My Sweetheart (Book 3 in The Love and Dessert Trilogy) Page 10

  Tate picked up the still warm cookie and took a bite, closing his eyes as if he were in ecstasy. “Amazing,” he said reverently.

  Jane laughed softly and turned around and got another batch ready to go in the oven. She glanced at the clock and then picked up a cookie and walked back to sit down by Tate. She took a bite and smiled. He was right. They were amazing.

  “I hate not being able to come into the bakery anymore. I hate not seeing you,” Tate said picking up his third cookie and taking a bite.

  Jane frowned and licked some chocolate off her lips. “Tate, I told you, it’s just too hard for me. It’s better this way.”

  Tate frowned and took a sip of milk. “Then why are you here Jane? In my house? Making me cookies?”

  Jane blushed and crossed her legs. “I don’t really know. I just know that when I saw you hurt, I had to help you. It wasn’t exactly something I could control.”

  Tate rubbed his finger up and down the condensation on the glass. “Seeing you kiss Rob makes me want to kill him. When I went for that tackle, I couldn’t care less about the ball. I just wanted to bring Rob down,” he said, not looking at her.

  Jane’s eyes went wide in shock. “Tate! You were trying to hurt Rob?”

  Tate nodded slowly. “Not very nice, huh?”

  Jane stared at him shaking her head. “I don’t get you at all,” she whispered and stood up to check on the cookies. They had two more minutes left so she leaned against the kitchen counter and studied the large man sprawled out before her.

  “You were on a date with Alea, Tate. What right do you have to be upset with Rob? You don’t want to be with me but you don’t want anyone else to be with me either? That’s not fair,” she said quietly.

  Tate looked up at her, spearing her with hot eyes. “You don’t understand Jane. I would love to be with you. I want to be with you. I want . . . a lot. But choosing Alea is the logical thing to do. She’s Samoan and her parents are good friends with my aunt and uncle. My children would have a life rich in heritage and strong with family. A life I didn’t have until it was almost too late. It’s the right thing to do,” he said stoically.

  Jane sniffed and walked over to the oven, pulling the cookie sheet out again. She quickly used the spatula to get the cookies onto the cooling rack before putting the last batch of cookies on the sheet. She slipped the cookie sheet in the oven and then picked up two more cooled cookies and took them over to Tate, setting them down on his plate before sitting down again.

  “Do you love her?” she asked staring at the table.

  Tate shook his head quickly. “No,” he whispered.

  Jane groaned softly and leaned her head in her hand as she looked up at him. “You would willingly choose a woman you know you don’t love?”

  Tate looked away and closed his eyes, his face contorting in pain. “It’s complicated Jane. There’s a lot of pressure from her parents and my relatives. I’d be letting a lot of people down if I walk away from her. I owe my aunt and uncle everything.”

  Jane felt her heart break for Tate. “Do you owe them years of misery? I once heard that the greatest thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. If you can’t do that you’ll just be hurting your sons and daughters.”

  Tate picked up a cookie and took a bite. “If I had children with Alea they would be three quarters Samoan,” he said matter-of- factly.

  Jane’s eyebrows went up. “Oh, I see. I guess it would be hard to love children that were only one quarter Samoan, huh?” she said feeling cold all of a sudden. She stood up and walked over to the sink. She had exactly three more minutes before she could get the cookies out of the oven. And then she was gone.

  She felt movement behind her and turned around in surprise. Tate was standing right in front of her looking torn and upset. “Jane, if I had children with . . . you, I would treasure our children. I would love them. I would protect them with my life. I don’t care what percentage my children are . . . but my relatives do.”

  Jane sniffed and looked away. “So you’re basically living your life for your aunt and uncle. You’re giving your life and your heart and your decisions to them because they were kind to you and helped you when you were a teenager. That’s very noble. And very tragic,” she said crossing her arms over her chest.

  Tate swallowed and stepped closer to her. “Jane, please understand.”

  Jane nodded quickly. “I do. I get it, more than you know. But I don’t have to like it. Because I love you Tate. And your decision affects me and my life too. You’re going to marry Alea to make your family happy. Where does that leave me?” she asked softly.

  Tate stepped closer so that they were nose to nose and she was forced to look up into his eyes. “Why do you love me?” he demanded sounding almost angry.

  Jane shook her head in protest. “I don’t think I had much choice in the matter. But I would never deny my feelings for you. I never have . . .” she said but was stopped from talking any further because Tate swooped down and began kissing her, pushing her tight up against the sink.

  Jane reached up and wrapped her arms gently around his neck as Tate told her how he felt in the only way he could. Tate’s kiss was nothing like Rob’s. Rob had been all about style and technique and finesse. Tate’s emotions were out of control and his kiss was all passion, heat and yearning.

  Jane ripped her mouth away, gasping for air, but Tate growled and tilted his head, diving in again, kissing her over and over again. The smell of burning cookies had her pulling away. She stepped to the side and clumsily put on the oven mitts, pulling the dark brown cookies out of the oven, feeling shaky and uncertain.

  She kept a safe distance between them as she slipped the mitts off. “Sorry about the cookies.”

  Tate’s eyes narrowed at her, his eyes gleaming dangerously. “Come back here,” he murmured.

  Jane shook her head and took another step back. “You know you want Alea. Kissing me will only torture the both of us with what we can’t have. I think I better go,” she said and hurried around the counter and toward the hallway.

  Tate was there immediately, blocking her. “Don’t Jane. Don’t go,” he pleaded softly, leaning forward and nuzzling her neck with his warm firm lips.

  Jane bit her lip and pushed him back. “I can’t. I can’t be with you knowing that I’m not who you want. I’d resent you and you’d resent me and we’d be miserable. I think we should just forget about tonight and stay away from each other. You want to be with Alea, so be with her. And I’ll just . . . I’ll just go back to Rob,” she said feeling miserable and moved to walk past him.

  He didn’t move. He just stood there, looking at her. She couldn’t shove him out of her way because he was hurt. She glanced around for a patio door, but his hand on her arm stopped her.

  “Don’t run away Jane. This is hard for me. I’ve known who I was going to marry for a long time. I’ve dated a lot of different girls over the last few years, but I always knew in the end I’d be with Alea. But then you moved to town and messed everything up. It’s not that I don’t want you Jane. It’s that I want you so much, I’m getting ready to throw all my plans for the future away just so I can be with you,” he said, gently, his eyes soft and pleading.

  Jane gasped slightly as what he was saying sunk in. He took advantage of her shock and wrapped his good arm around her waist, bringing her closer to his body. Not to kiss her. Just to hold her. Jane gripped the back of his t-shirt in her hands and fought the tears that were slipping down her face, wetting his rugby jersey. Tate leaned down and kissed her hair, murmuring words of comfort she couldn’t understand over her gasping sobs.

  When her body relaxed and her tears dried up, Tate tilted her face up, kissing first on one cheek and then her other before very gently kissing her lips. “Better?”

  Jane sighed and nodded. “Please tell me this won’t be another yo-yo moment where I see you next time and you act like you can’t stand me.”

  Tate groaned and leaned his foreh
ead against hers. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me for being so slow and stubborn. I’ll never push you away ever again. Jane . . . I love you,” he said in a low voice so full of emotion he shuddered.

  Jane pulled his face down and kissed him softly. “I never thought I’d ever hear you say that,” she whispered.

  Tate caressed her cheek with his hand and shook his head. “You’re going to have to get used to hearing it all the time from now on. I’ve never loved another woman. Ever,” he admitted.

  Jane sighed happily and then squeaked when the front door was flung open and shouts and yelling filled the small house. Jane jumped back from Tate as men from his Rugby team poured in, making the small house seem overcrowded immediately.

  Tate glanced at her apologetically as he turned to greet his friends and cousins. She hurried back to the stove and picked up the spatula transferring the cookies to the cooling tray, keeping her damp eyes down in case anyone glanced at her. She turned the oven off and walked around the men to get to the door. She had her hand on the door knob when she was picked up from behind and carried back to the kitchen.

  She gasped and looked up to see Kam laughing down at her. “Where are you going? You can’t leave a man when he’s down. You take him to the hospital, bring him home and make him cookies and then you leave?”

  Tate laughed, his eyes happy and filled with light as he stared at her. Jane blushed and pushed her hair behind her ears as she shrugged. “Well, Tate’s in good hands now. I don’t think I’m needed anymore,” she said, biting her lip.

  Kam grinned and shook his head. “I think Tate disagrees. You disagree bro? You want Jane to stay or go?”

  Tate looked at her almost shyly and said one word. “Stay.”

  Jane smiled back and nodded her head. “Okay.”

  For the next hour, she sat by Tate on the couch while his friends and Kam regaled him with the entire rugby match play by play.

  “You know, your friend Rob is pretty good. And he can take a hit,” Feke said, grinning at Tate.

  Tate threw a pillow at Feke and more good natured teasing followed. Jane got up knowing she really did need to get to bed but she couldn’t leave Tate with the mess she’d made in the kitchen. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun and began washing the cookie sheet by hand. She jumped when someone set a plate beside her. She looked up to see Kam looking down at her curiously.

  “You sure about this Cupcake?”

  Jane didn’t pretend to misunderstand what he meant and sighed. “I love him. I tried everything not to, but I can’t stop. Will your mom and dad hate me?” she asked rinsing the plate off and placing it on the counter.

  Kam leaned against the counter and crossed his massive arms over his chest as he frowned. “They won’t hate you but it’s not going to be easy. You’re tough though, right?”

  Jane grimaced and began washing Tate’s glass. “Some days I am. Some days, not so much. Will your mom and dad be okay with you dating Meredith?”

  Kam grinned and shook his head. “They’re in for a shock. But they’ll be okay. It’s different for me. I have a mom and dad and brothers and sisters and all the support anyone could want. If Tate chooses you, he’ll have you and two sisters in law. They’re not going to like that.”

  Jane frowned and rinsed the glass. “Then I’ll have to be enough for him, won’t I?”

  Kam picked up one of the cookies that hadn’t burned and took a bite smiling kindly at her. “If you ask me, you’re more than enough.”

  Jane smiled and watched him walk out of the kitchen. She wiped off the counter and headed for the door. She paused in the doorway and watched Tate for a moment. He was relaxed and happier than she’d ever seen him. Hopefully she had something to do with that.

  “Bye everyone!” she called out. “I’ll see you at the next game,” she said and flinched as Tate struggled to get off the couch to say goodbye to her. The rest of the guys called out their goodbyes as Tate opened the door for her and walked with her to her car.

  “Tate, you’re hurt. You don’t need to walk me to my car,” she said as he put a protective hand on the small of her back.

  Tate smiled happily and waited as she unlocked her door. “Yeah, actually I do. Besides, I wanted to say goodbye to my girlfriend in private.”

  Jane’s cheeks turned red and her mouth fell open in surprise. “Girlfriend? I don’t remember the two of us deciding on a label for our relationship,” she said, looking at his chest instead of his face.

  Tate tilted her chin up and she was forced to look into his dark warm eyes. “You can call us whatever you want as long as it means you’re mine and I’m yours.”

  Jane sighed happily and leaned her head up against his good shoulder. “I guess that means I have to break up with Rob then.”

  Tate laughed although he didn’t sound like he was amused. “You will if you care about his health.”

  Jane grinned up at him and then frowned. “So uh, that means you’ll be letting Alea and your family know that you two won’t be together?” she asked carefully while she looked away from Tate.

  Tate was quiet for a moment. “It’s over Jane. It was over the moment I told you I loved you,” he said quietly, touching her cheek.

  Jane closed her eyes in relief as Tate leaned down and nuzzled her cheek with his lips. “All my friends are staring out my window at us. Give me a big kiss so they’ll be jealous.”

  Jane glanced at the window and saw that he was right. “Uh . . .” was as far as she got before Tate took matters in to his own hands and began kissing her. Jane forgot about their audience although she could hear whooping and yelling. Everything faded away as Tate gently explored her mouth, ending the kiss way too soon.

  Jane stared at Tate with a small smile on her face. “Wow. It’s so different kissing someone you love isn’t it?”

  Tate grinned and grabbed her hand, kissing her knuckles before slowly backing away. “It’s as different as the sun and the moon. One just reflects light and one fills you with so much warmth you realize you’ve been freezing to death your whole life,” he said and then turned and walked away from her.

  Jane bit her lip as joy filled her heart. She slipped into her car and drove away as Tate stood on his front porch watching her. As soon as she turned the corner, she rolled down her windows and yelled as loud as she could.

  Tate loved her. Could life get any better?

  Chapter 11 - Revelations

  The next day as she worked side by side with her sisters, she couldn’t contain her happiness. Kit woke up tired from being up late with Hunter and Layla was unusually quiet, so she kept her news to herself.

  Rob came in to buy a croissant and talked to her about rugby. “Jane, I had the best time last night. I feel bad Tate got hurt in that tackle, but other than that it was fun. I can’t wait for the next game. There’s a practice tonight I’m going to. Feke told me he’d help train me.”

  Jane grinned as Rob went on and on and was happy that he’d found an outlet for his competitive nature. Kit and Layla were on their best behavior and took time out to smile and chat with him too.

  “Hey Rob, I’ll walk you down to your car,” Jane said and hurried around the counter when he reached for the door.

  Rob raised an eyebrow in surprise and then winked at her before turning back to wave goodbye to Layla and Kit. “Sure thing Beautiful.”

  Kit frowned and Layla sighed heavily but they didn’t say anything to stop her. She put her hand on Rob’s arm as they walked down to his car. “Rob, something happened last night that you should probably know about,” she began.

  Rob frowned and leaned up against his car with his arms crossed over his chest. “Oh? That doesn’t sound good.”

  Jane blushed and put her hands behind her back. “Well, after I took Tate to the hospital we had a really good talk and we’ve decided that we’re going to be together now.”

  Rob frowned and looked down at his feet. “What about Miss Universe? What’s she going to say about that?
”

  Jane bit her lip and shrugged. “She’s not going to like it. But I have to admit that I’m going to miss being your girlfriend. I had a lot of fun with you,” she said, smiling.

  Rob smiled back and shook his head. “Dang, I was really enjoying this. What? We were together two, two and a half days? I think you owe me at least a week,” he said sounding genuinely disappointed.

  Jane laughed and gave him a quick hug. “You Rob were the best boyfriend I’ve ever had. Well, up until now that is. But honestly, you’re great. I’m glad we did this, because if we hadn’t, we would have never been friends.”

  Rob reached out and touched her cheek. “Friends it is then. Bring Tate into the restaurant soon.”

  Jane nodded and smiled as she waved goodbye to him as he drove away. He’d been so nice and fun. She hoped that Rob was able to find someone to love soon. She hurried back into the bakery but stopped when she saw Kit and Layla staring at her with identical frowns on their faces.

  “What?” she asked, alarmed.

  Layla stepped forward and stood in front of her. “Jane, I know Rob is charming and he can be fun and at first I thought this would be okay, but seeing you now, rushing to walk him to his car and hugging him. No. Just no Jane. You’re falling for him! I knew this would happen. You have the softest most romantic heart of anyone I’ve ever met.”

  Jane’s mouth fell open but before she could say anything Kit rushed in, taking her hand and standing next to Layla. “I get it Jane. Believe me, I get it. Rob is gorgeous, intelligent and he has enough charisma for three men. But this is going so fast. Please slow down. Please . . .” she stopped as the bell over the door signaled a customer.

  All three women turned around to see Tate Matafeo walk in. Jane’s breath caught in her throat as she watched him walk toward her in his police uniform, grinning and looking straight at her.

  “Good morning ladies,” Tate said before pulling her into his arms and kissing her.