A Week Till the Wedding (12 page)

“Do you think that’s all I can do? Negotiate?”

“Analyze and negotiate. You’ve been doing it since you were twelve.” She ran her hands down his side, reveling in the shape of him, his heat and flesh. “Of course, you do seem to have developed some skills you couldn’t have dreamed of at twelve.”

He leaned over her, and she could not miss the hope in his voice as he asked, “Are you reconsidering your one night only stipulation?”

Daisy turned her face away, dipped her chin even though she knew he could see her no more clearly than she could see him. “No.”

* * *

Get it out of our systems my ass.
It was the middle of the night when Jacob woke. Daisy slept on beside him, out like a light. Naked. Rumpled and flushed and gorgeous. If he stayed in her bed he’d end up making love to her again, and without a condom. That was a chance they couldn’t take. What kind of a jerk would he be if he came home, knocked her up and then left again?

So he grabbed his clothes and made his way out of her bedroom, being very quiet, though he didn’t think Daisy would wake even if he slammed the door.

There was a night-light in the hall, giving off just enough light to illuminate the space so he didn’t run into anything. Feeling like a thief, as if he were intruding, he crept down the hall to open the door on the master suite. It was just as it had been the last time he’d seen it. Same king-size bed, same blue and white striped bedspread. It had been seven years, and Daisy had changed nothing. This was her home, now, she lived here alone, and yet she hadn’t moved into the master bedroom and made it her own.

If she hadn’t done it yet she never would, and he was washed in a wave of sadness. What if she wasn’t happy here, the way he’d thought? What if she was simply stuck?

He used the hallway bathroom, dressed and made his way to the living room. There on the coffee table, melted ice cream and pink strawberry topping leaked out of a white paper bag. Since there was no way he could sleep, Jacob cleaned up the mess, tossing the melted sundaes in the kitchen trash and wiping down the coffee table with a damp cloth. That done he placed the dishes he’d returned to her—his excuse for coming to her door—on the kitchen table. He had no idea where they should be stored, so that would have to do. All the while he tried to be quiet even though he was pretty sure nothing would wake Daisy.

As he puttered around the house, he thought about his decision to court Daisy. Courting was an old-fashioned term, but it was appropriate. And here he was, still smelling her, still feeling her. They hadn’t had the first real date, and he hadn’t brought her flowers or candy. The sundaes...well, they’d never gotten to the sundaes, so that didn’t count. Where did they go from here?

Since she’d declared this was a onetime deal, maybe nothing had changed. He could still attempt to court her. Would she be receptive or would she kick him to the curb? Would she think the only reason he pursued her was that they’d slept together once and he was trying to get her into bed again? Not that he’d mind sleeping with her again, but he wanted more. He wanted everything. How could he convince her that a one-night stand wasn’t enough?

That thought stopped him in his tracks. If a one-night stand wasn’t enough, then a two-week affair wouldn’t be enough, either. Not for him, hopefully not for her. If he still intended to court Daisy, to woo her, to win back her heart...what would happen after his time in Bell Grove was done?

When it came to business, he could analyze and plot and graph a problem into submission, but when it came to planning his personal life he felt woefully inadequate. And really,
what
personal life? Since he’d moved away from Bell Grove his life had consisted almost entirely of work and work-related events. It had taken seeing Daisy again to make him realize what he’d lost.

He’d be doing her a favor if he walked away and didn’t look back. He wasn’t here to mess up her neat, tidy life, hadn’t intended to start something he couldn’t finish.

Jacob collected his wallet and his keys and headed for the door. With his hand on the doorknob, he stopped. If he left, what would Daisy think when she woke alone? If he stayed, how could he
not
make love to her again? He stood in the dark, undecided. For a moment he noted the complete stillness. San Francisco was never still. All night long he heard traffic, sirens and people in the hallway outside his condo. In Bell Grove life didn’t stop after dark, but it did grow still. He’d missed that stillness and hadn’t even realized it.

He needed to go, to get out of here while he could. And yet his hand remained on the unturned doorknob. He made important decisions every day, but since he’d come home the decisions he’d been forced to make were different. This wasn’t business, it was life. A life he’d ignored, a life he’d put on hold.

His grandmother, his parents, Daisy... Was this a temporary aberration or had his life just taken a sharp turn?

Chapter Eight

D
aisy woke with the sun that cut through the miniblinds shining in her eyes. She blinked hard, rolled over to escape the annoying light, pulled the covers over her head and took a minute to remember what day it was.

Monday, her day off. She sighed, closed her eyes tight and settled into the mattress, still half-asleep and hoping to drift off again. Hadn’t she been having lovely dreams?

Jacob hadn’t been a dream. He’d been here. He’d been hers again, for a while. Since she had the bed to herself, she could only assume that he’d left in the night, while she’d been sleeping. Just as well. Given the situation, the morning after might be awkward.

Reality intruded and she couldn’t go back to sleep. She didn’t have to get up and go to work, but the critter man was coming to check out the attic. As if on cue, one of the cursed critters ran across the attic floor above her head.

Who cared about squirrels? She was still naked, a little sore and supremely satisfied to the marrow of her bones.

Jacob
. She shouldn’t give him another thought, but how could she not? Last night had been even better than she’d imagined it could be. Daisy opened her eyes slowly, threw back the covers and reached one curious arm out to sweep the other side of the bed. It was cold and empty. There wasn’t even much of an impression on the pillow next to hers. He’d left a long time ago.

Well, what had she expected? She’d told him sex was a onetime deal, one last hurrah. Why would he stick around?

She rolled out of bed, checked out the clock and groaned. Sammy would be here in less than an hour, so she needed to shower and grab a bite to eat. Clothes would be nice. Daisy grabbed a robe from the closet on her way to the bathroom across the hall. She took a quick shower, pulled on the robe again and headed for the kitchen.

At the end of the hallway, she stopped. A right turn would take her to the kitchen, and that was the plan. But she glanced to the left, and there he was; Jacob, asleep on the couch. Dressed, his too-long body twisted to fit the too-short couch, sound asleep.

Daisy smiled. Relief washed through her, as real and tangible as the water that had washed across her skin moments earlier. Jacob hadn’t left. He should have...she told herself she would have if they’d been at his place...but he was here. He’d stayed.

Why had she ever thought having sex with Jacob would make it easier to let him go?

Since he was sleeping, she allowed herself to just watch him for a few minutes. It wasn’t like this was a chance she’d ever have again. Asleep he looked more like the man...boy...she remembered. In sleep he lost the facade he’d built around himself. That’s what the suits were, she decided, a part of the facade that he’d built to keep others at a distance, to remind everyone, including himself, that he didn’t belong here anymore.

But lately he’d been dressing more casually, relaxing, and last night there had been no distance—and no clothing—between them. None at all.

For a moment, a few seconds maybe, Daisy allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to throw everything away and leave Bell Grove to be with Jacob. She loved her home, her business, her friends, but had she mistaken serenity and a feeling of home for being stuck in a rut? Could she walk away from everything she had, could she leave her life behind? Not that he was going to ask her to do that, but if he did...

She no longer had her sisters to raise, that was true, but nothing else had changed. Her home was here; she belonged here. In California she’d be too far away from Lily and Mari, and dammit, even if they were grown they still needed her. And she needed them. She couldn’t even imagine herself there, a small-town girl in a big city. And she couldn’t imagine Jacob moving back here, leaving his job behind to work with his mother and Ben in the family business. If he’d been interested in that he would’ve done it years ago. No, Jacob would go back to work and she’d do...what? She doubted Bell’s Beauty Shop and Small Engine Repair would successfully relocate to San Francisco. She found herself both excited and terrified by the very thought.

Not that Jacob would ask her...

Not that she’d go...

As she walked into the kitchen to start the coffee, she knew she should be sorry about last night.

But she wasn’t.

She should kick herself for being weak, for giving in, for taking what she’d wanted from—no,
with
—a man she still loved.

But she didn’t kick herself. With a smile on her face she started preparing breakfast, wondering if Jacob was as ravenously hungry as she was.

* * *

Jacob woke to the smell of bacon and coffee. He was twisted into an unnatural position and his back hurt—damn couch—but he wasn’t sorry he’d spent the night here. It would’ve been wrong to sleep with Daisy and then creep out of her house like a thief.

He rolled up, stood, stretched and walked to the kitchen. Daisy stood before the stove, turning bacon in an ancient iron skillet. She wore a short robe. He was pretty sure there was nothing beneath it. Her body clung to the satiny fabric. Did she know how sexy she was in that robe?

“Morning,” he said, his voice gruff.

She didn’t look up from her task, but she smiled. “Good morning. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Me, too.” She opened the oven door and peeked inside. “The biscuits are almost done. It’ll just take a minute to scramble the eggs.”

Jacob walked to the kitchen table. “I thought you didn’t cook.”

“This isn’t cooking,” Daisy argued. “It’s breakfast.”

He didn’t argue with her, he just watched.

As she broke eggs into a bowl, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “The biscuits are frozen. Well, they
were
frozen before I put them in the oven. Full disclosure. I don’t make homemade biscuits, so don’t go thinking I’ve turned into Suzy Homemaker overnight. Eggs are easy. Anyone can scramble an egg.”

“I want to spend the day with you.” Jacob didn’t want to talk about biscuits and eggs. He had this suffocating sensation that time was much too short where Daisy was concerned. He didn’t want to waste a single minute.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I suppose we can spend the day together, but be warned. I have an agenda. The critter man is coming by this morning, and then I have to go to the church and pick up some meals to deliver. That’ll take at least two hours, more if anyone along the way needs their hair trimmed or styled. This afternoon I’m helping my friend Terry—do you remember Terry Hall? She’s Terry Sanson, now, and she’s got three kids!—anyway, I’m helping her paint her bedroom. Lavender. I don’t approve of the color, but it’s what she wants and it
is
her bedroom. Her husband doesn’t care, so lavender it is. Then tonight...”

“Are you trying to scare me away?”

“No.” She glanced his way. “This is my life...it’s a perfectly ordinary start to the week. Monday the shop is closed, so I volunteer and help my friends and take care of problems around the house.”

“And later tonight? After all that is done?”

Daisy turned and looked at him, squarely and strong. “I wasn’t kidding when I said sex was a onetime deal for us. It was great, but don’t think you’ll be spending the night here on a regular basis, or well,
at all,
while you’re in town.”

Jacob kept a straight face as he said, “So, you’re going to use me and then throw me away.”

“Pretty much,” Daisy responded in a bright voice, and then she turned her back to him to see to the eggs.

That robe was maddening. Short, clingy and beneath there were long legs and bare feet. Had he ever seen her in anything that didn’t make her look sexy as hell? Daisy Bell would be tempting wearing a potato sack.

“What if I just want a date?” he asked, his eyes on the curve of her hip beneath the robe she wore.

Moving efficiently, ignoring his question for a moment, Daisy put breakfast on the table. Old china plates, silverware, cloth napkins. Coffee cups that matched the plates. Jam. Three kinds. She finally answered as she worked. “Why on earth would you want to go on a date? Men take women on dates with the hope that they’ll
maybe
have a night like last night. We skipped the dating part and went straight to the real fun. I’d think you’d be grateful.”

“Grateful?” He couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice.

She frowned a bit, looked away from him for a moment. “Look, just eat. The critter man will be here in less than fifteen minutes, and I’m still not dressed. Oh, shoot, I didn’t make grits. Do you want grits? All I have is instant, and they won’t take...”

Jacob reached up and snagged Daisy’s wrist. She went still and silent, but she didn’t snatch her arm away, as she could have. “I don’t want grits. I want you to sit down and eat with me.” She sat, almost reluctantly, and grabbed a biscuit. Then she reached for the strawberry jam and butter, and set about fixing her biscuit as if all was right with the world and she had no other concerns beyond the butter to jam ratio. He glared at her. “And dammit, Daisy, I want that date.”

Daisy took a bite of her biscuit, licked a dollop of jam from her lip and then she looked at him. She could glare, too. “No.”