Though both sisters’ eyes were similar, he thought Ali’s eyes were prettier.
“I always wanted you.” Darcie put her hand on his chest again. “We were so good together, so hot.” Somehow she rose up and pressed her lips against his. He remained motionless. Maybe curiosity was the reason he allowed her to kiss him. To see if there was still something between them. When nothing happened, he pulled back, relieved.
He started to tell Darcie to leave when something caught his attention. He looked up and saw Ali standing in the doorway. The hurt look on her face made his own heart ache.
He called as he started toward her, but she quietly disappeared.
“Ali, wait!” he shouted again. He hurried after her, but his cumbersome cast slowed him down. She was upstairs when he finally made it to her room. He knocked on her bedroom door, but she didn’t answer. “Ali, please let me in. We have to talk.”
Darcie strode up the stairs and past him to her room. “Knock on my door, Jake. I won’t leave you out in the cold.” She smiled, then went inside.
“Ali, please.” He continued to knock. “Let me in.”
Ali finally jerked open her door. “Will you stop making so much noise. You’ll wake up Joanie.”
“I’ll shout the house down if you don’t listen to me, Ali.”
She raised her chin stubbornly. “There’s nothing to say.”
“There’s plenty to say. What you saw isn’t what you think. Darcie came into my room. I tried everything to get rid of her.”
“Did the kiss work?” Ali asked.
“All right, so I let her kiss me. She wasn’t going to leave me alone until I proved to her that she didn’t mean anything to me. You’re the one I care about.”
He watched her blink at the tears in her eyes.
“Jake, it’s really late. I have to go to work early. Can we talk about this some other time?”
“Damn it, Ali. You aren’t even listening to me. Darcie came after me because she knows that I want you, not her.”
Ali felt herself go soft inside. Jake wanted her… not Darcie. Her sister had been the one who’d gone to Jake’s room.
“Oh, Jake,” she cried as she went into his arms.
“I’m sorry, Ali. I really tried to get rid of her, but—”
Ali put her finger over his mouth. “I don’t want to talk about Darcie,” she said as she rose up on her toes and kissed him.
She wanted to block out all their problems. For just a short while, they could pretend that everything was perfect between them, that Jake wasn’t going to work for his father to please her.
And if things didn’t work out, would that drive Jake into Darcie’s waiting arms?
“I’m sorry, Ali,” Jake whispered as he pulled back. “I’d do anything to keep from hurting you. You know it’s you I care about.”
She nodded. “I know, Jake. You’ve made so many changes for me and Joanie.”
“That’s because I want us to be a family.”
“But, Jake, you don’t have to go to work for your father. I know how hard that is for you. I know you hate the plant.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Look, I told myself I was going to give it a shot. I can’t make you any promises, Ali, but if it doesn’t work out, we’ll face our options together.”
Ali was afraid. “Maybe we should postpone the wedding until you see if the job pans out. And you’ve only been out of the hospital a short time…”
Jake backed her against the wall, pressing his body against hers. “I don’t need any more time. I know exactly what I want, Ali. You.”
Chapter Twelve
Three days after Christmas, Dave called Jake and asked if he would mind coming in to the plant to familiarize himself with the operation. Jake agreed, since hanging around the house meant he had to put up with Darcie. He couldn’t wait for her to return to New York, to the job she’d claimed was so hectic. He’d even help put her on a plane. Maybe then, things would get back to normal and he and Ali could get on with their lives.
What lives?
Even though he and Ali had talked things out the other night, she’d still been distant, acting as if she didn’t deserve to be happy. How was he going to help her get rid of the guilt, when she believed she’d taken away her sister’s man?
Jake cast all thought aside, as he pulled up to the plant, then got out of the car into the cold morning.
Dave met him at the door. “Glad you could make it.” He shook Jake’s hand and ushered him inside.
Together they walked through the remodeled section of the plant, the newest high-tech equipment already in place. A work crew was busy adding the finishing touches and testing machinery. As Jake walked past the assembly line, his heart thumped loudly in his chest. Although the army had been his only job since college, he found he was getting excited about this opportunity.
They stopped at a glass-enclosed room. “This will be your office.”
Jake stepped inside the small room that was taken up mostly by a scratched gray metal desk and a dented file cabinet. He certainly couldn’t accuse his father of showing his son special treatment.
“I know it isn’t much,” Dave said, almost looking embarrassed.
“It’s fine,” Jake assured him. “I’ll be on the floor the majority of the time anyway. Right?”
Dave nodded. “You’re in charge of the crew. In fact, we’ve already hired a first shift.” He went to the cabinet and pulled out a thick file, which he handed to Jake. It was the employee listing. “We trained them the week before we shut down at Christmas.”
“When do I get trained?” Jake didn’t want to appear incompetent before the crew. His years in the military had taught him the importance of having the respect of those under his command.
“I’d like to have you come back tomorrow if you can make it. Ruth Carson, one of our best employees, will be showing you the ropes. Watch out, she used to be in the military also. Marines. Still thinks she’s a drill sergeant.”
Jake groaned and Dave laughed.
“Now, Jake, we’re not expecting miracles, so take it easy. I’ll be around to help until you get used to the job.”
“What time do you want me here tomorrow?”
“Eight will be fine.”
Jake nodded. “Dave, next week my cast comes off. I’ll need to go in for physical therapy. I’ll try and set it up for after hours if possible, but I’m not sure of the therapist’s schedule.”
“Take whatever time you need,” Dave said, then grinned. “I bet it’s going to feel good to be walking on two feet again.”
Jake hoped the same thing. But he still didn’t know if he would be able to walk without a cane. Would he have a limp? He worried about Ali’s reaction. Would it make a difference to her? She’d said it wouldn’t, but one thing he knew for sure: he’d do his damnedest to come to her a whole man. He waved his cane. “You don’t know how badly I want to burn this thing.”
“I’ll bet.” Dave shook his hand. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Eight o’clock,” Jake verified. Both men started out when Jake felt as if someone was watching him. He glanced up toward his father’s office. A woman stood at the large picture window. Darcie? He blinked and looked again. It was Darcie.
“What the hell…?” He charged across the machine floor, heading for the elevator. When he reached the third floor, he marched through the reception area, and without stopping to have the secretary announce him, he swung open Cliff’s office door.
He found Darcie seated across the desk from Cliff Hawkins. She smiled, but his old man looked nervous.
“Now, why doesn’t this surprise me?” Jake closed the door to keep their business private.
“Hello, Jake,” Darcie said. “I just stopped by to see Cliff. After all, he was almost my father-in-law.”
Ignoring Darcie, Jake directed his gaze at his father. “So you’re the one who brought her home.”
Cliff rose. “No. I admit that I called Darci
e months ago when you had your accident, but she let me know that she couldn’t come back.”
Jake raised an eyebrow.
“Believe me, son, I was desperate,” Cliff admitted. “I needed to find some way to bring you out of the coma. But then Ali stepped in to help. And I’m crazy about the idea that you two are going to be married.”
Jake should have known that Darcie wouldn’t have time for anyone but herself. It was Ali who’d been there, who had always been there for him.
Darcie rose from her chair. “It’s a good thing I’m back now. Someone has to stop you from making a big mistake.”
“Mistake?” Jake asked.
“Marrying Ali.”
Jake’s fist clenched at his side. “Why is marrying Ali a mistake?”
His father stood. “You two need to work this out alone.” Cliff quietly exited the room.
Jake glowered at his father’s back, cursing the man for leaving him alone with Darcie.
He turned back to her. “Why is marrying Ali a mistake?”
“You shouldn’t have to pay forever for one night of passion.”
Jake stood still for the longest time, finally realizing how selfish this woman was. It was hard to believe that he’d ever thought what he’d felt for her was love. But he’d been young, and there was no doubt that Darcie was beautiful and had sex appeal. What high-school boy wouldn’t go for her, and overlook the quiet, reserved twin sister?
His thoughts turned to Ali. She was beautiful, too, but in a different way. Her beauty was quiet, subtle, both inside and out. Darcie’s was only skin-deep.
“I have a daughter, whom I love. She and Ali are my future now. Why can’t you understand that?”
Darcie moved around the room in her trim-fitting slacks and tailored blue blouse. “Because I know you, Jake Hawkins. I didn’t say you couldn’t be Joanie’s father. You’ll be a good one. But you don’t have to marry Ali.”
Jake folded his arms over his chest. “What if I want to?”
Darcie looked unconvinced. “And live in this town the rest of your life? I hear you’re going to work for your father, Jake. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have run away from our wedding. You know how much I wanted the big house on the hill and dreamed of you going into partnership with your dad. It could still happen.”
It still hurt to know that Darcie had never really wanted him, only what the Hawkins money could buy. “You and I wanted different things then, Darcie.”
She came up to him and smiled. “As I remember, we wanted a lot of the same things, too.”
He stepped back. “You have a tendency to remember just what you want to.”
His rebuttal didn’t seem to faze her. “I remember a lot of things, Jake. How you couldn’t keep your hands off me. How we’d make love all night…”
His jaw tensed. He could only remember the passionate loving he’d shared with Ali. “That was a long time ago, Darcie.”
“But I still care about you.”
“If that was so, why didn’t you come back when Dad called you about the accident?”
Her smile fell. “I tried…really. I just couldn’t get away. I called the hospital, and they kept me informed on how you were doing.”
Jake watched her, finally realizing that Darcie Pierce didn’t care about anyone but herself, and probably never had. “Ali found time. She was by my bed for hours.”
“Well, hurrah for Saint Ali,” Darcie said. “But I guess ‘saint’ is the wrong word for her. She probably planned this for years. Then, when she found her chance—when you were vulnerable—she seduced my man into bed.”
Jake shook his head. “Maybe what Ali and I did wasn’t right, Darcie. But I won’t let you blame her. I seduced her.”
“Only because I broke your heart.”
“Damn it, Darcie. Not everything is about you.” He drew a deep breath and ignored her hurt look. “Get this straight. I wasn’t thinking about you when she and I made love. Ali was the one I wanted that night, and every night thereafter. I haven’t thought about us being together in a long time.”
Darcie tensed, her eyes piercing him. “I don’t believe you. You loved me, Jake.”
He shook his head. “Maybe once, but I’m not even sure of that. I do know that I love Ali and our daughter.” He suddenly stopped at the realization of his words. He smiled. He did love Ali. He had for a long time.
Darcie opened her mouth, but closed it before uttering a word. She turned, grabbed her coat and headed for the door, then stopped. “We were together too long, Jake, for you to forget me so easily. You’ll come to your senses and want me back. If you’re lucky, I’ll take you.” She walked out.
Jake collapsed against the desk, feeling as if he’d just gone ten rounds in a boxing match. How was he going to convince Darcie it was over? More importantly he needed to convince Ali she was the woman he truly loved.
On New Year’s Eve, Ali stood at her jewelry box and picked up Jake’s engagement ring. It was hard to believe that he’d only given it to her a week ago. She clutched the diamond, then brought her hands to her mouth. The stone felt cool and hard against her lips, the brilliant fire shadowed by darkness.
Everything had changed since Darcie came home. Now she was taking some more time off, saying she’d been working too hard. Would her sister always be a barrier between her and Jake? A ghost from the past who would prevent them from being happy? Seeing the two of them together that night had made Ali realize that Jake would probably always have feelings for her twin. Would Jake be like Darcie said and quickly grow tired of living a quiet life in Webster with her? Would wanderlust hit and take him away from her, and Joanie?
A soft knock on the door drew Ali’s attention. She put the ring away and went to answer it. Jake stood in the hall.
He smiled. “Hi, Ali.”
“Jake.”
“I know it’s late notice, but I was wondering if you’d spend New Year’s Eve with me.”
“Jake, I can’t go out. Who will watch Joanie?”
“We can celebrate here.” He stepped closer. “I just want us to start the new year out right…together.”
A shiver raced through her. “I’d like that, too.”
“Good.” He bent his head and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
Ali knew she should protest, but it had been so long since Jake had touched her…kissed her.
All too soon, he pulled away and smiled. “I promise you more of that at midnight.”
She blushed.
He slowly traced her cheek. “I’ve missed you, Ali. I’ve missed you like crazy.”
Between his words and his touch, every nerve ending in her body throbbed with longing. “I’ve missed you, too. We won’t be alone tonight,” Ali told him. “Gran June is having a few of the neighbors over.”
A sexy smile appeared across his handsome face, and desire radiated from his well-deep eyes. “That’s okay. I just want to be with you. Besides, the company will have to go home sometime. Then, Ali-cat, you’re mine. All mine.”
Ali’s heart tripped. Oh, my. He made it all sound so perfect. So very perfect.
It was after eleven-thirty, and the party was in full swing. Most of the guests were neighbors who could walk home if they had too much to drink.
Jake played bartender, talking and joking around with everyone while he purposely made the drinks weaker. And Ali noticed that he didn’t have anything stronger than ginger ale himself.
Jake fit in so well with her life—soon to be their life—in Webster. Her thoughts, as usual, went to Darcie. Her sister was absent from the festivities. She’d gone to a friend’s party, which made it easier on everyone.
After mingling with the guests, Ali went into the kitchen to find Jake talking with Cliff. Surprised, but happy, she listened as they discussed the new division. Jake seemed genuinely excited about starting his job, which lifted her spirits. But even more importantly, he was making an effort to get along with his father. Maybe there was a future for them, after a
ll.
Finally twelve o’clock arrived, and everyone cheered, welcoming in the New Year.
“Happy New Year, Jake,” Ali said.
“Happy New Year, Ali.”
Jake pulled Ali into his arms and kissed her. A kiss that hopefully told her how he felt about her. Besides his daughter, she was the only woman he wanted in his life. He broke off the kiss but didn’t release her, just pulled her tighter against him. Before he could say more, they were both being pulled apart by well-wishers.
In the midst of all the commotion, Jake managed to slip upstairs into Joanie’s room with Ali. They stood at the crib, looking down at their sleeping daughter.
Jake raised his glass of sparkling cider toward Ali’s. “To the first of many New Year celebrations together.” She stared at him as the soft sound of music from downstairs echoed around them. “I want us to be together,” he said. He took the glasses and placed them on the dresser, then he took Ali’s hands in his. “I want to marry you.”
“I want to marry you, too.”
“Then wear my ring. And let’s set a date for the wedding.”
“But what about—?”
He placed his finger against her lips to stop her protest. “Let’s just worry about us. You, me and Joanie are all that matters.”
Ali gazed at him for a long time, unable to answer. There were so many questions running through her head. But at that moment, she could only think with her heart, and deep down, she knew that Jake cared about her. She gave him a trembling smile, walked out of the room and rushed to her bedroom. She pulled the ring from her jewelry box, then hurried back to Jake.
Smiling, she handed him the ring with its precious stone. “Ask me again, Jake.”
He, too, grinned. “Ali Pierce, will you marry me?”
“Oh, yes, Jake,” she cried. “I’ll marry you.”
She raised her shaking hand, and he slipped the ring back on her finger. Then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, a kiss that promised a life filled with love.
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