Jake swallowed down a lump of emotion. The shared look between them spoke more than he could have imagined. He adored her and it looked as though the feeling was mutual.
“Say something. Anything.” Her voice was a whisper. “Jake, please.”
“I don’t know what to say.” He put the picture on the counter and opened his arms. Bella stepped into them, tucked her face into his neck and hugged him tight. “That is the most beautiful picture I’ve seen. Thank you.” Jake kissed the top of her head and she lifted her mouth to reach for his. Soft at first, he kissed her but she demanded more. Her lips moved against his, stirring his blood into a mix of emotions and need.
Footsteps came into the living room and then hurried away, followed by a soft chuckle. Jake broke the kiss. “Maybe we should take this somewhere more private. No peace around here for us, I’m afraid. What do you say?”
“Let’s go to my place.” She gave his bottom lip a nip with her teeth, sending jolts of electricity to his gut, then paused. “That’s if you’re sure you should be going out. I’d hate to be the one who drags you back to the doctors for overdoing things.”
Jake took her hand and pulled her out of the house. As they passed his father, he called out, “Going to have some private time at Bella’s. Dinner’s on the counter, help yourselves.”
Bella giggled and got in the car for the short drive to the fisherman’s cottage.
*
Snuggled up on the couch with a glass of wine for Bella and a soda for Jake, they talked. “David recognized you.”
She glanced at him over her glass. “The doctor?”
“Yep. His mother’s a fan apparently.”
Bella laughed. “That’s nice. We might have to see if they want to come to the dinner, then. Maybe give them a ticket as a thank you for looking after my hero. Plus, I have to make the most of this for Mari’s sake. She wants the exposure so I’m more than happy to play host if it means she puts the hotel on the map.”
“What about what you want? Would you miss it if you didn’t go back to Seattle? We haven’t really spoken about that. I think after the way you reacted today, it might be a good idea to at least talk about it and see if we can come up with ideas. Float a couple of options and see how we feel about it.”
“I don’t know, to be honest. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am. To throw it all away would be irresponsible on my part and to all the people that helped me along the way.” She bit her lip and looked at him. “But, I love being here with you, you know that.”
“That’s good to hear.” He sipped his soda and looked into the fire. “I want to be with you, Bella. I think we’re good together.”
“I agree. We just have to work out the logistics of it all. Once I redo the last show, I’ll be back here until my enforced break is over. Then there will be some tough decisions to be made.” She snuggled closer. “In the meantime, can we make the most of what we have?”
Chapter Fifteen
Bella opened her eyes the following morning and looked at the man sleeping beside her. Last night had been more than she could have hoped for. She smoothed his hair back from his forehead, looking at the swelling. The bruising had come up over his eye. He’d been so lucky it was only a case of stitches. No concussion, no major injuries. It could have been so much worse. She wondered what it would be like watching him go to work every day not knowing if he would return home. Was she ready for that yet? Her heart said yes but her head still had reservations.
The only thing that jarred right now though was that she had to leave him and get to work. So much to do for the dinner tomorrow night. And she had to chase up Russell. There was no way she wanted to let Jake go and that meant she had to organize her affairs, sort out her future to make it work the way she wanted it to.
Bella slid out of bed and hurried to the handkerchief-sized bathroom for a quick shower. She was dressed and sipping her first cup of coffee when Jake came stumbling out of the bedroom, a picture of rugged male sexiness in a pair of boxer shorts, his hair ruffled from sleep.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” She poured him a coffee, slid it over the counter to him. “I have to go, sorry. So much to do for the big dinner.” She put her cup in the sink. “If I can, I’ll call in tonight but don’t count on it. It’s going to be a late one with an early start again tomorrow.” Bella walked around the counter, leaned up for a kiss and slid her hands around his naked torso. It would be so much more fun to drag him back to bed but she’d promised her sister she would cook for Valentine’s Day and she wouldn’t let her down. It wasn’t her style. “How is the head feeling? Sore?”
“Hmm, yes. Got a thumping headache.” He lifted his hand and gingerly touched the dressing.
“Aspirin in the bathroom cabinet.”
“Thanks.”
“You can go back to bed. It’s peaceful here and no one will disturb you.”
“I can’t. I have to go into work today. Ben can’t deal with the station on his own. There won’t be anyone else that can help him out.”
“Jake, that’s not going to do you any good. You need to rest up.”
He gave her a
