“Yeah, I agree. Look, I can see you’re dead on your feet. Go and sleep and give me a call when you want to talk about this. Even though I was shocked it was mainly because I don’t like being left out of things, especially something that involves me. I hate when things hit me out of the blue like that.”
Jake pushed her away and gave her a tender smile. “I do love you, Bella Moore. We can iron out the problems when you’re capable of a decent discussion. Go.” He pushed her away and closed the door, hoping like hell she’d go and sleep off her exhaustion.
The following day, an invitation was delivered to Jake at the fire station in a basket with a gift wrapped package.
“Oh man, looks like you’re in trouble.” Ben watched him unwrap the Notting Hill DVD.
“I don’t get it.” Jake slid his finger under the flap of the envelope and pulled out a card.
Miss Bella Moore
requests the pleasure of the company of
Mr. Jake Woods
For Valentine’s Day make-over dinner
Tonight at 7 p.m.
At the pink cottage,
Flathead Lake foreshore.
“What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall.” Ben chortled and walked away.
The stress over their relationship, the decision to put away his memories. It all fell from his shoulders. This was his last chance to convince her the pair of them could work and he wouldn’t waste it. He adored Bella, and if it had turned out that she had to go back to Seattle, he’d have gone with her. Luckily for him, it hadn’t gone that way. Now all he had to do was convince her she’d made the right decision and, despite his earlier misgivings, he was good with what she’d done. Somehow he would ignore the publicity and roll with it. Anything to be with the woman he loved.
He lifted his head to the sky and let out a whoop of joy. With only a couple of hours before he had to be there, he walked into the office and clocked out for the day.
*
Bella jumped at the knock at the door. She’d been waiting for hours, or so it seemed, and hadn’t heard the truck pull up.
She opened the door. Jake stood there with a bouquet of daisies and the movie in his hands. “I hear there’s a dinner happening here tonight.” He smiled and then frowned when he saw what she was wearing.
Bella leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “There certainly is.” She kissed him, nipped at his lips and then lost herself as his arms reached around her.
His mouth pushed against hers, hungry and all encompassing. Bella got lost in the sensations that flowed through her body. The urgency, the passion, and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“Wow.” When Jake pulled back she sucked in a deep breath. “That was just what I needed.” Bella took his hand and dragged him into the living room. “We need to talk. Is that okay?”
He placed the DVD on the television cabinet and stood with the daisies in his hands. “Sure.”
She dropped down onto the couch and started to talk. “I have to apologize. I had no right letting them use you like that. It was unforgiveable of me, no matter what reasons I give you.” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t have a good excuse but in my mind I wanted to save you the stress of worrying about the details until I knew what my options were. Working with the studio can be daunting and I didn’t give you enough credit to deal with that. I’m used to handling everything myself and not having anyone to lean on.”
“Bella, it’s okay.” Jake sat down beside her. “You did what you had to. I get that now.”
“Yes, I did but only because I thought it was what you wanted too. I tried to stop them but, in the end, the bottom line was that if I wanted to stay here with you, I had to agree.”
He put the flowers down. “So what exactly did you agree to?”
She sucked in a deep breath and hoped it was what he wanted too. “When they said I had to redo the last episode and I made the offer of a new series, I made it around the premise that it would be shot in Cherry Lake. They will come here, film each episode and go back to the city, leaving you and me to our lives.”
“So you’ll still have your television series as well as the books?”
She wanted to wipe away the frown on his face because she knew what he was thinking. “Yes, and it’s going to be totally different to my other show but that’s all I’ll be doing. Mari has a new chef so all I have to do is concentrate on those two things. And you and Cory of course.” She held her breath.
“Are you sure you still want to go that way, Bella? I don’t want you regretting your decision. Your whole life has been geared toward the glitz and glamour of your show and the people that surround you. You might miss it once it’s gone.”
She laughed and leaned into him. “Oh no. Not a chance. It took me going back to the city to be one hundred percent sure of what I want but it’s all here in Cherry Lake. I spent a couple of frantic nights in my apartment waiting for the legal department to nut out my contract. I couldn’t sleep, wishing I was back here with the peace and quiet of the lake outside my door and you by my side.” Bella stoked her finger around the scar on his head, the stitches gone and the bruise barely noticeable. “I put my apartment on the market before I left. It’s not me. It
