“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Everything is right.” He took her hand and dragged her inside. “Come with me. Holy shit. I can’t believe it. That idiot solved the bug in our search engine.”
Jessica tried to keep up as he dragged her through the living room and the dining room, and into his office. “Sorry. I’ll explain.” He booted up his computer and handed her a throw blanket from a chair. “I keep it cool in here; you may need this. When I was in grad school, I put a little Easter egg in the code for the search engine.”
She sat on the chair across from his desk and covered her legs with the blanket. “What does that mean? I’m picturing bunnies and chocolate.”
“That’s because you’re the cutest person on earth.” His fingers flew across the keyboard as he cut through miles of cyber security to access the original code. “An Easter egg. A drone. A little piece of code that I created in grad school and totally forgot about until that damn letter.” He glanced up at her with no hopes of suppressing his relieved smile or the rapid beating of his heart. “This is the thing we’re looking for on OneClick that’s pulling up military equipment when kids type in the words dragon two.”
She gathered her hair over one shoulder and nodded, but her confusion was still evident in her eyes.
Jamie continued working. “We were kids, and to a computer geek, this type of stuff is fun.” He glanced up again to catch her smile. “I put this piece of code in the program and totally forgot about it. It was a joke, you know, that one day, just by the law of large numbers, eventually it would rear its head again and we’d laugh.”
“Law of large numbers?”
“Yeah, you know. A principal of probability and statistics. As the sample size grows—or in this case, the number of people searching for certain words—its mean will get closer and closer to the average of the whole population. The more people searching, the more the bug appears.”
He looked back down at the monitor. “And it’s been so long that when it happened, we didn’t laugh, because I totally forgot about it. I have to call Mark and tell him. I can’t believe this. Jesus, it might have remained there forever, and there’s no way our coders would have known where to look.”
“Dragon Two? Isn’t that the name of a kids’ movie?”
He was too excited to slow down. “Holy crap, you’re right. That’s exactly why it’s coming up now. A million people are searching the terms Dragon or Dragon Two on a daily basis.” He scanned the screen and typed faster. “I’m sorry, babe. I shouldn’t be working when we only have an hour or so left before our real world time starts, but this is vital.”
She came to his side and rubbed his shoulders while his fingers flew over the keyboard. “I love that you have a strong work ethic, and I love watching you work. I don’t want to take you away from any of this, Jamie.”
He slowed long enough to pat her hand, look up at her beautiful face, then went back to work. “You won’t. I can’t believe it took all of this for us to find this drone.” His hands slowed. “It took all of this.” He spun in his chair and wrapped his arms around her waist. “As much as I hate to think about it because of what happened to my parents, maybe things really do happen for a reason.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“SO THIS IS where the nonexistent Jessica Ayers lives.” Jamie parked in front of Jessica’s building. He’d been grinning ever since he’d fixed the coding issue that had mothers all over the world in a frenzy.
Having lived a life that relied so little on the Internet, it seemed odd to her that entire newspaper articles could be written about a search result error, but then again, to those who relied on the Internet, a broken cello would probably seem trivial.
“This is it. It’s not very glamorous, but I like it.” She’d changed back into her concert skirt, blouse, and heels, bringing her much closer to Jamie’s height. He looked handsome from any angle, but she liked being that much closer to his lips, and as they rode the elevator to the top floor she took full advantage. She stood between his legs and kissed him until he was hard as a rock again, and when the elevator doors opened, she walked out with a satisfied grin on her lips.
“So unfair,” he mumbled.
With the emotional roller coaster of last night, and then again this morning, Jessica hadn’t had time to process her feelings on the Chamber Players position. Now she felt a little dizzy, knowing she was about to take them from this amazing high to a place of serious discussion again, but she needed to at least share with him that the offer was on the table.
Her two-bedroom loft was a far cry from the spacious home Jamie lived in. She wondered what Jamie was thinking as he crossed the light-colored, wide-planked hardwood floors and passed the arched windows that overlooked the park. He picked up photographs of her family from her bookshelves as she went to her bedroom to change.
She was zipping her jeans when he came to the doorway and leaned casually against the edge of the doorframe, holding a photograph in his hand.
“You’re beautiful, Jess. Maybe I should skip work today.”
“Don’t even tease me with that. You just solved the world’s dragon dilemma. I’m sure your employees will want to cover you in roses or something.” She loved the way he laughed, a masculine sound that came from deep in his lungs.
“More like throw them at me.” He came to her side as she pulled on her top.
“Are these your parents?” He showed her the photograph he was holding of her with her parents, taken a few years ago after one of her concerts. She and her father were smiling wide; her mother’s face was more serious, though still smiling. It was a strained smile, a familiar one to Jessica. Her mother’s emotions were always tethered.
“Yeah, it was taken after a concert a while ago.”
Jamie settled a hand on her hip. “You look a lot like your father.”
“I know. He blessed me with his dimples. When I was little, he used to tell me that we had them because an elf came into our bedrooms when we were babies and stole the divot of skin for good luck. He concocted a whole fairy tale about how the elves planted the divots and grew these glorious forests of good luck trees.” She pictured the way her father’s eyes lit up, and if she tried hard enough, she could hear the hushed tone he used to tell his tale. The memories were comforting.
“I love that idea.”
“Me too. Jamie, you never finished reading the information Mark gave you about me.”
He pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly. “I know. I’m not worried about that. I know everything I need to know.”
“There is one more thing I need to tell you. It’s a big thing, and I can’t believe I didn’t mention it yet, but we’ve been so sidetracked…”
“A big thing?” He sat on her bed and patted the bedspread beside him.
She sat beside him, and he draped an arm over her shoulder.
“Give it to me straight.” He smiled at the joke.
“Okay.” She felt a wave of excitement wash through her—an emotion that she now realized she’d been ignoring. Or maybe she’d been too upset to realize it was there. Whatever the reason, she couldn’t ignore the pride she felt as she explained. “Well, last night, before the concert, my manager told me that I was going to be invited to play as one of the Chamber Players for the orchestra.”
Jamie’s eyes widened. “That’s good news, right?”
“Well, it’s big news.” Her pulse accelerated. “At my age, it’s really pretty phenomenal, but it comes with more commitments, and with our relationship, I’m not sure it’s the best move for me. For us.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if I continue playing with the orchestra, there are times I’ll have to travel. And I told you that I practice sometimes three or four hours a day and then go to work late into the evenings. It’s not exactly conducive to a relationship, or a family.”
“It’s not?” Jamie’s eyes grew serious. “I never realized that, because my grandmother played and she raised
my mother somehow. And although she wasn’t playing with an orchestra when I was growing up, there were times that she played with different groups, and my grandfather took me to see her play or spent the evenings with me. They worked it out.”
“Yes, but you have Vera to take care of, and you have an entire empire, according to Mark. I can’t be a distraction, or drag you away from what you’ve worked so hard to build, or from the woman who raised you.”
“No, you really can’t.” He drew his brows together and his mouth formed a tight line.
Her stomach lurched. No, you really can’t. Hadn’t she known it might come to this? Hadn’t she dreamed of other things while she was at the Cape? Maybe teaching cello instead of playing for an audience? She hadn’t felt sad when she contemplated those things at the Cape. But after coming back and playing again and being accepted into the Chamber Players, she realized how much she enjoyed playing for the orchestra, even if the schedule was grueling. She reached for Jamie’s hand. She loved him more than she loved playing. That much she knew, and she could still play, just for a different group. She could make this concession for them.
“I won’t take the position. I’ve been thinking about doing something different anyway. Maybe teaching cello or something.”
Jamie lifted her chin so they were eye to eye and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Jessie, you can’t drag me away, because I’m too big for you to drag anywhere. I can make my own decisions. I want to support what you’ve worked your whole life for. I’m proud of you, for how beautifully you play, for your determination.” He kissed her again. “For being willing to give it all up for us. But there’s no need. I want you to live your dream, not push it aside. So we’ll travel a little, and you’ll work late at night, just like I program late at night. We’re the perfect pair.”
She couldn’t believe he was saying all of this so easily, like he meant every word, which she was sure he did, but how could it work?
“But Vera?”
“Vera lives in the assisted living facility around the corner from my house when it’s not summertime. She’s well cared for. I see her after work because I can and because I haven’t really had much of a reason not to. If you wouldn’t mind, she might want to travel with us sometimes, if she’s able, to see some of your concerts.”
“Jamie—” She flung herself into his arms. “Really? You don’t mind? She wouldn’t hate me for taking you away?”
He took her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. “Babe, Vera would be more upset if you gave up a chance to live your dream. Her only hope is that I’m happy. I love her, but I don’t need to give up living my life to care for her, and she’d never want me to.”
“But what if one day we decide to get married, and we want kids? I’m not saying we are, or we will, or trying to push you.” He was searching her eyes, and she was talking so fast that she couldn’t stop. “I’m just thinking long-term, because I don’t think I could take it if we dated for a couple years and then broke up because you wanted kids and my career made it too hard. Not that I wouldn’t give up my career for kids. But what if—”
He pressed his lips to hers, swallowing her words and all her worry along with them.
“Breathe,” he said against her lips.
She did, and he kissed her again.
“You okay?” He held both her hands in his.
Jessica nodded, but she was anything but okay. Her heart felt like it was going to crash through her chest and leap the distance between them just to be closer to him. Her mind spun in circles, trying to figure out if he really understood what she was saying, but before she could ask, he was kissing the back of her hand again, sliding one hand to the nape of her neck in that way that made her insides go all warm and mushy and gazing lovingly into her eyes.
“I love kids. And if you’re enjoying the orchestra when we decide to get married and have children, then we’ll figure it out. I’ll do as my grandfather did, and gladly take care of them. Neither of us has to give up what we love to have this relationship or a family. Odd hours? Long practices? More time for me to do my geeky man things, and I love to travel.”
She exhaled a breath she felt as though she’d been holding for three days and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Just one more question.”
“You’ve used up your allotment, but I might dole out an answer for another kiss.”
“Are all men this easy?” She kissed him then, and in one quick move he rolled her onto her back and braced himself above her.
“I don’t date men, so I can’t answer that question.”
As he lowered his lips to hers, she whispered, “I think Mark was wrong. You’re not a warrior at all. You are my knight in comfy armor.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
OVER THE NEXT two weeks their lives fell into sync, feeling less like a frantic gigue and more like a romantic rhapsody. Jamie worked around Jessica’s schedule, and she around his. And for those times when they felt as though they’d gone too many hours without seeing each other, Jamie taught Jessica how to use FaceTime, and they connected that way. It was a strange feeling to know that the man she loved was only an icon away from her at all times. They’d FaceTimed twice this week. Once when she was scheduled to play in an evening concert and he’d had a late meeting, and once when he’d gone for a run and missed her in the forty minutes he was gone. He’d stopped running and FaceTimed her, sweaty and panting from an uphill sprint. Technology, it turned out, wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Finding time together wasn’t as crazy as Jessica had imagined. Jamie really did enjoy working at night, and on the nights she wasn’t playing with the orchestra, she often waited to practice until he was working. To a large degree, Jamie had been right. Jessica had so little experience with relationships and life outside of the orchestra that creating a life for themselves wasn’t nearly as difficult as she’d anticipated it would be. It took some coordinating, but they were even able to finagle two nights up at the Cape.
The flames of the bonfire danced in the center of their circle of benches and chairs on the quad at Seaside. Everyone had been so happy to see them together that they’d made a big show of preparing a barbecue, complete with margaritas—of which Jessica knew to have only one, so she could focus on her hunky man later in the evening. And focus on him she did. Before the girls came to get her to go chunky-dunking, Jamie lay beside her in the bed where they’d first made love. Their bodies glistened with sweat, each sated and spent.
“I never want to leave the bedroom again,” he’d said sleepily.
“Unless they make beds with twenty-seven-inch monitors, I’m pretty sure your geeky side will need to be satisfied at some point,” she’d said. It was a joke of theirs. His life was as ensconced with technology as hers was depleted of it.
She’d turned to kiss him and he’d already fallen asleep. She’d slipped out of the house when Amy, Bella, and Jenna had come to get her, after Caden and Peter had fallen asleep, too.
“We have to get Leanna,” Amy whispered.
Dressed only in towels and flip-flops, they held on to each other as they headed for Leanna’s house.
“Kurt…Right there.”
Jessica grabbed Amy’s arm and froze as Leanna’s voice filtered out the open window of their cottage.
“Is that…?” she whispered.
“Yes. She forgets to close her window,” Amy explained.
Jessica wondered how much they’d heard of her and Jamie making love. She wasn’t exactly quiet as a mouse.
Bella dragged Jenna toward the pool. “We’ll go without her.”
They hurried down the gravel road. Jessica’s heart beat so fast with anticipation she couldn’t stop smiling. “I’ve never broken rules like this before.”
“Yes, you have,” Amy reminded her. “Thong Thursday, remember?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know I was breaking the rule. It’s different.”
Bella slung an arm over her shoulder. “Well, get used to it. You�
��re a Seaside sister now, and this is what we do.”
A Seaside sister. She wondered if she’d ever get tired of hearing that, or if it would always carry the same thrill it did now. It was almost as good as hearing someone call her Jamie’s girlfriend.
Jenna wrestled with the lock on the fence. The thick metal chain clanked and rattled.
“Shh!” Bella grabbed the chain, glaring at Jenna.
“I’m trying. It’s stuck.” Jenna tried shoving the key in again.
“You need to caress it, not jam it,” Amy instructed.
“How would you know? The last time you caressed or jammed a long thing into a hole was a long time ago.” Jenna laughed.
Amy swatted her arm. “You’re a pig, and you have no idea how long it’s been.”
“Well, I know you and Jake didn’t do the dirty because you never came back from a date smiling like a Cheshire cat.” Jenna gritted her teeth and gave one more quick turn of the key. The lock sprang open and she bounced on her toes and beckoned them in. “Hurry. Hurry!” She closed the gate quietly behind them.
“We usually put our towels by the stairs,” Amy said as she guided Jessica toward the far end of the pool.
Jenna ran by them naked, her butt cheeks bouncing, arms crossed over her enormous breasts. “Brr.”
“Why did she run from back there?” Jessica whispered.
“She always does. It’s a Jenna thing.” Amy slipped out of her towel and walked straight past Jenna, who was shivering on the first step, and into waist-deep water, then ducked down until she was covered up to her shoulders. “It is cold, so you have to get right in.”
Jessica dropped her towel and followed Amy. Jenna grabbed Jessica’s arm as she stepped into the water.
“Let’s go in together,” Jenna whispered.
They walked down the steps, holding hands, and submerged themselves up to their shoulders, as Amy had.
“Look, I’ll never drown.” Jenna looked down at her boobs bobbing at the surface and laughed.
Amy and Bella shushed her in unison.
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