She quickly swept up three of the New Regency Releases on the end of the aisle, with women in flowing dresses and frilly parasols gracing the covers, and tucked them into the crook of her arm. The fact that she was shopping for romance novels with Jake of all people felt oddly good, yet nerve-racking. His hand brushing her hip as they browsed made making decisions about which books to get her mother difficult. The entire time they’d been in the bookstore her body and her mind had been fritzing from the simple contact.
“It can be, you know,” he said suddenly.
“What can?”
“Love. It can be happily ever after,” he said, eyes roving the books in front of them and crinkling as he smiled.
“I wouldn’t think you’d believe that,” Liz countered. “I mean, you’re divorced and all that, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but I still think it can happen. Love doesn’t necessarily have to be this passionate adventure. It can be slow and gentle, strong and resilient,” he said, surprising her.
“Why, Mr. West, I do believe you’re a romantic!” Liz mock gasped, eliciting chuckles from him as he caught her eye.
“Nah. Maybe,” he said, smiling sadly. “I met my ex at a restaurant we both worked at, and we just clicked. It wasn’t passionate really, but it was mutual respect, and we thought it was enough, until it wasn’t. Doesn’t make it any less true, though. Love is different for each person, you have to learn their love language.”
Liz thought about her mom, and how she’d had a very different take on her marriage to Brett compared to what everyone else thought was true. Perspectives Liz hadn’t ever considered.
Black and white were more her speed. She was either in love or not in love. There were no semantics or variations on that. But it wasn’t a switch you could turn on and off, and she had never really been good at being “in love” with Darren. He’d made that clear.
“What do you believe? I already know the happily ever after part isn’t it,” Jake asked suddenly.
They turned down another aisle, this one with a sign that screamederoticain bold red letters. They browsed the books, most of them with suggestive names and oddly placed objects that were euphemisms for sex or something more. Apples, a whip lying casually on a tile floor, ripples of sensual silk across a bed with a hand clutching the folds.
Liz pursed her lips, thinking.What did she believe?
Darren had broken her heart. After she had dumped him in a very public way, he’d made stupid excuses, claiming that it was her pushing him away that had led to him cheating, not his own lack of respect and control. He went so far as to say he didn’t think she really loved him.
She thought she had, she just didn’t know how to show it the way he needed, and even though he’d asked her to marry him, she’d never felt head over heels for him. Showing love, or being intimate wasn’t her strong suit. He’d tried to change her, but maybe she was too stubborn.
Because of all that, Liz decided that perhaps love wasn’t enough, but that wasn’t what Jake was asking.
“I don’t know anymore,” she offered, and shrugged. “I—”
“What happened between you and Doctor McFancypants, anyway?”
He’d caught on better than she’d expected and she laughed, making him chuckle too.
“Darren? He—” She stopped and inhaled through her nose, wincing at the pain of it, and touched the bridge with her finger.
Jake’s hands were suddenly on her waist, and he drew her in close to him. He smelled damned good, like fresh soap and some sort of cedary cologne, the planes of his chest smooth and hard, and it was making her want to forget that they were talking about something she hated thinking about, which was her one failed serious relationship. He pulled her into a hug, nestling her head on his shoulder. They were somewhat shielded by the bookshelf, and he let out a deep, frustrated sigh.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he murmured in her ear.
“He cheated on me with one of the nurses he works with. It didn’t last long, but it was enough. He blamed me. Obviously, my idea of love wasn’t his, working on your theory.”
Jake’s grip on her tightened, and his arms flexed. “Jerk,” he muttered.
“It was probably for the best,” she replied lamely, and pushed away from him, the intimate contact a bit much. She looked up at him, and his eyes were serious, his face set the same way Tanner got when he was about to be a big, tough man about something.
“No one should ever be disrespected that way,” he said. “He had no idea what he was letting go.”
Her heart skipped a beat, and she wanted to lean into him again. He said things guys had never said to her before and it made her feel special in the moment, like she mattered. She studied his face, and he flushed slightly, maybe because she’d caught him being sweet.
He cleared his throat. “Right. You have what you need? You sure you don’t want to buy your mom some of these? You did say she liked the sexy parts.”
“I am not buying my mother erotica. I think that crosses some sort of hard line in mom-daughter relationships.” Liz laughed, thankful he was being playful despite her surly mood and heavy topic. She hadn’t laughed a lot lately, and it was nice to flirt with him like this.
“Suit yourself. Might buy myself one . . . for pointers, you know.”
