Chapter Ten

Saturday at last and Jake gave himself a quick once-over in his bathroom mirror. He’d taken care over his appearance this evening. He’d showered. Okay, that was a given. He’d shaved. Okay that wasn’t so much for his looks, but to protect Kat. If the evening went his way, he planned on getting his face pretty damn close to Kat’s naked skin. After shaving he’d dressed in a pair of black trousers and a white polo shirt. A bit monochrome, but a man couldn’t go far wrong in black and white, could he? He’d dithered about whether to wear a tie, but decided on the polo shirt instead, though he added a charcoal grey jacket at the last minute. Giving a cursory glance to the final image, smart enough to impress, he hoped, casual enough to relax him, he thrust his wallet into his jacket pocket and headed down the stairs.

Quite why he was getting so keyed up about the date, he wasn’t sure. Oh, he understood part of his excitement, the part where he visualized him and Kat rolling around naked in his giant bed, but the meal itself? Putting on smart clothes, picking the lady up, eating fancy food while making conversation? That wasn’t really him. He hadn’t been much good at it with his wife, so he couldn’t understand why tonight he felt like he was walking on air at the thought of doing it all with Kat. But he was. There were a million reasons why he was wrong for someone like her. A million reasons why he should push her away, rather than draw her in. Tonight he wasn’t going to think about any of them. Instead he was going to make the most of the fabulous opportunity that had fallen into his lap. The chance to get to know the gorgeous creature with curly hair who laughed and talked a lot.

At two minutes to eight o’clock he pulled up outside Kat’s house. Automatically he reached to open the truck door, but then stopped. Technically, he was still early. Was it bad manners to show up a few minutes before the scheduled time? Probably. So drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he waited. His stomach felt jittery, but it wasn’t from nerves, not tonight. It was anticipation. An eagerness to spend some time alone with Kat. He glanced again at the clock on the dashboard. Eight o’clock. Yanking the door open, he jumped out and practically ran to her door.

The woman who greeted him wore a pale pink silk robe. She looked stunning, if a little flushed. And underdressed.

“Oh, God, Jake.” She ushered him in. “I forgot to tell you, I’m terminally late for everything. School, dental appointments, dates.” She waved around a tube of what looked like mascara. Instinctively he took a step back, mindful of his white shirt. “Please, take a seat. I won’t be a moment.”

Before he could even bend in for a kiss, she’d disappeared, leaving behind a whiff of intoxicating perfume.

It was five minutes before she was back. Five minutes during which he’d paced the living room carpet, and she’d managed to finish applying her makeup and get dressed into a figure-hugging pink dress.

“I’m so sorry.” She was dashing down the hallway, talking over her shoulder. “But I’m ready now. I just need my coat.”

A few moments later she reappeared.

He had only a second to admire the way the hot pink dress molded to her curves before she bundled them both out of the house.

Opening the truck door for her, he cursed the fact that he didn’t have a car. As far as trucks went, it wasn’t a bad one. Only a year old, reasonably clean and tidy. Still, he would have preferred to have picked her up in something more sophisticated. Something that suited her. Low slung and sexy.

“Nice,” he commented as he sat down next to her and watched her cross her elegant stocking-clad legs. Then he kicked himself. What had he learnt at school? Never use the word nice. It was too insipid. Especially for the woman who sat next to him. “No, you look far better than nice,” he corrected himself. “Stunning fits you better.”

She turned to smile at him, the lipstick she’d just applied making her mouth look pink, moist, and incredibly inviting. “I would say the first is more accurate. The second flatters me too much, but I’ll take it anyway. Thank you.” Slowly she moved her head up and down, looking at him. “Stunning does, however, fit you to a tee.”

This time it was his turn to blush. “Flatterer.” He turned his attention to the road, even though what he really wanted to do was carry on looking at her.

“It’s not flattery, you know. You really are rather gorgeous. Haven’t you noticed how many cups of coffee you’re offered at school? And by so many different women?” He glanced at her disbelievingly, knowing that his expression must match his feelings, a mixture of bewilderment and mortification. “Seriously,” she continued, a devilish gleam in her eyes. “You should listen to them fighting over whose turn it is to take you one out.”

“That’ll do, Kat,” he protested, visibly squirming in his seat. “It’s starting to sound like some sort of cheap porno flick.”

The rumble of her sexy laugh filled the cab. “You betcha. Next week they’ll make you take your shirt off. By the following week they’ll probably get you to work naked, with just a tool belt to cover your modesty.”

“I’ll make damned sure I have it finished before then,” he muttered darkly before throwing her a look that he hoped she would realize said change the subject.

Giving him a sweet, dimpled smile, she took the hint. “So, where are we going?”

“A little place I know in the next village. I’ve not been there before but it’s run by one of my customers.” He grinned. “So even if the food is rubbish, you can at least admire the tables and chairs.”

****

As they walked into the restaurant, Kat self-consciously patted down the curls she knew had strayed from where she’d tried to mousse and gel them into place. Her pulse was still racing from when she’d first seen him standing on the doorstep. So male, so ruggedly handsome. And so punctual, she added with a little laugh to herself.

Smiling her thanks to the hovering waiter, she sank down onto the plush chair he held out for her. She couldn’t believe she was on a date. Not only that, she was on a date with a hot man who made her toes curl when he smiled, and who took her breath away when he looked at her with those charcoal grey eyes. As he was doing now.

“Did I tell you how gorgeous you look?” he asked her in a soft, low voice that sent shivers up her spine.

“Thank you, yes.” It came out as a croak. To distract herself, she turned to her menu.

“I don’t think I’ll have the chicken,” he remarked, putting down his menu.

Confused, she glanced up to find him looking at her, his eyes twinkling with laughter. Then the penny dropped and she laughed. “I have to confess, I’ve got a large chicken is probably the most unusual pickup line I’ve ever heard.”

“Umm, not one of my finer moments.” He held up their glasses to the waiter, who filled them with a deep red wine. “Still, here you are now. So either I’m more charming than I thought, or you’re a sucker for a corny line.”

“Oh, I’m definitely a sucker.” She thought back over her romantic history. Sucker described it pretty accurately.

“So what line did Molly’s father use?”

“Ahh.” Sipping her wine she smiled at him. “We’ve come to that already, have we?”

He shrugged. “You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want. We could choose another subject. Like horses.”

His delivery was so deadpan, it was perfect. Laughter exploded out of her. “Okay, okay, I’ll go with the first option. Molly’s father.” Sighing she reached again for her drink. “It really isn’t that interesting. He was called Mark. We met at school.” She smiled at the look he gave her. “Yes, coy as it might sound, we were childhood sweethearts. Best friends, then lovers. Our relationship survived us going to different universities. Even both of us finding jobs in neighboring towns. It survived right up to the time I got pregnant with Molly.”

“I take it he wasn’t happy?”

That was an understatement. Mark’s reaction to the news was a painful memory, even now. “Correct. There was I, terribly excited about being pregnant. I mean it wasn’t planned, but even so, a new life growing inside you? One made out of love? What could be more perfect?” This time her laugh was riddled with bitterness. “I’ll tell you what. Having a partner who felt that same joy.”

His grey eyes regarded her with quiet understanding. “What happened?”

“He told me I had to get rid of it, or I was on my own.” Unable to bear Jake’s sympathy, she looked down at her napkin. “The conversation went something like...I’m too young to tie myself down... I’ve still got lots I want to do... I really like you but marriage and children isn’t for me...dah de dah de dah.” Her voice breaking, she stopped.

“Ouch.” He reached across the table and took her hands and rubbed them gently before clasping them inside his own.

It was a tender gesture, though the answering rush of heat that swept through her body at the feel of his rough, warm hands couldn’t be described by such genteel terms.

“So that’s it,” she concluded, suppressing a groan as he withdrew his hands to allow the waiter to set the table. “I chose the have the baby on my own option. I gave birth to Molly and never looked back.” Recalling her awe, as she held that perfect pink bundle, brought a lump to her throat even now. “As far as I’m concerned Mark was the loser. I mean he’s missed the opportunity to be a father to my wonderful little girl. What a shmuck.”

“He’s missed having you in his life too. Double shmuck.”

He smiled at her with soft grey eyes and her heart flip-flopped in her chest. “Yes, well, that could have been a blessing for him,” she replied, her voice slightly unsteady. “I think I was already driving him crazy. What with my strange foibles and my incessant chatter.”

“I like to hear you talk.”

The waiter arrived with their food so Kat missed the opportunity to stare into his eyes and check whether he was ribbing her or not.

“Tell me more about these foibles of yours,” he asked as they settled down to eat.

She shook her head. “No, you really don’t want to hear about them. Trust me.”

“Now you’ve got me really intrigued. Foibles that you don’t want to talk about. Wow. They must be really strange.” He cocked his head to one side. “Do you always clean your house while stark naked, I wonder? Or maybe you sing in the shower at the top of your voice while picking your nose?”

She threw her hands over her ears. “Stop. No. Nothing like that. I might, occasionally, eat cold baked beans out of the can.”

“Snap.”

Feeling braver, she carried on. “Before I buy a book, I always read the back to check it has a happy ending.” He frowned at that, but she was on a roll now. “One of my favorite pastimes is watching cricket.” He let out a grunt of disgust. “I know, I know. It’s a really slow game but there’s just something about the sound of willow on wood.” She shivered. “You just can’t beat it.”

“As a cure for insomnia, no,” he muttered, spearing a slice of very pink steak.

“So, you’ve heard about my baggage,” she said once she’d given him a chance to eat most of his meal. Deliberately she sat back and looked over at him. “What about yours?”

Instantly his demeanor changed from charming date to that of a man in the dock. “You know about mine.” He glanced down at his plate, moving it to one side. Clearly his appetite had gone.

“What about Annie’s mother? Is she still around?”

Shaking his head he reached for his glass. “No,” he replied tersely. Then he seemed to think better of it. “Isabelle, my wife, Annie’s mother, died also,” he expanded quietly, clearly making an effort to control his voice.

Kat shook her head, a four letter word coming to mind. “Jesus, Jake.” What could she say? To lose a daughter and a wife. Hell. “I’m so sorry.”

He averted his gaze, staring unblinkingly across the restaurant, his body language stiff and uncomfortable. When he finally spoke to her, he didn’t meet her eyes. “Kat, can we leave this? Discussing a deceased wife is pretty much a passion killer.” Finally he faced her, his eyes unbearably sad. “I’d rather hoped I might be able to tempt you into my bed tonight by using my, albeit limited, charm. Or perhaps by making you laugh. Not through pity.”

Kat gulped. “Well, that’s…”

“Honest?” He gave her a crooked smile. “I thought it might be best to get it out there, so there were no misunderstandings about how I want the evening to end.”

“I’m not sure what to say.” She found her heart had lodged itself in her throat, making it difficult to form her words.

“Well, that’s a first.” Laughing softly, he leaned back against his chair. “It’s not a definite no then? The you and me in bed scenario?”

Slowly she shook her head from side to side. “You can be pretty sure it isn’t a no,” she whispered back, her voice sounding as totally undone as she felt. Nerves, will he be disappointed, could she still remember what to do, vied with the throb of anticipated pleasure.

Jake smiled. A long, slow smile. One that started in his eyes and meandered its way to his mouth. It was sexy, hot and loaded with promise. Transfixed, Kat stared back.

“Sir, madam, any dessert for you?”

Kat blinked and looked dumbly at the waiter. What had he said?

“Kat?” Jake motioned to the menu. “Do you want anything else?”

She shook her head. Chocolate mousse or cheesecake wasn’t what she was thinking of right now.

“Just the bill then, thanks.”

It seemed like an eternity before the bill was paid, and she was back in Jake’s truck.

“Where is Molly tonight?” he asked as he reversed out of the car park. “Do you need to go home?”

Kat shook her head. “She’s with my parents. Having a sleepover.” As she said the words, Kat felt herself cringing. It sounded so obvious. Like she’d deliberately planned to make sure Molly was out of the picture so she could go to bed with Jake. And yes, in truth, she had. But now she sounded easy. Like a woman who was often palming her daughter off with her parents so she could have sex with handsome strangers.

Jake glanced at her. “It’s okay, Kat. I won’t take that as a green light. The choice is still yours. I can take you back home, you can make me a coffee, hopefully we can neck a bit on your sofa, and then you can kick me out.”

As her heart threatened to jump out of her throat, she swallowed. “Or?”

“Or I can take you back to mine. I can make you a coffee. Then we neck a bit on my sofa.”

Incredibly, she found herself laughing, and with it some of the tension left her body. “They both sound remarkably similar.”

“The difference with option two,” he replied softly, his profile dark and handsome in the moonlight, “is that I won’t kick you out.”

Her choice. She glanced over at him again. In reality there was no choice. There hadn’t been from the moment she’d met him. “I’ll take option two, please.”

Jake let out a long breath. “Good decision.” Giving her a megawatt grin, he turned the truck toward the barn.