Manhunting (21 page)

Valerie laughed. “Don’t be silly. I want to talk to you about us.”

“Us?” Kate said, confused. “What ‘us’?”

“You and me,” Valerie said. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together and, frankly, I couldn’t be happier. Now that Jake’s settling down—”

“What?” Kate asked, trying to disentangle herself. “I don’t know—”

“Now don’t be coy,” Valerie said. “Everybody knows about you and Jake.”

“Oh, great,” Kate said.

“It’ll be just the four of us,” Valerie began. “I know it’s too soon for you and Jake to set a date—”

“Uh, Valerie—”

“But Will and I will be making an announcement
very
shortly,” Valerie said, looking
very
pleased. “I don’t know why I was so upset before. I should know by now that that’s just the way Will is.”

Kate shot a glance at Will behind the lobby desk. “Valerie, have you actually discussed this with Will?”

“Well, in a manner of speaking, of course,” Valerie said.

“Not ‘in a manner of speaking,’” Kate said. “In a manner of sitting down and you saying, ‘I think we should get married,’ and him saying, ‘Yes.’”

Valerie shook her head. “That’s not the way Will and Jake are,” she explained. “They don’t like confrontation. You try that and you’ll never get anywhere.” She lowered her voice. “They’re both very stubborn.”

“I know,” Kate said. “But I don’t think...”

Valerie patted her on the arm. “Trust me. I know the Templetons.” She smiled at Kate. “After all, I’m going to be one. And if you play your cards right, so will you.”

Kate looked at her, appalled. Valerie hadn’t even talked to Will. She just assumed that she knew what was going on.

Kate looked up and saw Jake crossing the lobby toward her. Of course, she hadn’t talked to Jake, either. And she was running out of time.
I’m no better than Valerie,
she thought.
I’ve got to stop hedging around. Jake would want me to be up-front about this.

“Jake’s not like that,” she told Valerie.

“You’ll see,” Valerie said. “They’re all like that.”

“I’ve got the order forms for Nancy,” Jake said, coming up behind her. “You want to run them down now or wait until this evening?”

“This evening,” Kate said. She took a deep breath. “We need to talk.”

“Why?” Jake asked suspiciously.

Valerie waggled her finger at Kate. “I warned you,” she said and left them to join Will at the desk.

“Tell me you’re not planning something with Valerie,” Jake said.

“I’m not planning something with Valerie,” Kate said. “What are we doing here?”

“We’re standing in the lobby,” Jake said. “Is this some game?”

Kate stood her ground. “No. You and me. This thing we’re doing. What is it?”

“This thing?”

“This relationship,” Kate said.

Jake groaned and stepped back. “I hate that word.”

Kate looked over at the desk. Valerie was standing close beside Will, shaking her head at Kate and smiling. Jake’s retreat was obvious from clear across the lobby. “Fine,” Kate said, and turned away.

Jake caught her arm and turned her back. “Look, this is not the time or place to talk about it.”

“Fine,” Kate said. “Where and when?”

“Later,” Jake said, looking around the lobby. “Much later. Someplace else.”

“I’m going home day after tomorrow,” Kate said.

Jake jerked his head back to face her. “Saturday?”

Kate nodded. “My reservation is up Saturday morning. I have to be out of my cabin by noon.”

Jake looked relieved. “Well, hell, if that’s the problem, move in with me. You practically have already, anyway.”

“Jake,” Kate said. “I have a job. A career. I can’t play house with you forever.”

“Is that what you want?” Jake asked. “Forever?”

Kate stopped for a minute, took a deep breath, and then said, “Yes.”

“Oh,” Jake said.

“Thank you,” Kate said, turning away again. “This clears things up nicely.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Jake grabbed her arm again. “Damn it, stop walking away from me and give me a chance to think.”

“Haven’t you thought about this at all?” Kate asked him, her anger finally breaking through. “Hasn’t it once occurred to you in this past week that this was going to end?”

“Yes, it’s occurred to me,” Jake said. “I’ve just tried not to dwell on it.”

“You know what one of the most annoying things about this is?” Kate asked him through her teeth.

“What?” he said uneasily.

“Valerie was right.” Kate wheeled around and walked away before he could stop her.

“Hey,” he said and followed her to the lobby desk.

“Sorry, Valerie,” Kate said. “Next time I’ll listen.”

She turned to leave and Jake blocked her path. “Wait a minute,” he said, and she said, “No,” and opened the first door at hand, and went in, slamming it in his face.

“That’s my office,” Will said to Jake. “Not that I mind, but I may need it later. Anything going on here that I should know about?”

“No,” Jake said. “I will handle this.” He opened the office door and went in, closing it behind him.

Kate was standing in front of the desk, visibly trying to keep calm. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

“Okay, I’ve been a jerk,” Jake said. “Let’s talk.”

“Let’s not,” Kate said. “I’m so mad at you, I could kill you. Go away until I calm down.”

“Running away would be a cowardly thing to do,” Jake said. “I’m not a coward.”

“Running away would be the wise thing to do,” Kate said, warning him.

“Well, I’m not wise, either,” Jake said, moving toward her.

Kate backed away until she bumped into the desk. Then she exploded. “You make it very clear that you hate women who manipulate around an issue instead of confronting it. Then when I try to confront it, you try to evade the subject.”

“I know,” Jake said. “I told you I was a jerk. You just sort of sprung it on me, and I dropped the ball.” He held out his arms to her. “Come here. I’ll make it up to you.”

Kate ducked out of his way. “How?”

“Well, I thought we’d neck,” Jake said, grinning.

“You can’t be serious,” Kate said, edging toward the door.

“I’m always serious,” Jake said and grabbed her. She kicked out at him and he dodged her, tripping over the edge of the carpet and dragging her to the floor with him when he fell.

“Ouch!” Kate said and tried to roll away, but he pinned her under him.

“Listen to me,” he said. “You’re right. We have to talk. I’m sorry.”

“Not sorry enough,” Kate said, trying to push him off her.

His arms tightened around her. “I’ll be as sorry as you want. Just tell me how.” He tried to concentrate on what she wanted, but she was soft and warm, wriggling under him in his arms, and all he could think about was how good she felt. Almost automatically, his hand moved up and cupped her breast.

Kate glared up at him. “You’re apologizing
and
groping me, at the same time?”

“It was just a reflex.” He grinned down at her.

She looked indignant, but there was warmth behind the glare.
I know her,
he thought.
I know when she’s angry and when she’s just trying it on. And right now, she’s just trying it on.

She moved to roll away from him. “Some apology.”

He rolled with her, and she landed on her back again, still under him. “You’re not mad.”

“Bet me,” she said and swung at him. He caught her fists with his hands and pulled her arms over her head, pinning her to the floor.

“This is going to look great if Will walks in,” she said conversationally.

“He’s not that dumb.” Jake ran his tongue down the opening of her blouse, which gave him another idea. “How much time have we got before you go to work?”

“Not enough. Get off me. I need a shower.”

“I thought you tasted pretty salty.” He let her arms go but stayed on top of her, kissing her neck.

“Get off. You weigh a ton.”

“You’ve never complained before.” He bit her earlobe.

“I was turned on before.”

“Well, I’m working on that,” he said and moved his hand to her zipper.

“No!” She shoved at him hard and pushed herself out from under him, standing before he could reach her again and backing away from his hands. “I’ve got to go to work.”

“Feeling better?” he asked lazily, propping his head on one hand.

“Yes.” She straightened her blouse. “Now that you’re off me, and I can breathe, I’m feeling much better.”

“You have a real mean streak, woman,” Jake said, getting up. “Good thing you have a nice body.”

“Very funny,” Kate said and walked toward the door.

Jake caught at her arm and stopped her, suddenly serious. “Look, I’ll pick you up at the cabin later and take you to Nancy’s,” he said. “And then, as much as I hate this, we’ll talk tonight when you get off work. You were right. We’ve got to talk about this.”

Kate bit her lip. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry I blew up like that. I’ve just been putting off dealing with this for so long, and then when I finally got the courage up to face it, you didn’t want to.” She leaned against him. “I’m truly sorry.”

“Good,” Jake said, patting her back. “We’re both sorry. Equal guilt. You sure you don’t want to neck?”

Kate pushed him away and laughed. “Later.” She opened the door and crossed the lobby, and when she reached the outside door, she looked back and saw that he was leaning in the office doorway, watching her walk away. She put a little more sway in her hips as she left the hotel.

That’s mine,
Jake thought.
That swing is for me.

An incoming guest turned to stare at her and stumbled on the step.
Don’t bother, buddy,
Jake thought.
The lady goes home with me tonight.

The bar was crowded for a weeknight, but by nine, things had calmed down to the point that Nancy, Will, Jake, and Kate could spread the finalized notes out on a corner table and talk.

“This makes so much sense I don’t know why we didn’t think of it sooner,” Will said. “And it’s not just the liquor. Look at the glassware.” He shook his head. “It’s brilliant” He looked at Kate. “You’re brilliant.”

“Thank you,” Kate said. “But it’s not that great. This is what I do for a living.” She shrugged. “This is pretty much business as usual for me.” She pointed to a notation on the plans. “Now this part is fascinating. Look at the shipping totals for...”

Jake watched her face as she explained her notes to Will and Nancy. She was so beautiful, but she was so much more. What the hell would she do, stuck in Toby’s Corners? And what the hell would he do, stuck back in the city? No wonder he’d been avoiding talking about this. He was going to lose her.

Kate looked up and caught him looking at her and smiled. “Hey,” she said. “Aren’t you proud of me?”

“Very,” he said without smiling back, and she looked concerned.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said, and when she still looked worried, he held out his hand to distract her. “Let me see your figures. You probably screwed them up. Women are no good at math.”

Kate shoved the plan across to him. “Do you feel all right?”

“Yes,” he said and bent to look at her notes. “Aha,” he said. “You forgot to add the depreciation on the glassware.”

“You can’t depreciate glassware, you moron,” Kate said and reached for her plan back.

“Listen to the expert, kid,” Jake said and the two of them began to argue while Nancy and Will listened, growing more and more surprised.

“I can’t believe it,” Will said to his brother finally. “She’s got you talking business again. It’s a miracle.”

Kate winced, and Nancy kicked Will hard under the table, but the damage was done. Jake dropped the plan on the table and glared at Kate.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “You’re the one who asked to see the plan, and you’re the one making dumb statements about depreciated glassware.”

Jake opened his mouth to retort, but before he could get the words out, Valerie showed up with Donald in tow and put a chill on the conversation.

“Where have you been?” Valerie said to Will. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Will clenched his jaw for a moment and then visibly forced himself to relax as he turned away from her. “Here,” he said evenly. “Nancy and I had some things to talk about.”

“What things?” Valerie said suspiciously.

“We’re going to order everything for the bars together from now on,” Will said, keeping his back to her, unaware of the storm in her eyes. “It’ll save us both a bundle. Kate came up with the idea.” Will smiled over at Kate. “She is one smart cookie.”

“Is she?” Valerie said. “We need to talk about this.”

Nancy and Kate glanced at each other, but Will seemed deliberately oblivious to what was going on.

“Why should we talk about it?” Will said. “It’s a great idea, and we’re going to do it.”

“But what about
our
bar?” Valerie said evenly.

“What about it?” Will said. “It’s doing fine.”

“Not the dinner bar,” Valerie said. “Our
country
bar.”

“We don’t have a country bar,” Will said. “We don’t need one. We have Nancy’s.”

Valerie put an arm around Will’s shoulders as she stood beside him, and they all saw him stiffen. “But darling, I thought we agreed—”

“No, you didn’t.” Will glared at her. “I told you when you came up with that idea that we weren’t going to do it.”

“Well, I think it’s a fine idea,” Donald said. “I think you should listen to Ms. Borden. I certainly would if she were in my employ.”

“Who the hell are you?” Will asked, peering at him in the dim light. “Oh. Prescott. What do you want?”

“Well, actually, I want your social director,” he said, laughing nervously. “I know I told you I was a stockbroker, but actually—”

“I know,” Will said tiredly. “You’re a scout from Eastern.”

“You knew?” Valerie said, dropping her arm from Will’s shoulders.

“Well, then, we can put our cards on the table,” Donald said. “I’ve just offered Ms. Borden a very generous contract, but she insists on giving you the opportunity to match it.”

Will looked at Valerie for a moment and men turned back to the table.