Susan Johnson - Wine, Tarts & Sex

“Can we leave now?” Jake murmured.

“Will your girlfriend let you?” She couldn’t resist.

“Smart-ass. I might ask the same of you.” He nodded toward the bar. “There’s a helluva lot of guys over there.”

“I was going to draw straws tonight.”

“You wouldn’t have made it to the door.”

She smiled up at him. “I love it when you go all cave man on me.”

He grinned. “I know what you love, babe. Believe me, I’ve been thinking about it nonstop for three weeks. Want me to drag you outta here?”

“Tempting, but under the circumstances”-she glanced around-“we should probably be discreet.”

He laughed. “I didn’t know you did discreet.”

Her brows flickered. “I have my moments. Let me say good-bye to Shelly, and then we’ll go.”

“Your place or mine?”

“You’re not alone-right?”

“I’ll kick them out.”

She just loved how he casually offered her the world. He didn’t equivocate; he did as he pleased. Or in this case, how she pleased. “If you don’t mind the drive, let’s go to my place.”

“I’m not the one who usually can’t wait. You sure you can make it? We could check into a hotel.”

“I like waking up in my own bed.”

“Done deal, babe. You talk to Shelly, I’ll give Eduardo a heads-up.”

“She might put a hex on you.”

“She would have already if she could. Don’t sweat it. I can handle Elena.”

Liv almost said, I’ll go over there with you , but restrained herself. It was a rare totally adult moment apropos her out-of-control passions for Jake Chambers. She’d been pretty much in the grip of demon desire since she’d met him, and now, look, she was acting all grown-up. “See you in five,” she said with a smile.

He gave her a quick, assessing look as though trying to gauge her bland expression. “You sure? Come with me if you want.”

“I really don’t want to.” She liked that she meant it. No jealousy, no paranoia, no doubt he’d be back.

“Gotcha.” Bending low, he dropped a light kiss on her cheek and walked away.

“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.