by Debbie Civil
Chapter 14
Carmen
Jake’s still holding onto my face. I want to push him away, mainly because of how he makes me feel. His eyes are so intense that I’m worried that they will sweep me up into their depths. I want to get lost in him. But I can’t. He’s clearly not over Adriana Wilson, and part of me thinks that he’ll never be.
“Ice cream?” Jake looks confused by my answer. I really don’t want ice cream. But I had to come up with something.
“It’s a nice day,” I comment. “I was hoping to get some ice cream and eat it by the gardens.” There’s frankly no way that I’m leaving this house with Jake. Everyone wants him to comment on what he did. And I’m not in the mood to deal with paparazzi. Forget about it.
“Really?” Jake asks, his eyes twinkling. “You want ice cream?” He’s trying to prove a point. I know that. But I’m not willing to repeat what I said. He heard me clear enough, obviously.
“I think that I want a hot fudge sundae. What about you?” Jake sighs.
“Vanilla,” he gruffly says before leaning in closer. Our breath mingles and I’m just about to give in and kiss him, but Kailey clears her voice. Jake doesn’t release my cheek at first.
“Carmen, what do you think of the name Willard for my newest male protagonist?” I could honestly care less about what she names her protagonist. I’m disappointed that I didn’t kiss Jake. I know that it would have just caused a bit more drama, but right now, kissing him feels about the best thing to do. He finally releases my face and stands.
“Meet me outside,” Jake says before leaving the room. Kailey stands and opens the door. She closes it and runs over to me.
“My brother has the hots for you!” She squeals and jumps up and down. I want to tell her that her brother and I are just friends who occasionally kiss, but she keeps on going. “Did you see the way he looked at you? I can’t believe this.” She pauses and studies my face. Despite myself, I’m smiling. I’m smiling because the idea of someone like Jake having the hots for me is so wonderful. I know in reality I’m just a beautiful distraction for Jake. But it’s okay. I’ll survive. As long as I’m not stupid, I really will enjoy the time we spend together.
I don’t even bother changing my clothes. Why bother? Kailey is uninterested in going. It’s not like she told me or anything. After she showed excitement about her brother being interested in me, she goes back to the chair and continues staring at the ceiling. I leave my room and quietly shut the door. This sounds selfish and messed up. But I don’t want Kailey coming along. I need to talk to Jake in private because a few ground rules need to be set. Ground rule number one, he can’t kiss me whenever he feels like it. Ground rule number 2, Jake can’t touch me whenever he feels like it. Friends don’t grab each other’s cheeks and gaze into their friend’s eyes. This needs to stop.
I make it to the first floor, without being stopped. Everyone is out doing wedding stuff, or at work. It’s a good thing that Eli wants me nowhere near Bridget because it would be hard to sneak out of her clutches. I go down the back hallway and out of the sliding doors. The patio overlooks a beautiful rose garden. When I was a kid, I use to dream of getting married here. But now, I dream of walking down an aisle. I don’t want this house to feature in my weddings because of some of the bad memories that linger here. It’s hot outside, probably 84 degrees or more. Maybe I should have at least changed my yoga pants. Oh well. I sit in the chair across from Jake. There are round tables with an umbrella shading them. Jake grins and pushes a hot fudge sundae toward me. I smirk and take a bite.
“It took you long enough. I thought your ice cream was going to melt,” Jake notes.
“I was talking to Kailey,” I admit, not wanting to tell Jake about what his sister had been saying.
“She’s nosy. What did you tell her about us?” Oh Jake, how well you know people.
“Nothing,” I say uneasily. I had hoped that we would have worked our way into the conversation. I didn’t expect for him to bring it up right away.
“Do you like your ice cream?” His question takes me off guard. It takes me a moment to come up with the proper response.
“Yes. Do you want to try?” Jake shakes his head.
“I don’t like chocolate ice cream.” He likes vanilla ice cream with Snickers topping. The combination doesn’t look so bad.
“How are you liking your ice cream?” I ask, just to be nice. He frowns.
“Is that what you really want to know?” Obviously not, but what does he expect me to do.
“Yes,” I lie. He can read my mind, I’m positive of it.
“Things are complicated between us,” he says. “And I want that to stop.” Ouch! So he doesn’t like kissing me? He doesn’t like touching me? Well then fine, the ground rules don’t even need to get brought up.
“That’s fine. Things can return to normal.” He frowns at my words.
“Normal doesn’t work for me, Carmen. But, being with you is… Well, it proves a challenge. But I’m willing to try,” he confesses. I’m about to say something, but Leon Jones exits the sliding doors.
“Jake, we need to talk,” the man says, glancing at me with a meaningful look. This means, “Carmen, leave so that I can talk about you to your son.”
“Really?” I’m so shocked, I can’t believe myself.
“I stand, grab my half-eaten sundae and head inside.
