Emily seemed not to notice the rest of the world moving around them. She continued to talk and mutter nonsense about her past two days.
"Then to top it all off, my mother called. I had to ask her three times who she was. I think she was annoyed that I didn't recognize her voice. She wanted to badger me about something. Something about… oh that's it. She's got a new boyfriend. He's a doctor. I think I hung up on her when she started with the lifetime of… blah, blah, blah. Maybe it was at that point that I yanked the phone from the wall and dropped it into the trash can. I did, however, hear the funniest story from Hank."
Emily looked up and smiled crookedly. "Hank is the gentleman who cleans my office. He told me a funny joke about a blonde on an airplane. I told him I didn't like blonde jokes, but he said that I shouldn't not like them because I'm blonde. He said that, since I'm blonde, I should use the stereotype to my advantage. 'Cause if I did, then I wouldn't be pulling all nighters. He's probably right."
Jake squeezed her shoulder. "Drink your gingerale, sweetheart."
She obediently did as she was told. As soon as the glass left her lips, she set it down and leaned her head against him. "I missed you. I probably should have gone home, but I know there'll be a hundred messages waiting for me and I don't want to hear them. Do you think it'd be all right if I took a nap behind the bar? I just need to hide out for a little while. I won't," she yawned, "get in the way. I don't think I snore. I've never heard myself snore. Which would make sense because I can't hear anything when I'm asleep. At least I don't think I can. Jake, help. I'm babbling."
Nick appeared and set a bowl of potato soup in front of her. "The rolls will be out in just a minute."
"Thank you, Nicholas," Emily murmured as she reached for a spoon. "I'm sure this will be as wonderful as your ice cream. You should think about marketing your ice cream." She spooned a taste of soup into her mouth. "You could be bigger and better than those other fellows who use funky chemicals. No, no. Forget I said anything. You don't want to expand and create an empire. Empires are for fools. Empires are made so they can crumble. It so much easier to build something than to maintain it. Mmm, this is delicious."
Jake unfolded a napkin and draped it across her lap. "After you eat, you are going to take a long nap."
"That sounds like an excellent idea," Nick said with a wry smile. "I'll be right back with the rolls."
Emily braced an elbow on the table and turned her head towards Jake. "I'm not going home to take a nap. The buggers will find me. I tried three times yesterday—or was it the day before?—to go home and crawl into bed. They wouldn't leave me alone. Lee, I need this. Lee, I can't find that. Lee, what color did you say this was going to be? Lee, who are we going to get to replace the models who walked? I quit. I'm selling the company. I'll give it to you for fifty cents."
"You'd better not," Jake said. "I still don't understand what's wrong with mauve and gold. Then again, I'm not sure what color mauve is." He tucked a golden strand behind her ear.
"It's a dusky pink color. It's a girlie color. I much prefer bold colors." Emily returned to her soup and the color slowly seeped back into her face. "In the past four days, I have had several arguments with Antonio about flowers. Call me silly, but I don't like flowers on my clothing. I like simple designs. Why can't anyone understand that?"
Jake saw his chance to ask the question which had been plaguing him for a couple of days now. "What's your favorite flower?"
Emily paused. "I would have to say morning glories. Although I like roses. When I was little, the lady who lived next door had one of the best rose gardens I've ever seen. She grew it in big pots on the roof. I used to play Sleeping Beauty there. I stopped playing it when my mother brought home this really weird boyfriend. He kept trying to play Prince Charming. I think that was the year that the Mrs. Wilson got a German Shepherd. His name was Killer. Well, that was his nickname. His real name was Killigan and he hated men. Killer ate Mom's boyfriend's masculinity. It gave him horrible indigestion."
Jake winced. "You need sleep. Bad."
Emily pinned him a heated look. "I need a lot of things. Bad."
His whole body tightened and he stroked the silky strands of her long hair. "Soon, sweetheart. Very soon."
Emily drew in a steadying breath. "We should probably change the subject. At this point, it wouldn't take much for me to give in and rip your clothes off and make you—" She broke off, a dazed look on her face. "You have beautiful eyes."
Jake sucked in a breath and moved his hand to massage the back of her neck. "Eat your dinner, sweetheart. I realize you are into exhibitionism, but there are some things I refuse to share before an audience of horny bastards."
Her eyes darkened. "At this point I'd settle for the back seat of my car." Emily leaned in towards him and pressed a kiss to his jaw. "Don't make me wait much longer, Jake. I've never been more ready for anything as much as I'm ready for you."
Jake tilted her head back and kissed her thoroughly. "After this crisis is over, you and I are going to disappear for a while." He barely heard his words over the pounding of his heart and the rushing of blood through his veins.
"Where will we go," she asked, breathless.
"It's a surprise." Jake brushed his mouth against hers, then set her away from him. "But not if I keep doing that. Eat your dinner, sweetheart."
Slowly she focused on her meal and scooped up another bite. "I have to get a good night's sleep tonight. As it stands, I'm going to have to play both fashion designer and model. Which reminds me, how are the renovations coming along?"
"They're done. The bulk of it was finished this morning." Jake ran a hand through his hair. "All we have to do now is set up all the tables. Nick's got the menu arranged. The flowers will arrive in the morning." He smiled. "Everything on this end is running like clockwork."
"Excellent. I was hoping you wouldn't run into any problems." Emily flipped her hair over her shoulder and pushed the soup away from her. "Marilyn volunteered Tabitha for the March design. I've got to give Tabitha lessons on how to do the strut on the catwalk." She chuckled. "That ought to be fun."
"You're not going to do anything until you have finished your dinner." Jake moved the soup closer to her. "I'm not letting you waste away to nothing."
Emily muttered under her breath, but did as he asked. She concentrated on eating her dinner and, after Nick brought her a fresh roll with honey butter, traded the soup for the roll.
Her cell phone barked for attention.
Emily groaned in frustration. "You get it. If they ask for me, tell them I'm unavailable." She handed him the phone.
Jake answered the offending piece of technology. "Stafford's House of Pleasure."
Emily snickered. "I like that. How about… Stafford's Den of Inequity?"
"Jake?" a female asked on the other end of the line.
"Hello, Miss Marilyn. How are you on this fine Friday evening?"
"Frazzled," Marilyn answered. "Is Lee with you? Or did she give you her phone and run away and hide?"
"She's with me, but she's busy."
"I wish," Emily muttered.
Jake chuckled.
"Good," Marilyn said. "Tabitha and I are on our way over to The Brigade to get in some practice on the catwalk. Tell Lee that Antonio will be there at eight with the dresses and… we're going to do a dry run through. Don't let her leave, because we need her input on the changes for Tabitha's dress. Got it," Marilyn asked.
"Yeah. I got it. But I don't like it. Emily hasn't slept in—"
"I know," Marilyn interrupted. "But I still need her awake. Feed her some coffee or something, but don't let her fall asleep. She does her best work when she's exhausted."
Jake didn't want to agree, but he did.
"Thanks, Jake. Is your sister there by chance?"
"No. Why?"
Marilyn clicked her tongue. "Because I was going to ask Lee to ask Katie if she'd like to make some extra cash by joining the show. It was just a thought. Oh well, just keep Lee awake. Tabby Cat and I will be there around seven-thirty."
Jake turned the phone off and set it on the table. He stared at it for a long time. "Marilyn's on her way over," he finally said.
Emily had finished her dinner and wiped her mouth with the napkin. "I knew I should have forgotten to recharge the phone. I suppose she's bringing Tabitha with her."
"Yes." Jake related what Marilyn asked him to, then said, "Marilyn wanted to know if Katie would be interested in modeling."
Emily nodded. "Your sister has the perfect figure for the June dress. Marilyn's gonna hop into the May dress and I'll be doing the evening line. This ought to be interesting. I haven't been on the stage in a long time."
Jake arched a brow. "On the stage?"
"Mmm-hmm." She sipped her drink. "I used to be a dancer. I've put on some weight since then though."
A dancer? "One of these days, I'll stop being surprised by you."
Emily smirked. "Don't count on it. I'm full of surprises. I think." She set her glass down and turned her full attention on him. She caught his arm and slithered underneath of it to lean fully against him. "Do you think for the next few minutes I can just lay here and close my eyes?"
Jake pulled her closer and tucked her head under his chin. "There's a couch in the office."
"That's too far away. And Marilyn will be here any minute."
"You've got about an hour." Jake stood up and hauled a disgruntled Emily up with him. "Come on. It'll be nice and quiet in there." He grabbed her phone from the table.
Emily let him lead her to the back room and into the office. "How long will you be able to stay back there with me?"
Jake smiled. "Alex can handle things without me. Nick's got the kitchen closed in preparation for the big day. He'll stand in for me." He closed the office door behind them.
She looked up at him. "They won't mind?"
"No." He sat down on the couch and pulled her down with him. "If they did, they wouldn't have given me Saturday night off."
"Saturday? They gave you Saturday night off?" Emily arched her back and flexed her shoulders. "Oh, that feels so good."
Jake urged her back to lay against his chest and he dug his fingers into her long hair. "Would my sweet Emily like a massage?"
She melted against him. "Sweet Emily is prepared to beg for a massage. You have wonderful hands."
"Thank you." Jake kissed her temple and fanned her hair over his shoulder. His senses were assailed by the scent of peaches. "You smell good enough to eat. I always did love peaches."
Emily shivered and sighed with pleasure. "The only conditioner I can find to get the knots out my hair smells like peaches. So I gave in and decided that smelling like a fruit was okay."
"I like it." His fingers moved against her scalp, then down to her neck and shoulders. His progression was slow. "Does it feel good?"
"Mmm, divine." Her head moved to his shoulder and her eyes drifted open. "Did you lock the door?"
"No. Should I have?"
Emily turned in his embrace and looped her arms around his neck. "No. They'll have enough sense to knock first." She licked his bottom lip, teased his mouth open, then proceeded to drive him crazy with need. "I missed you."