by Tess Harper
My cheeks burned. It wasn’t like I was a virgin, but it had been a while, far longer than I liked to admit. Before the end, Nathan rarely…
“What time did you get in, Soph?”
“Soph?”
I jumped. That sexy, low, manly voice did not belong to Sophie. It sounded a lot like Jack. But that made no sense. What was he still doing here? Sophie could be home at any minute!
“Uh, what you doing in there?” I asked, just as he turned the corner and boomed, “Who the hell is Soph?”
He was in his pants and nothing else. The sun hit his chest, letting me appreciate his perfectly sculpted muscles. My body quivered as I remembered the feeling of it beneath my hands in the dark.
Jack bent over, placing himself in my line of vision, and waved his hand as if to break me from a spell. I felt my cheeks grow hot as I realized just how accurate that metaphor was. “Soph isn’t some guy’s name, is it?”
I stared at him for a full three seconds before laughing. “Is the guy with fifty condoms in his pocket worried about me two timing?”
Jack shrugged, but I could tell it was a struggle for him to keep his expression nonchalant. “I told you I could use them all in one night.”
I smiled. He looked genuinely bothered by this. It was unexpected and sweet. “Yeah.” I copied his shrug. “Soph is totally a man.”
Jack’s expression turned glacial.
“It’s short for Sophocles,” I explained.
“Sophocles,” he repeated with deathly sincerity.
Could he not tell I was joking? I raised my hand to my mouth to cover my laughter.
His scowl deepened. “That better be that dead, Greek dude and not some guy with hippie parents.”
I fell forward, unable to stop from laughing any longer. “Come on, Sophocles is a great name.”
“Yeah, for an obnoxious cat.”
I glanced, up making a face. “Kitties aren’t obnoxious.”
“Have you read Plato’s dialogues? Sophocles was a dick.”
“A dick, huh?” I got up and pushed past him. “Well, I guess you’d know.”
He softly grabbed my arm. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”
I bit my bottom lip as I met his gaze. His eyes immediately lowered to my lip, then lost focus. “I don’t know,” I stammered, heart pounding. “It just sounded mildly suggestive and…”
“And?” he prompted when I couldn’t continue. His hand slid up my arm to my shoulders. I shivered. “Emily,” he whispered, brushing the hair from my face.
There was something about this that was starting to feel too real. I shut my eyes and inhaled deeply. “You smell like burnt eggs and bacon.”
“Do you like that smell?”
“It’s growing on me.”
“Good, because you’re going to be smelling it often.”
He tipped up my head. I gazed into his deep, blue eyes. There was so much warmth there, so much kindness, that it almost broke me. “Are you saying you want to cook me burnt breakfasts, Jack?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he whispered. “Every day for the rest of my life.”
That wasn’t exactly the response I was expecting, but it was cute. “Your whole life, huh?” I patted his chest. “That’s a pretty long time.”
“Hopefully it will be.”
I grinned up at him stupidly. “Well, I hope your food is good then.”
He pulled me into the kitchen and held out a chair for me. Then, he made his way over articles of my flung-off clothing to the stove. “I hope you like your bacon crispy,” he said as he dropped three black elongated objects on my plate.
I stabbed them when he set the plate down in front of me. It broke apart and disintegrated as if made of ash. “I think you cooked it so much that it’s no longer bacon.”
His face fell, and I immediately regretted saying that, so I pushed a lump of eggs and bacon onto my fork and stuffed it in my mouth and immediately started chewing.
“It’s not that bad, right?”
Oh man, I think this bacon is going to chip my teeth. I pushed down the thought. This breakfast was made with love. The same kind of love that inspires a kid to write a loving message on his mother’s wall with permanent marker on Mother’s Day. “Nuh…mmm…Not bad…at all…” I answered, dishing more of the eggs and bacon onto my fork and thinking about things on the bright side. At least he hadn’t gotten into the macaroni.
He sat and took a bite. His chest heaved as he forced himself to swallow. He snatched the orange juice and downed it as if his life depended on it. “Give me your plate.”
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
I pointed at the plate. “You made me food.”
“Bad food.”
I considered my answer answer. “It’s not the best bacon and eggs I’ve ever had, but that doesn’t matter. You made it for me. That’s really sweet.”
“Emily, I’m not going to make my girl eat something that even I can’t eat.”
The fork slipped from my hands. Bits of crusty, brown egg chipped off onto the table. “Your girl?” I repeated softly.
“Yeah.” He flashed a boyish smile.
Giddiness rushed through my body. Was this really happening? Did I want it to happen? “I don’t remember talking about this.”
His muscles flexed as he pushed out his chair and got on one knee.
My cheeks burned. I stuffed some of his bacon and eggs in my mouth and started chewing nervously. Do you want this to happen? Are you insane? You can’t even take your eyes off his body!
“Emily.”
“Yeah?” I answered, mouth full of dry, crunchy egg.
He reached into his pocket. “I went for a walk this morning.”
I swallowed. His breakfast scratched my throat.
“By the door of the convenience store, they had one of those little plastic horses that kids put 25c in to ride. Did you ever ride one of those?”
“A couple of times, but Jack…” He looked up at me with eyes so warm and sincere that I couldn’t help but smile. “What are you talking about?”
He raked his hand through his hair. “Sorry, I’m just a little nervous.”
“About what?”
“About you.”
My heart skipped a beat. “You don’t have to feel nervous about me.”
“Yeah I do. I wasn’t expecting to feel this way after such a short amount of time.”
I started to feel like I was floating, like how I feel after a long run. Either he’d fucked me stupid last night, or something really magical and unexpected was happening.
“Hey, it’s alright,” I whispered. “I didn’t think I’d feel this way either. I’m just…” I could feel myself blushing, but at that moment I felt like that was alright. “…I’m really happy you feel the same way,” I finished lamely.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic bubble. “It just reminded me of when I was a kid, and of all the stupid little things that make kids happy, and about how when you get older, you can sometimes forget that life is about those little precious moments—you can forget what makes you happy.
“They had one of those little machines that gives you prizes for 25c next to the horse. I remember getting a quarter from my mom and popping it in. I never got the prize I wanted. Even today, I went through fifteen quarters before getting a ring.”
He opened the bubble. I sucked in a breath. The band was faux gold and gleamed harshly. On top was a silly purple flower with a happy face.
“Oh my god,” I whispered as he took my hand and slipped it on my ring finger. I held out my hand to get a better look at the ring.
“I’ve never received such a heartfelt gift from a guy,” I admitted softly. Nathan always gave me the right thing at the right time. There’d been nothing spontaneous, nothing to suggest that he’d just picked something up because he’d been thinking of me. He’d only given me things out of duty.
I glanced at Jack. Was it really
a good idea to start dating someone I barely knew right after getting out of a long-term relationship? Sophie would say yes, but this guy carried tens of condoms in his pocket.
Okay, that last part would only make Sophie say hell yes.
My cheeks felt hot. “Alright, you’re either the sweetest guy I’ve ever met or the biggest player in the world.”
“I’d never hurt you, Emily.”
I shivered. He sounded so honest. Right now he could probably tell me anything and I’d believe him. That knowledge scared me.
“I’m serious about this,” he reassured. “When we get back to New York, I’ll buy you a real one.”
My throat felt tight. Don’t cry, Emily. He’s gonna think you’re a freak. Who cries when a guy gives them a 25c gift after their one night stand and suggests trying things out for a while?
He put his hand on my thigh. “It’s alright to cry, Emily. I think waterworks are a little normal in these situations.”
Was this guy for real? Waterworks were so not normal. Who starts bawling right after a player asks them to go steady? I sniffled. “This is just really big for me,” I whispered. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid.”
“Of me hurting you?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not going to happen. It will never happen. And just so you know I’m sincere, I think it’s time we make this official.” He bent down and kissed the ring he’d placed on my ring finger, then turned those devilish blue eyes up to me. “Emily, will you marry me?”
Chapter 7
Um…what?
I glanced at the burnt, abandoned eggs and bacon. Then back at him. Then back at the eggs and bacon. Then back at him.
It didn’t look like I’d teleported into another dimension. I was still at breakfast, right? And it was…Sunday, I think? Did I hear him correctly? Maybe the crackling from the eggs sticking to Sophie’s cast iron pan garbled up his words. Or maybe the fumes from the burning eggs and the gas stove were making me hallucinate.
“What?” My body shook. My eyes were open so wide it felt like they’d pop out of my head.
Jack gave me another grin. A grin that, up until a few moments ago, I would have called gorgeous, heartbreaking, devastating.
Actually, it was still all three of those things, but it didn’t make my heart melt anymore. It made me feel like he’d grabbed my heart from my chest with his bare hands and held the still-beating organ above his head as I was thrown into the lava pit.
“Is this a joke?” I whispered. Please let it be a joke!
His eyes softened. He cradled the hand he’d just placed his 25c band on, against his cheek. “No. I’d never joke about something like this.”
“You wouldn’t? Cause I kinda wish…” you would, I finished silently. My voice wavered. I was giving him a chance to change his mind.
He didn’t take it. “Emily, I’m not the kind of guy who’s satisfied with banging any hot chick who bats her eyelashes at me.”
I raised my brows.
He broke eye contact, his face red. “Alright, I mean, I am that guy but I don’t like doing it. It’s satisfying for the moment, but I always wake up feeling like shit—like I’ve cheapened some sacred pact between two people that I’ve never even experienced. For my whole life I’ve felt hollow after being with a woman…until last night.”
Time stopped. My arms went limp. My hand would have fallen to my side if Jack wasn’t holding it up. His eyes burned into mine with a passion and intensity I’d never seen before. “I was happy when I woke up today, Emily. Happier than I ever remember being. I felt whole. Complete. I want to spend the rest of my life feeling this way.” He kissed the silly ring. “I know it isn’t much, but I woke up this morning wanting you to know.”
“The rest of your life,” I repeated dumbly. “This really isn’t a joke. You’re serious.”
He smiled, completely oblivious to my distress. “I already told you. I’d never joke about something like this.”
Before, I would have only thought special kinds of assholes joked about things like this, but suddenly I’m wishing you were that kind of asshole.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life.” He sighed and shut his eyes, looking so innocent that a little sliver of my heart was swayed and I wondered what it would be like to have this man beside me forev—
What the hell? I’d known this guy for three days! If this was real, then there was no rush. Besides, I had other things to think about right now than fickle romances. I was in the process of chasing my own dreams. I wasn’t going to make my dreams second to a man ever again.
“Jack, I really like you. I really, really, really like you. And I’d be thrilled to continue this thing we have and see where it goes.”
“We have a lifetime to see where it goes.”
I took a deep breath. “You’re right. We do. And at the appropriate moment, we can take this relationship to the next step if we both decide it’s what we still want. The point is, there’s no hurry.”
Jack looked confused. “What do you mean at the appropriate moment? If we both decide?”
“I’m just saying that this is really sudden. I’m at a point in my life where I can’t throw things away on a whim.”
“This isn’t a whim, Emily.”
“Oh really? And how long did it take you to reach the decision that we should get married? Married! The fifteen minutes it took you to go to the store and back? I think that’s pretty much the definition of a whim.”
The intensity in his eyes was back, except this time it was darker. “It didn’t take me fifteen minutes. I’ve been waiting for you—for this moment—my entire life.”
“Even if you’ve been waiting for it, this is way too soon.”
“Why do you think that?”
“A lot of reasons. There are so many reasons why this is a bad idea.”
“Like what?”
Like what? Could he really not think of any? My heart sped. “Like, you don’t know anything about me and I don’t know anything about you.” Like, this is completely insane!
“You’re right. I don’t know everything. But I do know some things, like that you can run faster than just about anyone I’ve ever met. You’re kind. You’re beautiful. You’re honest. You’re sweet. And you’re a little sad. I know that something’s hurt you in the past, and I want to help you find yourself again. I realize it’s only been a few days, but I feel like I’ve known you for longer. I feel like I’ve spent my entire life waiting to meet you, and now that I have, I’m not letting you go.”
Now that I’ve found you, I’m not letting you go.
The words echoed in my head, making every hair on my body stand on end as if I’d just heard a dissonant chord. That’s a psycho killer line, Emily. That’s the kind of shit the killer in a B-movie says before locking his victim in his basement and making her eat the hacked-off body parts of her friends to survive.
Then Jack made the moment worse. “It’s true that you don’t know much about me, but after spending every day together, I promise that you’ll learn fast.”
Spending every day together? Exactly what kind of life did this guy have that he even thought that was possible? Did he really think I’d drop everything and follow him around? A guy I’d only known for a few days and knew nothing about? And what, exactly, would I learn fast? Okay, it didn’t matter that Jack was the hottest guy I’d ever seen in my life. It didn’t matter that he was sex on a stick. “We need to slow down,” I said slowly to emphasize just how slow things should go. We need to slow down or else I’m going to show you just how fast I can run.
“So you need a few weeks to get your stuff together?”
A few weeks? A FEW WEEKS??? “I’d need a little more time than that, Jack.”
He grinned. “I know all this planning stuff takes time. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
This planning stuff takes time? Did he mean planning the wedding? Why did he think that was going to happen? Hadn’t I made my
self clear?
He continued before I could respond. “I can’t wait for you to meet my mom and brother. They’ll love you.”
Um, I’m pretty sure the feeling they would have would not be love. More likely, mom would get the shotgun while dear old brother held open the front door and told me I had thirty seconds to get out of the house. “Jack, this is exactly what I was talking about when I said we needed to slow down. You can’t bring your one night stand home to meet the parents.” And you definitely can’t tell them that you plan on marrying her!
