“I’ll be here more often. I’m working with Greg for a while.”
“And then?” Deliver me from temptation. An alluring idea was growing. What would it hurt to enjoy these moments with Jake, even if brief? I bowed my head, scooping the remaining foam into little piles on the surface of my tea while summoning the courage to look at him. I lifted my cup and peered over the rim.
His solemn stare met mine. “Forget it,” he said. “Ridiculous idea.”
My inner voice begged me not to get hurt. Not again. Yet … What if? However, my weakness for this particular man could never change the actual facts. I swallowed hard. “Yeah, grief rebounds never work.”
His grip tightened on his cup, but other than that, neither of us moved. “That’s not how I see this, but …” Jake looked down. “I won’t pretend it isn’t difficult and strange, but I want to start living again.”
Imagining the pain this sweet man had endured, I covered his hand with mine. “Are you truly ready,” I said as I traced my fingertips over the faint pale line on his bare ring finger, “to be with someone who’s not her?”
Jake glanced up. “The hardest part is when people—especially women—look at me like you’re looking at me right this second.”
I straightened, swaying toward him.
“Conversations stop when I enter a room. Her name is never mentioned—at least not in front of me. You and Luci did it at the wedding. I could tell you were grilling her about me. Maybe about her.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s always that sad pity combined with pathetic euphemisms.” He lifted his head. “My wife died, suddenly and unexpectedly. I didn’t lose her, she didn’t pass. She died.”
“What happened to her?”
He shook his head. “Not sure I can get into that.”
“Then I can’t get into whatever this is supposed to be. The push and pull of extracting details from you is exhausting. Anyway, how bad could it be?”
“Can this be about us? Just for now? Everything in my life is about everyone else, but with you, I can be me. I want something real again, to see where it goes, just like I would with any relationship. I want that someone to be you.”
My grip on his hand tightened. Maybe the thought of being with Jake wasn’t so outrageous. At least he didn’t seem to think so. Yet … “Should it be me? You’ve had zero relationships since her. The very definition of rebound.”
“Real. Not zero,” he said. “None of them were you.”
“Maybe I’m the worst choice. We have history.” This felt too real, too intense. “You’ve barely taken off your ring.”
“It’s off because it’s past due. My marriage was complicated and not always happy, and it’s time to let it all go.”
“It’s only been six months.”
“I’m aware. The timing doesn’t make my feelings for you less real or true.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, yeah. It’s weird but taking off my ring lifted the weight and stress. All I’ve done these past few days was think about you, and me, and us, and our future.”
“You thought about us? As a couple?”
He nodded. “Constantly.”
Our fragile bond strengthened as we looked at each other, then faltered, his smile widened, but then faded.
My head bobbed, my body acknowledging what my mind scarcely comprehended. I drew in air, steadying my breathing against the staccato beat in my ears. Not too late to back out. But no. This was Jake. Even considering the challenges his young daughter and the distance added, this relationship might be worth the gamble.
“Want to get out of here?” I nibbled my bottom lip, hoping to send an alluring invitation. I’m sure I failed, but if what he said was true, he wanted far more than sex.
That familiar, adorable grin appeared as he rose to his feet and shoved his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. He hauled me to my feet and grabbed the box with my replacement mug, then urged me toward the door. On the street, he wrapped his fingers securely around mine as we hurried through the deepening darkness to my front door.
A giggle broke free as I fumbled with the key fob and pulled him into the lobby. Between kisses we stumbled into the elevator.
Jake propped himself against the side with one hand, the other curled behind my head as he leaned in and captured my lips again. “I’ve missed you, Mare.” He pressed his lips to the tender flesh on my neck. “I’ve missed this.”
As I tipped my head to the side and closed my eyes, the ache in my heart expanded. What if I’d never walked away? Then another little voice begged me to live in the here and now, where all things were possible.
In the now, Jake pinned me almost immobile, practically devouring me, not stopping until we reached my floor.
“Wait.” I flattened a palm against his chest as I wobbled one step backward. “Wait …”
“Weren’t we …?” He closed his eyes. “See? Stupid,” he muttered.
“No, but let’s slow down. We have all night.” I unlocked the door and beckoned him inside, taking the box from him. “Make yourself comfortable.”
“It’s like our first date.” He hung his jacket and slipped off his shoes.
“It’s our first date for the second time.” I moved through to the kitchen, unpacking my mug and setting it on the counter before selecting a bottle of wine and two glasses.
His warm breath brushed against my skin as he arrived behind me and leaned in, setting the wine bottle aside before his mouth was on mine again. He brushed the hair back from my face. “I love you.”
“You do?” The little tingles running through me made me shiver, as I caressed his impossibly warm, smooth skin.
Jake caressed my hip, drawing me closer. “I never got over you. Not sure I ever will.”
Maybe this was a fantastic dream, but no harm in letting this wonderful fantasy play out. I wound my arm around his neck as
