More Than This: Contemporary Christian Romance Novel

by Stallings, Staci

  Slowly he closed the computer. What was he thinking that he could do this? He should have known it would only end in a crashing disaster like every other thing he had ever wanted to do. It was better that she hadn’t come. This way he had no choice but to face reality. And the truth was, reality stank.

  Liz didn’t have time to check herself in any of the storefront windows. The heels of her boots clicked on the concrete somewhere under the black slacks and brown top. Her plan had been to look like she was out on the town, but she wasn’t at all sure if that was working. Maybe she just looked cheap and desperate. Or maybe just desperate.

  At the door to the coffee shop, she stopped. It seemed so crazy to open that door, and as she stood there, she very nearly turned around to go back home. What was she doing anyway? This was completely and utterly insane. Still, she had come this far. She wasn’t going to turn tail and run now. With a hard breath for sanity and courage, she pulled on the door handle and the familiar gust of air greeted her. It was really strange to be there as a customer. She had no clue how to even do that. Oh, man, she must look like an idiot doing this. Picking her sunglasses up off her nose, she resettled them in her hair and tried to get her eyes to adjust.

  She had told herself not to look into that back corner, but before she could stop herself, she did just that, and her heart stopped. He was still there, hunched over, staring at the table, the laptop closed. Was something wrong? She wanted to go ask, but she didn’t dare.

  “Liz-bet!” Mia very nearly screamed, and Liz felt his gaze jerk up to her. “Girlfriend! What are you doing here? Don’t you know it’s your day off?”

  The broadcast was surely meant for his sake, but Liz wanted to shoot her friend. She widened her eyes so they nearly came out of her skull. “Mi-a.” Without moving it, she shook her head. Careful not to trip, she stepped over to the counter. “I… I was just headed… to the… movies.” Man, she was bad at this. “I thought I’d stop in and see what’s going on.” She repositioned her sunglasses on her hair, hoping that didn’t make her hair stick out in some weird direction. The center of her being shook the rest of her, and her hands shook with it. He was looking. She knew he was. Now what?

  “The movies?” Mia said in that voice that they could have easily heard in New Jersey. “Girl, now that sounds like fun. You got a hot date, or are you going alone?”

  Jake’s whole being pressed forward to hear the conversation. She had come, and she was gorgeous. The black pants, the taupeish-colored tank top and the gold chains set off a swath of highlights in her hair that she casually pushed back under her sunglasses. Wow. He’d never known anyone could look that beautiful with so little effort. And what had they said about the movies? His heart stopped at the thought that she had a date. Okay, granted no one had followed her in, but he kept an eye on the door just the same.

  About that time was when he realized, his computer was shut and he was in fact staring across the coffee shop, right at her. In that second his body went into look busy mode. He yanked open the computer lid though he didn’t bother to turn it on. Instead, he hunkered down behind it and watched her. The feeling of being a stalker slipped over him again, but he didn’t care. She was worth going to jail.

  What in the world was she supposed to do now? Liz had no idea what time the movie started, and honestly, she didn’t really want to go by herself. The thought that she should go over and say hello slipped into her, but she panicked at even the thought. No way was she going to do that. Granted, he was over there, looking like some casual cool magazine layout, but gracious, how desperate would that look?

  Having no real clear understanding of step two of this ill-conceived plan, she opted to sit on a counter stool. At least she could talk with Mia a little bit. Then if nothing happened, she would just turn around and go back home. The thought jabbed into her heart, but a girl could only do so much.

  Mia came back from rounds and right over to where Liz had sat down. Thankfully her friend lowered her voice. “Why don’t you go over there and say hi?”

  Panic surged again, and Liz put her hand up into her hair. “I can’t do that. He’ll think I showed up just to see him.”

  “But you did.”

  “Shhh. He’ll hear you.”

  Mia’s gaze slipped over Liz’s head in his direction. “Well, does it matter that he’s looking over here?”

  “What?” Heat drained down Liz’s face. “No he’s not. Mia, stop…” She reached for her friend. “Stop looking. You’re embarrassing me. Geesh. Stop. Please. Maybe he doesn’t even care that I’m here.”

  “Yeah. Right.” Mia’s gaze fell from him to her friend, and the look was long and hard. “You’re really not going to go over there, are you?”

  “What’re you, nuts? No. I’m not going over there.”

  “Uh-huh.” Mia nodded, her face reflecting deep thought. Then suddenly she uncoiled. “Oh, look. He’s out of coffee.”

  “Mi!”

  But her friend was already headed for the coffeepot.

  “Mia, please, please don’t,” Liz pleaded even as her friend headed around the counter. She tried again as Mia went past, close enough to hear but not close enough to grab. “Mi, Mia, don’t. Please.”

  Humiliation. It was the only word that came close. Liz considered running, but that would be way too obvious. No. She was stuck somewhere in the middle of Mia’s matchmaking scheme whether she liked it or not. “Terrific.”

  “More coffee?” the black waitress asked with a smile.

  “Oh. I—” Jake glanced up from his computer where he was doing only a passable job of hiding, past her to her friend, still sitting at the counter. She hadn’t even looked over at him. “I think I’m done for the night, but thanks.”

  Her smile fell into seriousness. There was a moment he thought she might pour the stuff over his head, and when she leaned closer to him, he backed up in concern. “Look, it’s none of my business, you know.” Inexplicably she began filling his cup very, very slowly. “But Liz, you know the one you were asking about earlier—”

  As if he could have forgotten. That would have been like forgetting how to breathe, which at the moment he realized he had.

  “Well, she just came in, and she’s headed over to the movies. But her date stood her up, so she’s kind of flying solo.” She finished filling the cup and stood back. “Not that I told you that or anything.”

  Jake’s gaze held on her face for a long moment. “Yeah. Yeah. Okay.” He reached and took a sip of the scalding coffee without even tasting it. His full attention had instead homed in on the curve of the back of the woman now seated at the counter. She was even beautiful from the back.

  Without him realizing it, the other waitress walked away. It was only then that he got that it would be up to him to make the first move. What guy in his right mind had stood her up? That was insanity personified. He nearly laughed as the picture of insanity in person form jumped into his mind, looking nearly as ridiculous as he felt. “Okay, Jacob. Get it together. This is it.” He blew out a breath. “Time to put up or shut up. Stand up. Go over there, and be brilliant.”

  “What did you do?” Liz whispered to Mia, wanting to glance back at him but not being able to for fear he was laughing at her.

  Mia shrugged. “The man needed more coffee. What did you want me to do? Waste a good tip? I’ve got babies to feed, you know.” At that moment her gaze snapped up behind Liz, and Liz froze.

  Was he moving? Was he coming this way? She wanted to ask, but she didn’t dare.

  “Hey, stranger.” His throaty voice sent her heart spiraling into her boots.

  It took a breath to get herself turned, and she noticed Mia conveniently disappear around the counter to check on the customers as she did. “Oh. Hi.” One look at him, and she knew she was in serious trouble. Still she plastered a smile on her face. “You getting any shape-shifting done?”

  Was that right? Did it sound casual and surprised and witty? She couldn’t tell.

  His
gaze went down to the laptop under his arm as if he hadn’t realized it was there. “Oh. Yeah.” He laid his other hand on it. “You know. I guess so.”

  Liz nodded, having no clue where to go from there. “Um, yeah, I was…”

  “Did I…?”

  She joined his laugh as they both realized the other was speaking at the same moment. “I’m sorry. What were you going to say?”

  “Hm.” He cleared his throat in the way that told her he was far more nervous than he looked. It made her relax one small iota, and even that much was a blessing. “Um, I was just thinking a movie sounds really good tonight, but I hate going alone. You interested?”

  “In a movie?” Good grief! What did that even mean? He’d said a movie. How unambiguous was that? “Um, y-yeah. Sure. If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

  He smiled and seemed to relax a little also. “I haven’t seen a really good movie in a long time. I think it would make—” Once again, he put his hand on his laptop. “—work a lot easier.”

  Liz didn’t really understand that, but she wasn’t about to question it. “Great. Cool. Awesome. Then let’s go see what they’re showing.”

  Strange, Jake thought, she was going to a movie, but she didn’t know what was even playing? But he pushed that thought underneath the completely bizarre understanding that somehow he had just scored a date through no real effort of his own.

  “Mia, we’re going to take off,” Liz said to her friend who turned and smiled.

  “You take care of yourself,” Mia said, and then she pointed at him, “and you, take care of her.”

  “Will do.” He waved once and waited for Liz to step away from him. Still grasping to Mia’s gaze, he mouthed, “Thank you.”

  This time her smile slid into happy knowing, and she nodded. Then without so much as a word, she warned him that he’d better be good to her friend or he would be found in teeny-tiny, unrecognizable pieces the next morning. He nodded back, understanding and having no intentions of crossing any line that would chase her away. Mia didn’t have to worry on that count.

  Liz just thought she had understood nerves before, but when she walked out of The Grind with him a half step behind her, the nerves went to a whole new level. She reached up to shift her sunglasses and considered putting them actually over her eyes when she realized the sun was in fact on the horizon and doing so would look silly at best. However, her hand was already up, so she flipped her hair slightly and dropped her hand, hoping upon hope that that looked more natural than it had felt.

  “So, they let you have days off, huh?” he asked, and although she was walking the pace of a turtle, he stayed right at her side, even a quarter step back.

  She had to turn just slightly to be able to talk to him. “Saturdays and Sundays, but I’m on call if there is a coffee emergency.”

  “Oh, yeah?” His gaze swung over to her as if that statement was interesting and hilarious, which it wasn’t. “Like what? The coffee maker blows up or there’s a latte crisis?”

  It wasn’t hard to smile. “Something like that.” Two more steps. “No, most of the time it’s if one of Mia’s kids gets sick or Heather has a date.” The word date did nothing for her nerves.

  “Ah.” He lifted his chin and nodded. “Well, those would be personnel issues, not necessarily coffee issues.”

  “True.” She shrugged. “Other than that, I only work weeknights and some Friday mornings.”

  At that theatre, they joined the back of the short line. Liz put her arms over themselves and looked up at the two posters lining the wall. There were only two screens. Surely at the time it was built the theatre was state of the art. Now, not so much. Still it had a quirky feel that was at once welcoming and intriguing.

  “That’s interesting. I would think you would work the weekends.” He followed her gaze up to the marquee above them. Then it fell back to her. Strange how she felt it when he did that.

  “Yeah, I did the first year, but I found out I can get a lot more done on the weekends.” They took a step forward together. “My roommate goes home a lot, so I have the place to myself.”

  “Ah.” He lifted his chin again. “Quiet.”

  She bounced her head to one side. “Well, as quiet as it gets with screaming neighbors and paper thin walls.”

  He nodded and followed her forward. “Could be worse.”

  “How’s that?”

  “You could live where I do.”

  “That bad, huh?” She slipped her finger up and pushed a strand of hair over her ear.

  His gaze slid down and landed on her. “Worse.”

  Liz absorbed that, not sure what to make of it. They were now getting perilously close to the front of the line, and she realized they hadn’t even talked about what movie to see. She looked at the posters. “You got a preference?”

  “I’m not real big on horror films.” He put his fingers to his temple. “Once it goes in, I can’t really get it out.”

  One more nod and she stepped to the box office. “Uh, one for Going, Gone, please.” She slid her money from her pocket.

  “I can get this,” he said, but she glanced up as she pushed her money under the little window.

  “It’s okay. I’ve been saving my tips.” She flashed a wicked smile at him as the guy behind the window made the change and pushed it back to her with the ticket. “Thanks.”

  One thing was for sure, Jake would have no clue what the movie was even about with her looking like that. That smile certainly didn’t help. “Uh, one for Going, Gone please.”

  In seconds the transaction was complete, and he went over to where she was waiting by the door. He really wished he could find some safe place for his computer. This was completely awkward, but there simply wasn’t a good option. She pulled the door open, and he held it for her. Together, they walked in, but nothing had prepared him for the sight.

  It was like stepping into some old movie set. Red carpet twisted and twined in every direction. Soft piano music played on unseen speakers, and directly in front of them was a staircase that actually wound upward.

  “Wow,” Liz breathed at his side. “I had no idea it was this nice.”

  “No kidding.” It was hard to know what to look at. Gold inlays lined the stairs and the handrail. The effect was stunning. He jerked his attention from it back to her. “Um, do you want some popcorn or something?”

  “Oh, no. I’m fine. I ate before… I came.”

  “Not even anything to drink?”

  She considered but decided against it. “Nah. I’m fine.” Her gaze came over to his, and it was hard to explain how unworthy he felt. “You want to go up to the balcony?”

  It was like she could read his mind. “We’re here, aren’t we? We might as well get the full effect.”

  As he followed her to and then up the staircase, he couldn’t help but be in awe of her grace. She moved as if she had no contact with the ground at all. He wished he could capture that somewhere other than in his mind, but getting out the computer right now wouldn’t work. Play it cool, Jake. Just play it cool.

  In the balcony, they came out on one side of the rows of seats that stretched from one side all the way to the other. The effect of the theatre stretched out below them took his breath for a moment. It was like they were flying, and he grasped the handrail a little tighter as his balance swayed beneath him.

  “Oh, wow,” she gasped, fully taken in by the sight. “This is incredible.”

  “No kidding. It’s amazing.” He hadn’t checked the times, but there weren’t many people in this theatre yet. What that meant, he wasn’t really sure, but his mind puzzled on it just the same. Fully taken in by the vastness of the room, he followed her to a center seat near the front of the balcony, but thankfully, not in the first row. When they were seated, he assessed her seat choice glad she hadn’t gone all the way to the front row as heights made him woozy. Still, he didn’t want to deprive her of the full range of the experience. “You don’t want to go to the front?”


  “Nah. I like it back here.” The glance was filled with quiet apprehension. “Unless you want to.”

  With concern and trying to read her, he let his gaze stay on her. “No. No. I’m fine right here.” He thought the exchange through and decided he liked it because maybe, just maybe she too was afraid of heights and had chosen the safer option. Maybe that was a good sign that they were on the same wavelength or something. His mind spun backward and forward through all it could mean. He was really going to have to get a pen and paper when he was around her to write these things down. Unfortunately, his mind picked that exact moment to go completely and totally blank. It was surely the nerves though he noticed the air in the room seemed not to be moving much. “Is it hot in here, or is it me?”

  “No. It’s not you. It is hot. Must be the balcony.” She turned slightly. “We could go down, if you want.”

  But he just smiled at her. “Nah. Some things are worth it.” When she smiled back, he could only think that he really liked that smile. A lot.

  It was only when they were seated with no coffee and no getting tickets between them that Liz had the sudden and not wholly comfortable realization that she was somehow on a date with a guy, and she didn’t even know his name. She let out a breath, ratcheted her eyes up to the ceiling at the thought, and shook her head without moving it. No. There was no other option. She had to ask. She had to.

  “So,” she finally said, reaching up and scratching her head even as her gaze traipsed away from the conversation, the situation and him. “Um, this is… kind of… well…” Glancing at him, she smiled a half-second smile that fell into what-am-I-doing-here. “I mean, this is going to sound really… strange, I know, but…”

  He was looking at her with undisguised worry and terror as if she might pitch him off the balcony or start screaming like Janet Leigh in Psycho.