the rest of the evening."
"Why are you so certain it will be awkward to the point we'd feel trapped?"
She still didn't look at him. "It's not something I have much experience with."
"What makes you think I do?" Jake had a hard time containing a smile.
She lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug. "I don't know. Most people our ages have a lot more experience than I do."
"I've had my share of girlfriends, I guess." Jake sat on the conference table near her. "Five or six anyway. Maybe one more if you count the girl I said I was going to marry when I was seven."
That made her smile just as he intended. "I'm a little disappointed I'm not the first girl you planned to marry. Should I be worried she may come back and try to claim you for herself?"
Jake shook his head as he laughed. "Doubtful. I haven't seen her since I was eight. She probably doesn't even remember me."
"I find that unlikely, but I'm glad I won't have to fight her for your affections." She finally glanced up at him, a mischievous look on her face.
He reached out and took her hand. "I'm the only one who has any say in where my affections lie."
She still didn't look directly at him. "That's good to know."
Jake stood and tugged lightly on Catherine's hand until she stood in front of him.
"Hey." He crooked his finger under her chin. "It's you and me. I've never dated anyone seriously. I never even considered marrying anyone else. Not really."
"Not really?"
He shook his head. "Just the same way you might contemplate any new relationship.
If you go on a first date and the other person has some trait you simply can't handle, it can end there.
Maybe they slurp their soup or crack their knuckles.
Maybe they smack their gum. It could even be something physical they can't control.”
Could he find an example that wouldn't make him sound like a cad?
Probably not. Best not to even try. "Everyone has preferences.
That doesn't mean you absolutely will end up with someone who meets that criteria.
Lots of people don't, but it can be part of why you have contact with someone in the first place. "
A cheeky grin crossed her face. "Or you literally run into her then make her laugh until she falls in love with you whether you're her type or not.”
Jake laughed. "That's one way it could happen. My point is that I considered marrying a couple of other people in the 'could I stand characteristic x or annoying habit y.’ If I thought I could or if I didn't see any glaring issues, I might ask her out again."
"Might?"
He pulled her a little closer.
"Might. Sometimes there's no specific thing you can point to, but it's just not clicking." He brushed a bit of hair off of her face. "And sometimes there's no reason you should click with someone, but you do." He leaned in close enough to whisper in her ear. "It's chemistry."
Something he'd felt with her since they ran into each other, and she helped him find the archives.
He cradled the side of her face in his hand. "It's something undefinable, inexplicable. There's no one reason why some people have chemistry and others don't."
Catherine's eyes were bright with unshed tears. "You think we have chemistry?"
"Don't you?"
"I do, but isn't chemistry one-sided sometimes?"
"I would imagine it's possible, but I don't think we'll have that problem."
To prove it to her, Jake leaned in, giving her enough time to back away or tell him no. She didn't, but he noticed her eyes fluttering closed before he reached his objective.
And kissed her.
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer as the kiss extended, but remained soft and gentle.
And proof of the chemistry he'd mentioned existed in spades.
So he slowly pulled away.
When he had enough room, he whispered, "Something like that?"
Catherine didn't answer, but did nod her head, just a barely visible down then up.
She took a small step back, not enough to leave his embrace but enough to put some room between them. After taking a deep, shuddering breath, she gave a better nod. "Yeah." It sounded as though her voice caught in her throat. She swallowed. "Something like that."
Whatever else they might have said was interrupted by the buzz of the intercom on her desk.
"Um, I should get that." Catherine didn't move, her hands resting lightly on the sides of his waist.
Jake pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and took a step back. "I'll see you for dinner this evening. Have a good afternoon."
She nodded a thank you, but didn't move.
He turned and walked toward the side door then went back to the archives where he'd finish working for the day. Instead, he found Madeleine waiting for him in the offices.
"How was lunch?" Madeleine glanced up from the document she was reading.
"Lunch is always fantastic." It was the same answer he gave her every time she asked. "What are you working on?" It wasn't the same thing she'd been working on earlier in the day.
Madeleine shook her head. "Just rereading something." She set it aside. "So what do you want to work on this afternoon? We don't have anything pressing."
Jake shrugged. "It's your office. What needs to be done?"
"Nothing in particular." She leaned back in her chair. "Want to talk about how the press release has gone?"
With a chuckle, Jake took a seat in his desk chair. "It's going better than expected. Beyond that, I don't know that there's much to say."
"Are you ready for the photo call tomorrow?"The smirk on her face made him laugh again.
"Of course not, but it'll be all right. Someone will help me figure out what to wear and tell me where to stand. All I really need to do is figure out how to smile adoringly at Catherine, and that's easy to do."
"She's easy to adore," Madeleine agreed.
"Have you talked about what story you're telling the press?
The details, that is. You don't want to contradict each other.
The basics of the story don't need any embellishing, but have you talked about how you met as children or where or what you did?
It wouldn't do for you to say you met at an event, and she says you met here at the palace. "
Jake leaned back. "We haven't really talked about it, but that's a good point.
I'll be sure to bring it up at dinner tonight and decide how exactly we want to tell the story, since neither of us actually remembers meeting each other as children.
We only have stories that we've been told about meeting once or twice while my father worked here.
" He stared at a spot on his desk. "I wish we did remember," he mused, almost to himself.
"I'm not saying make up some crazy story.
You're not lying to the public. You’re slightly overstating the significance of your relationship as children.
" She wrinkled her nose. "I know it's a very fine line.
But, if you can, keep the statements to a minimum and be vague about the interactions when you were younger. "
"And possibly vague about how long it's been since we met again as adults." He didn't like the idea of purposely misleading the public, but he also didn't want to make the minutia of his relationship with Catherine public fodder.
They needed to figure out exactly what they wanted to tell the public. Not everything, but not nothing either.
Being married to a queen was far more complicated than he would have ever dreamed.
Maybe a kiss at lunch hadn't been the best plan.
Catherine found it nearly impossible to focus on work the rest of the afternoon.
Jacob had been right about one thing.
They had chemistry.
At least she thought so. He seemed to as well, though he hadn't said so in so many words.
For several hours, she did her best to work on the documents. At least she didn't have any meetings. She wouldn't have been able to concentrate enough to make coherent responses and proper decisions in the best interests of her country and her people.
When she decided she'd put enough time in to pretend it had been a full, productive day, Catherine traded her heels for boots and donned her coat.
She waited to put her gloves on until she reached the door to the outside.
With her new routine of warmer wear, she didn't feel the need to rush through the gardens quite as quickly.
She reached the cottage to find that Jacob hadn't yet arrived.
After changing into soft, comfortable clothes, she went into the kitchen to contemplate what they should have for dinner.
Nothing in the cabinets or refrigerator sounded appealing, and none that would be ready in a fairly short time frame.
The front door opened letting Jacob in.
"Hey." She could hear the smile in his voice. "You beat me home."
Catherine leaned against the frame of the entrance to the kitchen. "I've only been here a few minutes."
Jacob walked toward her then kissed her cheek. “I thought we ordered dinner."
"I don’t remember if I actually submitted it." She couldn't stop a yawn. "I don't feel up to making dinner. Will you call over and ask if I did? If not, have them send what they have on hand."
He nodded. "Of course."
Her mind was overwhelmed with emotions of all sorts, thoughts swirling around in a whirlpool, making it nearly impossible for her to decipher or define them.
Jacob went into the bedroom, placing a phone call as he did.
While waiting for him to return, she went into the living area and sat in the big chair they'd been sharing while watching movies or television shows.
With the quilt pulled over her, she let out another yawn.
A good night's sleep would be hard to come by - again.
In recent nights, the impending release of the information about her marriage kept her tossing and turning. Tonight, it would likely be a combination of fretting about the photo call the next morning and reliving the all-too-brief kiss in her office earlier in the day.
Unless Jacob kissed her again before she fell asleep. Then both of them would be floating through her mind.
"You had ordered. They're sending it over in a few minutes." He came back from the bedroom, sliding his phone into the pocket of his joggers.
"Thank you for taking care of it." Another yawn.
A frown crossed his face. "We don't have to watch anything tonight. You look tired."
She shook her head. "No, I don't want to go to bed yet. It's more mental fatigue than physical, I think."
Rather than sitting next to her, Jacob sat on the ottoman in front of her. "Do you want to talk about what happened earlier today?"
She let her head fall back against the seat behind her.
"I think the response to the press release went better than we could have expected it to.
The public is cautiously optimistic. We have a couple of weeks before the dinner and ball.
Everything is pretty well set for them and the coronation.
I don't understand exactly why we need to have a big to do about turning twenty-five.
I've been queen for nearly a decade-and-a-half.
Why does there need to be a coronation?"
"That's something we can discuss later, but that's not what I'm talking about and you know it." He reached out and rested a hand on her knee. It was covered by the quilt, but she could still feel the weight and warmth of it. "I'm talking about lunch."
"It was delicious?" She wrinkled her nose, knowing that also wasn't what he meant.
"Catherine." It wasn't really a warning, but there was a bit of exasperation in the word, though he didn't seem overly serious about it.
"I know, I know." She closed her eyes and sighed. "You're talking about..." She couldn't bring herself to say it. "...right before you left."
"When you asked me to kiss you," he confirmed. "And I did, and you kissed me back."
With a nod, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Yes. That."
"I thought it was a very nice kiss." He didn't make her start the discussion.
"It was," Catherine agreed.
"And I think we can both agree chemistry isn't something we're lacking in." His eyes were gentle as he looked at her. "Am I right about that?"
She gave another nod, but didn't reply.
His thumb rubbed lightly along her knee through the quilt. "I think I'd like to do that again."
Another nod.
"I do think we'll want to talk about what we want to happen before things go further than a kiss.”
Her eyes closed again. "I agree, but I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet. Soon, but not tonight."
"All right." He didn't protest her limitations on when the conversation would take place. "But I talked with your mum today, and we do need to talk about something else before tomorrow."
He'd talked to Mumeleine? "What's that?"
"Exactly what our story is about meeting as children. Neither of us actually remember it, but that's probably not what we want to tell the press tomorrow at the photo call."
He made a good point.
"You're right, but what do we tell them?"
"Keep it simple. My father worked for your family. I was in the palace from time to time. We met when our families had dinner but fell out of touch when my family moved to Southern Santiero."
She felt like there probably should be a little more to the story, but she didn't have wherewithal to figure out what it could be. With her eyes closed, she felt herself starting to drift.
Maybe a nap wouldn't be the worst idea after all.