He grumbled, but allowed me to drag him into the private bathroom to clean up. We almost got sidetracked again, but in fifteen minutes, I pushed him out of his office. Both of us were presentable, but if anyone looked closely, they’d notice the flushed skin and swollen lips.
The afternoon passed in a dreamy haze. I probably smiled indiscriminately at everyone like an idiot, but I didn’t care.
I could tell something was wrong when Jake came back from the meeting. I tried to find out why he was upset, but he shook off his bad mood. By the end of the day, he seemed to have recovered completely and wanted to take Marcus and me out to dinner. To celebrate, he said. I had never seen him look so carefree. His eyes were sparkling and his dimple seemed to have taken up permanent residence. I didn’t recognize him as the imperious boss I met over a month ago.
When we were about to leave the office, he tensed, his face somber again.
Instantly, I knew why. Smiling at him, I laced our fingers together. The look of surprise and joy on his face was worth any ugly rumors that might start. Walking hand-in-hand, we left the office and walked to the elevators.
Most of the staff had left, but we got a few speculative glances from those who were still working. To my surprise, it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.
Alana got into the elevator with us. Her eyebrows almost met her hairline when she saw our clasped hands. But when she got off on the ground floor, she winked at me over her shoulder.
I smiled.
Chapter 20
On Saturday morning, Jake showed up early with pastries and coffee. Marcus had already left for the day to hang out with his school friends and Jake and I were looking forward to having some alone time. We were expected at his parents’ house again for dinner and I needed to bake two pies for the hungry Weston men.
I had just bitten into my Danish when my doorbell rang. “Who in the world could it be?” I didn’t get many visitors. I glanced at Jake and he had an oh-shit look on his face.
“Baby, let me get it. It’s probably someone who got the wrong house.” He stood and headed toward the intercom.
I followed closely on his heels. This whole situation smelled fishy.
He looked over his shoulder, “Um…baby, seriously, go finish your breakfast.”
Narrowing my eyes, I said sweetly, “No, I want to make sure it’s not a neighbor who forgot their keys. You wouldn’t recognize their voice.”
Muttering something under his breath, he sighed and pressed the button.
A brusque voice came over the speaker. “This is Antonio from City Movers. We’re here to help you move.”
I raised an eyebrow at Jake.
Jake cleared his throat. “Uh…you must have the wrong address.”
“Is this the residence of Cora Branton?” Antonio rattled off my address.
I swallowed my laugh at Jake’s shame-faced look. My man was definitely persistent. I leaned closer to the intercom. “Hi Antonio. This is Cora Branton. I’m not moving, but the man who hired you will be paying in full for your troubles today. I’ll send him down right now to sign the invoice. If I move, I’ll be sure to hire your wonderful service.”
There were a few cheers in the background.
I flashed a look at Jake and he went downstairs, grumbling about my pig-headedness. He opened the door and signed the invoice. Taking out his wallet, he gave each of the guys a tip. Antonio, who was a burly dark-haired man, gave me a thumbs-up and a huge grin.
When he climbed back up the stairs, Jake regarded me warily.
My voice was measured. “I take it you arranged this after you said, ‘I’m tired of being Mr. Considerate’ and then hung up on me?”
He grimaced and ran his fingers through his hair, making a tuft stick up. He looked adorable. “Yes.”
“And you weren’t going to tell me? Or let me pack? Were they going to drag me kicking and screaming out of my apartment?”
“I was going to tell you yesterday, but I forgot. You distracted me.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Baby, I know you value your independence, but I worry about you and Marcus walking around here at night. If you live in the same building, I could look after you. And we’d get to spend more time together.” He hauled me into his arms and whispered into my ear. “You could drop by my apartment for a quickie without worrying about leaving Marcus alone for too long.”
I tugged the recalcitrant tuft of hair back into place and said solemnly, “Oh, why didn’t you say so in the first place? That’s incentive enough for me.”
He jerked his head back in shock at my easy acquiescence. “Really? You’ll move?”
“Let’s have Marcus look at the apartment first. Then I need to give notice to my landlord. But don’t send a crew of moving men here before I’m ready. And don’t think strong-arming me is going to work for anything else.” I walked back to the counter and picked up my coffee.
“You got it, babe,” he said, grinning widely.
“And I insist on paying for part of the rent.” I blew on the hot brew and took a sip. I kept telling myself not to freak out about moving.
“Of course, baby. Besides, we won’t be there for long. We should really look into getting a big house. One with a big yard for when we have kids.”
I choked and Jake thumped my back, laughing at me. When I recovered, his eyes dared me to approach the subject, but I was too much of a coward. I was just getting used to the idea of being in love with him.
“And you’ll attend college in the fall?”
“One thing at a time. I still need to process everything. You’re moving too fast for me.”
His smile told me he wouldn’t give up until I surrendered.
He helped me with the pies, but he kept distracting me. We almost burned them when he decided he needed to “practice” having a quickie in my kitchen. Only it wasn’t a quickie. He bent me over the counter and took me from behind, pulsing unhurriedly in me until I reached a sweet slow peak. My legs could barely hold me up by the end and it took a few moments to realize the screeching in my ear wasn’t my own screams, but the oven timer.
“If the pies are ruined, I’m going to tell your dad it’s your fault,” I threatened.
Jake smiled like a Cheshire cat. “Then you’ll have to tell him what distracted you.”
I glared and he laughed. Then I had to kiss him because his dimple was flashing at me. And that distracted us some more.
To salvage the pies, I had to cut off the slightly charred edges.
When we arrived at his parents’, Geoffrey’s eyes gleamed greedily at the sight of the desserts. He hugged me, proclaiming me his favorite person. Then he headed into the kitchen with the pies. Troy trailed behind him “to make sure he didn’t sneak a slice.” Jake followed, declaring that one of the pies was “his” since he had helped bake it.
Marcus ran after them, too curious about the outcome of the pie wars.
Susan smiled knowingly at me. “There’s something different about you and Jake. You both look… I don’t know… more settled? Did my son finally get through?”
I nodded shyly. “Yes.”
She clapped her hands gleefully like a child. “That’s wonderful! I knew he’d be able to get you to realize how much he loves you. It’s a Weston trait.” Linking our arms, she walked into the house. “Did I ever tell you I was engaged to another man when I met Geoffrey?” She nodded at my wide-eyed look. “Weston men are very determined.”
Chapter 21
On Sunday, Jake took us to the Adler Planetarium. Marcus was in heaven, watching the shows and gazing at the cosmos through the telescope at the Doane Observatory.
For dinner, I made lasagna and they inhaled the food. I gawked as they ate portion after portion and decided God must be a man because if a woman ate that much, she’d pass out in a food coma and gain ten pounds when she woke up. Jake and Marcus didn’t even look lethargic after the meal.