Manhunting

Chapter Nine

Jake went back to the table and began to play, but his eyes were full of Kate. She was the kind of woman who would get him into trouble. She was vulnerable and bright and funny and desirable-God, was she desirable-and he’d end up following her back to the city and before he knew it, the hat would be gone and he’d be shaving the mustache off.

Then he thought of Kate again, smiling at him. It might be worth it.

He tried to look at the pool table, but his eyes were still full of Kate. All his memories came back-Kate laughing at him in the boat, Kate in lace and satin after taking off her blouse, Kate stretched out across the pool table under him, Kate walking out of the lake.

He miscued, and the ball bounced off the table.

“That’s going to cost you, buddy,” Ben crowed and began to run the table.

Kate coming out of the lake. He closed his eyes and imagined her as she was then, imagined her under him as she’d been when they’d played pool; imagined her melting under him.

“Come on, ace. It’s your turn.”

Jake chalked his cue absentmindedly. Kate stretched out in the boat, her legs tangled with his. Kate stretched out on her bed, holding her arms up to him. Kate at the bar, her lips parted and her eyes half closed, telling him to send the right signals. Kate coming out of the lake.

He miscued again.

Ben stared at him. “Are you throwing this game?”

“What?” Jake asked from a long way away.

“Never mind,” Ben said, and started his run.

Kate leaned against the shelves in the storeroom and tried to examine the situation logically. It was clearly impractical. Impossible. Jake was just a buddy. A good buddy. No, a great buddy. She remembered how much fun she’d had with Jake in the boat, how she’d felt with Jake’s eyes on her as she walked out of the lake, Jake’s leg carelessly touching hers in the boat, Jake’s hand on her arm, on her back. Jake… She breathed faster, thinking about him.

She heard a yell from outside in the bar. Somebody had just won a game of pool.

Jake was clearly impossible, clearly, intoxicatingly impossible.

She was in big trouble.

At that moment Jake came into the storeroom and closed the door behind him. He watched her as she turned to look at him, her eyes full of heat.

“Ben just beat me at pool.” He stood in front of her with his hands on his hips.

“Good grief,” Kate said. “What did you do? Fall on your cue?”

“I got distracted.”

Jake leaned against the shelves, a hand on each side of her, and looked into her eyes. She suddenly had trouble swallowing.

“We seem to have been a little slow here, darlin’,” he said, and bent down to kiss her softly. Time stopped, and Kate felt his lips distinctly on hers, not as a blurred impact, but as Jake’s lips touching hers. This is Jake, she thought. Jake. Oh my God.

His mustache tickled a little, and he tasted faintly of beer and something else that was hot and sweet and intrinsically Jake. She opened her mouth to taste him again, touching his lips with her tongue and leaning into his kiss, and he pulled her into him, bending her back under him as he kissed her harder. She felt the world spin around her and kissed him back mindlessly, pressing against him, clutching his shoulders until he broke the kiss and moved her head under his chin. She could feel the pulse at the base of his neck pounding, feel herself breathing fast against his chest.

“This isn’t quite what I had planned,” he said.

“I know,” she said wildly. “Me either. Who cares? Kiss me again.”

Jake cradled her face with his hands and kissed her softly once, twice, running his tongue over her lips, down her neck, kissing the hollow at the base of her throat. She trembled with wanting him, moving her hands over the muscles in his back, feeling them hard and tense under her touch.

“This is making me crazy,” she said. “We have to stop.”

“Right,” he said, moving his hands away. “Right.”

As he brought his hands down, he accidentally brushed against her breast and she moaned. He froze, and then moved his hands under her tank top, cupping her breasts, rubbing his thumbs hard across her nipples through the lace of her bra. She clenched her teeth and shuddered, pressing against his hands, gasping at his touch, running her tongue along his collarbone, his neck. He kissed her, his tongue thrusting in her mouth, his hands hard on her breasts, and she pressed her hips against his, crying out with need.

“Oh, God, Kate,” he said.

She bit his arm through his shirt.

“We need to make love,” he said into her hair. “For about two weeks. Right now.”

She rubbed her face in his shirt. “Anything,” she said breathlessly. “Just keep making me feel like this.”

Nancy knocked on the door came in.

“Go away, Nancy,” Jake said, holding Kate close.

“Kate’s off now,” she said. “Take the woman home.”

“Good idea,” Jake said. “I’ll go bring the car around.” He slowly let her go, touching her cheek once, and then went out the back door.

When he was gone, Nancy said, “You okay?” and Kate opened the large upright cooler and stuck her head in it.

“In the long run, I’m in terrible trouble,” she said from inside the refrigerator. “In the short run, I’ll be okay as soon as that man puts his hands on me again.”

“Go for the short run,” Nancy said.

Kate expected to be embarrassed when she got in the car with him, but all she really felt was heat. She was having a hard time breathing.

“I want you tonight,” Jake said as she got in the car.

He took what little breath she had left away. The world looped around her.

“Good,” she squeaked.

“We have to go to my cabin first for protection,” he said.

Kate swallowed and tried to fight her way through all the images that swamped her. Jake’s hands on her. All night Jake touching her. All over. “Oh, God.”

“Are you okay?”

“Just touch me,” she said, and he put his hand on her leg, stroking her thigh while she breathed deeply beside him. She slid down a little in the seat, and his fingers moved higher, into the heat, until he supped his little finger under the lace of her panties, and she slid down farther, to make it easier for him.

“Or we could just pull off to the side of the road here,” Jake said huskily.

“Sounds good,” Kate said, and he laughed softly and moved his hand away.

“We’ve been waiting a week,” Jake said. “We can wait the ten minutes to my cabin.”

“Yes, but I didn’t know we’d been waiting a week,” Kate said, leaning closer to him.

“I did,” Jake said. “I just wasn’t paying attention.” He put his arm around her and pulled her close while he steered the car up the road to the cabin. “I’m paying attention now.”

Jake parked the car at an angle in front of his cabin, and pulled Kate up the steps, kissing her as they went. He shut the door behind them and caught her to him, kissing her again until she clung to him, breathless. “We don’t have to make up for the whole week tonight,” he told himself out loud, and Kate said, “Yes, we do,” and pulled him over to the bed, falling backward with him on top of her. They fumbled with each other’s clothes, laughing at their own clumsiness until they were naked together. Then, suddenly, the laughter stopped.

Jake kissed her, holding her close to him as if savoring the feel of her against him, but Kate moved against him, urging him on. “Don’t wait,” she whispered, feeling him hard against her. “I want you now.” Then he kissed her again, running his tongue over her lips and plunging it into her mouth, then moving down her throat to her breasts. He moved with an urgency she’d never seen in him, a savagery that fired her blood. When she cried out because he felt so good, he licked down her throat again to her breasts, nibbling there while she breathed in little gasps and moved under him. She pulled his hips against her, aching because he felt so hard against her, and she wanted him so much.

“Now,” she said, and he said, “No,” and smiled at her. Something inside her melted at that smile, and she relaxed and moved with him, giving herself up to his rhythm, making each second individual and alive because he was touching her. His hands caressed her, exploring her, and when she thought she couldn’t bear it anymore, he moved his mouth down across the slope of her belly and into the blond curls between her legs, stroking there. And she arched her hips to meet his mouth and moaned, lacing her fingers through his hair and pulling his mouth against her, until she exploded inside, throbbing with white heat under his hands.

He moved his head up when she lay still again, and she felt his tongue hot across her stomach. He licked her breasts as he slid across her skin, finding her mouth with his just as she cried, “Oh, please, now,” and then he suddenly moved hard into her, and she felt her blood surge again with the shock of him inside her. Jake, she thought, and lost her mind, writhing beneath him, clawing at him, pressing her hips frantically against him as he rocked inside her over and over until, finally, she came again, this time in great shuddering, clenching spasms, crying in her ecstasy and bringing him with her at the end.

They lay shuddering in each other’s arms, until he could move, could reach down to pull the sheet over them, holding her close.

“I’m never going to get enough of you,” Kate whispered, fighting for her breath. “Not if we make love forever.”

He kissed her, murmuring her name as her lips touched his, and then they fell asleep, exhausted, in each other’s arms.

When Kate awoke the next morning, Jake was still asleep. He was warm and solid next to her, and she put her cheek against his chest and thought of the night before; of how they’d laughed and slept and then made love again when Jake reached for her suddenly in the middle of the night, needing her so, touching off an equal need in her that they had both moved in frenzy to sate. They were perfect. She wanted him again.

He slept deeply beside her, exhausted to the point of oblivion. She eased herself out of bed, still feeling him throbbing in every cell of her body. He was so exhausted, she couldn’t bear to wake him, but she needed his touch, needed to feel some relief on her body. She wrapped herself in his robe and walked down to the lake.

The sun wasn’t up yet; there was only a faint pinkness in the sky. When she got to the edge of the lake, she dropped the robe and walked in, feeling the chill water bring her nerves to life. Jake made her feel this way.

Jake.

She plunged into the water, feeling the shock all over her body. Then she swam out to the middle of the lake, diving and twisting through its liquid coolness until all her heat and need were gone.

When she turned to go in, Jake was sitting where he’d been before, this time dressed only in his jeans. Just the sight of him made her breathless, hot again, and she forced herself to breathe deep before she swam to him.

She stopped when she was shoulder-deep in the water.

“Hello,” she said.

“Morning,” he said.

“Did you come to watch?”

He smiled, and she loved him so much she felt dizzy.

“Don’t do that,” she said. “I’ll drown.”

He shook his head. “I came to swim.”

“Come on in.” She gestured behind her. “Plenty of room.”

“Are you naked?”

“Oh, yes. See?” She moved forward to him, walking slowly out of the lake. His eyes never left her body.

“I’ll go in…when you come out,” he said, and she laughed and moved toward him.

She walked up on the shore and stood beside him on the blanket. He was only inches away from her, just like before. But this time he leaned forward, resting his head on her stomach, sliding his hands up to her hips, and very gently licked his tongue into her.

The world reeled around her and she clutched at his shoulders. He looked up at her, standing shivering and wet in the pale dawn light. “That’s what I wanted to do that morning,” he said huskily, and pulled her down into his arms.

“You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.” He stroked his hand across her stomach. “I can’t believe I’ve been so dumb about you.” He dropped his head down to hers and kissed her, cradling her in his lap.

“I’ve been dumb, too,” she said softly. “Me and my plan.” She cuddled closer.

“You were never going to find anybody to fit that plan,” Jake said, holding her.

“Well, actually, I did,” Kate said. “Rick Roberts was perfect for it.”

Jake frowned at her. “If he was perfect, what are you doing naked with me?”

Kate grinned. “He was perfect for the plan. You’re perfect for me. Go figure.” She pulled his head down to her and kissed him, and he sighed and held her close.

“I should go to work,” he said. “But maybe I’ll take the day off.”

Kate rolled out of his arms and grabbed for the robe as she stood. “Go to work,” she said. “I’ll still be around when you get off.”

When Kate got back to her cabin, Penny was sitting on the step, looking unhappy.

“Can I talk to you, Kate?” she asked.

“Of course.” She sat down beside Penny. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“I was with Mark last night.”

“Well, that’s nice. I think Mark is terrific.”

“So do I,” Penny said mournfully. “And I was with Mark all of last night.”

“Well, good,” Kate said, and then, as the full import of what Penny was saying hit her, she added, “Oh. Not good.”

“He’s so sweet, and he makes me laugh,” Penny said.

“Like a good friend,” Kate suggested, thinking of Jake.

“And when he makes love to me, I lose my mind.”

“Like a really good friend,” Kate said, thinking of Jake.

“I think I’m in love with him.”

“Well, that’s great,” Kate said, stealing a look at Penny. She didn’t look happy. “Isn’t it?”

“No,” Penny said. “I’m getting married to Allan next month, remember.”

“Well, yes, I remember. But, don’t you think,” Kate suggested cautiously, “that maybe, with this new development and all, you might be better off with Mark than with Allan?”

Penny shook her head. “Mark’s in college. I’d have to wait years for a baby.”

“Well, babies are great, of course,” Kate said, “but I really think you’d be better off forgetting about the baby part and concentrating on the man part.”

“I don’t know.” Penny looked confused. “I feel just awful about this. I’ve never cheated on Allan before.”

“Well, maybe that’s because you’ve never loved anyone before,” Kate said, trying not to sound like the dating-advice column in Seventeen. “Why don’t you spend some time with Mark and see how things work out. Maybe the feeling will wear off.”

“Do you think so?” Penny asked.

“I hope so,” Kate said, thinking of Jake. “We’re in a real mess if it doesn’t.” She patted Penny on the leg.

“Come on. Let’s have lunch and play tennis and forget about men for a while.”

Kate played tennis with Penny for most of the afternoon because she wanted to move. She’d never felt so alive, so conscious of every part of her body. She and Penny swatted the ball back and forth without keeping score, laughing at each other and enjoying the afternoon sun and the sweat and their friendship. Several men stopped to stare, and Kate waited for Penny to drift over to them, but Penny stuck her tongue between her teeth and concentrated on returning the ball, oblivious to her admirers.

“I’m having so much fun,” she told Kate when they stopped to towel off.

“Me, too,” Kate said. “I think we’re getting better.”

“We couldn’t get much worse,” Penny said and laughed.

They went back to the court, and Kate grinned when she saw the men lined up at the chain-link fence to watch Penny serve. It never occurred to her that they were watching her, too.

At three, they walked to the bar in the hotel dining room for cold drinks, laughing and talking and swinging their rackets at nothing.

“This was a good day,” Penny said as they went into the cool dimness.

“That it was,” Kate said. She waved to Mark behind the bar. “Two colas. Non-diet. The hard stuff. Penny and I live on the edge.”

Mark grinned at both of them as he poured the colas and Penny blushed. When he saw her turn pink, he blushed, too.

“We’ll sit over here at a table,” Kate said, trying to hide her grin. “We’re too tired to balance on barstools.”

Penny found a table in the corner and waited until Kate had joined her. “What am I going to do?”

“Do you have a choice?” Kate said. “Are you really going to be able to go back and marry Allan, feeling this way about Mark?”

“Maybe it’s just a crush,” Penny said.

“Maybe,” Kate said. “But-”

“Hi, can I join you?” Valerie sank down in the chair next to them. “I’m just about at my wits’ end.”

“Oh?” Kate said, annoyed at the interruption. She looked over at Penny and saw that even she was frowning. It took someone with extremely bad social skills to annoy Penny. Valerie was hitting on all cylinders today.

“What’s wrong?” Penny asked politely.

“What else? Men!” Valerie gave a short laugh. “Mark!” she called, without looking around. “Gin and tonic!”

Penny glared at her.

“Any man in particular?” Kate asked hastily, checking Penny for weapons. There didn’t seem to be much she could do with a drinking glass unless she broke it on the edge of the table and used the jagged edge to go for Valerie’s jugular. Kate pulled the glass out of Penny’s reach just in case.

“Will!” Valerie said with real venom. “I can’t believe he’s so stupid.”

“Will never struck me as stupid,” Kate said.

“Well, he is. He refuses to talk about the new bar, and the longer we sit on that idea, the more money we’re losing. And I’ve done everything but flat-out tell him that another hotel is trying to hire me away, and he just ignores me.” She ended her tirade on a wail. “It’s like he doesn’t care.”

“Maybe he doesn’t,” Penny said.

“Of course he does,” Valerie snapped. “Damn it, I have a plan here!”

“Don’t say that!” Kate said, wincing.

Mark brought Valerie her gin and tonic and winked at Penny before he went back to the bar.

“Yeah, plans are for the birds,” Penny said morosely.

“What are you two talking about?” Valerie asked.

“Well, I have this friend, see?” Penny said, shooting a look at Kate that said “Shut up.”

“And she had a plan to marry a really steady wealthy guy so she could stay home and be a housewife and mother and have a lot of kids because that’s what she really wanted. You know?”

“No,” Valerie said. “But if that’s what she wants, what the hell.”

“And she found the perfect guy,” Penny said gloomily. “And then she went and fell in love with a poor guy who’s never going to have much money and won’t be able to have kids with her for years.”

“So what’s the problem?” Valerie asked.

“What?” Kate said.

Valerie shrugged. “She stays with the rich guy. Love doesn’t last. Money does if you know how to manage it.” She looked at Penny. “Tell your friend to dump the poor guy, marry the rich guy, and take night courses in investing. That’s what I’d do.”

“I’m sure you would,” Kate said. “Don’t you love Will?”

“Well, of course I love Will,” Valerie said.

“What if he didn’t have the hotel?” Kate asked. “What if he ran the hardware store?”

Valerie thought about it. “Depends on the size of the hardware store, I guess. And what I could do with it.”

Kate tilted her head and looked at Valerie appraisingly. “This isn’t about money, is it?”

“What?” Valerie asked, confused.

“It’s not the money, although you want that, too. It’s the hotel and the wheeling and dealing and making plans. That’s what hooks you.”

“I guess,” Valerie said. “What are you talking about?”

“Because that’s what hooks me, too,” Kate said. “I need the challenge. I can’t just sit out on a lake and watch the fish for the rest of my life. I need to play the game.” She bit her lip. “I hate it, but that’s me.”

“Why hate it?” Valerie looked at her like she was crazy. “You’re terrific at what you do.”

“Yes, but now it’s getting in the way of what I want,” Kate said.

“I can’t believe you ever let anything get in the way of what you want,” Valerie said. “I really admire that in you.”

“Thank you, Valerie,” Kate said, standing. “Excuse me a minute. I need another cola. This one with rum, I think.”

That night at Nancy ’s was a madhouse, and Kate served drinks until she was dizzy. Three days ago, she’d been a customer. Tonight she was a pro.

She took a beer and a wine cooler to Brad and his date, and he grinned at her and said, “Thanks, Kate.”

Three days ago he’d been groping her. Now it was “Thanks, Kate.” He’d better leave a big tip.

She poured colas with rum and without. She plopped olives into martinis and dipped tequila glasses in salt. She filled the pretzel bowls on the bar over and over again. She carried drinks all over the bar, neatly dodging hands that came up to pat her rear end, telling drunks their next drink was coffee, taking several orders at once and delivering them without a mistake.

I’m pretty good at this, she thought. It was a nice thought, and as she was feeling particularly happy anyway, and as she happened to be passing Jake as he bent over the pool table, she patted him on the rear end to celebrate.

He miscued.

“God, I hope you stay forever,” Ben told her, and she laughed and went on to serve drink after drink after drink.

Jake watched her as she threaded her way through the crowd, smiling at everyone, leaving a trail of grins behind her. She looked like she belonged there. She did belong there. With him.

Then, like an evil curse, the thought intruded: What would she do here? There’s nothing for her here. And you remember what happened the last time you fell for a smart blonde with a great body? It didn’t last. What makes you think you’re any smarter this time?

“Are you going to play pool?” Ben asked.

“Yeah,” Jake said shortly, and shoved his thoughts about the future away. He’d think about that later. Much later. After all, he wasn’t even sure how he felt about her.

He looked up to see Kate walking past Brad, who reached out a hand and caught her on the rear end before she had time to swerve. She spilled some beer on him, and he laughed.

Jake put down his cue.

“Back in a minute,” he told Ben and walked over to Brad.

He put one hand on the back of Brad’s chair and the other on the table in front of him and leaned over.

Brad looked up.

“Hey, Jake,” he said happily.

“Don’t touch Kate,” Jake said.

Brad looked up, and his smile faded.

“If you get my drift,” Jake added gently.

“Got it.” Brad nodded. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem.” Jake patted him on the back and ambled back to the pool table. Ben rested on his cue and grinned at him.

“It was a lot easier when we could just brand ‘em,” Ben said. “Then everybody’d know not to mess with our womenfolk.”

“Shut up and play pool.” Jake picked up his cue.

“I never thought I’d see you lay claim to a woman,” Ben needled him. “Right in front of the whole bar and everything.”

“I just don’t think she should have to put up with that.” Jake glared at him, annoyed. “Are you going to play pool or not?”

“I’m going to play pool.” Ben chalked his cue. “Funny it never bothered you when Thelma and Sally had to put up with that.”

“Thelma and Sally can take care of themselves.”

“And Kate can’t?” Ben laughed. “Kate could take care of all of us. If we put her in uniform, we wouldn’t need the marines.”

“ Nancy can take care of herself, too. What would you do if Brad went after her?”

“The same thing that you did, buddy,” Ben said. “Which is my point, exactly.”

Jake stood still for a second and then thought, Yeah, right. I’m not sure how I feel about her. Oh, hell.

He moved around the table. “Hit the ball,” he said to Ben. “Try to actually get one in a pocket this time.”

Above all, Kate served beer. Long-necked bottles, mugs, glasses. She felt like Mickey Mouse in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” After a while, she leaned against the bar and saw beer bottles marching toward her, sloshing foam over her feet. The world was made of liquid.

“Kate!”

She shook herself awake and turned to Nancy.

“Take a break,” Nancy said. “It’s ten. We’re slowing down.”

“How can you tell?” Kate asked. The bar was still packed with people, the noise was still as loud.

“Because we’re talking to each other instead of slinging drinks. You want to go sit down for a while?”

“No.” Kate looked back at the table she’d just served. “Watch the guy in the blue T-shirt. I think he’s had enough.”

“Right.” Nancy nodded. “I’m going to hate it when you go. You’re getting almost as good at this as I am.”

When she went. She kept trying to avoid that thought and it kept hitting her in the face.

“Hey, Nancy, two more over here,” Early called.

Nancy turned to make the drinks and saw the expression on Kate’s face. “You are going, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Kate said numbly.

“Just checking. I thought you might have changed your mind, with Jake and everything.” Nancy shoved the tray over the bar. “These go over to Early and Ross at the far pool table.”

“I see them.” Kate picked up the tray and then stopped. “I can’t give up my whole life after one night,” she said to Nancy. “That would be stupid. He’s never said he loved me, and how could he? We’ve only known each other a week. Less than a week.”

“I know,” Nancy said. “But I don’t want you to stay just for Jake. I want you to stay for me.” She leaned on the bar. “I’ve got a lot of friends here, people I grew up with, but you and I…talk. About the bar and other things. I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you, too,” Kate said with tears in her voice. “I’d better get these to Early.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you, honey.” Nancy patted her hand. “We’ve got more than a week before you leave. Let’s just enjoy that. Here, take a couple of beers to Ben and Jake, too. They’re due.”

Kate took the tray back to the corner of the bar, handing Ross his whiskey and Early his gin. “Thank you, Kate,” Ross said. “Mighty kind of you, Kate,” Early said.

“My pleasure, boys,” she said and smiled because it really was. There was something about being in a place where you knew everybody and everybody knew you. Like home.

She took the beers to Jake and Ben.

“Pat his butt again,” Ben told her as he watched Jake sink a ball. “I almost won a game when you did that.”

“If you only almost won, what good will it do?” Kate asked.

“Well, do something else, then,” Ben grumbled.

“Hell, we’re paying you minimum wage. Earn your keep.”

Kate put down the tray as Jake came around the table to take his next shot. “Come here, big boy.” She hooked her fingers in the waistband of his jeans and pulled him toward her. Then she kissed him full on the mouth and heard someone whoop behind her.

She’d expected him to pull away, but he leaned into her, bending her back onto the pool table as he slipped his tongue in her mouth. Her hat fell off. He took his time about finishing the kiss so she broke it off, and when she pulled her mouth away, he kept her pinned to the table and said, “Did I ever tell you my fantasy about pool tables?”

“No!” She slipped out from under him, red-faced.

He clapped her hat back on her head.

“Don’t start what you can’t finish,” he said, grinning at her, and turned back to the table.

Ben was shaking his head at him.

“We were going to put up a big sign that said Jake Templeton Finally Got Laid, but now we won’t have to.”

“What’s this ‘finally’ stuff?” Jake looked insulted. “I wasn’t desperate.” He studied the table and found his shot. Then he lined up his cue and remembered Kate bent under him in the same position. If he hadn’t had a fantasy about pool tables before, he had one now.

He miscued.

“One more great athlete destroyed by sex,” Ben said and began to run the table.

“Very nice,” Nancy said when Kate got back to the bar. “I don’t know what got into me.” Kate pulled her hat low over her eyes.

“On a guess, Jake.”

“Very funny.”

“You sure you’re going to leave?” Nancy asked. “It seems like you were always here.”

“I’m sure,” Kate said. “I need to work and there’s nothing for me to do here. And besides, I don’t think Jake’s interested in anything permanent. The whole idea of me staying is just impossible.”

There was a loud cheer from the back of the bar. “Kate, I love you,” Ben called out to her.

“That’s twice Ben’s won in a week,” Nancy said. “If that can happen, anything can happen.”

The four of them closed the bar at midnight and walked out to the parking lot behind the bar.

“I can’t believe I beat you,” Ben said, savoring his victory. “Twice in one week.”

“I was distracted.” Jake put his arm around Kate to pull her close. “You’d better give her a raise.”

“Women,” Ben said. “You gotta love ‘em.” He moved behind Nancy and put his arms around her.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against him, smiling. “Twenty years. And you still turn me on like crazy.”

“If we’re in your way, just say so,” Jake said. “Otherwise we’ll stay and watch.”

“Good idea,” Ben said. “Maybe you’ll learn something.”

“Not if you make love like you play pool.”

“Hey, I won.”

“Come on.” Kate tugged on Jake’s arm. “I’m tired, and I’m covered with beer, and Nancy ’s getting all the action.”

She pulled him toward the car.

“Your problem is you’re not aggressive enough,” Jake told her. “A man likes a woman who will show a little interest. You keep playing hard to get and you never will get-”

“Get in the car,” Kate said. “I’ll show you aggressive.”

The next morning, Kate came home to find Penny weeping hysterically on the steps.

Kate took her into the cabin and washed her face with cold water.

“What’s wrong?”

“I made my decision.” Penny swallowed and sat down on the bed. “I decided the only smart thing to do was to stay with Allan, so I told Mark I was getting married. He got so mad…” Penny shook her head.

“Well, he has a point.” Kate sat down beside her. “How would you feel if the situation was reversed, and you’d been sleeping with him, and then he told you he was engaged?”

“I thought guys didn’t care. I thought they just liked the sex, you know?”

“I don’t think Mark is a ‘guy.’ I think he’s a person. I think he really cares about you.” Kate took a deep breath. “I know you really care about him.”

Penny began to cry again. “What am I going to do?”

“Call Allan and tell him it’s all a mistake.”

“I can’t. The wedding’s all planned. We have caterers. My dress is done.”

“You’re going to spend the rest of your life with a man you don’t love because of some caterers and a dress? Are you out of your mind?”

“Yes,” Penny said and cried some more.

“What do you want me to do, Penny?”

“Fix it.” Penny looked at her like a little girl.

“I can’t, kid,” Kate said. “You’ve got to fix this yourself. Choose one or the other.”

“Allan.”

“Okay. Then it doesn’t matter that Mark is mad. Because you’re never going to see him again anyway.”

Penny howled and threw herself on the bed.

“Come on, Penny.” Kate patted her on the back. Funny. She’d never thought of herself as a patter.

“You don’t understand,” Penny sobbed. “You have Jake forever.”

“No, I don’t.” Kate swallowed hard as she remembered. “I’m leaving in a week.”

A week. Seven days.

Penny lifted her head from the bed.

“Why?”

“Because I have a career in the city and-”

“You’re leaving Jake for a job, and you tell me I‘m out of my mind?”

“It’s different,” Kate said weakly, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Does Jake know?”

“Yes.” He must know. We haven’t talked about it, but he must know.

“I bet he doesn’t.” Penny wiped her tears on the back of her hand. “He’s crazy about you.”

“Not that crazy,” Kate said grimly.

Penny sat up beside her. “We didn’t do so hot, did we?”

“No, we didn’t,” Kate agreed. “But we’re not done yet. I think you’d better do some fast thinking about Mark and Allan.”

Penny gulped.

“Imagine living with Allan for the rest of your life,” Kate said. “Imagine never seeing Mark again.”

“You think I should stay with Mark,” Penny sniffed.

“I think you don’t have any choice,” Kate said. “If you’re this unhappy when he’s mad at you, how are you going to feel if you never see him again?”

Penny threw herself back onto the bed and began to cry again, and Kate sighed and handed her more tissues. And how am I going to feel? she asked herself as she patted Penny. I feel like throwing myself down beside her and howling, too. This is a mess, but I’m not going to think about it now. I’m going to enjoy myself, damn it I’ll think about the future later.

Much later.