He shrugged. “I didn’t think you would understand.” He moved his knee away. “And I was right.”
She shook her head slowly. “I didn’t understand your lying to me and your keeping secrets from me. You’ll never know whether I would have understood the reasons for your plans.”
He twisted around, pulled open the briefcase, pulled out a legal pad, and handed it to her. “Here’s the deal. What there is of it.”
She took the pad, never taking her eyes from his. “Why are you showing it to me now?”
“Read it.” He ignored her question.
She handed the pad back to him. “I don’t need to read it.”
He stared at her hand for a long second then took the pad. “You’re not going to give me chance to explain, are you?”
She heard the frustrated defeat in his voice. “There’s nothing to explain. I’ve done a lot of soul-searching, Jake. Now I know what I want.” She walked over to the window. “You asked me once to trust you. Well, I’m going to trust you now.” She twisted the cord and the blinds closed.
His mouth dropped open. “What are you up to, Eleanor?”
She sauntered back to him and draped her arms around his neck. “Do you love me, Jake?” She hoped her uncertainty didn’t sound in her voice.
He clasped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” She pulled back from him and stared into his dark, inviting eyes. “Do you love me?”
He lifted his hand and traced a line down her jaw. “I didn’t think I could love anybody the way I love you.”
She bit her lip to keep back her tears of joy and fell back in his embrace. “I love you, too.”
She reveled in the massaging motion of his hands along her back. He pushed her slightly away from him and captured her mouth in a life-giving kiss. They were both out of breath when he pulled away.
He touched his fingers to her lips softly, as if he were touching something precious. “Your lips are so soft. You can’t know how it feels to touch them after having been apart from you.”
She kissed his fingertip and captured his hand in hers. “Oh, yes I can. I’ve missed you more than you can know.”
He stared into her eyes and she wondered what he was looking for.
“You don’t mind about my plans for the paper?”
She kissed him softly on the lips. “This paper has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. In some ways it filled the void left by my mother’s death. So, I do care about your plans.”
He rubbed his finger along her bottom lip. “Then why are you here with me now? Are you trying to torture me?”
She chuckled at the distress in his voice. “No, I’m not trying to torture you.”
He pulled away from her and stood up. “What do you want from me, Eleanor?”
“All I want is your love.” She rested her head against his back and wrapped her arms around his waist.
He turned in her embrace and looked at her with hard eyes. “You want me to stop my plans. Is that what this is? Blackmail? I get you if I give up my plans.”
Her heart filled with pain at the anguish in his voice. “I wasn’t sure enough of your love to come up with a plan like that.”
He buried his head in her shoulder. “You should have known.”
“I’m not psychic, Jake. You should have told me.”
“I did,” he whispered against her skin.
She pulled back. “No, you didn’t. Believe me, I would remember something like that.”
“You were asleep.”
“When was this?”
He kissed her lips. “The night you skipped out on me.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, but she knew it did.
“It does. I shouldn’t have left like that, but I was afraid. You’d made such sweet love to me. I could almost feel your love. Yet I knew you were keeping something from me. I wondered if I was falling for an act.” She smiled. “You do have acting training, you know.”
“There was never any acting between us, Eleanor. Every time I’ve touched you, I’ve loved you.” He slapped her bottom. “Don’t you think we’d better open the blinds.”
“Do we have to?”
He pushed her away. “We still have a paper to get out.”
She walked to the window and opened the blinds. “Oh no,” she said, covering her mouth with her hands.
Twenty-Five
Jake turned and saw the smiling faces of Carl and Megan. “Damn!”
Eleanor dropped her hand from her face. “My sentiments exactly. Brace yourself, they’re coming in.”
“What have you guys been doing in here?” Megan asked, wagging her finger at them. “We’ve been waiting for the blinds to open for the last hour.”
Eleanor rolled her eyes. “Now that was an exaggeration of an exaggeration.”
Jake looped an arm around Eleanor’s waist. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit this morning?” He winked at Carl. “Maybe I should say, who?”
“We have an announcement,” Carl said, pulling the blinds closed again.
“You’re getting married!” Eleanor practically screamed.
Megan flashed the three-carat diamond on her left hand. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Eleanor stepped away from Jake and enveloped her friend in a hug and soon both women were crying happy tears.
Jake extended a hand to Carl. “Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks,” Carl said, pulling Megan back to him. He kissed her forehead. “I couldn’t let her get away.”
“I had to drag him to the jewelry store,” she said. “I thought he didn’t want to marry me.”
Carl shook his head. “That wasn’t it. I wanted to pick out the ring myself. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
She kissed him. “I love you, Carl Winters.”
Jake caught the joyous look on Eleanor’s face as she watched the engaged couple. She saw him looking at her and gave him a smile between her tears. He pulled her to him. “I love you, Eleanor Sanders,” he whispered.
“Oh, Jake,” she said.
Jake pressed a kiss on her forehead, cleared his throat, and said, “Come on, everybody. Let’s stop with the crying. Eleanor and I want to take you two to dinner tonight to celebrate.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Megan said. “I think we have a lot to celebrate. Do you two have an announcement to make?”
Jake grinned down at Eleanor. “Let’s say we’ve called a truce. We’ll keep you posted on any other developments.”
Eleanor looked at her watch. “Sorry to break this up, guys, but we have a paper to get out.”
“I told you she was a slave driver,” Carl said to Megan as he led her out of the office.
Jake opened the blinds again. “The staff will be talking about us. Do you think we should say something to them?”
Eleanor shook her head. “I don’t think we’ll have to say anything.” She pointed to the newsroom, where Megan and Carl had a group of people surrounding them. “They’ll be too busy talking about Carl and Megan’s engagement.”
Jake grinned. “I wish this were the end of the day instead of the beginning.”
Her eyes took on a glazed look and his groin tightened. “So do I,” she said.
Jake cleared his throat again. It was going to be a long day. “I’d better get to work.”
Eleanor didn’t release his gaze. “Maybe you should.”
Jake moved from one foot to another. “You’d better stop looking at me like that or they’re going to have to get this paper out without us.”
Eleanor grinned. “Is that a threat or a promise?”
“Eleanor,” Jake warned, his gaze traveling from her feet to her head before settling on her lips.
Eleanor released her breath. “Okay, I get your message.”
“You don’t,” Jake said with intensity. “But you will. I promise you that.”
***
Jake went through the day in a state of sexual anticipation. He tried to keep his mind off Eleanor, but he couldn’t do it. Her presence surrounded him and filled his every thought. By lunchtime, he was exhausted.
“How about a swim for lunch?” Eleanor asked, a gleam in her eyes. Jake understood the invitation was for more than a swim. He licked his lips. “You certainly know how to hurt a man.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her eyes bright and inviting. “I only asked if you wanted to go for a swim.”
“I can’t,” he said softly. “I’m really sorry, but I have a business meeting.”
Her smile dimmed. “Oh.”
“No, oh.” He got up, walked to her desk, and sat on its edge facing her, his back to the newsroom. “I have a meeting with Buddy Hamilton.”
“Oh,” she said again, and he knew she was wondering at the wisdom of giving him her trust.
“I love you, Eleanor.”
“I know,” she said finally.
“Don’t forget it. I’m going to make this right for us. Do you believe me?”
She wore a grave look as she considered his question. When the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile, though slight, he knew they were going to be all right.
***
Jake held Eleanor’s hand for the entire drive from the restaurant where they’d had an enjoyable dinner with Carl and Megan to Eleanor’s cottage. They didn’t talk much, because there was nothing more to be said. He’d gotten a verbal okay from the Hamiltons today and he’d had to force himself to wait until they were alone to tell Eleanor the details.
He glanced over at her. She faced straight ahead and he wondered where her thoughts were. He knew she’d been taken aback by his lunch meeting with the Hamiltons, but she hadn’t said anything. She’d given him her trust and she wasn’t going to take it back. Her trust and confidence in him made him feel strong and capable. With a woman like her by his side, he knew he’d always take the high road.
She glanced over at him and smiled when he pulled up into her drive. He placed a soft kiss on her hand, then got out of the car and opened her door. He smiled at the memory of the first time he’d taken her out when she hadn’t bothered to wait for him to do the task. He was glad she’d waited tonight.
When she grasped his hand to lift herself out of the car, he pulled and she fell into his arms. He crushed her to him, then pushed her back slightly so he could see her face. He lowered his head to kiss her and she closed her eyes in anticipation. He groaned, then rested his chin against the top of her head. “What is it?” she asked softly.
“I can’t kiss you now,” he forced out.
“Why not?”
He gazed down into her questioning eyes. “Because if I kiss you now, we may not make it to the house.”
Passion blazed in her eyes. “I see.”
He turned up the corners of his mouth. “You don’t, but you will.” He took her hand in his and led her into her house. It seemed to take forever to get the door unlocked, but finally they were in the house. As soon as the door closed behind them, he pulled her into his arms.
“It’s been too long, Eleanor,” he murmured. “I’ve missed you so much.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, Jake.”
The pressure of her breasts against his chest made him moan. “I want to go slowly, and make this beautiful for you, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to. I need you so much.”
She pressed a series of kisses along his neck. “Who wants to go slow? I need you too, Jake.”
That was all he needed. He lifted her off her feet and carried her to the bedroom. His knees almost buckled when he reached the bed and she nipped at his ear. “Eleanor, this is going to be over before it starts if you don’t stop.”
“I can’t stop,” she said sluggishly. “I want you. Now.”
He deposited her on the bed and would have pulled back to discard his clothes, but she wouldn’t release the hold she had on his neck.
“No,” she said. “Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.”
He sank down against her. “I won’t leave you. I couldn’t leave you. You’re my heart. Don’t you know that?”
She lifted her head and pressed her mouth against his in answer. Jake lost all rational thought. Eleanor’s passion consumed him.
***
Eleanor awoke contented, but feeling a bit decadent. Blood rushed to her face when she thought about their earlier coupling. It had been wild and primitive. A necessity, not a desire.
She twisted in Jake’s arms until she could see his face. Her heart turned over at the contented smile he wore even in his sleep. She knew exactly how he felt because she felt the same way.
Tonight had been different. Tonight there had been no pretense between them. With the confession of their love, they’d removed all barriers to the perfect expression of that love. They hadn’t verbally spoken of a future together, but tonight she’d made that commitment as surely as if she’d accepted his marriage proposal.
Not that he’d made a marriage proposal. He hadn’t, but she believed he would. Soon she’d be Eleanor Mason. Mrs. Jake Mason.
“What are you smiling about?” Jake’s sleepy voice asked.
She kissed the tip of his nose, glad he was awake. “A girl has to have some secrets.”
“Secrets? I thought we got rid of all those earlier tonight.” So she’d been right. He’d felt it, too.
“It was good with us before,” he continued, his finger tracing a line along her lips, “but tonight was phenomenal. I now know what it means to be one with somebody. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. His words touched a chord in her heart and she knew theirs was a forever kind of love.
“I love you more than I thought I could love anybody. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Nothing.”
“Oh, Jake,” she moaned. The intensity of his words made her body warm with the need to be close to him.
He folded her into his arms. “I won’t let you go. You know that, don’t you?”
“I know,” she whispered, feeling safe and cherished in his arms.
“Nothing will ever come between us again. I promise.”
“I know that, Jake. You don’t have to say it.”
He brushed her hair back from her face. “Yes, I do. I want us to be like we were tonight forever. I don’t ever want anything to come between us again. Not even our work.”
“It won’t, Jake. We’ll make the right decisions for the right reasons.”
He kissed her again, needing to touch her more. When the phone rang, his first impulse was to ignore it, but the singsong voices of Megan and Carl on the answering machine caught his attention.
“We’ll understand if you two are busy and can’t answer the phone,” they began, then interrupted themselves with giggles. “We wanted to make sure you knew you were the best man and maid of honor at our wedding.” More giggles. “Or that could be matron of honor if you make it to the chapel before we do.” More giggles. “Since you two haven’t picked up, I guess we’ll hang up and let you get back to what you’re doing.” More giggles and then dial tone.
Jake dropped his head in the space between Eleanor’s neck and her shoulder. “They’re outrageous.”
Eleanor chuckled. “But they’re perfect for each other.”
He pulled back and looked at her. “And we’re perfect for each other.”
“Prove it,” she challenged, a sensual gleam in her eyes. “There’s nothing I’d rather do,” he responded and began to show her all the ways they were perfectly matched.
Twenty-Six
Jake’s face was the first thing Eleanor saw the next time she woke up. She wanted to wake up to that face every day of her life. “Good morning,” she said, readi
ng the love in his eyes.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you, Eleanor Sanders.”
A contented feeling settled in her stomach. She wanted to experience that feeling every day of her life. “And I love you, Jake Mason.”
“Sit up. I want you to see something.” He turned to the night- stand and brought out a legal pad like the one he’d handed her earlier when they were in the office.
She handed the pad back, then raised her eyes to him. “Why don’t you tell me that it says.”
“It’s a new deal.”
She smiled. “I kinda thought that.”
“With Hamilton News.”
“Oh.”
He kissed her quickly on her lips. “No, oh. I didn’t make the decision this time. We’ll make it together.”
She smiled, knowing that he wasn’t talking about only this decision, but every decision they’d ever make. “Okay, what are our options?”
He kissed her again, lingeringly. “We can go with the original deal the two of us had mapped out. You stay at the helm at the Lamar Daily, and I take the helm of Our Family.
She touched her lips to his again. “What’s the next option?”
“Okay,” Jake said, barely able to form a rational thought. He wanted her again. “We merge the Lamar Daily and Hamilton News and begin to build the largest consortium of small-town papers in the country.”
“Hmm,” she said, nibbling on his lips. “And who’s in charge of this new consortium?”
“You and Buddy run the consortium, and I run Our Family as a separate entity.”
She reflected on this possibility, the queasy feeling in her stomach about Buddy’s involvement replaced by a cautious acceptance of the need for change. “Any more options?”
He couldn’t resist one more kiss. “Same as the last. We merge with the Hamiltons. But Buddy and your dad run the consortium, while you and I build Our Family together.”
She leaned into him, pressing her body tight against his. “I like the sound of that.”
He pulled back, wanting to make sure he’d heard her correctly. “What?”
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