Unforeseen Danger (33 page)

Jake’s heart stuttered in his chest when she tossed him a seductive glance and crooked her finger at him.
 
He couldn’t have resisted her if he wanted to.
 
They bounded up the stairs together.

Nikki turned up the gas wall heater, although Jake would’ve told her there was no need if he could’ve gotten the words out.
 
Just the thought of making love to Nikki again was making his blood run hot.

“Wait here,” she commanded, as she tied her hair back in a ponytail.
 
“I’ll be right back.”
 
She disappeared into the connecting bathroom, leaving Jake staring after her, wondering what she was up to.
 
He heard the sound of running water as Nikki filled the tub.
 

She emerged a moment later wearing one of his old cotton T-shirts and Jake thought with wry amusement that he couldn’t be more turned on if she was wearing the slinkiest negligee from
Frederick
’s of
Hollywood
.
 

Jake caught a glimpse of black panties as she reached for a bottle on her dresser.
 
Jake hadn’t gotten such a thrill over one quick little flash of underwear since he was an adolescent.
 
She disappeared into the bathroom again, and then reappeared suddenly in the doorway, motioning for him.

“Come here,” she said.
 

He walked over to her and she began unbuttoning his shirt, her eyes never leaving his.
 
Jake shivered as her cool palms pressed against his chest.

“Tonight, I’m going to take care of you, just like you’ve been taking care of me,” she murmured, and pressed her lips to his throat.
 

Jake groaned, caught in the sweetest anticipation of his life.
 
She undressed him, and then led him into the bathroom.
 
Steam rose from the round marble tub and the scent of jasmine perfumed the air.

“Get in,” she said.

Jake shut off the water and winced as he climbed in the tub.

At first he thought he wouldn’t be able to stand the temperature of the water, but then he began to relax as the heat seeped into his muscles, into his bones.
 
Nikki sat on the edge of the tub, dangling her legs in the water.
 
Gently, she guided him with her hands until he faced away from her and began soaping and kneading his back.
 
Jake groaned as she massaged him, her small hands magically pushing all the tension of the last several weeks from his body.
 
The heat acted like a drug, leaving him lethargic and completely at her mercy.
 
He closed his eyes and almost felt like he was floating out of his body.
 

He drifted into some sort of mindless haze and didn’t even notice that Nikki had stripped and climbed into the tub with him until he felt her bare skin press against his back as she massaged his scalp.
 

The hands that had relaxed him moments before now snapped him into awareness as they stroked him.
 
She teased him until Jake could no longer stand it.
 
He twisted around in the tub and suddenly they were face-to-face.
 
He seized Nikki’s waist and pulled her to him, claiming her mouth with his own.
 
His hands glided greedily over her wet skin slick from the bath oil.
 
They made love,
then
played until the water around them grew cool.
 
With some reluctance, they climbed from the tub and
toweled
each other dry.

“I missed you,” Jake murmured, as he reached to stroke her damp, dark hair out of her face.
 
“And I have something for you.
 
I was going to wait for the perfect time, but I think maybe this is it.”

***

Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, Nikki slid beneath the crisp white sheets of their bed and admired the powerful lines of Jake’s body as he dug through his suitcase, clad only in the towel swathed around his hips.

He laid another rose globe on the comforter beside her.
 
Its vivid red and white stripes reminded her of a candy cane.

“It’s a floribunda.
 
The red and white stripes mean unity,” he said, staring at her with those intense blue eyes.
 
“That’s what we have now, more than we ever did before.”

So intent on the rose, Nikki didn’t notice the black box he held in his hand until she heard it creak open.

Stunned, she stared at the platinum diamond eternity band nestled against black velvet.

“I know you don’t remember our wedding, so I’d like to give it back to you.
 
Our anniversary’s coming up in a couple of weeks and I was thinking maybe…”
 
Jake cleared his throat.
 
“Will you marry me, again?”

“Oh, Jake!”
 
Nikki threw her arms around his neck.
 
“Yes!
 
Yes, I’ll marry you.”

She held her right hand out, not sure which hand he was supposed to place it on.
 
He slid the ring on her finger and crawled into bed beside her.

They spent a lazy afternoon in bed, making plans for the wedding and the rest of their lives together.
 

***

November 20

Nikki went to work with Jake the next morning.
 
Although they talked about announcing their ‘engagement’ at Thanksgiving, she couldn’t wait.
 
She and Jake invited their families and Darcy to an impromptu dinner at a local restaurant.
 

Nikki called Sara last.
 
After two different secretaries put her on hold, she was finally patched through to the mayor’s office.

“Nicole, is something wrong?” Sara asked.
 
“Has something else happened?”

“No, nothing like that.
 
We have some good news—”

“Don’t tell me you’re pregnant,” Sara interrupted.

Nikki recoiled from the exasperated tone of her mother’s voice, but forced herself to keep her voice neutral.
 
She felt Jake look up at her when she said, “No.
 
I’m not pregnant.”
 
Dropping her voice, she said, “But would that be so horrible?”

Sara sighed into the phone.
 
“I didn’t mean it like that.
 
I just meant now would be a bad time, until we can find out who’s stalking you—”

“Let’s not talk about it right now.”
 
Nikki leaned back in the chair and pressed her fingertips to her eyelids.
 
She was getting a headache.
 

“Ignoring him won’t make him go away.”

“Nothing’s happened in almost a week.
 
Maybe he’s getting tired of playing games.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, Nicole.
 
What if he
is
tired of playing games?
 
I’m really concerned about you.”

“And I appreciate it, but we can’t put our lives on hold for this psycho.
 
I can’t live like that.
 
We’re inviting everyone to dinner tonight at
Toretto’s
.
 
Can you make it?”

“Is your father going to be there?”

Nikki felt a flash of impatience.
 
“This isn’t about him.
 
It’s about me.
 
I have an announcement and I want my mother there.
 
Are you coming?”

“What time?”

“Six.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Mother,” Nikki said.
 
She hung up the phone and laid her head on the desk.
 
Jake came up behind her and started massaging her neck.

“Umm, that’s nice.”
 
She peeked up at him and said, “Tell me this isn’t going to be a disaster.”

“It’ll be okay,” he said, and she almost thought he meant it.
 
She lifted her head and giving him a
skeptical
look.
 

Jake laughed.
 
“I’m serious here.
 
You don’t remember the really good ones.
 
There were so many different arguments going on it was hard to keep up.
 
This should be positively dull.”

“Let’s just make sure my father and
mother don’t
sit together.”

“Or my mother and Elaine,” Jake said.

Nikki groaned and laid her head back in her hands.

***

Darcy was the last to arrive.
 
She shut the door to the private banquet room and Eliot pulled a chair out for her.
 
Jake waited until she sat down to stand and say, “Can I have your attention, please?”
 

He took Nikki’s hand and tugged her up beside him.
 
“The reason we’ve called you here tonight…you want to tell them, honey?”

Nikki held up her right hand, flashing the diamond eternity band.
 
“We’re getting married…again!”

“We thought we’d renew our vows on December 16
^th
, our anniversary,” Jake said.

Glancing around, he didn’t think anyone looked all that amazed, but at least half of them were frowning.
 
Not surprisingly, Nikki’s mother was the first one to speak up.

“Are you sure you should do this right now?”
 
Sara asked.
 
“What if it just…provokes this man?”

“It’s going to be a private ceremony.
 
The only people invited are in this room.”
 
Jake glanced at Nikki, who looked radiant in her black leather pants and white cashmere sweater.
 
“This is just something we want to do for us.”

Eliot stood and walked up to Jake, holding out his arms.
 
Jake embraced him and he said, “Congratulations, man.”

He repeated his congratulations to Nikki and kissed her cheek.
 
Almost grudgingly, the others stood and gathered around them, offering hugs and congratulations.

“Ah, well.
 
I guess Jake’s in for it when we go camping this weekend,” Zeke said as he resumed his place at the table.
 
“I can only imagine what Matt
Garrettson
and those other hooligans will do to him.
 
Our hunting trip will turn into a bachelor party, right, Eliot?”

Eliot and Jake looked at each other blankly.
 
They had both forgotten about the trip.
 

Once a year, the three of them, along with Matt
Garrettson
and four or five other men, went to spend the weekend at Zeke’s hunting cabin.
 
Although it was technically a hunting trip, very little hunting actually went on.
 
They usually stayed up all
night,
eating Matt’s cooking, playing poker and telling tall tales.
 
Jake had been every year since his teens, first with his father and then with Zeke.

“Uh, Dad, I’m not going to be able to make it this year,” Eliot said.
 
“I have to go out of town.”
 

“Aw, come on, son,” Zeke said.
 
“Can’t you reschedule your trip?”

“Afraid not, Dad.”
 
Eliot shook his head and glanced at Kelly.
 
“It’s important.”
 

“I’ll have to sit this one out, too,” Jake said.
 
“I don’t want to leave Nikki right now.”
 

Nikki squeezed his arm.
 
“I’m sure Catherine will let me stay with her again if you want to go.
 
You need a break from all this.
 
We said we weren’t going to let this govern our lives.
 
I want you to go.”

“Come on, Jake,” Zeke pleaded.
 
“You can’t back out on me, too.
 
Saturday is the last day of quail season.
 
The ladies will be fine, won’t you?” he asked Catherine.

“It could be fun!” Catherine exclaimed.
 
“We can have a ladies’ night, too.
 
Kelly, are you going with Eliot?”

She nodded, and Catherine said, “Oh.
 
That’s too bad.”
 
She turned her gaze on Sara and Jake could almost see his mother-in-law shrink back, even though she didn’t actually move.
 
“Sara, what about you?”

“I have plans for this weekend,” she said quickly.
 
“Sorry.”

“Elaine, Darcy?”

“Count me in,” Darcy said with a sigh.
 
“No hot dates.
 
I don’t have any plans this weekend.”

Elaine stared down at her napkin.
 
“I have to work.”

Nikki sat beside Elaine, and Jake smiled when he saw her nudge his stepsister.
 
“Come after work then.”