He shrugs with a hint of shyness that’s adorable, but then I find most things about Jake adorable. “Same here, baby.” He nods toward Icing. “Should we get out of here? I’m starving, and I heard they’re serving pulled pork sandwiches before the hayride.”
“Yes, let’s.” I take his hand, letting him lead the way around the bakery to where I parked the car this morning. “But we have to save room for half a dozen s’mores, too. Maddie made me promise.”
He lets out a long, labored sigh. “Sounds like a rough job, but if you promised…”
I giggle and hand him the keys. “You drive. I don’t see as well when it starts getting dark.”
“You really are getting old, aren’t you?” he teases, earning himself a punch on the arm before I settle into the passenger’s seat.
“That’s right,” I say as he joins me in the car. “I am getting old, so you’d better let me get to sleep before midnight tonight.”
He shoots a look my way so intense it makes me shiver. “Then we’ll have to leave the hayride early. Because I’m going to need to be inside you for at least an hour. Maybe two.”
I let out a shaky breath. “Dirty talker.”
A wicked grin curves his lips. “Nah. That wasn’t dirty. I’ll show you dirty later, when I’ve got you under me and I’m telling you how good your pussy feels hot and tight around my cock.”
“Oh, stop. You’re terrible.” I fan my face with both hands as he pulls out of the parking spot. “I never should have told you how much I like that.”
“Like what? When I talk about how much I love fucking you? How much I want to bend you over the couch as soon as we get through the door and—”
“Okay, fine,” I cut in, my nipples already hard and aching for his touch. “Home to do that couch thing first, but then straight to the hayride. I paid for four dates, damn it, and I mean to have them, mister.”
“And I mean to have you,” he says pulling out onto the street.
Ten minutes later we’re naked and Jake is proving that the couch thing, paired with dirty talk, is every bit as much fun as he made it sound on the way home. I come so hard I have to be carried to the shower and am incapable of forming complete sentences until we’re dressed and on our way to the hayride.
I’m so blissed out not even Jamison’s hard look from the other side of the bonfire as Jake and I claim our s’mores kit can bring me down.
Jamison will come around. Once he realizes how happy Jake and I are, he’ll let go of all the old bullshit the way I have.
The past is the past; Jake and I are the beautiful now.
I’m so content, so certain Jake and I are meant to be that I forget the past has long arms, arms that can reach out when you least expect it and drag you back into the dark.
Chapter Nineteen
Jake
Another week flies by, each day with Naomi sweeter than the last, and suddenly the big night is here. The Fireman’s Ball. Our last official date. And what’s shaping up to be a very big night.
I haven’t been this dressed up since my wedding day, but as Naomi, Faith, and I step through the doors to the historic mansion rented out for the event, I’m glad I let Naomi talk me into a tux.
This ball is downright swanky.
Mitzy and her decorating committee have outdone themselves. Boughs of holly drape the walls, gas lanterns flicker on the tables at the edges of the room, and bundles of mistletoe tied with red and gold bows hang from the ceiling, ready to give couples an excuse to kiss in public.
Not that I need one…
As I help Naomi out of her coat, I press a kiss to her bare shoulder, no doubt in my mind that I’m here with the most beautiful woman in town, let alone at the event. In her floor-length, black sleeveless gown, Naomi looks like she should be at an opera premiere in New York, but I’m glad she’s here instead.
Very glad, indeed.
She flashes me a warm, shamelessly smitten smile, the one that leaves no doubt in my mind that I’m loved. And appreciated. And special to this woman in a way I don’t ever want to be to anyone else. The moment sends a fresh wave of gratitude rushing through me.
I’m so grateful for her, for the love we’ve found a second time, and for the gift of the next seven days.
I haven’t taken vacation time for nearly two years, but starting tomorrow, I’m off for an entire week. Naomi and I have plans to do nothing but cook, eat, watch old movies, play chess, and make love in every room in my house—breaking only to have Christmas Dinner with her family before returning to my place for more of the same.