In the Blink of an Eye

by S J Batsford

  “Okay, but I’m saying goodbye to my kids first.” His face as hard as his voice.

  “Bye my little angels, daddy will be back tomorrow to see you both. I love you.” He kisses them both handing Seb to Mace. I fidget as my nervousness increases.

  Mace looks at me smirking, I’m getting antsier by the minute.

  I jump a mile in the air when the doorbell rings. My eyes the size of saucers looking from the door to Ethan and back again. Mace laughs, finding it hilarious. Ethan has a face like thunder.

  I rush to the door, taking a deep breath. I open the door to a clean, nervous looking Jackson. I drink in the sight of him, thick thighs encased in fitted, worn jeans up to his tapered waist and broad shoulders. He is beautifully muscled, his T-shirt hiding nothing. He grins at me, and my long neglected sex drive revs back to life, I practically drool.

  An impatient clearing of a throat behind me makes me cringe. Ethan’s being purposefully rude, obviously not liking my reaction to what he views as his replacement.

  “Sorry, come in,” I step aside as he moves forward. I catch a faint whiff of him as he passes. Mmm, he smells amazing. Musty, male, with a subtle hint of citrus to it.

  I sigh audibly and my eyes widen. I turn pink hearing Mason’s chuckle. Jackson looks back over his shoulder, smiling, an eyebrow cocked.

  “Hey, Jackson. Nice to see you, man.” Mace breaks the silence and they do the bloke handshake thingy.

  “You, too. How you been?”

  “I’m good, been busy since Lily had the twins.”

  As if on cue, they cry for attention. Instead of heading for the door Ethan heads over to the twins, squatting in front of them, he murmurs quietly to them. They quiet down immediately, the sound of their dad’s voice soothing them.

  “Come on through. Would you like a drink?” My manners kick in.

  The atmosphere becomes increasingly uncomfortable, with my ex and father of my kids in the same vicinity as my prospective new boyfriend. One hostile and the other, oblivious, for now. I give Mace a desperate look to get rid of Ethan.

  “Water please.” Jackson turns, smiling warmly at me.

  Jackson follows me into the kitchen, as Mace goes to try and vacate his brother.

  “Is it me or is that guy a little hostile towards me?” Jackson asks, leaning against the island. I sigh, feeling bad for bringing him into a hostile situation.

  “That’s Ethan, Mason’s brother and… The twins’ dad. He’s just being an arse. I’m sorry, just ignore him, please.”

  “Are you and he...?” He’s so adorable, I want to kiss his sexy lips. They look delicious, drawing me in, holding me hostage. The longer I stare, the more I want to kiss him. Involuntarily my tongue licks across my bottom lip.

  “Lily?” My head snaps around at Mason's amused voice. My face burns like I’ve been caught doing indecent things. I haven’t, but my mind had. My only excuse is that my body is sexually deprived.

  “Yeah?”

  “The twins are hungry, and I don’t have the equipment to satisfy them,” Mace laughs pointing at his chest. Jackson chuckles making my face redden even more.

  “Okay, I’ll… Go do that then.” I stutter, rushing from the room. Picking up my crying babies. I place them in the Moses basket I use to transport them around the house and escape upstairs to feed my little angels.

  ~*~

  Chapter Nineteen

  I find Mace and Jackson laughing in the living room, enjoying their catch up.

  Mace spots me and smiles. “Where are the twins?”

  Laughing, I roll my eyes. “They need sleep too, Mace. They’ll be awake again soon enough.”

  He sticks his lip out, pushing to his feet. “Well, since I won’t be getting any cuddles for a while, I think I better get some work done.” He sighs heavily.

  I laugh as he leaves, sitting in the corner of the sofa, pulling my legs up beneath me.

  When we’re alone my nerves kick in, and butterflies break free.

  “So… “ He sits forward, bracing his arms on his thighs.

  Looking at him, I lean my head on my hand, waiting to see what he’s going to say.

  “So?” I prompt when he just stares at me.

  “Are you and Ethan still together?”

  Shaking my head, I sit up. “No, we had a brief... Relationship. It was stupid, and a lot of bad crap came from it, barring the twins. I’ve moved past that and he’s married. So, you have nothing to worry about. I’d never agree to go on a date with you if I was with anyone else.”

  Blowing out a relieved breath, he smiles the brightest smile and relaxes into the sofa.

  “So, when you’re not saving countless damsels in distress what do you like to do?”

  He chuckles, turning and giving me his full attention.

  “Well, I play guitar, I like to read, mostly horrors. Love movies, just not too many chick flicks, like Dirty Dancing…” He shudders.

  “Hey, Dirty Dancing is a classic!” I giggle at his pained expression.

  “Okay, tell me what your favourite food is?” I ask, facing him, getting comfortable.

  “That’s easy, I love sea food. What about you?”

  “Any Mexican food. When I was pregnant with the twins I ate it constantly, it’s why I was huge.”

  “I can’t imagine you huge.”

  “You wouldn’t want to either,” I joke, holding my arms out in-front of me and blowing up my cheeks.

  He laughs shaking his head. “No way were you that big and look this amazing now.” His face turns a little pink as I go bright red.

  “Thank you, but I really was, well, sort of. There were two of them.”

  We regale each other with funny stories his of his family here and in Spain, and mine of memories of my Mom and my exploits with Mason.

  I learn so much about him in the space of a couple of hours, he’s funny, witty, charming, quirky and loyal. He loves his family and would do anything for them at the drop of a hat. When he talks of them, there is so much passion in his voice…

  Wow, he is gorgeous. How could I not have noticed him at school?

  Before leaving he confirms our date on Friday.

  ~*~

  He said wear old clothes, but his don’t look old and grungy like mine…

  He’s the perfect gentleman, never mentioning how bad I look. Opening my door, he holds out a hand to help me out of his truck… My foot catches on something, so I yank my leg and almost smack him in the junk with my knee.

  “I’m so sorry,” I gasp, as he jumps back dodging my wayward limb.

  Relieved and at a safe distance, he laughs.

  “It’s fine, next time I’ll wear a protective cup,” he chuckles, taking my hand as we walk.

  “I… I’m not usually…” I drift off seeing him laughing his arse off.

  “You arse.” I smack his arm laughing.

  He stops when we get to a wooded area, turning he takes both my hands.

  “I thought with us being only nineteen, we should act our age, hence the old clothes.”

  “Okay…” I say apprehensively.

  “Come on, let’s get suited up.”

  “What...?”

  “You’ll see,” he yells, sprinting off and I give chase laughing. I lose him in all the trees, so I slow to a walk looking around a little confused as to which way I came.

  “JACKSON?”

  “Follow the colours.”

  I look around, not seeing anything, then paint splatters centimetres from my feet making me jump.

  “What the feck?” I whisper, then paint starts hitting the ground in a line, so I follow and end up outside a small hut.

  “Inside you’ll find what you need,” Jackson’s muffled voice breaks the air.

  Inside laid out on a table are overalls, protective wear, goggles, a paint-gun and ammo. Excited, I hurry to get ready, I’ve always wanted to try this but Mom never wanted to.

  “Are you coming out?”

  I don’t answer, instead I
peek through the window, spying him crouched ready to fire as soon as the door opens. He’s so engrossed in watching the door that he doesn’t see or hear me slide the window open a little.

  Giggling, I aim and fire hitting the tree right by his nose. He jumps and falls on his arse, laughing.

  “That was a dirty trick!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Like you weren’t waiting for me to step through the door.” I shoot repeatedly, and while he’s distracted I make a run for it.

  We play until we’re almost out of ammo, weaving and dodging each other, laughing like kids.

  “Okay, truce. Let’s go eat.”

  “You just don’t want to lose,” I laugh pulling off my goggles and sitting.

  “You were so going down! But we’ll agree to disagree.”

  “I’m starving. Thanks for thinking of this, I haven’t laughed this much in ages.”

  “You’re welcome, I’ve had a great time. It’s not a romantic restaurant but I saw an old diner on our way here.”

  “It’s perfect, but we need to clean up first. You got paint…” I wipe neon pink paint down the side of his face and run. Laughing, he gives chase, lunges and takes us both to the ground, laughing hysterically as he wipes paint down my cheeks, into my eyebrows and on the end of my nose.

  At the diner we order two massive burger meals and milkshakes. I feel my age for a change, this date was unexpected but amazing. People stare at us covered in neon paint. The rest of our date is spent eating, laughing and talking.

  ~*~

  After our first date, every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday Jackson takes me somewhere different. There are rules to our dates, I have to act my age, no adult talk and I have to smile and laugh as much as possible.

  We’ve been to the movies, the zoo, an arcade, a fun fair and a bowling alley.

  Today is Sunday and normally a lazy day in this house but Jackson came over with toys for the twins, so we’ve played instead. Seeing him interact with them is amazing he’s so patient and fun.

  Things wind down when the twins go down for their nap, I can relax and have a cuppa.

  I find myself staring at Jackson as his arm muscle bunches when he brings the cup to his mouth, then his mouth moves.

  “Huh?” I blink shaking myself.

  He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. “I asked if we were a couple?”

  “Erm, do you want to be?”

  “Yeah, I mean, I… I really liked you in school and after getting to know you better. I would really like us to be.” He rubs his neck nervously.

  Smiling, I sit next to him. “That was a rough time for me. I’m glad we’ve had this time to get to know one another, it’s been amazing, the best. but are you okay with me being a single Mom? You should know now that the twins come first. So, I need to know you’re okay with that.”

  Taking my hand, he links our fingers and brushing his thumb over the back of my hand.

  “I’m okay with that. It’s how it should be, they’re your kids and I like spending time with you and them. I really like you Lily and I’m really attracted to you.” His voice seductive again.

  “Can I kiss you now that we’ve established that we’re a couple?”

  Placing my hand on his whiskered cheek. My lips touch his gently. Feeling how soft they are, has my body heating, so fast I feel lightheaded.

  My eyes slide shut as his hand catches the back of my head, securing me, taking control as he deepens our kiss. Moaning, I melt into him. Our tongues sliding across each other’s, tasting.

  His taste is spicy with a hint of mint, from chewing gum?

  Pulling back slightly, I keep my eyes closed, breathing heavily.

  “Wow,” he blows out a shaky breath, I smile. God, he’s so cute.

  “For such a big bloke you’re really cute… I mean, with all your muscles…I,” I snap my mouth shut, blushing.

  He laughs. “You’ve noticed my muscles, huh? You are so adorable when you blush.” He kisses me on the nose.

  “Do you want to stay for a while?” I ask.

  “Yeah, if that’s okay.”

  “How about a movie? We could ask Mace to join and crack out some popcorn?”

  Nodding, he smiles at my enthusiasm. Grabbing my phone, I text Mace.

  Me: We’re going to watch a movie with p-corn, you in?

  Mason: Yep, be there in a few. I’ll grab the p-corn and drinks. You’re not going to be all smoochy through it are you? :p

  Me: No, what would make you think that?

  Mason: Maybe because of the way you’ve been eye fucking him since he walked through the door.

  Gasping, I turn my phone away, making sure Jackson doesn’t see. Unfortunately, I turn bright red.

  “What did he say to make you look like a tomato?”

  Shaking my head, I hide my phone behind my back. I bite my cheek as he smirks scooting closer.

  “Tell me, please?” He asks softly, batting his eyes. I shake my head again, leaning back.

  The playful look that enters his eyes sends a thrill through me, and I squeal jumping up, trying to run for it. Squealing again when strong arms scoop me off my feet, pinning me to his hard chest.

  Breathless, he whispers in my ear. “Tell me.”

  Heat zips through me, a thrilling side effect of his closeness and his breath skating across my neck.

  “No,” my voice wobbles.

  I’m still dangling in the air, pressed against his gorgeous chest.

  “I could tickle you, or… I could just do this,” my feet meet the floor as he spins me. His hand diving into my hair, my eyes go to his lips, then slide closed as my hands grasp his shoulders.

  Just as quickly as I was snatched up, I’m let go and my phone is in his hand. Shit. He’s reading my message. His laugh snaps me out of my stupor.

  “Hey! Give it back. You distracted me, that’s not playing fair,” I whine, but laugh.

  “I never said I played fair. If I want something I go to any means to get it.” That voice again... I flush not missing the double meaning. Message received loud and clear.

  I shock him by grabbing a fist full of his shirt and plant one on him.

  He catches on quickly and his hands sweep down my sides, squeezing my hips. I loosen my hold on his shirt and run my hands over his well-defined chest.

  My hands find their way into the soft hair at his nape, and pull myself flush against his body with a moan.

  Behind us a throat clears, but by this point I’m so used to Mason walking in on me at inappropriate moments. I pull back slowly, blinking I smile up at Jackson as he smirks wickedly at me, flashing me the dimple on his left cheek.

  ~*~

  The last few weeks have been bliss. Life has settled into a somewhat normal routine. Ethan sees the twin's most days, but when he doesn’t, he calls to talk to them through the phone. The twins are three months old, and babbling from the moment they wake to the moment they give up the goat and sleep.

  Jackson and I have been together a few months. We’ve taken it slowly, getting to know each other before... But I’m so ready for him to pin me to my bed, to feel his weight on top of me. It has been torture over the last few weeks. The make out sessions, the teasing touches and the interruptions have driven me mad. So tonight I’m planning on spending some quality time alone with my boyfriend, while Ethan has the twins overnight at his mom’s.

  Ethan’s still cold toward Jackson, but I expect nothing else from him and Jackson doesn’t seem bothered by him.

  ~*~

  “Are you sure you’re okay with them staying out?” Mace teases, he knows I’m scared shitless.

  “Will you stay with them tonight? Make sure Ashley doesn’t go over?” I plead.

  “Okay, but Ethan’s not going to be happy.”

  “If she does show call me and we’ll be straight over.”

  I’m really panicking over this. I don’t want Ashley anywhere near the twins, she’s dangerous and volatile and she hates them.

  “It’ll be
okay, let me go call my Mom.”

  Jackson arrives as Mace leaves to call his mom. He chuckles seeing me in a mess over the twins staying out.

  Pulling me into his chest, he kisses my hair.

  “Everything will be fine. They’ll be with their dad and Isabella is there. You should be more worried about what I’m going to do to you tonight.” Oh god, I love it when his voice drops like that. I grasp his ribs digging my nails in.

  “I’m not worried, but you should be. I have plans for you mister.” Cocking an amused eyebrow, he drops his head so he talks against my lips.

  “Really? I can’t wait,” we break apart as an angry grunt comes from behind Jackson.

  “Hello, Ethan.” Jackson says, not looking away from me. Okay, maybe he is a little bothered.

  “Jackson, Lily. Are the twins ready? I’m in a rush.” His snappy mood makes me scowl. “What’s stuck up your arse?” Jackson chuckles as does Mace, Ethan however does not.

  “Look, I have to get the twins to mom’s. Then I need to get some stuff for Ash so if you could hurry up I’d appreciate it. I don’t have all night to listen to you two moon over each other.”

  I don’t like his attitude. “Well, if it’s too much trouble then go do what you need to for your wife and maybe you can have the twins when you’re in a better mood and have time for them,” I snap and walk off going to sit with my babies while they sleep to calm down.

  Sitting in the rocking chair I listen to their breathing taking deep breaths myself.