Strawberry Kisses (A Rocky Harbor Novel Book 2) Read online

  “I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

  “Just give me a minute to finish getting ready.”

  “You look…wow.” He finally unstuck his gaze from her mesmerizing face and trailed it down her body, taking in her pale blue top and flowing skirt that settled at her knees. Damn, her legs. He’d seen them in workout gear, but the strappy little heels she had on her feet made her legs…wow.

  “I wasn’t sure how to dress. You didn’t give me instructions.”

  Jake’s head snapped up. He’d been with plenty of women and had never given one instructions on what to wear. He may have suggested casual or no clothes at all, but that was about it. “My thing is undressing a woman, not dressing one.”

  “You must be Jake,” an older woman, her mother, said from behind him.

  His face heated—a trait he didn’t know he had—and he slowly turned. “It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Riley. I’ve heard many wonderful things about you.”

  “Likewise. Would you care for a beverage before you go?”

  Rachael cut in saving him from sticking his foot in his mouth again. “Thanks, Mom, but we should get going. I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.”

  “No need to, sweetheart. I’ll see you in the morning.” She kissed Rachael on the cheek and patted Jake’s forearm before heading upstairs. “Have a good time.”

  Thankful the woman wasn’t furious at him for his inappropriate comment, he let out a breath he didn’t know he held. “Not exactly the first impression I was trying to make.” He studied Rachael’s face for a sign of disappointment or embarrassment.

  “If she heard one of my brothers talk that way she would have given him the evil eye. You would have peed your pants. It’s that scary. No one messes with Mom.”

  “Seriously? Your mom seemed pretty cool. Almost like she—” He cut himself off before he inserted his other foot in his mouth. Almost like she wanted us to stay out late. And maybe not come back until morning.

  “Like she?”

  “We should get going.”

  “Are you sure this is okay?” Rachael picked at the hem of her top. “I can change if you want me to.”

  “You’re perfect.” He waited while Rachael ran upstairs to get her purse. A minute later she came back down smelling like vanilla ice cream. All he needed was a little whipped cream, maybe a cherry, and…nope, he needed to keep a level head. And right now his lower half was anything but level.

  They chatted about the weather, about his job, and her recent good news during the ride to the restaurant.

  “So, you know my sister-in-law Sage? Well, I know you don’t know her, but remember I told you she’s married to my brother Luke and she has two sisters?” Jake smiled at her rambling. He liked her this way. Free, unabashed, and happy. “Her sisters have kids. One even started her own day care. I haven’t met them yet, but Sage set up a meeting with us next week. Thyme, that’s her sister with the twins and a seven year old, is going to let the parents at her day care know about my business, and Rayne, Sage’s other sister who has two kids, but they’re still little, is going to book a party as well.”

  Rachael came up for air and Jake laughed. “You sound pretty excited about it. I’m happy for you.”

  “I spent all day making mock menus for the birthday kids to pick from. I have peanut free, gluten free, and dairy free menus as well. And organic options. I know a lot of moms are into natural foods.”

  “Times sure have changed. For me it was always take it or leave it. I learned to eat what was served.”

  “Me too.”

  They continued talking about their favorite foods and before he knew it, he was pulling into a parking garage and they were making their way down the cobblestone walkway to his favorite Italian restaurant in the Old Port. “I hope you like Italian.”

  “Who doesn’t? Of course I’ll have garlic breath later. I can—” Rachael stopped in her tracks, nearly tumbling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I won’t have any…”

  She looked so distraught and confused he wanted to wrap her in his arms and take the pain away.

  “Rachael? You okay?”

  She nodded and forced a smile on her lips. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what? I don’t recall you doing anything wrong.” Jake reached out and gently tucked her long bangs behind her ear, cupping her cheek before he dropped his hand.

  “I’m not used to…I haven’t been out on a date in a long time.”

  “Well then, I’m honored you let me be the one to break the dry spell. Come on. Let’s order a bottle of wine and fill up on their garlic knots. They’re amazing.” He reached for her hand and led her into the restaurant.

  Once seated, she relaxed her shoulders and her real smile returned. Jake wanted to know what spooked her. Something about garlic? The man she got away from sure did a number on her. He wanted her to trust him and open up to him, but he knew better than to push.

  “I want to apologize again,” she said, toying with the stem of her wine glass.

  “And again I’ll ask why. I don’t remember you doing anything that requires an apology.”

  Rachael opened her mouth, then closed it. Opened, pulled her top lip between her teeth, and looked up at him. “I was in an abusive relationship.” She spun her glass between her fingers and looked back down into the rich, red liquid. “He made all the decisions. What I’d wear, what I’d eat, who I could be friends with.”

  She paused, closing her eyes, seemingly deep in thought. Jake remained quiet, giving her the time and respect she needed to gather her thoughts, to continue talking or to stop; he’d let her set the pace. But he hoped she continued. Listening to Rachael’s pain was therapeutic for him as well.

  It wasn’t like he dated much. Ever, really. He’d pick up a woman and they’d enjoy each other’s company for a few hours, but he always left feeling empty. Unsatisfied. Sitting across from Rachael, having a conversation like two mature adults, gave him hope for the future. A future that he could be proud of instead of a past he continued to run away from.

  “I used to be a pretty independent person and am trying to find her again.” Rachael opened her eyes, an apologetic set to her lips.” I’m sorry for being awkward. I’m kind of new at this.”

  “I think you’re doing a hell of a job.” Jake reached out and clasped her hand in his. It was a major breakthrough, her sharing her past. He stroked her hand with his thumb and kept his gaze fixed on her downward stare.

  Rachael’s lips curved into a smile and she finally lifted those baby blues his way. “Thank you.”

  “Can I ask you a question?” Her eyes turned round as saucers, but she slowly nodded. “Do you like garlic?”

  Obviously not the question she had expected. She laughed and nodded again.

  “Good. Because I do too.” He held out the basket of garlic knots to her, and was pleased when she took one. “I hear if both parties partake in garlic, when they kiss they can’t even smell or taste it. Not that I’m suggesting we kiss later, but I wouldn’t object if you wanted to test out the theory.” Jake shrugged and picked up his wine, keeping his gaze locked on hers over his glass.

  They laughed over their salads and talked more about her menu ideas for her Kids in the Kitchen parties. His phone vibrated a few times during dinner, but nothing would distract him from the beauty across from him. After sharing a bowl of tiramisu, he paid the bill and helped her out of the booth.

  “That was delicious, thank you.”

  His phone vibrated again. She must have heard it because she looked down and said, “You look like you want to answer that. It's okay. I need to use the ladies’ room anyway. I’ll be right back.”

  He slipped his phone out of his pocket, tensing when he read the screen, and nodded. “I’ll wait right here.”

  Jake watched the tiny sway of her hips until she rounded the corner, then answered his phone. “Is it Julia? Is everything okay?” He closed his eyes and listened patiently. “I’ll be right there.” He
made a quick call to Erin and hung up as Rachael returned.

  “I’m so full I don’t think I’ll eat for a week.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed dinner.” She looked so happy and he hated himself for breaking the spell. He’d wasted a lot of time by not answering his phone during dinner and had to hurry. Jake offered his hand as he led her through the restaurant and out the front door. “I’m afraid I have to end our night earlier than planned.”

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I had a great time.”

  His chest squeezed under the weight of what he was about to do to her. “I did too and I hate to end it like this, but I have to go.”

  “That’s okay. I’m ready to call it a night,” she said so innocently.

  Jake rubbed his hands across his face. “Actually, something came up and I need to leave you. I won’t be able to drive you home, but I asked Erin to take you. She lives right around the corner from here. You remember her from class, right?”

  Two headlights settled on them as a familiar red Mustang slowed to a stop a few feet away.

  “What?” The confusion on her face was quickly erased by hurt.

  “Jake? Rachael?” Erin called from her open car door.

  “I’ll make it up to you. I promise. But I really have to take care of…something.” Julia would always come first in his life, and he hoped Rachael would understand. If he ever came to the point of telling her.

  “Yeah. Sure. You do that.” She turned on her heels and got into Erin’s Mustang without a glance back at him.

  Damn, he felt like a shit.

  ***

  Rachael

  An all too familiar throbbing burned in her chest. Rachael knew he was too good to be true. After turning off the water and drying her hands, she took one final glance in the mirror.

  Julia.

  She’d seen the name on his phone screen but wouldn’t question Jake about it. When she’d asked Dylan about Lydia’s frequent calls and texts, he’d yelled at her, belittled her in front of his friends, and slapped her. He’d apologized the next day and blamed his behavior on stress. A few weeks later, after she caught him with another woman parked outside his apartment building, he asked her—or maybe it was told her—to move to California with him where they could escape the clutches of the women who pursued him.

  Being a young, trusting, and naive twenty-year-old, she went with him. She hadn’t found anything wrong with sharing an account with Dylan when they first moved to California. He had a career and she was a college dropout. It had been in her best interest to have Dylan manage their accounts. But when he didn’t come home for four days and left her with no money and barely any food in their apartment, she’d questioned where he was. Asked if he’d been with Lydia.

  Three broken ribs and a bruise the size of Texas later, she’d learned to never question him again.

  Jake didn’t seem like the abusive type, but she hadn’t thought Dylan was either, even though he’d slapped her a few times. There was always an excuse. Alcohol. Family stress that he never talked about. Pressure from other women, when he only wanted her, he’d said.

  It wasn’t until a year into their relationship that she began to realize he’d stripped her from her life. Her friends. Her family. Dylan picked out her clothes, her music, decided on the food she could eat until she became a sickly thin California blonde like the ones he boasted about when she met him in Maine.

  Pushing Dylan from her mind, Rachael stripped and turned her shower on scalding hot. She would never fall victim to another man.

  Not ever.

  After her shower she fell into bed with wet hair and wetter tears streaming down her face.

  In the morning her mother graciously stayed out of her way, reading the puffy red eyes and crazy bed head as a clear sign the night did not go as she had hoped.

  For the next three days she buried herself in recipes, meetings with Sage’s sisters, and cooking. Needing more to do, she made two large pots of soup and pitched the idea to Mackenzie to offer soup and sandwiches to her customers.

  Mackenzie sampled the soup and moaned. “This carrot ginger stuff is amazing and the perfect new zen type of recipe for today’s organic, all-natural food snobs. I’m a fan of MSG, sugar, and preservatives, but if this healthy stuff sells, I’m all for it.”

  “I think people like it. What do you think of the gazpacho?”

  “It’s different. Good. Perfect soups for summer. You’re a freaking genius. I’d thought about expanding but I wanted to keep the coffee shop atmosphere. I’m no cook and don’t want to start something I can’t keep up with. I think soups and your homemade rolls are something I can handle dishing out. You’ll sell out quick in the winter. Guaranteed.”

  Mackenzie left to wait on customers and Rachael used her time alone to knead the dough for her bread. Her arms would be sore by tomorrow, but she needed the distraction or she’d end up crying again.

  When Thursday rolled around she pretended she forgot about their self-defense class, only Lucy wouldn’t let her off the hook so easily.

  “Mom told me to back off, so I did. But I’m not letting you hide behind your cookies and soup and bread anymore. We’re going to class this morning. I have no idea what the hell the rat bastard did, but the best way to shove it back in his face is by showing up as if he doesn’t matter to you.”

  Rachael knew Lucy was right. Facing Jake and pretending she didn’t care would show him he didn’t control her or her moods. Having the strength to do just that was another thing. It was easy to ignore his calls and texts for five days. Coming face to face with him was a whole other level of courage she didn’t think she had.

  “Sorry, Lucy, but this is a no-go.”

  Lucy took her sunglasses off and tossed them on the counter. “Did he hurt you?”

  Yes. “No.”

  “Liar.”

  “Not physically.”

  “Just screwed with your head like Dickhead Dylan?”

  Rachael couldn’t even bring herself to smile. “No. Nothing like that. We realized we’re total opposites. He’s looking for one thing, I’m looking for another.” They hadn’t talked about future plans other than the love for their jobs, but the lie was easy to tell. “We’re not right for each other.”

  “I thought opposites were attracted each other?”

  “Not in real life.”

  Lucy hopped up on the counter and watched as Rachael cleaned up the mess from the morning baking. She’d gotten into a routine of waking up at four, either biking to work or taking her mom’s car to Coast & Roast, and doing her baking and cooking before returning the car to her mom. At home she hid out in her room, researching recipes online and making shopping lists of everything she needed but couldn’t afford.

  “Mom says not to pry, so I won’t. But if you don’t tell me anything then I’m gonna make you go to class.”

  “I think what Mom meant was to give me some space.”

  “Nope. She would have said that. Let’s go, sweetstuff.” Lucy jumped down and pulled Rachael by the arm.

  “Hey, you can’t make me go.” She tugged her arm back but her sister was strong.

  “Sure can. What are you gonna do about it?” Lucy swiped her sunglasses off the counter with her free hand slid them over her eyes before pulling open the back door. “Let’s show the bastard what you’re made of.”

  And that’s what Rachael feared. That she wasn’t made of anything. Dylan stripped her of her own personality. All that she had left was an insecure, doubting, lonely woman whose heart kept leading her in the wrong direction.

  Chapter Four

  Rachael

  Lucy was actually right. It felt good to have the upper hand. She walked into the gym, head held high, and plastered on a fake smile, working extra hard to talk to the other women in class. She wasn’t so bold as to move to the front row like she’d been in the past two weeks, but still, she showed up, and that was half the battle.

  “Strength doesn’t come from what you
can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” Jake’s opening quote wasn’t as loud and powerful as it had been in the past few weeks. This morning it was soft, almost apologetic. He paced slowly in the front of the room, his hands clasped loosely behind his back. “Welcome back, ladies. Next week is our final class. Today I’d like you to show me what you’ve learned so far. We’re going to start by sparring. I don’t want you to hurt each other; don’t actually make hard contact. I want you to follow through with the motions. Any volunteers?”

  Jake looked straight at her and she avoided his eyes, staring to his far right. Gina, a woman who’d been shy in the past, raised her hand and moved up front to work with Jake while the rest of them paired off. Rachael kept him in her peripheral vision and avoided making eye contact for the first half of class.

  Erin came over once to offer some tips and thankfully didn’t say anything about the humiliating drive home last weekend.

  Rachael and Lucy were in a good rhythm when Rachael felt his presence behind her, his familiar earthy and spicy scent clouding her brain. He leaned into her, placing one hand on her hip and whispered in her ear.

  “Rachael. I’m—”

  Without thinking of the consequences, she snapped her head back into his nose, elbowed him in the gut, and spun out of his hold right before kicking him on the inside of his knee.

  Taken unexpectedly, Jake grabbed his nose and stomach before falling to the ground. “What the hell?” he groaned.

  “Don’t ever sneak up on a woman. Especially a pissed off woman.” Rachael spun on her heels and ran into the locker room before anyone could question her actions. She grabbed her backpack out of her locker and crashed into Lucy.

  “Damn, girl. You kicked his ass.”

  “Let’s get out here, Lucy. Please.”

  Lucy didn’t question her need to flee and they bolted out of the gym without looking back. They didn’t talk in the car and when Lucy dropped her off at home, Rachael ran up to her room, where she let the shakes she’d been holding back take over her body.