Intimate (33 page)

“Hate you?” He frowned. Where'd that came from? “I love you. I think I will always love you, but you just said…”

She sniffed and then shook her head, a short, sharp jerk of impatience. “I said I was sorry you hadn't told me the truth, and I am. I'm sorry you didn't trust me enough to feel you could confide. I'm sorry you thought I couldn't love you if you'd done something stupid that turned into something horrible when you were young. I'm sorry we both spent so much time dancing around the truth, when the truth would have been so much easier. Jake, I think I was in love with you that first day in the coffee shop. I kept trying to tell myself I wasn't ready, that my career was more important, that you had said you weren't interested, but I was lying to myself. Everything about you…”

“Everything about you.” He set his glass of port aside, took Kaz's glass out of her hands, and set hers next to his on the bedside table. Then he cupped her face in his palms. She was a mess, so battered and bruised, her eye swollen, her lips split, and it was all on him. If she'd never met him, this wouldn't have happened.

If he'd never met her, he might be facing the rest of his life without love. She was just that perfect, and he was selfish enough to take what he hoped she offered. A lifetime? Damn, he hoped so. He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and then very gently kissed the one spot that wasn't cut or bruised. He chuckled. “I just flashed on that scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies, the one where the heroine wants to kiss Indie and he's so battered she doesn't know where she can kiss him without hurting him.”

Kaz smiled. “And he says, ‘here,' and points to a spot on his face, and ‘here,' and another, until finally ‘here' is his mouth. Start here, Jake. Please?” She touched her lips and then pressed her fingers to his.

He kissed her. Gently, carefully, with love. “I hope you realize I want this for the rest of my life, Kaz. I want you. I've missed you. I kept telling myself I hardly know you, but I've missed you every second we've been apart.”

“I believe you, because I've missed you so terribly this past couple of weeks. I came home every night so excited about what I was doing on Fletcher's set, and there was no one to talk to who understood. Mandy and Lola were curious, but you would have known exactly what I was talking about.” She laughed. “It was more fun than I imagined it could be. Fletcher obviously loves what he does, and that joy carries over to the set and everyone involved. It was amazing. The wrap party last night was wonderful. You would have loved it, and I'm sorry I didn't ask you to go with me. I wanted to, but I was looking at our two weeks apart as a test.” She shrugged. “You know, if I still miss him, maybe I really do love him?”

“Me, too. I wanted to see if I still missed you as much at the end of the two weeks as I did at the beginning. It was worse. Then when I called and you told me about all the attacks … I'm so sorry. I was already uptight about the texts because they didn't make any sense, and when you told me what you'd been through…” He let out a deep breath. “Sweetheart, it scared the crap out of me, and I reacted badly.”

“So did I. I was terrified, and then you were so angry, and I didn't even try to see it from your point of view. I just got mad. I'd really wanted you to come pick me up, but I told you I had a cab because I was upset and my feelings were hurt. Stupid, huh?”

He shook his head. “No more than me. Do you have any idea how many times over the past couple of weeks I picked up the phone to call you? And then I'd talk myself out of it.” He sighed, thinking of the long, lonely nights. “I spent way too much time looking at all my pictures of you.”

She brushed her fingers over his cheek. “I wondered. I don't have any pictures of you. Not one. I could have taken one with my phone, and I never even thought of it.” She yawned and covered her mouth. Glanced his way and blushed. “I'm sorry. We're having a serious heart-to-heart, and I'm yawning. Not very flattering, is it?”

“Actually, it is. I know you're exhausted, but it also tells me you're relaxed around me. That's a good thing, considering the night we've had. You need to get to sleep, and so do I.”

“Sleep?” She raised an eyebrow.

He shook his head. “I wish, but no sex. I didn't bring any protection. Next time you get kidnapped, we need to plan better.”

“Excellent idea. Schedule the next kidnapping so we have clean clothes and condoms. I don't think so.” She unwrapped the towel, tossed it on the floor, and slipped beneath the sheets. Then she stretched up on one elbow and kissed him. “I'm not going to finish the port. I can hardly keep my eyes open.” She kissed him again. “I love you, Jake. So much. It feels so good to be able to say it.” She lay down, pulled the blanket up over her shoulders, and closed her eyes.

She was beside him, naked, her body still warm and damp from her shower, and he wanted her so badly he ached. So he drank down his glass of port as if it were water, and then finished Kaz's as well. With any luck, the buzz would put him to sleep.

*   *   *

Kaz awoke to the sound of the shower running and the bed beside her empty. She rolled over and groaned. Every part of her body ached. She touched her face with her fingertips, opened her eyes and realized she could see out of the left one this morning. It had been swollen almost shut by the time she'd gone to bed, and she'd totally forgotten to ice it, but it felt as if the swelling had gone down.

She heard the shower shut off, and a minute later Jake walked out of the bathroom. He'd wrapped a towel around his waist and was drying his hair with a smaller one. The heavy gauze covering his injured shoulder had been replaced with an oversized bandage the ER tech had given him last night.

He looked wonderful, and when he saw her sitting up in bed, he smiled. “You're awake.” He leaned close and kissed her. “How are you feeling? I can see both your eyes this morning.”

She fluttered her lashes. “I'm afraid to look in a mirror, but I have a feeling it's going to get more colorful before it gets better.”

“Well, in case you're interested, you're working some nice blue, green, and purple this morning. Imagine it'll fade to yellow in a day or two.”

“Gee, thanks.” She threw back the covers and got out of bed.

Jake stepped back and looked her up and down in a most lascivious manner. She struck a pose and then walked into the bathroom with an exaggerated sway of her hips, but when she reached the mirror, she stopped. “I'm a mess!” She leaned close and wiped away the steam left over from Jake's shower so she could get a better look.

Jake appeared in the reflection, standing behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the side of her throat. “You're still beautiful, Kaz. And this will heal, but it really pisses me off to see what he did to you.”

He ran his fingers over her ribs. The contusions along her left side were almost black, and they still hurt like the blazes. Her face wasn't as swollen this morning, but there'd be no disguising the bruises.

“Would you mind very much if we didn't go home today?” She turned and looked at him, loving the way a smile slowly spread across his face, but she felt like such a fraud. He thought she only wanted to be with him, but she had to be honest—getting naked wasn't her reason. She felt like a total coward when she said, “I'm not ready to face everyone and all the questions they're going to have.”

He kissed her forehead. “I'd love to stay here. Get your shower, put on that dress Cassie loaned you, and we can go buy some clothes and toothbrushes and stuff for both of us. Nate and Cassie offered us their guest cottage last night, but I knew we'd be late after going to the ER. I bet their offer's still open.”

*   *   *

While Kaz took her shower and got dressed, Jake called Marc and let him know they'd be back Sunday rather than today. Then he called Nate, but Cassie answered. Nate was already out in the vineyard, and she said to come out any time. The cottage was clean, the bed freshly made, and she had plenty for dinner.

He heard the shower shut off as he ended the call, and a few minutes later, Kaz walked out wearing nothing but the teal blue thong and a huge smile on her face. “You washed my undies! That's sort of going above and beyond, ya know?”

He couldn't tell her the truth, that he'd known she'd need to wear them this morning to go shopping, and he didn't want her to have to touch anything that bastard had handled. “I knew you didn't have any others,” he said. “If we tried to go shopping with you wearing Cassie's dress and nothing under it, I'd be trying to shop with a hard-on.” He shrugged and gave her a devilish grin. “Or we could just stay here and take care of it.”

She planted a kiss on his mouth, but when he tried to turn it into more, she laughed and spun away. “Not until we shop for those necessities, okay?”

*   *   *

Every hour he spent with Kaz strengthened Jake's opinion of her. She didn't go for the most expensive stores, and she wasn't as concerned as he'd thought she'd be about people seeing her badly bruised face. She picked up a pair of rubber flip-flops and a wide-brimmed hat at the drugstore, while he bought toothbrushes and toothpaste, a small pack of bandages to replace the one on his shoulder, and the most important necessity: condoms.

Neither of them had had dinner the night before, so they stopped for breakfast, and then Kaz found a shop with men's and women's clothes—they each bought things that were simple and comfortable enough to get them through the day.

She held up bags in both hands. “I've got enough stuff. Enough that I don't need to go home for at least a week.”

He gave her a quick kiss. “Why don't you go on up to the room and get changed? I'll be there in a minute. There's a jewelry store I told Marc I'd check out as a possible retailer for the Intimate line.”

Jake gave her the key card to the room. She kissed him, and he was ready to change plans and follow her, but they had to be out by eleven and it was already after ten. He watched Kaz walk away, her long legs visible through the gauzy skirt, the self-confident stride that even a kidnapping couldn't destroy, and it reaffirmed what he already knew—she was the one. The only one he would ever want, the woman he loved beyond anything he'd ever imagined.

He walked into the jewelry store, but Marc's line of jewelry was the last thing on his mind.

*   *   *

“Thank you. This has been a wonderful evening.” Kaz held out her hand and let Jake tow her to her feet. An afternoon and evening of laughter, good food, amazing wine, and more laughter was exactly what she'd needed. “I'm so glad I got to meet you guys.” She gave Nate a hug and then took both Cassie's hands. “Jake told me about you, about what happened. I'm sorry about your dad, but it sounds as if he would have scripted it that way if he'd had a choice.”

Cassie blinked away tears, but she was smiling. “That's so true. He saved Nate's life and mine with his bravery; he had time to tell Nate to take good care of me…”

“Which I am.” Nate wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Yes, you are.” She smiled at her husband. “And he had a chance to talk to Mom before he died. Her spirit, anyway. They're both out there. We spread Dad's ashes near Mom's in the Mac and Melinda block of grapes that Marc gave us as a wedding present.”

Nate laughed. “Actually, he gave it to Cassie. I had to marry her to get it.”

“I knew you had an ulterior motive.” She leaned against his shoulder, and the two of them shared a very private smile that made Kaz ache inside. Would she and Jake ever find that level of communion? That sense that their love was the forever kind? They'd known each other for such a short, intense time. Were their feelings real? Could they stand the test of time?

He'd said he wanted what they had for the rest of his life, but Jake still had so many demons to deal with—his parents, his brother, the lies that had hung between Kaz and him.

“C'mon, Wonder Woman. Let's get some sleep.” Jake wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her tightly against his side. “I know it's barely nine, but I'm beat, and our hostess is ready to fold.”

“Actually, the real Cassie folded an hour ago. This is the blow-up version.” Nate kissed the top of her head.

“And she is running out of air. I swear, the first three months of pregnancy would be better spent sleeping round-the-clock, but I'm so glad you guys can stay over. I hope you sleep well. The cottage is a comfy little place.”

They left with promises to meet up for breakfast and more laughter. Nate was the one who'd tagged her with the Wonder Woman name, and Jake had picked up on it. Much had been made of the fact that she'd broken the restraints on her wrists and gotten in at least one good punch to Norwich's face. The deputy told them at the ER that he had a broken nose. She was sure it was from the punch Jake had given the man, but after the horrible things he'd done, she preferred to think it might have been hers.

The moon was almost full, the light shimmering off the grape leaves, giving the vineyard a ghostly hue. Jake held her hand and they walked toward the cottage, but then he veered out into the vineyard of very old, gnarled, and twisted vines.

“This is where Cassie's mom and dad's ashes were scattered.” Jake stood between two vines that were over a hundred years old. “I wanted to see if I could feel anything out here. Nate said that when he plowed this section a few weeks ago, he was almost positive he saw a much younger version of Cassie's dad walking beside the tractor, holding hands with a beautiful woman. When he told Cassie what he saw, she said it had to be her mom and dad, that he'd described them perfectly, the way they'd looked when they first married.”

“How neat for Cassie. It's as if she's got her parents close, even though they've both passed. I'm envious. It's obvious her mom loved her, that her father respected her work here at the vineyard.”