Wine, Tarts & Sex

Forty-two

“Was she mad?”

The valet was bringing up the car. Jake looked at Liv blankly for a moment before the identity of she registered. “I didn’t notice,” he casually said. “Elena’s going back to L.A. in the morning anyway. Eduardo’s taking over for me for a while.”

Sweet, sweet, sweet, Liv thought, trying not to openly gloat. “For a while, how nice,” she said, politely, when she was really thinking she finally understood the true meaning of the phrases, on top of the world, on cloud nine, happy as a lark, et al.

He smiled at her bland reply. “You bet your ass, it’s nice. The way I’m feeling right now, I may not let you out of bed for a month.”

She blushed, his look so scorching it sent shock waves through her body. “Except for work; I have to work,” she murmured, trying to keep some perspective on her life, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I don’t have time for a holiday right now unless you help me out.”

“No problem. I’ll help you do all kinds of things, babe,” he said, husky and low.

“You two have yourselves a good time,” the valet said with a wink, having overheard Jake’s remark.

Jake grinned. “Thanks, man.”

The men exchanged keys and money, Jake helped Liv into the car, and minutes later they were on the freeway north.

Jake was holding Liv’s hand, their arms resting on the console between them. A song about love lost and found was quietly playing in the background, and if it was possible to measure happiness, the aggregate sum in the car would have been off the charts.

“I’ve never felt this good in my whole life,” Liv murmured, smiling at Jake.

“Ditto here, babe,” Jake said with a smile so sweet it could have been packaged by Hershey.

“One sure can’t plan, can one? I mean, fate sometimes takes a hand, doesn’t it?” She squeezed his hand. “Who knew you’d be at Quantum tonight?”

Since he’d been there almost every night lately, he did. But he understood what she meant. “We should probably send Shelly a thank-you gift.”

Liv smiled. “She’ll be happy enough saying I told you so. She’ll rub it in forever.”

“She won’t get any complaints from me. Or from Eduardo, either. He’s been giving me worried looks for a long time.”

“Wow,” she softly exclaimed. “I absolutely adore being this happy!” One person apparently could turn on that switch.

“And we’re staying that way, baby. From now on.” But even as he spoke, he knew he’d have to take a chance on wrecking that blissful state. He had to apologize for his remarks about her wine. Or did he? Could he just let it go? Could he pretend it never happened?

At some fundamental level, he knew he couldn’t. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be open and aboveboard with a woman-a shocking admission from a man who had preferred obtuseness in all his previous female relationships.

But Liv was different-better in every conceivable way-important to his damned peace of mind, not to mention his sex life and general happiness.

“I want to apologize for what I said about your wines,” he said bluntly, going for broke. “It was rude of me and wrong and insulting. And I couldn’t be more sorry.”

“Thanks. I suppose I didn’t have to get all bent out of shape, either. Everyone has different tastes.” She smiled. “And selfishly, I like my wines, so what other people think doesn’t matter.” She’d had plenty of time in the last three weeks to assess the comparative value in holding a grudge or getting what she wanted-in her case, orgasm-wise, contentment-wise, maybe even love-wise. And seriously, she knew wines pretty damned well, and hers weren’t all that bad.

“Still, I could have been-”

“Less of a liar?” she said, her brows raised.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t want to piss you off. That’s my only excuse. It’s not a good one, I know, but I’m more than willing to do penance. And as far as your wines go, teach me about them. I’d like to learn.”

“Ummm… penance: what a nice idea,” she said with a grin. “I’ll have to start my list.”

Jake laughed. “Christ, you’re making it sound pretty damned good. I wish we’d had this talk sooner. I could have saved myself three weeks of feeling like shit.”

“Why didn’t you call?”

Her directness caught him off guard. “I suppose,” he said, debating how best to answer, weighing tact and honesty against her possible response, “I was trying to tell myself that I could live without you. I figured I’d gut it out, my craving for you would go away, and everything would be as it was.”

“Would you have ever called?”

He didn’t answer for such a long time, she tried to pull her hand away. But he held on tightly, and when he spoke, it was clear he was trying to find the right words. “I’ve never before… felt the way I do about you. It’s like waking up on another planet and trying to get your bearings in a whole new landscape. But I would have figured things out eventually. I sat at the end of your driveway a couple times at three in the morning, wanting you so badly I could taste it. So, sure, I would have called. For one thing”-he grinned-“I couldn’t be celibate forever, and no other woman appealed to me. That’s one powerful incentive.”

“So this is about sex?”

He gave her a narrowed look. “You trying to start a fight?”

“So it’s not just about sex.”

“Is it for you?”

This time she didn’t answer for a lengthy interval. “No,” she finally said.

He half-smiled. “It’s not so easy, is it?”

“No.” She nibbled on her lip for a moment. “It’s not just fun and games this time. It’s not even close.”

“Exactly. We’re mapping uncharted territory-right?”

She finally smiled, a real smile, not one that you could have offered to just anyone. A warm, for-you-alone, loving smile. “We’ll have to make sure we don’t fall off the end of the earth. But despite all the unknowns, I’m happy I walked into Quantum tonight.”

“Not as happy as me. I think my heart stopped for a second when I saw you. It sure as hell felt like it. I realized then that this-you and me-wasn’t business as usual, no matter how much I might want it to be.”

“I kept telling myself I could pick any of the guys Shelly and I were flirting with and have as much fun with him as I did with you. In fact-”

“Don’t say another word. I’m getting pissed just thinking about it.”

She gave him a considering look. “Are you jealous?”

“No shit.”

She smiled, liking that they were in accord. “Me, too. Your old girlfriend was making me see green.”

“She was never a girlfriend.”

“She apparently didn’t agree with you.”

“Whatever.”

The indifference in his voice was a gift-really like something from Cartier or Tiffany. But she wallowed in her smug happiness for only the amount of time it took her to begin to wonder whether he would be speaking of her in that same tone before long.

That was the huge problem with wanting someone too much, she decided. It screwed up your independence big time. “We have to keep this relationship-and I use the word loosely-in perspective,” she said. “For instance, I don’t want to get all rankled and bitter if you look at another woman.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You’d better be, ’cause if you look at another man I’m gonna get cranky. Forget this perspective, shit.”

“Be reasonable, Jake. You won’t even be here a few months from now.”

“Who says?”

“I do. You have two restaurants on the West Coast and a house or an apartment there, I presume. You aren’t seriously thinking about settling down in Minnesota are you?”

“Maybe I am.”

“Hey-you don’t have to say that.”

“The thing is, I’m thinking about it. Or,” he said, holding her gaze for a moment, “I was also thinking that you might not be too busy in the winter, and we could, like, split our time between here and the West Coast.”

She smiled. “There’s no need to sweet-talk me. I understand all the practicalities. Okay?”

“Just for the record, I’m not sweet talking you. And also for the record, I’ve had three weeks to deal with missing you, so I’m mucho serious about making some plans.”

“Could we talk about it in the morning?” The last thing she wanted to do was fight right now, and any talk about leaving her vineyard was bound to be a contentious conversation.

“Good idea.” First things first, his libido cautioned, highly in favor of conviviality at the moment. Plenty of time for complexities after a few orgasms. “Tell me what you’ve been doing since I saw you last.”

“Whining and sulking and pretending I didn’t miss you.” Jake laughed. “Funny, I was doing the same thing. Only difference was you were farming, and I was cooking.”

“How long can you stay?”

“As long as you can stand to have me around.”

"Yum… what a pleasant thought. Like you’ll be around-”

“To give you whatever you want, whenever you want it.”

“Oh my God,” she whispered, every nerve in her body revving up on hearing his promise of sexual pleasure. “Do you think you could drive just a little faster? I mean, if you think it’s safe enough this time of night.”

At the tremor in her voice, he shot her a look, quickly debating her bed against his backseat. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He checked his rearview mirror and the road ahead. “Are you gonna make it?”

“If I waited three weeks, I can wait another twenty minutes. ”

He floored it but noted her restlessness as she shifted in her seat. “Think about what you might want for breakfast,” he suggested, trying to get her mind on other things. “In the morning, I’ll bring you breakfast in bed.”

“Jeez, you know… I am hungry.”

He was pleased to hear a degree less impatience in her voice. “I’ll make you something tonight then-afterward.”

She turned to him and grinned. “You said that the first night I met you.”

“That’s right. We ate tapas.”

“You say that like you didn’t remember.”

“No, no, I remember.” Now. “I just don’t ordinarily cook for women, that’s all,” he added. “You must bring out the Boy Scout in me.”

“Lucky me.”

“Lucky us. What do you think about Tarte Tatin for breakfast?” He figured if he kept talking food, they’d make it to her bed. That small backseat was murder for a man his size. Not that there hadn’t been a time when he’d been perfectly willing to make the adjustment.

But not now-if he didn’t have to. “You eat eggs, right?”