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No, his father hadn’t wiped the slate clean by any means, but it was nice to know he had not completely taken advantage of Kate’s mother. He’d obviously cared about her, enough to help her even when she refused to take his help.
It didn’t make things right. But at least it made them better. It also made Jack wonder if he would ever really understand the truth about their relationship. It seemed now it had been more about emotion than just sex. Sex wouldn’t have taken the older couple through nearly two decades. There had to have been love.
Somehow that made it a little easier to deal with.
“So, what are you going to do now that your store’s on the road to success? You can’t just shut it down,” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that. Cassie and I have worked there a lot lately and we’ve been discussing some options. At least she’ll be here until the end of the summer. And who knows what she’ll want to do then.”
He laid his brush down and stared. “No way would Cassie stay here long-term.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know if she actually would, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I kind of suggested it to her.”
He raised a brow. “I can only imagine how she reacted.”
“After she stops laughing, maybe she’ll really think about it. She’s got a great house. And she seems to have found some things she likes about Pleasantville.” She snickered, obviously thinking about Tag.
“So you really think she’d stay?”
“I honestly can’t say. But it’s a possibility. We’ll see how tomorrow’s grand opening goes.”
“Then in a week or two you’ll go back to Chicago.”
“Right. And you will, too.”
He nodded.
“I’m going to miss having you right next door,” she admitted. “Who’ll nearly kill me when he bursts in to tackle me in the middle of the night?”
“I only hurt you the first time I tackled you in the middle of the night. Admit it, every other tackle since then has been painless.” He gave her a suggestive look, telling her he meant their more amorous tackles. “Don’t forget, I did kiss it better that first time.”
“Oh, yeah, you definitely did.”
Though he hadn’t planned to bring it up, figuring Kate might not have realized yet that she was falling in love with him, he couldn’t help himself. “Besides, we don’t have to give up on having each other around once we get home. I have a big apartment. And if it’s not big enough, I can design us something better. Closer to your store.”
Her eyes widened. “What are you saying? You mean, you want us to…”
“Move in together,” he said. “I know it’s kinda fast, but we’re practically living together now. Why don’t we just make it official when we get home?”
She lowered her eyes, looking away. Jack called himself ten kinds of fool for bringing it up. It’s too soon. Hell, he knew they hadn’t been together long enough to start talking about cohabitation. But he was already picturing little dark-haired Jacks and blond-haired Kates! Marriage, happily-ever-after, all the stuff he’d once sworn wasn’t for him.
Now he understood. He simply hadn’t found the right woman yet. Until Kate. His future. The woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
The one who’d gone silent and white as a sheet at just the mention of them moving in together. If he told her he wanted to marry her someday, she’d probably faint face-first into the bucket of varnish remover.
Kate was an unusual woman and she wouldn’t approach things—including her love life—in the usual way. A complicated mix of modern vixen and smart businesswoman, she’d wanted the sex first, then the relationship. He couldn’t forget that, because she might never have even thought about the future or long-term plans. Talk of those things might scare her off.
It killed him to wonder if she’d figured their involvement would end once they left Pleasantville behind. Because it wouldn’t. It couldn’t. He was never letting her go. Though she might not be ready to admit it, he knew damn well she felt the same way.
