Holding On (23 page)

She leaned over and ran her hands through his rain drenched hair. Then she pulled him in for a kiss. She laughed and broke the kiss short when her chattering teeth interfered.

“Okay,” Jake said. He shook his head at her and smiled as he headed out of the parking lot.

The deluge kept up the entire drive home.
Lightening split across the sky and the tires splashed their way through streams of water that had already formed rivers across the blacktop.

When Jake parked at the cabin, the two of them
darted out into the rain. They had only barely started to dry with the heat from the truck blowing on them. But they were fully drenched once again by the time they got inside.

“I think the rain is supposed to keep up throughout the da
y tomorrow. This isn’t exactly what I’d wanted for the weekend,” he admitted as they stepped inside. “I was hoping for more of a mini-vacation. Not being trapped inside my grandparents’ cabin.”

“I kind of like it,” Quinn admitted.
The cabin was gorgeous. Really, Quinn thought, it was more of a summer home than an actual cabin.

It was log-sided with knotty pine interior. It had a bedroom on the main floor and a loft that was separated into two bedrooms. It was expertly decorated with a warm, cozy outdoor theme.

Jake’s grandma was used to the comforts of home. The kitchen was top of the line with beautiful appliances. The furniture throughout was relatively new and chosen in deep colors that maintained the outdoor theme.

“I think I might actually like this more than the bed and breakfast,” Quinn admitted. She loved the complete and total privacy the cabin provided. “I’ll like it even more if you start a fire,” she told Jake as they walked through the living room.

“I can do that,”
he said. “If you go get out of those wet clothes.”

“Done!”
Quinn told him as she headed to the bedroom.

The cabin was used primarily during the warmer months. The only heat source it had was a fireplace. It was double sided
, set into a wall. One side faced the living room, the other the master bedroom. As soon as Jake had the fire blazing, it cast enough of a glow into the master bedroom that Quinn didn’t need to turn a light on.

She
peeled off her wet clothes and hung them in the bathroom as Jake continued to build the fire up. She peeled back the covers and crawled into bed to wait for him. He followed not much later. Having taken her lead, he’d stripped out of his wet clothes. He’d left them hanging in the bathroom.

When Jake appeared, Quinn
couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. She loved every inch of his gorgeous body. He smiled back at her and her heart took off in her chest. She wondered if there would ever be a time when her body stopped reacting to him that way. She hoped not.

She
flipped the covers back and he scooted into bed next to her. He wrapped her into a hug as he nuzzled her neck.

“Oh my gosh,” she
groaned as his bare skin pressed against hers. “You are so cold!”

“So are you
, baby,” he said with a laugh. He rubbed his hand across her arms, trying to warm her with a bit of friction. “Sorry about that. I knew it was supposed to rain. I should’ve paid more attention to the weather.”

“
Don’t worry about it. I like this,” Quinn murmured. “All I wanted was to get out of the house. I just needed a change of scenery. This is perfect and I couldn’t ask for anything more romantic.”

Jake
lay back on his pillow and Quinn curled up next to him. “It is kind of romantic, isn’t it?” he asked. He sounded surprised.

“
I love it, actually,” she assured him as she burrowed a little deeper under the warm covers. “It’s like our own little slice of heaven.”

The flames were dancing across the walls. They could hear the crackle of the fire and the pounding of the rain on the roof.

“We’ll have to try to get up here a few more time before the baby comes,” Jake told her.

“You know,” Quinn said as she drew circles across Jake’s bare chest, “you never really told me how things went with Luke
when you two were here.”

She felt him shrug. “They went okay. I mean…it was good.”

“Yeah, you said
that
,” she pointed out. “You told me you had a good weekend. What you didn’t say was if you talked things out.”

Jake laughed quietly. “No. We didn’t talk. We just fished. Had a few beers. Went into town both nights and had a good steak…”

“Oh,” Quinn said. She realized then that maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. It wasn’t like guys talked out things the way girls did.

“We didn’t talk about you at all,” Jake said quietly. “I mean, in case that’s what you were wondering. He didn’t bring you up. I thought it was best that I didn’t either.”

“That’s probably good then,” she decided.

“Yeah, I think when it comes to you, we’re just going to have to agree to disagree. Or something like that,” he said.

She shivered against him. Jake pulled her in a bit tighter.

“I love you so much,”
he murmured.

“
I love you too, Jake,” she said as her lips started to make their way across his neck. In that moment, she couldn’t imagine things being more perfect.

Her hand skimmed across his chest and then started to slip lower. He groaned in anticipation. For just a moment he thought he should stop her,
let her lay back against the pillows and relax while his hands explored her body...But then her hand found what it was looking for and all coherent thought evaded him.

17

Quinn and Jake were sitting out on the back deck, on the outdoor glider, enjoying the gorgeous fall evening. Quinn was grateful almost every day for their huge, private backyard. It was skirted with pine, maple and oak trees. Every now and then, wildlife would scamper through. At the moment, a few gray squirrels were running around, chasing each other.

The trees
, with their myriad of colors were gorgeous. The scent of fall was in the air. A slight breeze gently rustled the leaves above. It was what Quinn thought of as the perfect evening. Not too hot to make it miserable to nestle into Jake. But not so cool that she needed a light sweater.

They’d just finished eating hot fudge sundaes. It had become an evening ritual for them. They both knew that the weather would be turning cooler sooner rather than later and they both loved their summer evenings out on the deck. They were enjoying th
e solitude in more ways than one. Once the baby arrived Quinn wasn’t sure just how much time they’d have to relax.

“I’m so glad you two are talking again,” Quinn said as Jake tossed his phone aside.
He’d just been answering a text from Luke. They’d been giving each other a hard time about the upcoming football season.

In the week
s following their fishing trip, it seemed to her that they’d fallen back into their old habits of calling and texting. She was relieved. Luke hadn’t started calling and texting
her
again. She thought that maybe, he never would. And while she wasn’t happy about it, she was at least relieved that the brothers seemed to be working things out.

“Yeah, the trip
really helped things,” Jake said. “I mean, by the end I felt like he maybe didn’t want to kill me every five minutes.”

“I’m sure it’s never been that bad,” Quinn argued.

Jake gave her a look. “Yeah, well, I’ll just let you think that. I don’t want any troubled thoughts entering that pretty little head of yours.”

Quinn frowned at that.

“Oh, hey, none of that,” Jake said. He had his arm around her shoulder and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I just told you, things are better. They’re
better
than better. They’re actually pretty good.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not just saying that?”

Jake laughed as he pulled her into him. He kissed the top of her head. “No. I’m not just saying that.”

“Okay,” s
he said as she snuggled into his side.

“I love nights like this,” Jake said. “This gorgeous weather, being with you. Just relaxing. It’s all feels so perfect.”

Quinn nodded. “I know.”

Jake laughed. “I remember a time when I used to think it all sounded so boring. You know? Back in the days when we’d go out partying every night.
I couldn’t imagine sitting home like an old fuddy-dud. Now…” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t give this up for anything.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Quinn said. It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation. Yet every time Jake brought it up, her chest filled with such a feeling of happiness.

They were quiet for a few moments. Then Quinn sighed.

“Remember we have the ultra sound tomorrow at two,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve got it on my calendar,” he told her. “In fact, I plan on taking the rest of the afternoon off.”

“Yeah?” Quinn asked.
She sat back to look at him, to see if he was serious. They were busy at work. Usually, he’d go back and squeeze in another few hours. Or stay late to make up for the time he missed.

He grinned at her. “I thought it would be nice to spend the afternoon with you. Maybe take you out to a nice dinner?
Then a movie? I can’t remember the last time we went out to a movie.”

“Are you sure you can get away for that?” she wondered.
Even though they’d just come from a nice, romantic weekend at the cabin, a date night with Jake sounded wonderful. But she didn’t want to make things more difficult for him in the long run.

“I thought I’d go in a little early. Get done whatever I can. If I don’t finish, it’ll be waiting for me the next day. I’ll get to it eventually.” With fall coming, the work load was pretty heavy. It never failed, year after year, people would put their projects off until they realized summer was almost over. But it would lighten up soon enough. Especially when winter hit. He let out a content sigh. “I can’t believe how close it’s getting. Pretty soon, it’s not just going to be the two of us anymore.
” He ran his hand over her tummy. He was hoping to feel a kick or two but the baby was apparently napping. “That’s why I wanted to take some time off tomorrow. I really need to spend some time with the woman I love while I still have her all to myself.” His tone was teasing but his expression was serious.

“Sounds good,” Quinn said as she smiled up at him.
After two years just one look from him still made her melt.

“Do you know what sounds even better?” he asked.

“Hmmm?” she wondered as she leaned in. She began placing soft kisses against his neck. She felt her heart flutter as the heat of anticipation swirled through her. It hit her again, as it always did, that she loved him so completely.

“Bringing you
home and having my way with you at the end of the evening,” he answered.

“
Ooohhh
, what way would that be?” she wanted to know.

He got to his feet and pulled her up with him. Before answering, his mouth came down on hers in a long, hungry kiss. She responded by opening her mouth to accept it, moaning into him when his tongue met hers.

Her hands slipped around him and cupped his backside, causing him to moan in return.

“Why don’t you come back to the bedroom and I’ll show you,” he whispered into her ear.

“Oh, I can hardly wait,” Quinn replied. She took his hand and led the way.

*~*~*

Quinn watched the minute hand ticking by. The ultra sound tech was running late. She wasn’t going to complain because Jake was running late, too. They hadn’t told anyone about today’s appointment. Just in case. Just in case the baby didn’t cooperate again. Carly had been so disappointed about not shopping. The rest of the family had bombarded them, wondering, pestering. They’d decided to keep it between themselves for now and share in a few days when they felt ready.

“Where are you?” she muttered.
Another woman, a few seats over in the sparsely populated room cast a glance her way. Quinn gave her an apologetic smile and the woman went back to her reading. Quinn had tried reading a magazine as well. The effort had lasted less than a few minutes. Her nerves were already frayed and she didn’t have any patience to spare.

Jake was typically early. He was usually in the parking lot waiting for her when she arrived. That hadn’t been the case this afternoon.
She’d waited outside for him for as long as she’d dared. He hadn’t shown up and finally, she knew she needed to get inside or she’d miss the appointment altogether.