Until Jake

Jake’s fingers grazed her cheek as he quietly insisted, “Kate, I’m not that guy.”

He was right. So very, very right.

As his hand cupped the side of her face, he told her, “I’m not going to hurt you. This past weekend you returned to me something that I’d lost…my personal life, the potential to be in a relationship and have a future with someone other than my computer and QuickBooks. I’ve been working twelve- to fourteen-hour days since I was eighteen, Kate. I haven’t had time for anything else. But this weekend…” His eyes were radiant in the sunlight as he stared down at her. “You showed me what it was like to share my time and my life with someone. I want that, Kate. You’re the only one who’s affected me in this way.” His expression turned imploring, his tone insistent. “I want you, Kate.”

Tears welled in her eyes again and trickled down her cheeks, pooling around his thumb until he swiped them away.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured as his lips brushed over hers. A whisper of a kiss that left her dying for more. “Trust me, Kate,” he urged. “Give me a chance.”

She gazed up at him through misty eyes.

The crazy thing about all of this was that she did trust Jake. And it didn’t make her certifiable. Because Kate knew in her heart that he truly was the real deal.

Definitely a keeper.

“Dinner,” he said with another easy grin. “Tonight. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

She didn’t think she could wait that long to see him.

“My mom’s house, with the twins. What do you say, Kate? Come meet my family? Let me introduce them to the first and only woman to steal my heart?”

More tears flowed, but she managed a nod.

“Alright, then. No more crying.” He whisked away the thin streams on her cheeks. “It’ll be great, Kate. You’ll see.”

Because of Jake, she found the strength and the inner courage to believe in him.

He was just that amazing.

“Seven o’clock,” she reiterated. “I’ll be ready.”

Jake swooped in for another heated kiss. Then told her, “You won’t regret this. I promise.”

Kate no longer had a single argument. All he had to do was kiss her, look deep into her eyes, touch her, and suddenly she just…knew.

This time, she’d gotten it right.