Under the Covers

by Jo Barrett

  He forced himself to turn the knob and walk out of her apartment. By the time he made it to his truck, his palms were sweating.

  “I need to end this,” he muttered, as he turned the key in the ignition.

  If he got in any deeper, if he found himself falling for Jane, he’d end up right back where Beth had left him. Alone and bitter. But how to do it, and how would Jane take it when he called off their arrangement?

  ****

  Jane laid there for almost an hour, thinking and remembering. The way he’d left worried her. He seemed on edge, and yet he had kissed her goodbye. Or was that a final kiss?

  Shaking off the nagging worry, knowing that it wouldn’t do her any good, she rose and went to shower. If Jacob wanted to end things, then so be it. But as she lathered her body and washed her hair, she couldn’t stop the stray tears from mixing with the water. She didn’t want it to end, not now, not ever.

  “Stop doing this to yourself.”

  Snatching back the shower curtain, she forced a smile to her face. Her eyes always puffed up when she cried, and she’d done enough sniffling last night over the dire situation with her store. She didn’t need to face Jacob this morning with more of the same. If he wanted to call it quits, she would have to adjust. She’d known going into this thing that it would eventually end. She’d just have to settle for being friends.

  “What am I worried for?” she asked her reflection. “He hasn’t said anything, and last night was—”

  A cat-in-cream grin slid over her lips. He enjoyed her as much as she did him. Quitting would be more than difficult for either of them.

  Chapter Six

  Humming a nonsensical tune, Jane finished getting dressed, grabbed some toast and a quick cup of coffee, then headed for the general store. She went in through the back door, since Jacob didn’t open until after church. Sometime around one o’clock.

  “Hey.” She walked up to him by one of the shelves in front and held out a large cup of coffee in a go-cup. “I didn’t know if you had time for coffee, so I brought you some.” She held up a paper bag with a grin. “I have cream and sugar too, if you’re not into taking it straight.”

  He gave her a half nod and took the cup. “Thanks, black is fine.” After a quick sip, he set it down on the shelf and went back to moving the stock.

  Jane felt the tension in the room ramp up and knew something was going on. And she had a feeling it wasn’t about the store.

  “Um, thanks for getting the cutting table. I’m glad to see it wasn’t damaged.”

  “No problem,” he muttered, and continued working.

  “Well, I’ll guess I should get to it then.” She turned away, her stomach heaving. She’d known it would be hard to let him go, but she’d not counted on this much pain. Especially after convincing herself this morning that everything was fine.

  She paused at the doorway to the back room and gave him one last look. Admiring his profile, his stubborn chin, his unsmiling lips. Lips she knew she’d never feel again, she asked herself why. Why had he wanted her in the first place? And why didn’t he want her now? She swallowed her burgeoning tears and crossed the threshold into the storage room.

  It didn’t matter now. It was over, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Except…

  Leave.

  With a firm resolve, she concentrated on showcasing her best fabrics and tools in her temporary location. Because once Riley had things fixed across the street, she was done with any and all connections to Jacob Hayes.

  ****

  Jacob paused and looked at the stack of shirts, not remembering why he was stacking them up in the first place. All he could think about was making sure his feet didn’t follow Jane into the back room.

  Seeing her bright smiling face, smelling her subtle perfume, remembering how she looked only a few hours ago in bed, wrought havoc on his good sense. Thank goodness for hot coffee. He was able to distract himself by scorching his tongue. But if she hadn’t left when she did, he didn’t know how much longer he would’ve been able to resist the need to pull her into his arms.

  Refocusing on the shirts, he remembered what he’d been doing and resumed his work. He’d make better use of the shelf for her smaller tools and swatches of fabric. He’d promised to help her and he would, no matter how unbearable his life would be with her in such close proximity and his vow to never touch her again. He supposed he should say something to her about calling an end to their arrangement, but at the moment, he just didn’t have the stomach for it.

  There was a tap at the door.

  He glanced at his watch, noting it was barely nine, nowhere near time to open. He made his way across the store to the door and found Riley peering in through the window.

  “Wonderful,” he muttered, and flicked the bolt and opened the door.

  “Mornin’, Jacob.”

  Jacob only nodded and went back to his work. He knew Riley wasn’t there for a social visit. He was looking for Jane as usual.

  “I was wondering if you knew—”

  “She’s in the back.” He waved him off in the general direction.

  “I see.”

  “I doubt it.”

  With frown, Riley made his way to the storage room, and Jacob cursed himself six different ways, because he couldn’t stop his feet from following close after. He did manage to stop just before the doorway, and shamefully listened in on their conversation.

  “Well, this is a surprise,” Riley said.

  “Oh, um, hello Riley.”

  “You’ve been busy.”

  “Yes, well, Jacob was kind enough to let me set up here while the plumbing is being repaired.”

  “Jane, I told you I’d take care of you,” he said, his voice smooth like snake oil. Jacob had to hold himself back, but the nicely pressed shirts in his hands didn’t fair all that well.

  “I know, but I didn’t want to lose the few customers I’ve gained so far by disappearing. This way I can keep the interest in the store alive.”

  “And this was Jacob’s idea?”

  “Yes. He’s been very, um, neighborly.”

  Jacob nearly choked on his laugh that one.

  “How neighborly?” Riley asked.

  The snide tone of his voice knocked the humor right out of Jacob. It was none of his damn business what they were or weren’t to each other. Jane wasn’t interested in Riley. He had no hold on her.

  But neither did Jacob, and by his own damnable agreement. What the hell had he been thinking? How could he have been stupid enough to believe that he could have an affair with the woman without getting involved emotionally?

  “I—he, that is, we—”

  With a silent curse, he stepped into the storage room, unable to sit back and listen to Jane stumble over some sort of explanation. Although they’d not actually said it, he had no doubt she knew their agreement was over, but she really was a terrible liar. He had to step in before she said something she’d regret.

  “I’ve cleared off a couple of shelves out front,” Jacob said. “What do you want to put out there?”

  Those big blue eyes blinked owlishly for a moment, then she smiled. She knew he’d interrupted on purpose.

  So many memories created in so short a time flooded his mind, and he couldn’t hold back his grin.

  “Thank you, Jacob,” she said, her voice soft and sweet. Not unlike how she sounded the night before, curled against his side, sated and relaxed.

  “You’re welcome,” he said.

  He’d not realized they stood there, silently staring at one another for longer than a moment until Riley cleared his throat.

  Jacob shot a glance at the local playboy and noticed how he darted several glances between Jane and himself. He wasn’t stupid, by any means.

  “Jane, when you’re done here, I’ll escort you to the fairgrounds this evening for the fireworks,” Riley said.

  Jane jerked, but only Jacob noticed. Riley’s narrowed gaze was on him, obviously waiting for some sort of
counter to the blatant challenge. One Jacob would love to respond to, but he’d made a decision that morning. They were through, their agreement was at an end. It had to be, or else he’d end up back where he was when Beth jilted him.

  “Oh, well, that’s very nice,” Jane said. “But I have so much work to do here, I doubt I’ll be going.”

  Riley turned his gaze to her and reached out for her hand. “I won’t take no for an answer,” he said, and kissed the back of it. That was overdoing it a bit wasn’t it?

  “But I—”

  “I know,” he said, stopping her before she could refuse him again. “Why don’t we meet there? Say around seven-thirty? I’ll have more news about your store by then. We’ll be able to go over business before the show.”

  “News? Um, well…” Her gaze fixed on Jacob for a brief moment, then went back to Riley. She pulled her hand from his and cast him a half smile. “I suppose that will be okay. I won’t get it all done today anyway.”

  “Until then,” Riley said. As he turned, he cast a triumphant smile Jacob’s way, then left.

  She’d caved. Jacob knew she would eventually, it had only been a matter of time. But he hadn’t expected it to cut so deeply.

  The bell over the door jingled then fell silent.

  “Your boyfriend’s suspicious,” he said coolly.

  Jane stiffened at that comment. “That isn’t funny, Jacob.” She turned to the bolts and started rearranging them with more force than necessary. What he expected her to do? She had to deal with Riley, and if he was determined to do business at the Fourth of July show then what choice did she have? “He’s been nice to me, and gave me a chance to start a new life. I can’t help that he won’t take my hints. And it’s just business. I intend to leave after we talk about the store.”

  “It isn’t business for him.”

  She turned and glared at him, no longer willing to just stand there waiting for him to say what was really happening. “And it isn’t yours, either. You’ve decided we’re through, don’t deny it.”

  He nodded, his face grim and cool. The look he wore before they made their agreement. One she’d seen slip away after they’d first made love, but now it had returned.

  “It’s for the best,” he said.

  They stood there for several interminable seconds staring at each other. Had he any idea how difficult it was going to be for her to work with him now that things had changed? Did he even care?

  With a firm nod, she said, “Well, that’s that then.”

  “Jane, I—”

  She spun back to the bolts she’d been accosting, holding back her tears. She couldn’t let him know how much it hurt. “Standing here talking isn’t getting any work done.”

  “Yeah,” he muttered, and she heard him walk away.

  Chapter Seven

  For the remainder of the day, Jane managed to keep as far from him as possible, even going to the extent of having Joey act as a go-between when necessary. And it had bugged the hell out of him, but he understood.

  Later in the day, Riley paid them yet another visit. Jacob guessed he wanted to remind her of their date, but he couldn’t bear to listen in this time. He had to disappear, or else he’d put his hand through the guy’s face.

  He grimaced at the number of times the moron was bound to show up while she worked through his store. Especially now that she’d said yes.

  “Business, my ass,” he snarled to himself, watching Riley as he left, the self-satisfied grin still on his face.

  Unable to leave it alone, Jacob crossed the aisle and peered into the backroom, needing to see that she was okay. Stupid thought, but then he’d not acted like himself since the woman arrived.

  She was swiping up scraps of fabric from the cutting table as if Riley had never been there. Earlier, just before the jerk arrived, she’d been showing a couple of the ladies how to use some fancy quilt template. Several of whom bought the thing right after the demonstration.

  He grinned, recalling how he’d enjoyed the ladies’ chatter as they observed her. It echoed throughout the store, filling the old building with a warmth he hadn’t sensed in a long time. Not since his mother and father had run the place.

  Back in those days, there were more friends coming and going, than customers. His parents had been popular and always involved in whatever was going on in town. They’d really surprised him when they announced they were moving to Florida and leaving him the store.

  The little tune she hummed, pulled Jacob’s attention back to her and all the things they’d done in that very room. It was bad enough that he wanted her, that he missed feeling her skin against his, missed watching the shy, quiet woman turn in to a sexy siren in bed, although it had been less than twelve hours since he’d had that pleasure. Did he have to torture himself by thinking about it?

  But she’d be leaving soon, and the storage room would go back to what it was before she arrived. He’d go back to what he was—wouldn’t he?

  For a fleeting moment he wondered what would happen if he walked across the small space and pulled her into his arms for a long drugging kiss. Would she push him away or kiss him back?

  If she did kiss him back, could things be different? Could he be free to touch her, kiss her, hold her whenever he wanted, and slide into her hot wet body every night?

  And yet, wouldn’t she just dump him in the end?

  The bell over the door jangled. He turned away from the sight of her, hating the ache in his chest and went back to the front desk before he said or did anything stupid.

  As he rounded the corner, his feet stopped and felt glued to the floor. The one person he thought he’d never see again, the one person he never wanted to see again was standing at the counter.

  “Beth,” he rasped.

  “Hello, Jacob.”

  He shook off the shock, and forcing his feet to move, stepped behind the counter. “Sightseeing, or do you plan on actually buying something?”

  His stiff tone wasn’t missed. Not that she should expect anything different after jilting him.

  “I know I’m probably the last person you expected to see, but—”

  He crossed his arms and stared at her. If he had any sense, he’d escort her out the door, but that would start up a bunch of talk. And talk was all he’d heard whispered today about him and Jane and Riley. He didn’t need to dredge up his past along with it.

  “Spit it out, I’ve got work to do,” he said.

  “I wanted to apologize.”

  He sniffed and dropped his arms. “Took a while did it? Been busy? Well, fine, you’ve apologized.”

  “Jacob,” she said with a weary sigh. “I cared about you very much, I still do. We’ve been friends since forever, but I couldn’t marry you. Even if Buster hadn’t come back, I was going to call it off.”

  His anger deflated. “You were—”

  She nodded. “Yes. I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t love you the way I wanted to, the way a wife should love her husband.” She looked down at the counter and toyed with a small display. “I knew we’d be comfortable, that we’d get along and probably have a good life.” She looked up, a small sad smile on her face. “But I wanted more than that.”

  “Buster.”

  “No. I didn’t marry him. He was a way to get out of town, the chicken’s way out. I’m sorry.”

  He pressed his hands to the counter, stunned. “You mean you’re not married?”

  “No. I moved to New York, started a career in advertising, and am very happy. Maybe someday I’ll meet someone to spend the rest of my life with, but right now, I’m where I’m supposed to be.” She reached out and placed her hand over his. “I hope you can forgive me, but I didn’t want to ruin both our lives. I didn’t want us to just settle. I’m so very sorry for ending things the way I did.”

  Jacob straightened while studying her face, her body, everything about her, and realized for the first time, that he didn’t love her. That he’d never loved her. She was a friend,
someone he enjoyed spending time with, someone he was content with, but she wasn’t that special someone that made his heart race. That made him want to take her in his arms and make her his.

  “Joey, would you—oh, I’m sorry,” Jane said. “I was looking for Joey.” She went back to the storeroom without a second glance at him or Beth.

  Well damn.

  That was the woman he wanted to pull into his arms. That was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. That was the woman he was in love with.

  “She’s very pretty,” Beth said.

  He turned to look at her, and found her grinning at him. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Jacob, we’ve known one another since we were in diapers. You got a mosquito bite, and I was the one doing the scratching. People don’t change that much. I know you, and you’re in love with her.”

  He swiped a hand down his face with a defeated sigh. “It’s complicated.”

  “It doesn’t have to be. Don’t make the mistake of letting someone you love go, because of what happened between us. Don’t let my bad judgment decide your future. You deserve better than that.”

  Did he? Could he really have what he wanted?

  “Good luck, Jacob.” She leaned over the counter and kissed his cheek.

  He blinked a moment, then as she turned, he said, “Good luck to you too, Beth.”

  She smiled and disappeared out of his life once again, and this time, she took the weight of years of anger with her.

  A smile slipped over his lips. Maybe, just maybe it was time to stop living in the past, letting it rule his life.

  But he needed to think on this thing more. As much as he wanted to run back to the storeroom and grab Jane right there and then, he needed to be sure she wanted him. He didn’t handle rejection well, he thought with a derisive chuckle. But if he didn’t risk it, then his life would be, without a doubt, miserable.

  Still, it was a bit daunting. He’d put his heart out there once, and it brought him nothing but grief.

  “Jacob, can I cut out early today?” Joey asked, pulling him from the most difficult decision he’d ever had to make.