Waiting for You (2 page)

“Okay, okay. But you should at least say hi to Erin.”

His mind was a blank. “Erin?”

Jenna stared at him. “Erin Shaw. Allison’s friend? She was at the house all the time when we were kids. And she worked on the farm every summer.”

An image flashed before his eyes—pale gold hair hidden under an ancient baseball cap, and serious gray eyes behind thick glasses.

“Yeah, I remember her. I’ll say hello if I see her. Okay? Now go do the bride thing.”

He kissed her on the cheek and felt a surge of relief when she left him. He tossed off the rest of his scotch and signaled the waiter for another one.

As he waited for it to come he found himself thinking about Erin. His memories of her seemed to belong to a different era, as if a hundred years instead of ten had gone by since he’d seen her.

She’d started coming to the house when he was in high school. He’d barely noticed her at first—she was just another of Allison’s friends, and quieter than most. But she’d fallen in love with the Landry farm, and so she’d been around a lot.

She worked long hours with the family every summer. She was so small and fragile-looking that they’d worried about her at first, but Erin always insisted on toughing things out.

She nearly killed herself stacking hay one year. The bales were heavier than usual that summer—some kind of calibration problem with the baler. Allison called it quits after half an hour but Erin refused to be beaten, working beside him and Jenna until she was almost shaking with exhaustion.

He’d never seen a girl her age so fierce and determined. From that day on, Jake had been curious about Erin Shaw.

His curiosity had never been satisfied. Unlike every other teenager on the planet, she didn’t like to talk about herself. He’d learned that her parents were divorced and that she lived with her dad, and that was about it.

But he always enjoyed her company. She was so shy and serious most of the time that it was a real pleasure to make her laugh, and he did it as often as he could. The biggest surprise of all was finding out that underneath her quiet exterior lurked a sense of humor…and that she could give as good as she got.

He smiled suddenly, remembering the day he’d taught her and Allison to play pool. Erin had approached the game with her usual determination and some pretty inventive trash talking, making Allison laugh so hard at one point she’d snorted milk through her nose.

He’d seen less of Erin as the end of high school approached. He was getting ready to enlist in the Army, something he’d wanted to do from the time he was twelve. In seventh grade he’d done a school report about his grandfather, a World War II veteran, and the idea of military service had gotten under his skin.

Six years later, his goal hadn’t changed. He enlisted after graduation and went to basic training, and forgot all about his sister’s friend until he was home on leave the next summer.

That was the summer Allison and Erin turned sixteen. Their birthdays were just ten days apart, and his parents had decided to throw the girls a joint party.

The memory of that night brought an unexpected rush of feeling.

His hand tightened around his glass as he remembered the kiss in his parents’ kitchen. The kiss that shouldn’t have happened. He’d stayed up half the night thinking about it, and then stayed away from Erin for the rest of his leave, to make sure it didn’t happen again.

Jake shook his head slowly. It had been a long time since he’d thought about that kiss. God knows enough had happened in the months afterward to drive anything else out of his head. His youngest sister, Megan, had been diagnosed with cancer that summer. Then came 9/11, and his first tour of duty to Afghanistan. Other deployments had followed—three to Iraq and one more to Afghanistan.

So, yeah, it had been a while since he’d thought about Erin. His job had always kept him focused on the here and now, on the mission in front of him…and she’d been Allison’s friend, not his.

But now, for some reason, he found himself looking for her.

She’d be twenty-seven now. Would he even recognize her if he saw her again? Would she recognize him?

He only scanned the dance floor a few seconds before he spotted her.

He knew immediately that it was Erin, even though she looked very different from the girl he remembered.

She was still small, although her high heels gave her a few extra inches. Her pale gold hair was twisted up into a knot. She was wearing a strapless dress that started just above her breasts and ended just below her knees, and hugged every curve in between.

She was stunning.

Her transformation wasn’t a total surprise. He’d seen a hint of what was to come the night of her sixteenth birthday. But he’d been remembering Erin as a teenager, and the woman he was looking at now was all grown up.

He didn’t make a conscious decision to move. He was out of his chair and making his way towards her before he had time to think about it.

The song ended with a flourish and everyone paused to clap for the band, including Erin and the guy she was dancing with.

He reached out and put a hand on her bare shoulder.

He must have startled her, because she spun around to face him. Her gray eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink, and she looked so damn pretty it was hard not to stare.

“Jake,” she said blankly, as if she couldn’t believe he was there.

“Hi, Erin. It’s nice to see you again.” He glanced at her partner, wondering if this was her husband or boyfriend. “I’m Jake Landry,” he said, holding out his hand.

The guy nodded. “I remember you from high school,” he said, shaking hands. “I’m Seth Irving. I was in Allison’s class, so you were a couple of years ahead of me.” He turned to Erin with a smile. “Thanks for the dance,” he said. “Are you going to the reunion this year?”

She nodded. “I’ll be there. I’m trying to talk Beth into coming, too.”

“I’ll see you in a few months, then. Have a good night, Erin.”

“You, too.” Seth disappeared into the crowd as couples parted and regrouped, getting ready for the next dance.

Not her husband or boyfriend, then.

Erin looked back at him, her cheeks still pink. Jake was concentrating on keeping his eyes on her face and not letting his gaze dip down to all the bare, creamy skin revealed by her dress. It was silver gray, the color of moonlight, and matched her eyes exactly.

Erin was the first to speak. “It’s good to see you, Jake. I’m sure you hear this a lot, but…I’m glad you’re home safe. Everyone is.”

“It’s good to see you, too.”

And it was true. He’d run into plenty of old friends and acquaintances since coming back to Iowa, but this was one of the few times he’d felt honestly happy to see someone again.

“How have you been?” he asked after a moment.

“Fine,” she answered. “And you?”

“Fine.”

The band had started up again, this time playing an R&B song. It was something slow and sexy, the kind of music it was hard to dance to unless you were with someone you wanted to hold close.

Erin looked uncomfortable. She glanced at the couples near them and then back at him. “We don’t have to dance,” she said. She tucked a loose curl of golden hair behind her ear, and he followed the movement of her fingers.

“I don’t mind,” he said.

She smiled faintly. “No, it’s okay.”

It occurred to him that
I don’t mind
probably wasn’t on the list of things women dreamed of hearing on the dance floor.

“It really was nice to see you,” she said, taking a step back.

He knew an exit line when he heard one. In another moment she’d be gone.

Once again he acted without thinking, reaching for her hand.

“One dance,” he said, even as he wondered what the hell he was doing. He didn’t like to dance, he wasn’t interested in starting something with a woman, and he’d been avoiding social interactions for the last four months.

But as his hand closed over Erin’s, he realized that the numbness that had become a part of him had given way, just for a moment, to something else.

A spark of curiosity. Erin Shaw had been an unusual teenager, and he wondered what kind of woman she’d become.

And he wondered what it would feel like to hold her in his arms.

Chapter Two

Her heart thumped against her ribs. Blood rushed to the surface of her skin, making her feel warm all over.

“Okay.” When her voice squeaked a little she cleared her throat. “Okay,” she said again.

Standing this close to him, she could see details she’d missed from across the room. The beginning of crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. A faint scar that ran from his right temple to his jaw.

And his eyes…his eyes were so different. They used to show what he was thinking and feeling, but now they showed nothing at all.

That was why she’d started to leave the dance floor. Jake’s expression was so remote it was hard to believe he really wanted to be here. She assumed he’d only said hello to be polite, and that with his obligation to a family friend out of the way he’d want to get back to his table, his drink, and his solitude.

Now she was acutely conscious of Jake’s strong, callused hand as he pulled her towards him. He slid his free arm around her waist, and goose bumps prickled her skin.

She couldn’t believe this was really happening. It was so completely unexpected—one minute she was talking with an old high school classmate, and the next she was dancing with her old high school crush.

She felt lightheaded, and she wasn’t sure if it was Jake or the three glasses of champagne she’d drunk—or both. The music was slow and sultry, the kind that lured you into a fog of sensuality with every beat.

Jake was so much taller than she was. Her eyes were level with the middle of his sternum, which meant she was staring at his chest. Specifically, she was staring at the third button down on his crisp white dress shirt.

A minute went by.  
Stop looking at the button.
She needed to look up at Jake and say something casual, to show him how comfortable and relaxed she felt right now. But the longer she stared at the damn button the more self-conscious she felt, and the less she could imagine meeting Jake’s eyes. Ever again.

She took a slow, shaky breath. What was wrong with her? She was dancing with Jake Landry, something she’d never done before and would probably never do again, and it was time to stop worrying and enjoy the moment.

She didn’t look up. Instead, she turned her head and rested her cheek against his chest, smiling a little when she felt the button press into her skin.

His arm tightened around her.

His body was so warm, so solid, so strong. She breathed in his scent, clean and masculine, and let her eyes drift closed as memories surfaced.

She’d met Allison’s family when she was thirteen, and they welcomed her the way they welcomed everyone: with open arms. She loved their farm from the first moment she saw it and helped out with the chores as often as they’d let her.

Allison’s brother Jake was three years older, and the cutest boy she’d ever seen in her life. She was too shy to talk to him at first, even when he talked to her. But he was always relaxed and easy-going, teasing her like he did his sisters, and before long she could carry on a conversation with him without turning bright red and stumbling over her words.

But she hadn’t fallen in love until the day she saw him with Pepper.

She’d come over to the Landry’s like she did most Saturday mornings, and found Jake lying on the living room sofa. He was wearing gray sweatpants and an Iowa Hawkeyes tee shirt, and there was a small black kitten curled up on his chest.

No one else seemed to be around, and Jake looked relieved when he saw her.

“Hey, Erin. Would you grab me the TV remote from that chair over there?”

She brought it over to him, and he thanked her. “I didn’t want to disturb Pepper here,” he explained, and Erin realized he meant the kitten.

She must have let her surprise show in her face, because he went on. “We found him out in the fields a few days ago. We brought him home but he’s been a little wild, not really letting us pet him, you know? Then I came back from my run this morning and laid down for a second, and he hopped up on me and started purring like crazy. And now he’s sound asleep.”

He grinned. “I guess I’m a sucker, but I don’t have the heart to disturb him. So thanks for getting me the remote.”

She just nodded, watching him turn on the TV and flip through the channels until he found ESPN. She stayed there a minute, watching the gentle way he stroked the kitten as he watched the sportscaster talk about college football. Then Allison came running down the stairs and the two of them went outside.

It wasn’t until that night, lying alone in her bed, that she admitted the truth to herself.

She was in love with Jake Landry.

If she hadn’t fallen in love with him then, she would have in the ninth grade when he stopped a bunch of older kids from teasing her. She’d gotten so good at being invisible that it didn’t happen very often, but that day in the lunchroom one of the seniors, Mike Schuster, had gotten the idea of stealing her baseball cap and playing keep away with it.

She was nearly in tears when Jake showed up. Mike took one look at Jake’s face and handed the cap back to her without a word.

“I hate guys like that,” was all Jake said afterwards.

She could hear in his voice how much he really did hate it—the cowardice and cruelty of bullies. She remembered his expression when he’d come into the cafeteria and saw what was happening.

And in that moment she was sure she’d love Jake Landry for the rest of her life.

The song was coming to an end. First the percussion dropped out, then most of the brass, leaving the piano and a lone saxophone. Finally it was just the sax, low and haunting and sweet.

She and Jake were swaying together in perfect rhythm. There was no stiffness now, no awkwardness. She was pressed against him, his arm tight around her and her hand clasped in his, and everywhere their bodies touched she felt heat.