My Once and Future Love (47 page)

How someone could be so insistent and so
tender at the same time, I couldn't comprehend. He released me only
when we needed breath, leaning his forehead into mine.
"Tell me, Beth."
My heart pounding in my ears, I looked into his eyes, bare and open
for the first time in who-knew-how-long. "I want to go slow," I
whispered. "I don't know if I can handle all the media attention.”
Dealing with Jacob’s intensity would be plenty.
"But you'll be my girl?"

I nodded.
He whooped and lifted me into the air, spinning around, then pulled
me into another stunning kiss as soon as my feet touched the
ground.
"I can't wait to tell the guys. Aaron bet me a hundred dollars
you'd turn me down."
"Jacob...
slow
. That means not blabbing our status. I want to
know if we even work like this before anyone else starts sticking
their nose in."
He sobered a little. "You still don't trust me."

“It isn’t that. I trust you won’t try to hurt
me now, but it’s been a long time since either of us had a
relationship.”

"Most of them were looking for something
temporary. It’s different with you.”

“We both have to travel for our jobs all the
time. You know long distance is hard."
"We'll make it work. I
want
to make it work. You hear
me?"
I nodded, eyes wide. Speaking with such conviction, he was very
hard to say no to like this. The doubts in my head couldn't be
quieted in an instant, but I could give him the time to try.
"Come over tonight.”
I rolled my eyes. "Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?"
"On the contrary, I was going out of my mind waitin’ for you. If
you turned me down, I wanted to drink away my sorrows."

“That isn’t funny.”

“I’m sorry. I was kidding.”

“So, we’re not one break-up away from you
becoming an alcoholic?”

“There will be no headlines.”

“
Good
.”

He kissed me again.

It took some pleading and cajoling to get me
to follow him home. I was nervous about being in private with him
so soon. Despite what my hormones liked to say, I didn't want to
jump into bed immediately just because we were now
together
.

The hotter things burned, the quicker they
fizzled out...or something like that.

He took my hand when I pushed open my car
door.

“What made you choose this house?”

He shrugged. "I dunno...it's in a quiet
neighborhood, smaller, more manageable... Got it for a relative
song since the owner was leaving the state." He paused to unlock
the front door.
I instantly caught the aroma of lasagna when the door swung open
and looked at him with an arched brow.
"So sure you'd get me back here tonight. I should be upset with
you."
He batted his eyes. "Who, me? I just told Maria I'd be home for
dinner."
"
Uh-huh.
She just
coincidentally
made my favorite
dish of hers?"
He was saved from answering by Maria bustling out of the kitchen.
"Miss Beth! Oh, my goodness, you look lovely. It's been too long
since you paid me a visit, you know. Come, sit. We have much to
catch up on. You know, I pick up the magazine every month to see
your pictures."

Maria wrapped her arm around my waist and
led me to the table, Jacob shaking his head. She could talk
anyone's ear off if they let her.
"I'm sure Beth would like to be off her feet for a bit, hmm?"
Truth be told, I preferred staying in the kitchen. Maria was a good
buffer for Jacob's intensity.

"Actually, I am thirsty..."
He crossed to the refrigerator in an instant. "What would you like,
love? Soda, bottled water, a little wine..."
"Water is fine." Really, he should remember not to offer me
alcohol…though he’d probably like the results.
I watched Maria pull Jacob into helping with dinner. Their dynamic
had become much more "mother-son" than "employer-employee" in the
months since I left. Maria treated Jacob no differently than her
boys except for calling him “Mr. Lindsey”. How lonely he must be
without all the hired help buzzing around him in the new house. He
thrived on activity, so for him to choose only one staff member was
confusing.

She must have cooked all afternoon. There was
garlic bread, a salad, the lasagna, and a fruit tart for dessert.
The kitchen looked the same from my dream, except for paint and my
personal touches of photographs and flowers. It was a big,
beautiful space if you liked to cook.
"I keep telling him to at least pick some paint. These white walls
are so boring. Maybe you'll have more luck," she said.
I shook off my thoughts. "I'm sure he'll give the house more
attention once the tour is over, Maria. As long as he doesn't paint
the walls black again, it'll be fine."
"That was my bedroom for
one summer
, and it's all she
remembers."
I laughed at his scowl. "It was like walking into a cave! How could
I possibly forget
the black hole
?"
"All summer long, it was ‘When are you going to get rid of this
depressing color?’ nagging me worse than Mum," he complained in
falsetto to imitate my voice. He grinned, then, an evil one. "At
least it wasn't pastel pink."
"My
dad
picked that color. I didn't have a say in it. But at
least I didn't have glow-in-the-dark sheets."

"They were leftover from when I was ten! I
used them
once
when the washer was broken, Miss Head
Gear."
My jaw dropped. "You promised you wouldn't mention that ever
again!" I turned to Maria. "I had to wear a thing at night for a
while because I ground my teeth in my sleep.
He
wasn't
supposed to see it, but
he
got nosy."
"
You
showed my magazines to my mother," he countered.
"She had a right to know her little boy wasn't an angel. Besides,
you deserved it for ditching me at school to go feel up Susie
McIntyre."
"Jealous?"
"
No
."
He grinned and sauntered over for a kiss, then whispered something
in my ear that made me blush beet-red.
"Where did Maria go?" I asked.
He turned his head and saw we were alone. "Huh. Didn't know she
could be that quiet. Looks like this feast is just for you and me,
love."
I gulped. The moment was suddenly very couple-y. Dinner for the two
of us, sitting across from each other in a quiet house...that sense
of panic rose up in my throat again. Why did Maria have to
leave?
I rose from my seat. "Well, that's just silly. There's enough for
an army. She doesn't need to eat in her room."

Maria made a good buffer to catch up without
wading into the waters of "why I left" and "how much did he
change". When we were through eating, Jacob insisted she was done
for the night and we would put everything away. I couldn’t believe
it. I’d never seen Jacob volunteer for a chore in his life.

"Who are you and what have you done with
Jacob Lindsey?" I teased.
"Huh? I don't follow, love."
"You
volunteered
to load the dishwasher. I've never seen you
do that in thirteen years."
Embarrassed, he glanced down. "Like I said a while ago--it was time
for me to grow up. I never set out to be a selfish prick. It just
kinda happened."
I squeezed his hand. "I know.”
He raised my hand to his lips and kissed my fingers. "Thank
you."
I smiled in return and slipped out of his grasp to continue rinsing
the dishes. After handing him a few, I looked in the dishwasher.
"No, not like that! You have to organize it, or stuff won't get
clean. Here."
He stepped back and leaned against the counter, grinning at
me.
"
What?
"
"You're cute."
"Loading the dishwasher is cute?" That settled it. He hit his head
recently.
"No, you with the bossy domestic goddess routine are cute. It's
homey."
"Well, don't expect it to be a habit. But if you left the glasses
in that way, they'd get broken."
He snagged my belt-loop and tugged me forward. "Duly noted. It's
been too long since I kissed you."

I turned my face so he ended up kissing the
corner of my mouth.

"Hey..."
"It's getting late. I have a meeting in the morning."
"So, postpone it. We only have two days before I fly out."
I leaned back a little, since he still had hold of that belt-loop.
"I can't, it's with a client. The magazine has deadlines."
"Can't you get someone to cover for two days? Come on, love..." he
cajoled, adding the pout.
So not fair!
That lower lip was just so...bitable.

"Jacob..." I whined.
"You know you wanna." Damn man and his sexy voice.

I sighed. "That isn't the point. I have
responsibilities. I probably won't have to shoot anything tomorrow,
though, so maybe we can have lunch."
"I'm holding you to that." He reached out and slid the elastic
holding my ponytail out of my hair, threading his fingers through
the strands as they fell toward my face.
"W-what are you doing?" I whispered. Having his hands in my hair
made my scalp tingle.
“I forgot it was this soft..." he said, still twirling a strand
between his fingers. He seemed transfixed by it. "Will you wear
your hair down more often, for me?"
"Still with a hair fetish."
"Think you have me pegged, eh?"
"Oh, yeah."
Those troublesome hands pulled me closer again. "And you?" he
purred. "What's
your
secret fantasy?"

"If you’re good, maybe one day you'll find
out.”
Every fantasy I ever dared indulge since I was fourteen featured
him in some way; every sexy trick I knew was learned with him. Part
of me wanted to throw down right here on the kitchen floor, but it
would set a bad precedent, and I didn't want to be another of his
easy girls. He wasn't making resistance easy, though. He placed
sensual kisses on the inside of my wrist, his eyes locked with
mine.
"You won't tell me one, little, idea?" he coaxed.
I bit back a moan when he grazed his teeth across my pulse point.
"Not on the first date."
"Is
that
what we're having..."
"Aren't we?" I asked, my voice catching.
"Well, usually I'd take you
out
, love, not bring you home."
He leaned close to my ear. "Home is for...dessert.”
I swatted him on the chest, spell broken. "You're so bad."
He hummed in agreement. "But you like it."

I glanced at the wall clock. "I really
should be getting home."
He sighed. "Right...your meeting. Are you sure you can't ditch with
me?"
I shook my head. "Not on short notice. But, I'll tell the boss I'm
MIA until you leave Friday. Thank you for dinner."
"Thank Maria. I just mentioned I might be bringing you back with
me. I'm glad you came."
It swelled my heart to see him smile at me like that, like I'd
given him something special. "Me, too."
We were at that point where you stall or move to the door. Hug and
say goodnight, or kiss all the way to the car. He kissed me, not
willing to part without dragging out every last second.

By the time my back hit my car door, we were
panting, gulping in air between feverish kisses.
"I...Jacob..."
"Hmm?" He wasn't really paying attention, too busy making me squirm
by playing with my earring with his tongue.
"I need to go home."

He groaned, then wrenched himself free,
putting a foot between us. “You bewitch me.”

“Jacob…”

He meant it, looking as thoroughly affected
as I felt. Oh, I could see how Dream-Beth ended up pregnant and
married in under a year if he'd looked at her like that.
"Bit much even for me, but I do mean the sentiment.”
"I'll see you soon.”
He stole another kiss. "Call me when you're done, hmm?" He opened
the door for me.
Giggling, I said, "You are insatiable, or incorrigible, or,
something." I sat down and pulled my feet into the car.
"Sweet dreams, love.”

Wednesday

Morning dawned with a smile on my face. I
showered and dressed in record time, showing up early to meet the
client and get the tour of the building to be profiled. Forgoing
idle chitchat, I devised a plan for the shoot and turned in my
latest shots to Celeste.

“Here are the proofs, I already met with the
owners, and I’m off duty until Friday after noon. Bye!”

She darted around to block me from the
doorway. “Whoa, whoa! What happened with Mr. Rich and Handsome?” We
weren’t using Jacob’s name in public.

“Um, we had dinner last night and we’re
spending time together until he leaves Friday morning.”

She grinned. “Should I break out the
champagne?”

“We’re just dating. Don’t make a big
deal.”

“Okay, okay… I’ll see you in a few days,
then.”

“Thank you! I gotta go. I’m supposed to call
him.”

She shooed me out. “Get out of here, then.
And I want details this weekend.”

I hurried out of the building, placing my
ear-piece in my ear and dialing his number.

“Ringing me before noon. I’m impressed,”
Jacob said.

I rolled my eyes, which he couldn’t see. "I
told you it wouldn't take long. Where do you want to meet?"
"Depends. How public do you want to be today?"
Crap, I'd forgotten all about the paparazzi. "Not very. Um... I'll
give you directions to a place outside L.A."
He arrived in casual clothes and a baseball cap. I asked for a
quiet table in the back after accepting his short kiss hello, and
told him about the building I'd seen that day over lunch. We got
into a discussion about artistic values in architecture. He
surprised me with how much scenery he took in around him.
"Well, I'm glad you weren't just tuning me out when you stared out
the window," I teased.
He shrugged. "I like looking at interesting stuff. Have they ever
sent you to overseas?"
I shook my head. "Strictly US locations. Farthest I've been from
home was Hawaii, though I only got to stay overnight."
We strolled a beach after lunch, carrying our shoes to feel the
cool sand on our feet. A day off could be any day of the week for
us and this beach was mostly deserted, so we savored the peace and
quiet of anonymity.

He glanced down at my feet as we
walked.
"You know, I don't think I've seen your legs in years," indicating
my calf-length skirt.
"Not much to see," I said. "They're skinny like the rest of
me."
"I prefer to think of you as statuesque. Does your leg bother you
at all?"
"Not anymore. Physical therapy was a bitch and I was glad for the
prescription pain pills. Don't ever have your muscles cut through
to expose your bone. They don't like it."
He grinned. "I'll remember that. What happened to the driver that
hit you?"
"Whole lotta trouble, since he willfully ran through the red light.
Plus, the insurance company sued him to get their money back. He
wasn't covered, big surprise. I was lucky...the only reminder left
from the collision is the scar on my leg from surgery."
He winced sympathetically. "How bad is it?"
"Could be worse. I have this gel to rub on it." I watched the waves
wash back and forth over the sand. "But no miniskirts for a while.
Why so curious?"
"Lots of reasons. I want you to be alright and we haven't had the
chance to talk about it.” He stopped walking and faced me. "I drove
off my best friend. Something needed to change, right? As for the
rest, I'm in love with you and that doesn't switch off. You were a
bitch sometimes, but you were
mine
. I missed you too damn
much to let you go.”
"Gee,
thanks
." I started walking again.
"Why are you here, Beth?"
I blinked, unsettled. "What?"
"I know why I'm with you, but why are you here? Lonely? Horny? Tell
me.” His eyes bored into me to find the truth.
"I-I...it's...we just got together last night. Why are you pushing
me?"
"Maybe I want to know if I can trust
you
, hmm?"
"Jacob... I'd never intentionally hurt you. I wasn't thinking about
hurting you when I left." I sighed, casting my eyes downward as I
dragged my toe in the sand. "I was protecting myself."
He stepped forward and cupped my cheeks in his hands. "From
what?
"