Kiss Me (6 page)

Jake was standing at the stove, shirtless and barefoot. 
Kaylie stopped in the doorway and just stared.  His muscles flexed as he flipped bacon then reached to stir the scrambled eggs.  He was so beautiful he made her mouth water.  Also, she had a moment to think that it was dangerous to make bacon shirtless.  Just as she started to smile, Jake jumped.

“Shit,” he said, using a paper towel to swipe at his chest.

Smirking, Kaylie went to the coffee pot.  “I was just about to warn you that it probably wasn’t too smart to cook bacon without your shirt.”

Jake chuckled.  “I know, but I didn’t want to go through my day with my clothes smelling like pig.  The other officers
would follow me around all day.  They’re worse than cats chasing catnip.”

Kaylie
giggled as she poured herself a cup of coffee and added sugar.  “Good to know.  Do you want my frilly pink apron?”

His frown said it all, so
Kaylie just shrugged and drank her coffee.  She watched as he took the bacon off the burner and put it on a plate covered with a paper towel.  Sensing breakfast was almost ready, she went to the fridge and grabbed a container of strawberries.  While Jake finished the eggs and plated the food, Kaylie washed and cut the stems off the berries.  She placed the bowl full of strawberries on the table at the same time that Jake served up their breakfast.

“Strawberries?” he asked, looking at the fruit doubtfully.

“Protein is good Jake, but fruit is important too.  Now, eat a few and shut up,” Kaylie insisted.

Jake smirked at her but put a few berries on his plate. 
Kaylie took a huge bite of eggs and hummed.

“Wow, you finally learned how to cook, didn’t you?” she asked.

He grinned at her.  “I’ve been living alone for a while now.  It was either learn to cook or get fat on constant take-out.”

Kaylie
nodded as she took another bite.  They ate in silence for a few minutes until a low yowl sounded.

“What the hell?” Jake asked.

Kaylie waved a hand.  “Ignore it, it’s just Beans.  He thinks he should get bacon and eggs like the rest of us, but the vet put him on a strict diet.”

They both turned their heads to look at the door to the kitchen.  Beans sat in the middle of the doorway, ears flat against his head, eyes narrowed.  He did not look like a happy kitty.

“Is he going to attack?” Jake asked.

Kaylie
smiled and took another sip of her coffee.  “No, he’s just trying to intimidate you.  Ignore him.”

A few minutes later, they were done
. Beans realized there was no food for him, so he sashayed out of the kitchen, probably to take a nap.  Kaylie started cleaning up the kitchen, as Jake went into the bedroom to get his shirt.  A sense of unreality hit her while he was gone.  What in the hell was she doing?  After six years apart, she fell into bed with Jake and now they were having a cozy breakfast?  Her hands clenched into fists in the dishwater.  God, she was such a fool.  Kaylie’s brain was racing. She wasn’t sure of his motives but, whatever they were, she knew this wasn’t a good idea.  However, Jake Coulter did things to suit himself.  He could be sweet and generous, but he always stuck to whatever plan he had come hell or high water.

Jake came back into the kitchen and
Kaylie whirled on him.  “What exactly is going on here?” she demanded.

He walked to the sink where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her waist. 
Kaylie went rigid, but he ignored it.  “Well, we spent a nice evening together last night, had an even better morning, and breakfast.”  He tightened his grip on her when she tried to rip her body away.  “We can discuss everything else tonight.” 

Before
Kaylie could respond, Jake pressed a light kiss to her neck, another to her lips, and exited the kitchen through the side door that led to her carport. 

“Son of a bitch!” she yelled.  Beans had come back into the kitchen and sat by her feet, looking up at her. 
Kaylie glanced down at his furry face.  “What just happened?”

Completely unmoved, Beans started licking his paws and bathing his head. 
Kaylie took a deep breath and finished washing the dishes.  It looked like she would be going into work early today.  Maybe she could get those gowns designed and to the seamstress before the end of the day.

The day had been hell. 
Kaylie dragged herself through her front door.  She could not wait to take a bubble bath.  She just wanted to wash the day away.

It started when s
he arrived at the shop two hours before they opened, only to find Blair there doing paperwork.  As soon as Blair saw her, she grinned widely.

“Someone got lucky
last night!  So who was he?” she asked.

Kaylie
scowled.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Blair merely folded her hands over the desk and gave her a level look.

Kaylie stomped over to the chair facing her friend’s desk and flopped down.  She threw her head back and put her arm across her eyes.

“I’m not sure what happened.  One minute I was minding my own business, the next we’re eating pizza on my couch and watching movies.”

“What?” Blair asked.  “No nookie?”

Kaylie
peeked out from under her arm.  “I didn’t say that.”

Blair rested her chin on her hands.  “Well, let’s get to the good stuff.”

“I can’t talk about it, Blair,” Kaylie said.  “I’m not even sure how we got to that place.  Yesterday I practically hated his guts and now it’s like we never broke up.”

Blair was so quiet that
Kaylie moved her arm to look at her friend.  Blair’s mouth was hanging open.

“Seriously?
  You got it on with Jake??”  She threw her head back, laughing long and loud.  “Oh, this is great!  You guys are back together and I helped!”

Kaylie
held up a hand.  “Wait just a damn minute.  I wouldn’t say we’re back together.”  Her teeth clicked together when she saw the look on her friend’s face.

“Kay, sweetie, that man has it bad for you.  If you’re not back together, it’s because you don’t want to be, not because of him.”

Kaylie frowned.  “He didn’t say one word about that.  He wanted to straighten everything out, deal with animosity, so we could move on.  I mean, we’ll be seeing each other a lot while you and Kevin are planning the wedding and Jake didn’t want our awkwardness to make anyone else uncomfortable.  Jake showed up last night, we had dinner, hung out, and the sneaky bastard waited until I was asleep before he jumped in bed with me.”

Blair gestured for her to go on. 
“And?”

She groaned.  “I woke up this morning and he was still in bed with me.  And
like an idiot, when he snuggled into me, I snuggled back.  The next thing I know, we’re kissing and taking our clothes off.”

Blair grinned, looking like the cat that got the cream.  “Oh, so you didn’t do it until this morning?  Is that why you’re in so early?”

Kaylie scowled.  “Shut up.  I’m confused as hell here.”

Blair got up from behind her desk and walked around to
Kaylie.  She put an arm around Kaylie’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

“Sweetie,
I understand, believe me, I do. But right now, try not to worry about it.  I don’t know Jake as well as you and Kevin, but I’m pretty sure he’ll set you straight very, very soon.  I also know if he doesn’t, your brother will give him a nudge.”

Kaylie
sighed.  “I’m sure you’re right.  I just don’t understand what he’s thinking.  I never got him the way I did other guys and now it’s even harder to know what he’s thinking.  All those years as a cop gave him a damn good poker face.”

Blair gave her another squeeze.  “I’ll tell you what.  You hole up in your office and I’ll take care of the front when we open.  You can be all moody and reclusive today.  It will help your image as a designer.”

Kaylie rolled her eyes but decided to take what her friend was offering.  “Thanks, B.  That sounds perfect.”  She stood.  “First I think I’m going to walk down to the coffee shop.  Do you want anything?”

Blair went back to her desk and sat down.  “Sure, get me a caramel macchiato.”

Kaylie nodded and headed off on her errand.  When she returned, she made a beeline for her office and sealed herself inside.  She worked the rest of the morning until Blair stuck her head in to ask what she wanted for lunch.  While she ate the salad that Blair picked up for her, her phone chimed.  Kaylie looked at the screen and couldn’t help the little twitch in her tummy when she read the message from Jake.

Thanks for dinner last night.  I missed u.  See u 2night.

Kaylie really wanted to text him back and tell him no way, but she wanted answers.

She typed,
What time?

She tapped her fingers on the desk top while she waited for his response.  Her phone chimed again.

After 6

Kaylie
stared at the screen.  It was so surreal and weird to be making plans with Jake after so many years apart.  She finally answered.

Ok

She put the phone off the side and stared into space.  Doubts and insecurities whirled through her mind and she hated it.  She wasn’t used to feeling anything but utter confidence in her choices.  Even if they turned out to be the wrong ones, she knew that she would learn something from the experience.  Now, Kaylie didn’t know what in the hell she was doing.  As much as she wanted to hope that she and Jake were headed somewhere special, it was hard to believe.  He’d walked away once and left her heartbroken.  She wasn’t sure she could handle it again.  He said she seemed unaffected but he had no idea how many nights she cried herself to sleep or never slept at all.  He didn’t know about the ache that had lived in her chest for months afterwards until she forced herself to start dating again.

Jake also didn’t know about how she cried the day after she had sex with another man for the first time after they broke up.  While Jake hadn’t been her first lover, he was one of a few and he had been special.  When she finally opened her heart up enough to make love to someone else, she hadn’t expected it to feel so different, so alien.  The man had been sweet and very good, but he still wasn’t Jake.  They broke up soon after. 

Kaylie scrubbed her hands over her face.  Even if Jake wanted to start again, Kaylie didn’t know if she could.  There was so much history between them.  So many hurts, both big and small, she didn’t know if she could let them go, even if she really wanted to. 

Resigned, she went back to her sketches and tried to focus on the details.  The seamstress was expecting her later in the afternoon to give her the designs, choose fabrics, and go over measurements.
  Kaylie didn’t have the time to brood.  She managed to finish her work and got ready to leave.  She exited the office and headed to the front room of the shop. 

“I’m headed out, Blair,” she said to her partner.

Blair watched her for a second.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kaylie.”  She walked to Kaylie and gave her a quick hug.  “It will all be okay, babe.  You’ll see.”

Kaylie
just nodded.  “I’ll talk to you later, B,” she said before she headed out the door to her car.

Two hours later,
Kaylie pulled into her driveway.  She gawked at the vehicle parked in front of her house.  Apparently, Jake wasn’t kidding about coming by that evening.  It was barely even six.  Tired and annoyed, she grabbed her bag and climbed out of the car.  She went in the side door to the kitchen and stopped dead.  Jake was standing in front of the stove, obviously cooking.  It smelled delicious. 

She just stared at him.  “What are you doing?”

He finished stirring whatever was in the pot and put the spoon down on the stove.  Kaylie tried not to grimace when she saw the mess he had made.  Jake grinned at her as he wiped his hands on a towel and walked toward her.

“I’m making spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread for dinner.”  He leaned down and kissed her.

She took in the mess on her stove and decided to appreciate the thought rather than say anything about the destruction of her kitchen.  Kaylie threw her bag on the counter by the side door.

“Thanks, Jake.  It smells good.”  She blinked as he handed her a glass of red wine.  After a sip, she sighed.  “That’s even better.” 

Jake went to the fridge, pulled out a big bowl of salad, and set it on the table.  Then he went back to the stove to check on the pasta and sauce.  Kaylie watched him.  She was back to being confused as hell.  Draining her glass, she went to the bottle for a refill.  Finally she had to speak.

“You’re earlier than you said you would be,” she remarked.

He shrugged.  “My meeting got cancelled so I decided to make dinner.”

She didn’t say anything else while he dr
ained the pasta and put everything in a serving dish.  He placed the platter on the table and pulled out a chair for her.  She sat down, slightly dazed, as he went to the oven and pulled out a baking sheet that held garlic bread.