Jake stiffened. He held his mug close to his mouth and then laughed out loud. As he set his mug down, he turned to Maggie and crushed his mouth to hers, surprised Jake would show affection in such a public place. When he pulled back she was out of breath. Panting.
Jake grinned. “Two ladies making eyes at one hunk of man. Nice!” he joked and leaned towards Maggie. “Of course, I had to show her who was going home with me.”
Maggie shook her head, still a bit dazed.
“You all right?” he asked before taking a long, slow pull on his beer.
“Jake, you’re a big tease.”
“Baby, you haven’t seen nothing yet.”
Maggie swallowed. She couldn’t wait. There was still another night here until they headed back to the Keys.
<><>
Maggie couldn’t believe they were both on stage, singing along with the others in a karaoke type atmosphere. The two were singing and dancing and getting the house rocking with rockeoke. It’s supposed to make you feel like a rock star, the server told them earlier when they stopped by to see what was going on. A live band played behind them on stage.
Some couples danced together while others sat at small tables scattered along the sides of the dance floor. They finished their rock song when Jake requested a slow song. Everyone clapped and urged him on. He faced Maggie and she blushed as the lights dimmed even more and the band began to play a soft tune. “Look into my eyes and you will see what you mean to me,” he began, his voice out of tune but his words going deep. “Take me as I am, I will give it all,” he continued. The words faded as she looked deep in his eyes.
“I would fight for you, I’d die for you,” he kept on, his deep, husky voice reaching into her heart. She reached out and took his hand, happy to see another side of him. This trip was good for them both.
When the song ended she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked in to his smouldering eyes. “Thank you,” Maggie whispered. “That was beautiful.”
They stood there until the clapping began and Maggie’s cheeks began to flame. The audience began to shout and call out for more, but Jake put his hand up and waved them on. He guided Maggie to their table along the dark wall. “Man, I enjoyed singing with you.”
Maggie smiled. She had a hard time talking because her emotions were so over the top. What man will stand up in front of a crowd of strangers and sing a love song when he can’t carry a tune? It was beautiful and crazy and fun.
He took one look at Maggie’s face. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” he told her, taking her hand and guiding them through the crowd. A few guys slapped Jake on the back and he stopped for a moment to make a comment and then moved on until the lights and action of the nightclub faded in the background. The walked down a path lit up by torches. A small garden with foliage and flowers surrounded a stone fountain.
He took Maggie by the shoulders and faced him. Was this it, was he going to propose? Her heart began to pound. She bit her bottom lip and then forced herself to stop. Maggie made up her mind earlier she wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t propose. She had the letter, the one proclaiming his love and his desire to marry her. It was no longer a big deal, she didn’t care if he couldn’t do this one act.
Or did she care after all?
“Maggie, I’m glad you brought me here, even if I wasn’t crazy about the idea at first.” He brushed her hair out of her face and kissed the tip of her nose.
She smiled up at him, knowing it was all she would get from him and that was okay. Her Jake sang a love song to her not many men would do. “I’m very lucky to have you,” she told him and meant every single word. “You are my world Jake Hatfield.”
“I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather spend my life with,” he began to say. Her heart began to pound. She felt hope rise up. “Right now, when I look at you in my arms, all I want to do is take you back to the room and show you how much you mean to me.”
Maggie smiled. “Then let’s do so.” She began to walk arm in arm with him, knowing he would ask her someday. She would wait because he was the guy for her, always.
<><>
“Do you have everything, baby?” Jake asked, packing their bag into the oversized trunk. She nodded and he closed her car door. He leaned down and gave her a long, slow kiss. She reached up and slid her fingers across his cheek.
“I’ve got you and that’s all I need.”
Jake laughed out loud. “I know you need your clothes. I doubt we could get away with driving down 95 without our things, because if I were all you need, I’d keep you naked twenty four hours a day.”
Maggie smiled and then shook her head. “Jake, this trip has turned you into a monster.”
He leaned down for another kiss before walking around to the driver’s side. “I know. You like?”
“Oh yes, me like.”
“How far to your Mom’s place?” Jake asked as he started up the car and thrust it in gear.
“Maybe about an hour,” Maggie said and punched the coordinates into the hand held GPS. She set it back down on the dashboard where her Pap made a special holder for it in case Nan wanted to use the gadget. But Nan never went anywhere without Pap any more except for their little excursion to the hotel the other night. Now Maggie knew why Pap watched her like a hawk. Nan’s mind started to slip a bit and she’d forget what direction she was going. She’d have to make sure she asked Pap if he wanted the GPS back for their other vehicle.
The two pulled up into the driveway of the brick rancher and Maggie gathered up some of the things she wanted to take along. As she filled about five boxes of stuff, along with two suitcases of clothes, she could see Jake began to get worried. “What’s wrong,” she asked.
“I’m not sure we can fit anything else in the trunk,” he told her. “How much more are you bringing along?”
Maggie scanned her old bedroom. There wasn’t much left. “I think that’s about all,” she told him. “I don’t need anything else and these winter clothes can go to charity. Not sure if Mom is going to move to the Keys or not, but it’s all her furniture anyway. I think I have everything I want.”
She looked back one more time as they headed down the road. Maggie felt a bit nostalgic as she left the little town she grew up in. She wouldn’t miss the cold, harsh winters and the people in her neighborhood thought she was a bit of a recluse, but she would miss her grandparents. They were her rock when she was growing up. Her Pap stepped in many times when she needed to have a father for school activities.
Jake reached over and held her hand. “You can come back here to visit any time. I may even come along if we make a pit stop in the land of love,” he teased. “It was a great time.”
Maggie laughed. “I’m fine, Jake. I will miss this neighborhood, but I’ve been a loner most of my teen years. The only people left here are my grandparents. My head has always been lost in books.”
“The Keys are good for you Maggie. You have new friends now like Abby and Sarah and they love being with you.”
She agreed. “Ever since you fixed up the bungalow for me, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“Yeah? About what, me?”
She punched him in the arm. “Oh Jake it’s not always about you.”
He grinned. “It should be, I always think about you.”
Maggie blushed, remembering the night before and where they made love. If those walls could talk, the ones in the sauna and the pool room and the stairs leading to the bed! She sighed.
“It’s bliss, isn’t it, the things we did last night?”
“Mm, yes. We made great memories.”
Jake laughed. “One’s we can’t tell our kids or grand kids someday.” All of a sudden he got quiet. He must have realized what he said and clamped up. Any time he talked about a permanent situation he struggled with something inside.
She reached over and rubbed his arm, letting him know it was all right. “Stop torturing yourself Jake. I don’t expect anything more than what we have right here, today. So don’t worry.”
“You don’t want me to propose to you?” He slammed the gear shift in to third, slowing the engine down.
She turned to face him. “Yes I do but I know something is holding you back from asking and I want to tell you it’s all right. I know when you’re ready to do it, you will. No worries.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “My contract with my current publisher is up at the end of the month. I’ve been with them since I was eighteen and although they treat me well, I decided not to sign on again.”
Jake raised a brow and looked at her. “You’re a great writer. What will you do?”
Maggie leaned back in her seat, pushing her sunglasses down. “I’m going to self publish future work in my own name, Maggie McCoy.”
“After hiding under a pen name for so many years, that’s a big step. What made you decide to change?”
Maggie shrugged. “You did. When I saw the office you fixed up for me, it gave me a feeling of accomplishment. I belong in that office now and I’m ready to take the next step in my life, revealing who I am. My readers know the author was a pen name, but they never knew who was behind the name. Now they will all soon know.”
“You belong with me, Maggie. In the Keys, in that space. It’s your home now.”
His words meant so much to her. It was enough for now, but someday, she knew he would be able to ask her to marry him. Meanwhile, she would build her publishing business so big, the world would get to meet who was behind those saucy romantic novels at last.
Chapter 5
The pink Impala cruised down 95 through Washington DC and Virginia, making great time in the late afternoon. “I think we may be able to hit the Carolinas this evening sometime. That’s if we don’t get stuck in work traffic.”
“Well, I made reservations at SOB, so let’s hope we can get there tonight.” Maggie shut off her cell phone and turned up the music, feeling around until she found the lever to push her seat back. She stretched her legs and then let them dangle out the window, her bare feet hanging over the side of the car as they sped along in the passing lane. She closed her eyes and hummed to the music.
The roar of a motorcycle sounded so close by. Maggie opened her eyes as the car began to slow down and then she screamed as loud as she could, right before Jake’s booming laugh reached her ears. An old biker, long grey hair and beard, a ragged band around his head, reached out and brushed her foot with his hand, trying to tickle her feet.
He roared, a hearty laugh she could hear over the rumbling of the bike’s engine. Maggie jerked her feet inside of the car and shook her head, a smile creeping on her face. The biker lifted his hand in a salute and revved his engine, roaring off down the highway.
The two laughed over the crazy biker and after a while, Maggie pointed out the window. “There it is, the signs I’ve been waiting to see.”
“Pedro signs?” Jake asked.
“Yes, here’s a great one,
Chilli Today, Hot Tamale
. I read a lot about South of the Border, never been there before. The owner was ingenious to launch these crazy signs all along the highway for hundreds of miles.”
“When you said SOB, do you mean we are staying at South of the Border tonight?”
Maggie nodded. “Yes. We still have a few days left of our vacation. You promised me ten, remember?” she crooned, knowing he didn’t mind stopping at all. Besides, he had to be tired of driving all these hours. When she offered to take over, he refused and said the man does the driving. Jake had such an old fashioned way about him. It was nice and yet at times annoying.
“Oh ha! Look at that one,” Maggie laughed out loud and pointed. A large hot dog in a bun with Pedro’s big smile and the words
You Never Sausage A Place like South of the Border-25 miles
. She grabbed her cell and snapped a photo as they sped by.
“I’ll be glad to stop for a night,” Jake told her. “We made great time. We may be back in the Keys in no time.” His gaze fell to her downcast eyes. “Maggie, what else do you have in store for our road trip?”
“I can’t tell you yet. I will say the rest of the road trip is in Florida and you will love where we go next.”
His eyes went back to the road. “I can’t wait.”
After miles of highway, the signs came more often. Jake and Maggie started to read them aloud together as the Impala sped by in the flow of traffic.
Keep Yelling Kids, They’ll Stop
and then they were there with a last sign that said,
Welcome To South of the Border
.
“First place we’re going is to the Sombrero Restaurant,” Jake mentioned. He took Maggie’s hand and and guided her past the Reptile Lagoon and the 97 foot giant cement Pedro. The statue’s legs were so wide they could walk right through.
“What about our room, I booked it earlier?” she asked Jake, who was still dragging her behind. She tried to get a few photos of the giant chickens and pink flamingos but he wasn’t paying attention.
“The room will wait, I need food.”
After dinner, they walked around and he let her take all the photos she wanted. They took the glass elevator to the top of the two hundred foot Sombrero Tower and gazed out over the Carolina countryside. Neon lights sparkled and twinkled and lit up the border.
“I think our room is waiting,” Jake said as he nuzzled her neck. He stood close, his warmth closing in on Maggie until she turned to face him.