Tempting Tessa

by Samantha Lind

  Tessa

  The shock of finding out Matt’s kidney went to Jake has finally worn off. After we got through telling our families, I texted Caroline. We’re going to go out tomorrow for coffee and I’ll tell her then. We make it back to my house from having dinner with Jake’s parents. We had such a great day between being at my parents’ house and then Amanda and Blake’s house. I could tell Amanda and Blake loved Ty and I’m pretty sure that he loved them as well.

  We hang around playing with Ty for a bit before it’s time for him to get ready for bed. He has taken to asking if Jake can read to him before bed the past week and it’s so damn cute. Jake really has jumped in feet first and followed Ty’s lead. He has fit so well into our lives and I can’t imagine him not being a part of them. I decide I’m going to talk to Ty tonight about how he would feel if Jake slept over sometimes. I really hate it when he has to leave every night. I’m not saying I’m ready for us to live together all the time but damn, I love falling asleep next to him and waking up in his arms.

  When it’s time for lights out, Jake leaves so Ty and I can have our few minutes together like we do every night.

  “Did you have fun today, buddy?” I pull him next to me so we can cuddle close.

  “Yes.”

  “What would you think if Jake had sleepovers at our house? Would that bother you?”

  “Can he sleep in my room?”

  I laugh at that. “I don’t think so, where would he sleep?” I ask him as I laugh at the thought of Jake in here on Ty’s twin bed or the floor.

  “Um…” he giggles, “the floor?”

  “Probably not. He would sleep in my bed with me. You would still be able to come cuddle in the mornings, but we would just have some new rules. Does that sound ok to you?”

  “What kind of rules?”

  “Well, just like at Grams and Gramps’ house or Luke and Caroline’s house, you have to knock and wait to be told you can go into someone’s room when the door is closed. It would be the same thing here. Since it wouldn’t just be me in my room, we have to give Jake some privacy if he needs it, just like we give you privacy when you need it.”

  “Is that all?”

  “That would be the biggest change, yes. Just like with any adult, you would need to listen to him if he asks you to do something or asks you not to do something which you already do.” I pause letting all this sink in. “I just need to know that you’re not uncomfortable with him around and that you know that no one will replace you as being the most important person in my life. No one will take that spot from you, Ty. I love you so much.” I kiss the top of his head, hoping that he never feels like he isn’t the most important person in my life.

  “I love you too, Mommy and I love Jake. He can have sleepovers.”

  I kiss Ty on the forehead like always, tuck him in and leave him to fall asleep. I go change into some lounging clothes before going to find Jake downstairs watching TV.

  “Hey, babe, Ty ok?” he asks me as he reaches his hand out to me, pulling me into his side.

  “Yep, we just had a little longer talk than normal at bedtime. I was just checking in with him to make sure he’s ok with all the changes lately.”

  “And, how is he?” He places a kiss to my temple.

  “Good, he has taken everything so well. I lucked out with a great kid. He told me he loves you and when I asked him if he would have an issue with you having sleepovers, he wanted to know if you could sleep in his room,” I tell him on a laugh.

  “You want me to have sleepovers?” he asks with a bit of a shocked look. I know I’m springing this on him, but I am ready to take our relationship to the next level. We’ve made it past the declarations of love, we know we are good together physically and my biggest hang-up was how Ty would deal with it all.

  “Yes, I hate not waking up in your arms during the week,” I tell him as he pulls me onto his lap and starts to kiss my neck.

  “I hate it too. I was all ready to convince you to let me stay tonight once you came downstairs, but I guess I don’t have to do that anymore.”

  “Nope,” I reply on a sigh. This man drives me crazy! He knows just where to touch me and how to use that to his advantage to turn me on in seconds.

  “Do you want to watch a movie?” I ask him, trying to redirect his attention.

  “If that’s what you want to do.” He chuckles as he kisses my ear and slaps my ass.

  “Mmm…and let me guess, you want to get naked.” I chuckle at him.

  “You are an observant woman,” he says, still laughing at me.

  “I do my best and patience, Jake, patience. There is time for nakedness once we go to bed for the night. However, with Ty home, I would ask that once we are ready to fall asleep you sleep with at least boxers on. I told him he can still come and cuddle with me in the mornings, but that he will need to knock on the door first and wait for us to tell him he can come in. But I would still prefer us to have some clothes on if he forgets and comes in without knocking.”

  “I understand, and agree with you, babe,” he tells me.

  We settle in together on the couch with his arms wrapped around me while we watch a movie. I don’t really pay attention to it as I start just thinking about our future together and how fast our relationship has progressed. The movie ends and Jake nudges me to roll over and face him.

  “What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours? You have been off in your own head for practically the entire movie.”

  “Nothing serious. Just thinking about us and how fast our relationship has been moving and where it’s going,” I tell him as I place a kiss on his chin.

  “Are you still ok with how fast we’re moving and where things are going?” He wraps me tighter in his arms.

  “Yes, I’m just trying to wrap my head around it all. I’m just so used to being on my own that I have to remember that I can lean on you, and let you lean on me. It isn’t just my schedule I have to take into account anymore. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy having someone to lean on other than my family, Luke and Caroline. They have all helped me so much the past 5 years and I can never repay them for all they have done for me. But it will also be nice to maybe not depend on them so much.”

  “All I ask is that you talk to me, don’t shut me out. If something doesn’t feel right or if you feel like things are moving too fast or making you uncomfortable, please tell me. I need for you to tell me, so I can fix it. I don’t want to inadvertently do something that upsets you, Tessa. I love you and Ty and will do anything to prove that to you.”

  “I love you too and know that you will. I think I’m just a little overwhelmed with everything from today and how big of a shock it was to find out the way we did.”

  “I understand that, it was definitely a shock for the both of us.” We continue to lie there on the couch and fall into a comfortable silence. “I love you and don’t ever forget it.” Jake says as he places a kiss to my temple.

  “I love you too, Jake. Are you ready to go to bed? I’m exhausted.”

  “Yep, we can head up.” He unwraps his arms from me so I can stand and I turn to help pull him up off the couch. He doesn’t let my hand go; he twines our fingers together bringing our clasped hands up to kiss mine before pulling me toward the stairs so we can head up to my room.

  We head up and get ready for bed. I’m exhausted and just want to curl up in Jake’s arms and fall asleep. I get the best sleep when I’m in his arms. I climb in bed while he’s still in the bathroom and start to fall asleep almost immediately. I stir when I feel him slip in and curl around me, pulling me closer to him. He leans in and kisses my cheek and whispers, “I love you, sweet dreams, beautiful.” I love that he calls me that all the time. It makes me feel so loved. “Good night, babe,” I reply to him as I fall asleep.

  I wake up the next morning to an empty bed. I then remember that it’s Monday morning and Jake had to go to work. I look at my alarm clock and see that it’s still early enough that he might just be downstairs getti
ng something to eat, so I head down to see if he’s still here. What I find surprises me. I find him and Ty sitting at the table eating breakfast! It makes my heart melt seeing them together. They have formed such a great bond together and I just love seeing it develop. Jake has taken to having a child around him so well, you would almost think that Ty was his son and he’s always been around kids. It makes me think of what he would be like with a baby of his own.

  “Good morning,” I finally say so that they know I’m down here.

  “Good morning, babe, sleep well?” Jake asks me as he stands to come give me a kiss.

  “Yes, did you?” I melt into him as he pulls me closer.

  “I always sleep great when I have you in my arms.”

  “How about you, Ty. Did you have a good night’s sleep? I missed you coming to cuddle with me this morning.”

  “Yep!”

  “Ty was coming out of his room when I was headed downstairs and he asked if he could come with me. I figured we would let you sleep a little longer, so he came down to help me make some breakfast. He’s a pretty good kitchen helper,” he says as he looks over at Ty, who has the biggest smile on his face.

  “I got to crack the eggs!” Ty says excitingly.

  “That sounds like fun!” I tell him.

  “I need to get going soon to make it to the office on time. I have some meetings today but I should be done by late afternoon. What do you want to do for dinner tonight?”

  “I’ll think of something. I need to go grocery shopping today anyway so I can get stuff for dinner. I’ll plan to have dinner ready between 5:30 and 6 if that works for you?”

  “Yep, that works great. I’ll probably stop over at my house after work to grab some more clean clothes and a few other things to bring over here and then I will be yours for the rest of the night.”

  “Sounds good, babe, have a good day at work,” I tell him as I reach up to kiss him.

  “Thanks, you too. Have a good coffee date with Caroline. We should plan to get together with them later this week or this weekend if they are not busy.”

  “We always do! And I’m sure we can come up with something to do, even if it’s just getting together at one of our houses to hang out and grill.”

  “You two plan it and tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”

  Jake leans down and gives me another kiss goodbye and then says bye to Ty. “See you guys later. Ty, you take care of your mom today for me, ok, buddy?”

  “Ok, I will!” he says back to Jake.

  “Bye, baby, see you tonight.” He winks at me and walks out to his truck.

  Ty has finished his breakfast and has gone to play with some toys.

  “Why don’t you go get dressed while I take a shower, then we can get a jumpstart on our errands that we need to run today before we meet up with Caroline and the boys for our coffee play date.”

  “Ok, Momma,” he replies to me as I pull him in for a hug.

  I go get ready and we head out to get our errands done. We meet Caroline at a local indoor play place that is amazing. They have all this indoor play equipment for the kids to play on and big comfy couches and chairs for the parents to sit on and enjoy a cup of coffee while their kids are playing. It’s our favorite place to bring the kids when we need a break. I catch Caroline up on our shocking news from yesterday and she’s just as shocked as we were. We also make plans for later in the week and for the weekend. We don’t usually go more than a couple days without seeing each other and we talk or text every day.

  The rest of the week flies by and before we know it the weekend has arrived. Caroline, Luke, and their boys are coming over to my house tonight for dinner and to just hang out. I’m in the kitchen getting some of the food prepped when I hear my phone beep with a text message.

  Jake: Hey babe, I’m running late today. Had a meeting go late and then an inspector spring some issues on me late that I need to take care of. I will be there as soon as I can.

  Tessa: Ok no problem. The Roberts family will be here around 5:15.

  I continue to get things prepped for tonight and then go play with Ty outside. He has been bugging me since we got home to play catch with him. We play until I hear Jack and Oliver before they come around the side of the house to find Ty. Of course, as soon as the boys all see each other, our game of catch has been abandoned and they all run off to play together. I love that our kids are all around the same age and play so well together. Caroline and Luke come walking around the house a few seconds later.

  “Hey, how was your day?” I ask Caroline.

  “Good, just hung out at home. The boys were getting stir-crazy being home all day, and kept asking me if it was time to leave yet to come over here. Do you have wine open yet? I need some, pronto.”

  I love my best friend and it’s like she doesn’t know me. “Of course, I do. I actually made the sangria we both love so much. Want a glass of that?”

  “Like you even have to ask,” she replies.

  “Luke, can I get you anything?”

  “I’ll take a beer if you have one.”

  “I’m sure we do, let me see what I can come up with. If we don’t, I will just text Jake to pick some up on his way home. He got tied up with an inspector a little while ago and said he was going to be late getting here.”

  I head inside to get the beer and glasses of sangria for Caroline and myself. I notice we only have a few beers left, so grab my cell to text Jake quick.

  Tessa: Hey babe, I just noticed we are almost out of beer. Can you pick some up on your way home? We have plenty of sangria for us girls. Love you.

  I head back out to deliver the drinks and we all settle on the deck chairs to chat and wait a little bit before starting the grill for dinner. I had hoped Jake would be here by 5:30 so we could eat on time but he still isn’t home. I figured we should at least throw on the hotdogs for the kids, so I go and grab them and my cell from inside.

  Luke takes over manning the grill for me and we get the kids’ food cooked up and set them to eat. He offers to grill the meat I have for the adults since it’s already after 6 and we are getting hungry.

  Luke finishes grilling the steaks and Caroline and I get the sides I made earlier outside on the table. I still haven’t heard anything from Jake. I hope nothing is wrong with the big job they are currently on.

  We are almost finished eating when my phone starts ringing. Jake’s picture pops up on my screen, so I answer it immediately.

  “Hey, babe, everything ok?”

  “Yes, or it will be. We had some issues that took forever to get through with the inspector and my head foreman. I also had to deal with an employee who got injured today. He fell and broke his leg and arm and needs surgery, so I was dealing with getting the workers’ comp insurance notified and dealing with all of that while trying to deal with the inspector. It was just stressful but I’m finally done for the day.”

  “Luke grilled the steaks up for us, so the food is ready for you when you get here. We are down to just one beer, so can you stop and grab some more before getting home?”

  “Yep, I saw your text. I’m almost to the store and then will be home shortly after that. Need anything else?”

  “Nope, we’re good.”

  “Ok, then I will see you soon, beautiful.”

  Jake arrives about 15 minutes later and looks so stressed and tired. He immediately sits down and starts to eat and drains his beer. “Sorry I was so late, guys. I’m starving and it has been one hell of a day,” he tells us between bites.

  “We understand. Who got hurt today?” Luke asks him as he grabs another beer.

  “One of our day laborers. He fell from some scaffolding and broke some bones. When I left the hospital earlier he was headed to surgery to place a couple pins in his leg.”

  “Ouch, that doesn’t sound like a fun day,” Luke replied.

  “No shit. And, of course, it had to happen while I was there with the inspector. We had to call an ambulance for him. I had the office s
taff starting all the paperwork with our workers’ comp insurance company, but since I was a witness they wanted a statement from me.”

  Jake is finally able to relax after having such a stressful day. We continue to relax and hang out with Caroline and Luke. It’s getting late and they need to get their boys home and to bed. All the boys passed out on our living room floor a few hours ago, which is usual when we get together on the weekends and want to hang out past bedtime- the boys all watch a movie and fall asleep allowing the adults to still have time for us. I help them get their boys all packed up and we say goodnight. While I’m doing that, Jake scoops up Ty and carries him upstairs and tucks him into bed for me.

  “Come here, you,” he says to me after I come back in from bringing in what we had left out on the table.

  I walk into his arms and just feel myself melt into him. I love being in his arms and feel so right when they are wrapped around me.

  Jake rests his head on top of mine and relaxes into me as well. “God, I missed you today,” he says as he lifts my chin up with his finger so he can kiss me. He then scoops me up and carries me over to the couch and sits down with me on his lap. I turn so I’m straddling his lap.

  “I missed you too,” I tell him as I start to massage his shoulders. He’s so tight and I can tell he was stressed today. The more I massage him, the more he starts to really relax and release all that stress he had built up. He lets his head fall forward until it hits my chest, which gives me better access to massage his shoulders.

  “Why don’t you lie down on your stomach so I can give you a better massage?”

  I stand up so he can move. “Take off your shirt, it will be easier for me.”

  He takes his shirt off with one move that I find incredibly sexy as it shows off all his muscles. He catches me checking him out and smirks at me. “Like something you see?”