“Oh! Oh!” I squealed excitedly. “Turn it up! Turn it up!”
But Jack was already on the move, heading to the bar where he had left the remote and I started the chair dancing I just couldn’t control whenever I heard that song.
It was a song I had first danced to when I was seven years old and it was featured in a dance recital I was in. I was having trouble learning the steps, so my mother learned them along with me and we tirelessly practiced in the kitchen every single day while my father, if he happened to catch our act, would watch and laugh hysterically. As a result, I had very fond memories attached to that song.
And later, about three weeks after Jack and I had met, I was driving as we went to lunch, the radio playing low. As soon as the song started, my dancing began (yes, while I was driving). I had turned to a grinning Jack and said, “Sorry, Jack; you’ll just have to deal with this.” I turned it up and added enthusiastic, loud singing to my dancing. To my surprise, he started singing, too – and just as enthusiastically.
We had so much fun with that song that he had added it to his iPod and we cranked it up and really got into it every time it played. It was silly and goofy but so much fun.
Jack had turned the volume up to an acceptably loud level and I was getting warmed up with my chair dancing, preparing to sing. Nate looked befuddled, but entertained, when Jack quickly strode over to me, grabbed my hands and pulled me up out of my chair. Without a word, he gathered me in tight against his body, holding our clasped hands against his chest, and started dancing me around the room.
We had never danced to this particular song and I was enjoying the hell out of it. We sang to each other as we danced – Jack spinning me out and then pulling me back in. I was a little unsteady on my feet at this point, and every spin made me dizzier, but he managed to keep me upright. The next time he spun me out, I let go of his hand and broke out the Jackson Five moves. The steps all came back to me as if it hadn’t been years since I’d done it. I was dancing my little heart out for a few seconds while Jack and Nate, much like my father, laughed uproariously.
I grabbed Jack’s hand and he pulled me back in as the song was ending. Dancing me over to the bar, he picked up the remote and lowered the volume as the next song was starting. Laughing, he pulled me into a hug, which I happily returned. Jack thanked me gallantly for the dance and led me back to my seat and a smiling Nate.
“That’s quite an act you two have,” he said. “You should take it on the road.”
I put my chin in my hand and gazed at him solemnly. “You’re funny.”
“And you’re cute,” he said, leaning towards me.
I studied his dimples. “You’re cute, too,” I informed him. I swung around to peer at a grinning Jack. “And you’re cute, too!” Throwing my hands up in the air, I proclaimed, “We’re all just so freakin’ cute!” That struck me as being profoundly funny and I started giggling while laughter filled my ears from both sides.
I don’t remember anything after that.
Chapter 12 - Jack
Jack looked down at Angie, who had suddenly stopped giggling and put her head down on her folded arms. Poor baby, he thought while rubbing her back. She’s had quite a crazy day.
“Well, Luke,” he said. “I think my girl is all done here.”
Luke laughed his agreement. “That was strange; fine one minute and gone the next.”
“Yeah, she does that sometimes,” Jack said with a small smile at Angie’s semi-sleeping form.
“She had two drinks at the bar Friday and it didn’t affect her at all. Is it the beer?”
“Nah. I think it’s hormonal. She doesn’t usually get so drunk so fast. But when she does, watch out – you never know what you’re going to get.”
“Must be entertaining,” Luke said.
“It can be. But now I think I’d better get her to bed.” Jack leaned down to Angie’s ear, moved her hair aside and whispered, “Angie. Honey, can you walk?”
She lifted her head a fraction and squinted at him. “Hmmm? Oh, yeah. Sure. I can walk.” She sat up and looked around blearily, settling her eyes on Luke. “Goodnight, Nate. See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Angie. It was fun.”
She beamed at him and then tried, unsuccessfully to stand up. She plopped back down with a laugh and looked at Jack. “I think you’ll need to hold my hand and then I can do it.” She then nodded gravely as if some monumental crisis had just been averted. “Yeah. That’ll do it,” she said to herself with a borderline slur.
“Okay, girl; give me your hand.” Jack stood up and extended his hand to her. She grasped it with both of hers and he pulled her out of the chair.
“Whoa,” she giggled. “Little head rush.”
“Don’t worry,” Jack said soothingly. “I’ll get you to bed and everything will be all better.”
“But I can’t go to bed with you!” She straightened her posture and looked affronted.
Jack heard Luke snort out a laugh and was laughing himself when he assured her he would not be getting into the bed with her.
“Oh. Okay then.” Jack thought she sounded a little disappointed, but that was probably just wishful thinking on his part.
He turned her in the direction of the stairs and said to Luke, “Be back shortly. Make yourself at home.”
Luke nodded and then smiled at Angie. “I hope you’ll be feeling okay in the morning.”
“Oh, pfffft!” She waved her hand loftily in the air. “I’ll be fine.” She looked up at Jack. “Well, let’s go then.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded and led her by the hand up the stairs and through the house, while she bounced off the occasional wall.
When they got to bathroom, Jack stopped and asked, “Do you need to use the bathroom before you go to bed?”
She scrunched up her face as if trying to figure out why she would do such a thing. “Oh,” she said after a moment. “Yeah. That’s a good idea. I really have to pee….and stuff.”
Jack withheld a laugh at the expression on her face. She looked as if she knew there was “stuff” that had to be done, but couldn’t exactly remember what it was. “Okay, I’ll wait right here for you.”
“Okay, but don’t listen to me pee.”
“I promise I will keep my ears closed,” he said with a straight face.
“Okay. Good,” she said and wobbled into the bathroom. Jack reached in and turned on the light then pulled the door closed behind her. He leaned with his back against the wall and heard her open the cabinet under the sink. He laughed quietly when he heard her softly singing – something tuneless and indecipherable.
He straightened in concern when it sounded like she had fallen onto the toilet seat but relaxed when she called out, “It’s okay. I’m okay! Just almost missed the seat,” and started giggling. The singing began again while she peed. He heard her heave a big sigh and then the toilet flushed and the water in the sink came on.
He waited patiently while she washed her hands during which she started singing the alphabet song. When she got to “Z”, the water shut off and he straightened up again, expecting her to come out.
He heard her humming and the sound of the medicine chest being opened and then the water came back on. Brushing her teeth. He should have expected that; she was kind of anal about it. He heard her spit, twice, and then shut off the water.
The door opened and she stuck her head out. “Were you listening?”
“Nope, didn’t hear a thing,” he lied.
“Okay. Good.” She came all the way out, swiping at the light switch and missing. Jack reached in and flipped off the light then caught her by the hips as she walked by him – going the wrong way.
“This way, honey.” Keeping his hands on her hips, and liking it, he directed her from behind to the bedroom. He turned on the hall light but left the overhead bedroom light off.
“Okay, here you go,” he said as they stepped inside. “Let me just get the bed ready for you and you can go right to sleep.”
>
“Okay,” she answered, yawning.
Jack turned around after folding back the comforter and sheets and was taken aback to see Angie had already removed her shoes and her jeans. Momentarily flustered, he just stared at her, standing with her back to him, illuminated by the light from the hall, and wearing nothing but her pink tee shirt and pink and white striped panties. And white socks.
He was still staring when she put a hand on the door jamb and bent forward, reaching down to remove a sock. God damn! That ass! Her panties had ridden up on the sides and he was being treated to a tantalizing view of most of her delectable ass. Even when she wore a bathing suit, which was always a one-piece, she didn’t expose any skin in the rear.
He felt his dick stirring and closed his eyes, mentally trying to beat down the rising testosterone levels. His eyes flew open when he heard Angie stumble and let out a little squeak. She was sitting on the floor, legs straight out in front of her, with one sock in her hand.
“I fell down,” she said unnecessarily.
“So I see.” He walked over and squatted down beside her. “Did you want that other sock off, too?”
She looked directly in his eyes and nodded solemnly. Then she sighed sadly and reached up and put a hand lightly on his cheek. “You’re so nice to me.” Another sigh and he held his breath, waiting to see where she was going with this. Then she gave her head a shake, as if clearing it, and removed her hand. “I think I need help getting up.”
“You got it.” He slid his hand down her smooth calf, which he didn’t really need to do, but really wanted to, and rolled off her remaining sock. He took the other one from her hand and tossed them both over to where her jeans were puddled on the floor.
Grasping both of her hands, he pulled them both back up to standing. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yep. Thank you.”
She walked unsteadily over to the bed then stood at the side of it, crossing both her arms over her stomach and grabbing the hem of her shirt.
Jack totally froze, finally understanding the meaning of a moral dilemma. He knew he should stop her before she took the shirt off. She wasn’t an overly modest person, but if she was sober, she would not be undressing in front of him. But he didn’t want to stop her. God, how he didn’t want to stop her. He’d rip out his own eyeteeth with pliers, right now, for just a glimpse of what was under that shirt.
She saved him from making the decision by letting go of the hem, apparently changing her mind about taking it off. Jack found himself both relieved and crushingly disappointed.
Damn! Now she was literally crawling onto the bed. On all fours. His dick sprang to full attention as his eyes took in the splendor of that position. The very one he most often fantasized about. He squeezed his eyes tightly closed and told himself to knock it off. He felt like he was invading her privacy in the worst way.
“Jack?”
He opened his eyes and saw that she was now lying on her back in the bed, fully under the covers. She moved fast for an inebriated person. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge.
“Yeah?”
“I’m so sorry that I can’t.” She awkwardly pushed herself up in the bed until she was sitting against the headboard and staring at him.
“Can’t what, honey?”
“I really, really, really want to. But I can’t because then you would hate me.” She sighed and looked comically sad.
He reached out a hand and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, enjoying the feel of it in his hand. “You really, really, really want to what?” He smiled at how adorable she looked just then.
“You know. Have sex with you. Like the dream. Whew! That was hot!” Her sad face had disappeared and now she was grinning while fanning her face theatrically. Sighing again and returning in a flash to the sad face, she added, “But I can’t.”
That nearly incoherent string of sentences gave Jack a lot to think about. She really, really, really wanted to have sex with him? And she thought he would hate her? That dream was about him? He desperately needed answers.
“And why can’t you?”
“Because….” She trailed off. “You know.”
“No, baby, I don’t know.” He cupped her cheek in his hand, stroking it with his thumb, and wanted to kiss her so badly he could practically taste it.
“That thing.” More sighing. She slid down the headboard until she was once again on her back. She yawned and he saw her eyes drifting closed.
“Angie. Honey, wake up. This is important. What thing are you talking about?”
Her eyes opened a little and she said, “The thing…huh?”
Great. Now even she didn’t know what she was talking about. He opened his mouth to speak and saw that he was too late. Her lips were slightly parted and a soft snore escaped. She was gone.
Now he was the one sighing. Leaning forward, he pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, wanting nothing more than to climb into that bed and hold her close to him while she slept.
And if there was a “thing” that made her think she couldn’t be with him in any way other than the way they were now, then he needed to find out what that thing was and fix it.
Angie wasn’t usually shy about speaking her mind and he wondered why she didn’t just talk to him about whatever it was. He’d had personal, almost intimate, conversations with her that he’d never had with another woman. And that included the ones he had slept with. So why the reticence now, especially over something so important?
It wouldn’t be a good idea to start pumping her for information right away. Whatever it was, she thought it was insurmountable. Knowing her as he did, he knew if she hadn’t willingly discussed it by now, then she didn’t intend to. She was guarding that secret with her life. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it might be, but was determined to get it out of her soon - when the time seemed right.
He leaned forward again and kissed her forehead, trailing the backs of his fingers down her cheek as he pulled away. She stirred slightly and turned her head towards him, but didn’t wake up.
Adjusting her blankets so she was fully covered again, he whispered, “Goodnight, baby,” then left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
Then he went back downstairs to join Luke.
Chapter 13
Before I even opened my eyes on Monday morning, I knew two things: I wasn’t in my own bed and I wasn’t wearing pants.
That wasn’t usually a good combination, but memories came back in bits and pieces and I realized I must still be in Jack’s house. I cautiously opened my eyes and saw that I was, indeed, in Jack’s guestroom, the one I always stayed in if I spent the night. I just didn’t have any memory of getting there.
Sitting up and pushing my hair back out of my eyes, I struggled to remember if I had done anything foolish. But, try as I might, I couldn’t remember a thing after dancing with Jack. I stretched and looked at the bedside clock. Shit! 7:30! I was going to be late for work. I was shifting into panic mode when there was a knock on the bedroom door.
“Angie? Are you awake?” Jack called through the door.
I tucked the blankets hastily around my nearly naked hips, not wanting him to see anything he shouldn’t. Especially since I was wearing a ratty old pair of panties that had lost most of the elastic in the legs. “Yeah, I’m awake. Come on in.”
The door opened and Jack strolled into the room, showered, freshly shaved and fully dressed in a gray suit and light blue shirt, open at the neck.
“Good morning,” he greeted me.
“Is it? I think I’m going to be very late for work. You should have woke me up earlier.”
He looked me over and couldn’t quite hide his smirk. “I was going to, but I decided you needed the rest. How are you feeling?”
What I was feeling was embarrassed. Surprisingly, I felt okay physically, but I had a nagging feeling I might have made an ass out of myself the night before. “I’m okay,” I responded. “So please don’t ruin that by telling me anything I
might have done last night that I should be ashamed of.”
“No, you were fine. I think the alcohol just hit you a little harder than usual.”
I snorted at the understatement. “Yeah, that’s the truth. Look, I have to get home and get showered and dressed, but I think I can be at work by 9:30 or so.” If I could find any clean clothes.
“Don’t bother. Take the day off. You won’t really be able to get anything done anyway, because I’m going to be having all of your stuff moved to your new office.”
“Oh. Well, I’m not going to argue with you. A day off sounds fabulous,” I said.
Nate suddenly appeared at the door, also freshly showered and shaved, but wearing jeans and a black tee shirt. “Is this where the party is this morning?” he asked.
“Good morning, Nate,” I said. I was feeling a little like the queen of some small country, entertaining the royal court in her bedchamber - and I wished again I was wearing pants.
“Good morning,” he answered, leaning against the door jamb and crossing his arms over his chest. “How are you feeling?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” I said, looking between him and Jack. “You’re making me think I really did make an ass of myself last night.”
They exchanged grins that made me nervous and Nate said, “No, not at all. You were just a little out of it there at the end.”
A little out of it. That implied it was bad. I didn’t quite know how to respond to that, so I didn’t.
“Luke is going to be coming into the office this afternoon to make some changes to your computer and do some work on the server, but I want you to spend the morning with him to discuss the stuff we didn’t get around to last night. Then you’ll have the afternoon to yourself,” Jack said.
“Fine by me.” A morning with Nate sounded very fine, indeed. And then my stomach growled. Loudly. “Oops,” I added through my blush. “Excuse me.”
They both laughed as if a growling stomach was something highly unusual and entertaining and Nate said, “First order of business, I’ll buy you breakfast.”
Isn't It Time Page 12