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He caught her gaze and held it. “I know Fred’s a good friend of yours, but when I thought about you in Oakland rush hour traffic, I just didn’t trust him to get you home safely. I had to come and make sure.”
She laughed. “You want to ride back with me?”
He looked puzzled for a moment, then he laughed, too. “No. I want you to ride back with me.”
“I … I don’t get it.”
“I hated the thought of you having to drive home in the traffic, it … it worried me. So, I came over here on the chance that I might be able to find you and bring you home.” He shook his head. “I’m fully aware of how ridiculous that must sound.” He gave her a slight shrug. “But I promise you that I’m not crazy.”
All she could do was stare back at him. It did sound crazy, but it felt pretty awesome. Her brain was having difficulty processing it all, and when she opened her mouth, all that came out was, “What about Fred?” Ugh! She was the one who sounded crazy. “I mean, if I leave my car here and ride home with you in your car, then … my car will still be here. He won’t be in Napa … where I need him.”
He was smiling at her through pursed lips as she gabbled on, so she stopped.
“Slade came with me. He volunteered to drive Fred home for you.”
“I … who’s Slade?”
“A friend.”
“Okay.”
He surprised her when he leaned in and kissed her cheek. It felt like she was enveloped in a warm wave of Jacobness – for want of a better word. He smelled so good, and he looked so good, and his closeness felt so good.
She opened her eyes as he stepped back. “What was that for?” she asked, even as her fingers came up to touch her cheek as if they could prolong the feel of his lips there.
He gave her a wry smile. “Because I couldn’t resist any longer. What do you say, Becca? Do you want to come home with me, and let Slade drive Fred?” He frowned. “I don’t meancome home with me. I mean, let me take you back to Napa. I’ll take you straight to your place and drop you off at home. Your home. Your townhouse.”
She couldn’t help smiling. Now, he was the one who was gabbling. And she understood why. She’d gotten the wrong impression once – the impression that he expected her to sleep with him. Now, he was doing his best to make sure that didn’t happen again.
She reached out and touched his arm with a smile. “It’s okay. I knew what you meant. And …” What the heck? She’d been dreading the drive home from the airport. If he wanted to get her out of it – and get Fred home for her, she was hardly going to refuse. “I say, yes, please.”
He looked so different when he smiled big like that. He was hot no matter what, but with that smile on his face she could see a glimpse of the kid he’d once been, and … no, no way was she going to let herself think about what his kids would look like – or who their mom might be!
~ ~ ~
After Slade had come to join them – Jacob was grateful that he’d waited inside the office while he surprised Becca – she handed over her keys. He had to hide a smile when she explained all Fred’s quirks to Slade. He’d guess that Slade was hiding his own amusement, too.
His heart sank when Becca asked Slade, “So, how do you and Jacob know each other?”
He didn’t know how she’d feel about him having recruited the guy who worked on the front gate at the estate to come down here with him and drive her car home. It wasn’t as though he’d given him an order. This wasn’t part of his job, but …
He relaxed when Slade grinned at him before turning back to Becca. “We’ve been friends since we were kids.”
Jacob shot him a grateful smile. That was the truth, it just happened to leave out the fact that Slade worked for him – and that they’d been friends as kids because Slade’s father had worked for Jacob’s father.
Becca grinned at them both. “That’s awesome. And you’re sure you don’t mind driving Fred?”
Slade laughed. “I promise you. I’m fine with it. It might take me a while, though.”
“It shouldn’t take you any longer than it takes us.” She shot Jacob a sassy smile. “I don’t know what he’s told you, but Fred’s not slow. He’ll be able to keep up with the Range Rover.”
Slade chuckled and raised his eyebrows at Jacob. He had a point, too. He needed to explain to her that he wasn’t in the Range Rover – no way would he have been able to drive here in time to meet her. He didn’t know how she was going to react when he told her how they were getting home, but … he decided that they should get Slade on his way before he told her.
Slade seemed to be of the same mind. He gave Jacob a wink and then turned to Becca. “I’m sure Fred will do just fine, but you’re going to have to tell me where he’s parked and give me your ticket so that I can get out of here.”
“Oh!” Becca started digging in her bag. “We should go out first so that I can pay. You can follow us through the little toll thing.”
“That’s okay. I’ve got it. We can settle up later.”
