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“How about this …”
She watched him fill a glass with ice and then pour some Cognac over it, then he topped off the glass with cola and gave it a stir before handing it to her.
She took a sip and smiled. “Oh, that’s good.”
He grinned. “Just don’t tell Hannah.”
“What do you mean?”
He laughed. “My sister thinks I’m too much of a purist when it comes to my Cognac – and my wines, for that matter. I prefer to drink it straight. I’d never mix it with anything – not even ice, but I thought you might like it with the cola.”
“I do.”
She took a seat on the sofa, and he came to sit beside her. “I bet you’re used to women who know exactly what they want to drink.”
His smile faded and he set his glass down on the table, before taking hers and setting that down, too.
“Sorry.” Why in the world had she said that? “I just … I feel dumb. You’re all … worldly. And I’m just not. Why would you want to waste your time on me?”
He took hold of her hand. “I don’t see it as wasting my time, Becca. I feel like for the first time in years, I’m investing my time in something worthwhile. I won’t lie to you. I am used to women who know what they want and aren’t afraid to go after it. But what I’m not used to is … I’m not used to feeling the way you make me feel. I’d started to wonder if I was capable of feeling much of anything at all.” He smiled. “Little Ava changed that. I love that little girl. And then you came along. I felt excited when I knew I was going to see you at the carol concert. I felt disappointed when I found out that I wouldn’t be able to see you again until after the holidays. I felt worried when I thought about you driving home from the airport. I felt angry at Jamie for making you uncomfortable, and I felt angry at Aiden for … for everything you’ve told me about him. But then again, I feel grateful to him.”
She frowned. “Grateful? Why?”
“Because if he hadn’t gone off to Vegas and left you here by yourself, I would never have met you. You wouldn’t be sitting here with me right now.”
“Wow.”
He smiled. “Yeah. Wow is what I think every time I look at you. You’re gorgeous, Becca. And I feel so damned lucky that you’re here.”
“You know you’ve got that backwards, right? Anyone in the world could tell you that I’m the lucky one – that I, Becca Taylor, a nobody from Dodge City, Kansas, should be sitting here with you –theJacob Jacobs? I mean, you’re all rich – and I’m so not. And you’re all, all … worldly, and I’m just not. You have everything. And I don’t.”
“That’s not true.”
She laughed. “You’re joking, right?”
“No. I’m not. You have family who loves you. You have kids at school who love you, and their families who respect and appreciate you. You might not have much in the way of money at the moment, but you have so much going for you. I might look like I have it all, but for a while now, especially before Hannah came home, I’ve been feeling that I don’t have anything that matters.”
He held her gaze for a long moment.
“Now, I feel like I could have everything that matters – if I have you.”
Becca brought her hand up and rested it over her heart. “You don’t know me well enough to say that.”
He smiled. “Perhaps I haven’t known you for long enough, but that’s different. I’ve already seen who you are. I know who you are in your heart, and you’re what I want.” His smile faded. “But you don’t knowmewell enough to know if I could be what you want. That’s why I want you to stay here with me. Get to know me, spend time with me, see if this … ifI,could be what you want for your life.”
She swallowed. It was all so fast. She bit the inside of her cheek. If she had to decide the rest of her life in this very moment, she’d choose him. She wanted to believe that he was as awesome as he seemed and that he might turn out to be everything she hoped he was. But she didn’t have to decide right now, and that allowed for the doubts to creep in around the edges. It allowed for the little voice that might be reason or might be fear, to tell her to tread carefully.
She took a big swig of her drink and then set it back on the table before she got to her feet and offered him her hand.
“Where are we going?”
Her cheeks flushed, but she smiled. “I think it’s time we start to get to know each other better. I’d love to think that you could be it for me; that we might … but that’s too big to think about, Jacob. All I can do is take one step at a time. And the first step I know that I’m sure about taking is … spending the night with you.”
As he led her out of the study and toward the big sweeping staircase, her heart was racing. She’d never asked a guy to go to bed with her in her whole life. She probably hadn’t done a great job of it. It would have been more fitting with the romantic movie thing if they’d sat and talked and one thing had led to another. But Jacob didn’t seem too upset about her abrupt request for him to take her to bed. And she wasn’t upset in the least that he’d accepted, a little embarrassed maybe, that they were marching off upstairs, but not upset.
Chapter Twelve
Jacob couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he led Becca into his bedroom. He’d spent enough time imagining what it would be like to have her in his bed. He was thrilled that she’d decided all by herself that she was ready to go there with him. His smile faded when he closed the door behind her; she looked nervous now.
