Saying Yes: Stormy Love: Book 1

by Ella Sparkle

  The guy with the bright pink mohawk had just delivered my pizza for the second night in a row and I think he could tell I was frustrated when I opened the door. I may have even lost my cool for a moment and asked how many damn delivery drivers worked at Pete’s. I had eaten so much pizza those past few days, I didn’t even want the stuff. I just wanted to see her again.

  I decided that instead of letting the latest order go to waste, I would give Bax a call. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Alright, where did you find Nick’s phone at and how much of a reward are you looking for to give it back?”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Bax?”

  “Well, it's just been so long since you called, I figured no way was it actually you. I thought someone found your phone and scrolled through the contacts until they found the one that said Sexy Single Stud and decided that was the best number to call.”

  I started laughing “Do you actually spend time sitting around coming up with stupid shit to say or does it just come to you in the moment?”

  Now it was Bax’s turn to laugh. “It comes to me in the moment. Some would say it's my superpower.”

  “You are so full of shit. Listen, I just had pizza delivered. Why don’t you come over and help me eat it?”

  “Hawaiian with extra jalapenos?” Bax asked.

  “Is there any other kind?” I replied.

  “I will be there in ten minutes. Actually, make that fifteen. I'll stop and pick up a six-pack along the way.”

  “Sounds good, man. See you when you get here.”

  True to his word, Bax was ringing my doorbell exactly fifteen minutes later. It wasn’t too much longer after that we were sitting out on the balcony, both of us enjoying a cold beer and a slice of pizza.

  “So what's the occasion tonight?” Bax asked as he helped himself to another slice of pizza.

  “No reason.” I took a drink of my beer and avoided eye contact.

  “Bullshit,” Bax said with his mouth full of pizza. “First of all, you are the worst fucking liar I know, Nick Blaine, and secondly, you never do anything without a reason.”

  I chuckled. He had me pegged on both of those points. “I've ordered pizza from Pete’s several nights in a row and I am getting tired of it.”

  “You do realize that there are a whole shit ton of other places to order food from right? This town is full of restaurants and most of them deliver. So why Pete’s?” Bax looked at me suspiciously. He knew me too well, damnit.

  “Yeah, well...” I stammered.

  “Seriously, Nick! How do you negotiate all of those deals for Blaine Construction when you have such a shitty poker face?”

  I sighed. “Fine. A few nights ago I ordered pizza from Pete’s Pizza and there was this delivery driver and she...”

  Bax got a huge grin on his face. “Did you just say she? Are you ordering pizza from Pete’s to see her again? You dirty dog, Nick! I knew you wouldn’t live like a monk forever!”

  “It is not like that,” I said quickly.

  “Sure it's not,” Bax said with a knowing look as he took a sip of his beer. “What's her name?”

  I looked at him a little sheepishly. “I don’t know. I asked, but she didn’t tell me.”

  “Jesus, Nick! Have you lost all of your game? How the hell did you not even get her name?” Bax exclaimed.

  “She just said to call her Pizza Girl.”

  Bax raised his eyebrow at me. “Pizza Girl? Huh. Not the strangest thing someone has ever asked to be called... So how many times have you ordered pizza since then in hopes of seeing Pizza Girl?”

  I hesitated. “Every night for the past four nights.” Bax started howling with laughter. “Shut up you asshole. It is so not funny. I'm starting to think I imagined her.”

  “I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you,” Bax said wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

  “Well, I don’t find anything about this very fucking funny,” I snapped.

  Bax slowly stopped laughing and put both of his hands up. “You are right. I am totally laughing at you. It's just, you've been so focused on one thing forever, and you've been so adamant for so long that the single life is your calling. Then, Pizza Girl blows in, and suddenly you're ordering pizza multiple nights in a row, just trying to see her again.”

  “Yeah, well, there was just something about her. I can’t explain it, but I just really want to see her again.”

  “You’ve got it bad for her,” Bax chuckled.

  “I don’t have anything for her... I just...” I couldn't say what it was, I just wanted to see her again.

  “Hey, dude. You don’t have to justify anything to me.” Bax paused and took a drink of his beer. “So, how long are you going to keep ordering pizza from Pete’s hoping she's the one that delivers?”

  I thought for a moment. That was a good question. “A week,” I decided. “I am going to give it a week and if I don’t see her again, well, then that will be the end of it.”

  “The end of it, huh? Well, here's to hoping that sometime in the next three days Pizza Girl graces your doorstep again.” Bax held his beer out to me for a toast. As I clanked my bottle against his, I couldn’t help but hope I would see her again and that Pizza Girl had not disappeared for good.

  Chapter 11

  Jenna

  The night after I had drinks with Cassie, I was back to work at Pete’s Pizza. It was another busy night and all of us hustled and bustled around the place as we tried to stay on top of deliveries.

  “I have another order for delivery!” Kimmy shouted as she walked back into the kitchen. “It is the ‘Hawaiian pizza with extra jalapenos guy again. I swear he's called and ordered the same thing every night for the past week. He must really like the pizza here.”

  Mike looked up from the pizza that he was cutting. “That is so strange. I've delivered to that guy a few times this week and he always seems so disappointed that his pizza has arrived.”

  “Is that the guy in the fancy new part of town?” Steven chimed in. I delivered there two nights in a row and the guy seemed a little off. He was asking weird questions about how many delivery drivers we had.”

  “Yes! That's the one!” Mike turned to me. “Hey, Jenna if you want Steven or me to take this delivery, we will. I don’t want you to be in an uncomfortable situation with some weirdo.”

  “That's really nice of you Mike. Thank you for looking out for me, but I'm sure I'll be fine.” I grabbed the boxes of pizza that were ready for delivery off the counter.

  Mike’s forehead creased in concern. “You have my cell phone number. If you get there and something feels off, call me straight away.”

  I nodded my head at Mike as Kimmy came back into the kitchen. “Here is the GPS with the delivery addresses programmed in for you. Be safe!” Kimmy set the GPS on top of the boxes that were already in my hands.

  “You guys are the best. Thank you. I'm really glad to have all of you looking out for me,” I said, I meant it too. It felt good to know I had people who genuinely cared about me. All of the employees at Pete’s were great to work with, but I considered Mike, Steven, and Kimmy to be my friends, too.

  “Well, we care about you. Be safe, Jenna,” Mike said simply, before he turned to put a pizza in the oven.

  “I'll be back soon!” I shouted as I went out the back door and headed to my delivery car.

  The night air was warm so I rolled the windows down as I drove to make this last delivery. The wind blew through my hair and I couldn't remember the last time I felt so at ease with everything in my life. Could it really all have been from just opening myself up by saying yes when I previously would have said no? Was it really that easy? Had I been that tightly wound?

  I mindlessly followed the directions from the GPS until I turned on to Hudson Street. Suddenly everything started to feel really familiar. “Oh, no, no, no... this is where Nick lives!” I mumbled out loud to myself. I pulled over and quickly looked up the complete address. Sure enough, i
t was building G. I felt a wave of disappointment flash through me.

  “Of course. The one guy I am wildly attracted to turns out to be a total crazy person. I feel so stupid.” I banged my head on the steering wheel a few times as I continued to talk to myself in my parked car. I was really losing my marbles.

  There is no way both Mike and Steven are wrong about this. Both of them said there was something off about the guy they were delivering to. Well, there goes a whole week of fantasizing about what it would be like to see him again.

  I took a deep breath as I pulled out my cell phone to call one of the guys and see if they could come and do the delivery. My finger was hovering over the call button for Mike when I paused. “Wait, why are you saying no to this? So the guy is a little weird. It's just a pizza delivery. It is not like I am going to spend the rest of my life with him. It will be a five-minute interaction and then it'll be done.” I started to feel inspired by my own pep talk. “Put on your big girl panties and say yes to the delivery, Jenna!” I shouted to myself a little louder than intended.

  I was fired up and ready to go. I pulled the delivery car away from the curb and drove the last two blocks to building G. Before I got out, I continued my pep talk. “What's the worst that's going to happen? Realize the guy I have been fantasizing about non-stop is a total weirdo? A weirdo that eats pizza every single night and has awkward interactions with delivery drivers? I can handle that!” I told myself.

  I took one last deep breath as I summoned up my newfound confidence and marched up to building G, knocking firmly on the door.

  I was a confident, badass woman and I was ready for anything! Cassie would have been so proud of me. I made a mental note to tell her about my pep talk later... only maybe I would leave out the part where I was actually talking out loud to myself in the car.

  The door suddenly swung open and Nick was on the other side. I don’t know what I was expecting because, obviously, I knew he lived here, but I let out a tiny gasp as his brown eyes raked over me. He seemed to be frozen with his hand on the door as he took me in. My hair must have been a wild mess from driving with the windows down, and I knew I had some spills on my uniform shirt. I mentally facepalmed myself for not taking a quick look in the rearview mirror of the delivery car before walking to the front door. Yet another smooth move, Jenna.

  We both just stood there for a few seconds until I accidentally blurted out, “You're even more handsome than I remembered. I'm not sure how that's even possible.” As soon as the words fell out of my mouth, I knew my face turned red. Dang it, I was so not ready. I couldn’t even keep my thoughts inside my head.

  Nick had a look of surprise on his face. I'm not sure if he was surprised to see me, or was surprised at what I had just blurted out. Maybe it was both. My eyes quickly ran up and down his body. No wonder my mind had turned to mush.. He was wearing a pair of well-faded jeans and a white t-shirt that clung to his chest. It looked like his biceps were about ready to rip out of his sleeves. I had never wanted to be a t-shirt more in my life. I don’t even know if that's a thing, but as we stood there, I would have literally given anything in that moment to be that shirt wrapped around that man.

  “Uhhhhhh… I stammered quickly trying to save the moment from being totally ruined by my awkwardness. “I have a Nick. I mean a Pete order. No, dang it! Nick pizza. Ahhhhhhhh! I mean I have a delivery here for Nick. A pizza. From Pete’s Pizza. For Nick. That you ordered.”

  Well, that was smooth. My cheeks burned as they flushed even brighter. I was so very, very not ready. Just about the time I was ready to drop the pizza box and take off running, Nick’s face slowly lit up with the most brilliant smile.

  I was afraid my panties were going to burst into flames while I stood there with sweaty palms and a death grip on the pizza box. I don’t know how it was humanly possible, but he was even sexier when he smiled.

  “Pizza Girl! You have no idea how glad I am to see you! I was starting to think I had imagined you.”

  Nick's deep, smooth voice rumbled through me and soaked into every molecule of my body. Did he just say that he was glad to see me? I must have heard him wrong. “I'm sorry, what did you just say?” I asked, blinking in confusion. Maybe I should have just left it alone and pretended what I heard was correct, I should get out of there before I embarrassed myself even further.

  “I was starting to think that this incredibly beautiful pizza delivery girl who showed up at my door a week ago was just a fantasy I made up. Glad to see you are, in fact, very real.” Nick continued to smile at me as he crossed his arms and leaned up against the door frame casually. Damn he was smooth.

  “Why would you think that?” My question came out as a breathy whisper. Nick’s eyes were smoldering and looked directly into mine. I felt like I was on fire everywhere. I wondered what his body could do to me, if his eyes on me made me feel this hot and bothered.

  Status of panties = full-on melted.

  “Well, you see this beautiful pizza delivery girl left without giving me her name, and the only way I could figure out how to see her again was to order another pizza.”

  “Well, I guess this is your lucky night,” I smiled back at him and gave him a wink.

  Wait, what? What was I doing? Was I flirting with him? Suddenly a red flashing light went off in my head as I remembered Steven and Mike’s concerns that Nick was a creepy pizza driver stalking weirdo. Slow down, Jenna! Slow down!

  I mustn't have given any indications that my mind was racing a million miles a minute, because Nick continued on. “Actually, luck had nothing to do with it. I have ordered pizza every night from Pete’s Pizza since I last saw you hoping to see you again.” He had a trace of a goofy smile on his lips as he spoke.

  I laughed. “That is a whole lot of pizza considering that was almost a week ago.” Maybe he wasn’t a totally creepy pizza driver stalking weirdo after all. I liked that option much better, so that was the one I went with.

  “You're telling me. Don’t get me wrong, I like pizza as much as the next guy, but pizza every night for a week has forced me to spend a whole lot of extra time in the gym.” Was he flexing as he said that, or was it my imagination?

  “Well, it certainly looks like you've put that gym time to good use.” I was blatantly staring at Nick’s body as I spoke. Who was this wild, wanton woman I was turning into? I don’t think I had ever flirted like that before. It was a good thing there was at least a pizza box between us. I couldn’t trust myself to be any closer to him. Not when I wanted to climb him like a spider monkey.

  Nick grinned and flexed his arm muscles a little, or was it a little more? It was hard to believe how toned he actually was. I had to take a deep breath and clench my legs together as I unconsciously licked my lips. I was a hot mess. A hot, horny, awkward mess.

  * * *

  What the hell was I doing? Why did this man have me so twisted around and turned upside down?

  * * *

  Chapter 12

  Nick

  There she was. She was really there standing right in front of me and fuck... her hair was all wild and her face was flushed. I couldn’t help but wonder if that is how she would look after a night of hot sex. I was about to mentally smack myself for the thought when I noticed that she was blatantly checking me out. I couldn’t help the thrill that coursed through my body.

  * * *

  I decided to seize the moment and flex my arms for her a bit to see if I could get any more of a reaction. It had worked well the last time. Kind of a selfish bastard thing to do, but the way she looked at me made me feel... well, it was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

  * * *

  When she gasped and licked her lips, I almost lost it right there on the spot. I hoped she didn't notice I was harder than a high school boy on prom night after hearing her breathy little gasp and watching the tip of her tongue slide across those perfect pink lips. There was just something about the beautiful, slightly awkward pizza girl with a brilliant smile that made both my
body and mind react in ways that seemed totally beyond my control.

  * * *

  Part of me couldn’t believe I had so easily told her I ordered pizza every night for a week, like a creeper, just trying to see her again. She didn’t seem totally freaked out by it, so I decided to just own it.

  * * *

  “I have to say, getting to see you again has made a week of pizza and extra gym time worth it. This was the last night I was going to order and hope to see you. Your co-workers seem nice, but it was a real disappointment to see one of them every night instead of you.” I hoped it came across as nonchalant. She didn’t need to know how very real the nightly disappointment had been.

  * * *

  “We had some shift changes and I have been off for the past several days.” She smiled softly and I couldn’t help but wonder if she had thought about me at all during that week. I quickly reminded myself not to be an arrogant asshole and that, of course, she wouldn't be thinking about me. I was just one of many deliveries she made in a night... fuck, it had never even occurred to me that she might have other guys that were interested in her. Or a fucking boyfriend. God, I hated that idea. A lot.

  * * *

  I didn't want her to leave, so I tried to keep the conversation moving. “That explains why you weren't delivering. I didn't want to be a total creep and ask for you, but I was starting to get desperate.” I mentally kicked myself. Good job, Nick. Way to point out that you are, in fact, a creep and desperate. Fuck, it had been a long time since I tried to flirt with someone... maybe Bax was right and I had lost my game.

  * * *

  Pizza Girl laughed and it was such a beautiful sound I instantly wanted to hear it again. “There may have been mention at the pizza shop of an increased number of deliveries to this address over the past week. I am flattered it was partially because of me and not just because of a Hawaiian pizza with extra jalapenos.” Those lips, that smile!