"Don't cry, angel.” He graced her with an incredible smile that melted her insides and made him look irresistible.
Jake slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Slowly, he bent his head and brushed his lips across hers repeatedly, before parting them and kissing her breath away.
"I need to ask you something.” His reserved look told her he was bracing for the worst. “I can't get this song out of my head and was wondering if it meant something to you, to this situation."
He breathed a sigh. “What's the song?"
"There is a house in New Orleans...” she sang.
He laughed. “Yeah, it was my favorite song in college. I played it all the time, on the stereo, the piano, whenever I could get my hands on an instrument."
"I see.” She ducked her head before saying, “So tell me more about this dream you had of us."
They began walking again as Jake continued. “We slept for a while and made love over and over again."
"Wee hours, over and over. Hmmm, did we ever eat?"
"Only when we were too exhausted for anything else.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
She chuckled. “That was a long time ago. We were just kids."
Jake extracted his hands from hers. “Let's let fate decide our course."
Intrigued, she asked, “How?"
He pulled a quarter from his pocket. “I'll flip a coin. Heads you marry me, tails you don't. It's simple enough."
The jest lightened the mood of the last few days. She'd play along. “Yes."
Jake chucked the quarter high into the air. Allison focused her mind on the coin and manipulated it so it landed on the heads side. All's fair in love and war.
She watched as he picked up the quarter.
"It looks like fate has decreed that we be together."
"Well,” she sighed dramatically while throwing her arms up. “You can't argue with fate.” He trailed a hot string of kisses across her jaw, down her neck and back up until their lips melded together.
Every nerve in his body sizzled, and his body came alive with sexual energy. His jeans became very constrictive. They were too damn tight.
Jake drew back and looked at Allison's flushed face. Her sparkling eyes mesmerized him. “Whoa! What the hell just happened?"
"I'm in love with you, Jake."
Something powerful washed through him. Visions of Allison's naked body wrapped around him created an urgent and overwhelming need to bury himself inside her. “I love you too, babe, but I feel like a thousand volts just ran through my body, singeing every nerve. And, in case you hadn't notice,” he rubbed suggestively against her. “Parts of me are feeling energized."
His Adam's apple bobbled as he swallowed. “If all that happened with just a kiss.... “The sentence trailed off and Jake scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?” She couldn't catch her breath because he was running and her chest and stomach pounded into his shoulder.
"Taking you to bed."
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Allison licked the last stamp and pressed it on the corner of the large envelope that held her sketches going to Mer Chic in Paris. She had never believed she'd be showing anyone her designs, but here she was, mailing them to Lindsey McKenna, the head talent scout for the Parisian clothier.
"Hidey Ho,” rang a voice from the other room.
"I'm in here, Kat."
Kat Rubin bounced into the kitchen. “Oooooh. There it is, the envelope."
"Knock it off.” Allison playfully slapped her shoulder. “You'll drop this off for me, right?"
"Yeah, I said I would.” She grabbed a cookie off the plate in the center of the counter. “Does Jake know yet?"
Allison pulled down the oven door to peer inside. “No. I'm making this big dinner tonight."
"I get it. You ply him with food, get him all content and then spring the fact that you're going to Paris."
"Yep.” Allison knew she had to do something special.
"Well, give it here, would you?” Kat whined. “I gotta run. I'm meeting Lucas at the mall."
"Who's Lucas?"
Kat scrunched up her face. “A friend."
Allison laughed. Kat had a lot of friends. She walked Kat to the front door and waved as she drove away.
Jake pulled up. He'd been suspended from the Bureau because of what he'd done. Not long after, he'd resigned. His pain tore at her but after only two months of leave, most of which they spent together, the Chief of Police in Gloucester had offered him a job on the detective squad. They were married three months ago. Allison didn't think her life could get any better.
"Hello, beautiful,” Jake said as he picked her up and carried her into the house, kicking the door closed behind them.
The End
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