by BJ Harvey
When April moves to take the dishes out, I stand beside her to help, as taught by my mother and completely ingrained in me.
“That’s okay, Jamie. You’re our guest. I’ll just stack them on the counter and clean them in the morning,” April says.
“Or we could do them now and get them out of the way…”
She meets my eyes. “Honestly, it’s totally fine. I’ll do it—”
“But…” I say, looking to Axel and Betty and winking, earning two amused giggles from our audience, “…why put off today what has to be done tomorrow?” I bite the inside of my lip and watch April’s lips twitch.
“You do know you totally screwed that up?”
“Mommy! You owe the jar one dollar,” Axel says, jumping from his seat and pointing at his mother in jubilation.
April’s wide eyes go to her son before slowly narrowing on me. “You did that on purpose.”
I shrug, unable to hold back a chuckle. “It worked though, didn’t it? Besides, call it payback for me now owning the swear jar.”
She doesn’t even bother to deny whether she was, in fact, complicit in my adoption of said jar, especially since—if the past three weeks are anything to go by—she may well be the cause of my money going in said jar.
“Now are you going to let me help with the dishes?” I ask, earning a huff and a big sigh.
“Guess I don’t have a choice then,” she snaps half-heartedly. Betty grins at me and tilts her head for me to go.
I turn to Axel. “After I’ve finished cleaning up, will you show me your LEGO collection?”
“Yeah! Quick! Hurry!” he says, pointing to the kitchen like a prince ruling over his empire.
“Yes, sir,” I say, taking the leftover dirty dishes and making my way to the kitchen where I find April standing by the sink. I place the dishes on the counter before moving to pick up a kitchen towel.
“Do you argue for the sake of arguing?” I ask, standing close behind her, my mouth by her ear, her heat radiating over my chest. “Or do you just like arguing with me?”
Her body leans toward me like she’s my puppet and I’m holding the strings.
She turns her head, and our eyes lock. When her body touches mine, a jolt soars through me. The world around us seems to drop away as we stand there staring at each other. Then an excited shriek from the living room brings me back to reality. April stills before she moves forward, breaking the contact.
“Maybe you’re just easy to fight with,” she says. Her breathy tone makes it sound as if she’s trying to be nonchalant—and failing.
I move aside and rest my hip against the counter, immediately feeling the loss of whatever just passed between us.
She doesn’t look at me. What happened obviously took her by surprise. She lets out a sigh, shaking her head.
“Maybe you just like fighting with me,” I say quietly. When I catch a wry smile curving her lips, I know I’m right.
“You’re definitely easy to fight with,” she says with a laugh as we go back to finish up the dishes.
“Nice play with the jar. That’s an impressive switcheroo.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s something the twins would probably do to one of us. Those two were the sneakiest sons of—”
“Watch it now,” she teases. “You need your money for the house. You keep this up, you’ll be stuck living next to us for a lot longer than planned because you’ll be financing my son’s college fund—or bail money—with your cursing.”
“Can think of worse things,” I mutter, just as Axel comes bounding into the kitchen like a kid at Christmas.
“Jamie,” Axel says, coming right for me and reaching for my hand. “You’ve gotta come see my LEGO now. I made a plane, and it’s awesome.” His eyes are bright, and his little body almost vibrates with excitement.
April rubs her son’s shoulder. “Ax, Jamie might want—”
“I’d love to. I’ve been waiting all night for you to show me,” I say, earning a beaming grin from the boy.
April’s lips part as her hand stills, her gaze meeting mine. “Are you sure?”
Axel tugs my hand, and I’m halfway out of the room before I look back and shoot her a wink. “Us boys have to stick together. Especially when LEGO is involved, right, buddy?”
“Right,” he says, his chest puffing up. “Bye, Mommy.”
I give a small wave as I walk backward, her soft expression reaching deep inside. I may be on my way to being the man I want to be, but maybe, with April, I could also be a man who builds himself up while building something entirely different—yet no less important—with his sexy, sassy, and spunky neighbor.
April walks me to the door thirty minutes later, having come to save me from a night of LEGO wars on Axel’s floor. I probably would’ve been happy to stay there, but she insisted it was a school night and that “boys with big days tomorrow need their sleep.”
With my assurance that I was one of those boys too, Axel said goodbye and made me promise to take the swear jar back home with me.
After stepping outside onto the front porch with me, April pulls the front door shut behind her, leaving us alone outside.
“Thank you for dinner. I had a great time. You’ve got a great family,” I say genuinely.
“You’re welcome. We may be a small unit with just the three of us, but we’re definitely a tight one.”
“And the swear jar is a good compulsory savings scheme… for me.” I laugh, watching her do the same and finding myself absolutely mesmerized by it. “When’s your next night off?”
Her head jerks. “Uh…Thursday…”
“Got any plans?” I ask vaguely.
“Nothing out of the ordinary…” Her bunched brows and confused expression are so adorable, I want to kiss them right off her face. But my mom always told us that good things come to those who wait.
“Want to have an unordinary one?”
“Is that even a word?” she asks, her lips twitching, her eyes light and bright.
“If it isn’t, I’m making it one.”
“Okay,” she says slowly.
Unable to resist, I reach up and carefully hook a loose lock of hair behind her ear, gently brushing against the soft skin of her neck. I don’t miss her slight tremble, and it makes me reconsider my decision not to kiss her now. A quick flash of movement from her front living room window in the corner of my eye serves as a reminder that we have an audience of one meddling, matchmaking Betty right now, and April might not appreciate putting on a show.
She tilts her head, her eyes roaming my face as if trying to get a read on me. “Jamie?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you asking me out?”
“Sure sounds like it,” I reply quietly, unable to look away when my gaze locks with hers. Her breath catches, and again, I fight the urge to do something involving my hands, her hips, her mouth, and my arms around her back. My eyes drop to her lips, and I have to stifle a groan as her tongue dips out to wet them.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asks, her eyes gentle, her voice almost a whisper.
“Fuck yeah I do.” There’s no uncertainty in my voice. I don’t want her to have any questions in regards to my determination when it comes to her. What strikes me most about this moment is that there’s no sass, no spunk, no feisty comebacks, or smartass replies. This is April as her most honest, open self, and fuck if I don’t like it just as much as when she’s calling me out on my shit.
“Okay,” she replies with a shrug. A shrug. Like it’s just an everyday thing. Then she smiles, wielding it like a weapon.
I narrow my eyes, and her grin widens. “You’re making me work for this, aren’t you?”
“What can I say? I like it when a guy puts in a bit of effort to get what he wants.” My self-restraint vanishes. I reach behind me, placing the swear jar on the porch railing, before turning back and stepping forward, closing the distance between us. She moves back and l
eans against the front of her house. I look to the left and see we’re out of sight from the window. Putting an arm against the wall, I lean into her, resting my other hand gently on her hip and bringing my body in close to hers.
She tilts her head up as I dip mine, bringing our faces—and mouths—a whisper away from each other. A quiet gasp escapes her lips as the air between us turns electric. Visions of dropping my lips to hers and taking that taste I so desperately want flash through my mind.
“So Thursday?” I ask, my voice soft and low.
“Thursday. I guess I’ll have to reschedule washing my hair.” There’s the sass I’ve been missing.
“I guess you will.” I move in closer, gliding my cheek against hers and bringing my mouth to her ear. “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure that’s the very last thing you think about on our date.”
She runs her hand up my chest, hooking it around the back of my neck, so her mouth is against my skin before she whispers, “I’m gonna hold you to that,” and she presses a barely-there kiss against the hinge of my jaw before releasing her hold on me.
I step back—a necessity to stop myself from taking this further.
Her lips curve into a sly smile. “By the way, that’s three dollars you owe the swear jar.”
“I’ll put in a five and get myself in credit,” I reply with a chuckle.
“Probably a good idea.” My cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much, something that hasn’t happened in a hell of a long time.
“Until Thursday, then.” She nods and looks to the front door before returning her eyes to mine. ”And try not to destroy anything else of mine before then. I’d hate to have to ream you out again.”
“You never know,” I say with a laugh. “But I’m starting to think you like telling me off.”
She shakes her head. “And I’m starting to think you like it just as much.”
Standing there, staring at each other, with me grinning like a loon. Needing to end this before I do something else we’re probably both not ready for, I nod and take another step back. She moves off the wall, reaching for the swear jar and holding it out for me, turning toward her front door.
“Hey, April?” I say, looking back when I reach the bottom of her front stairs. She spins to face me, her hand resting on the door handle.
“Yeah?” Damn, that soft raspy voice of hers could be my undoing.
“You’re welcome to call me on my shit any time you like if it ends with you agreeing to go out with me.”
She laughs and shakes her head. ”Good night, Jamie.”
“Until Thursday…” I reply, flicking her a short wave before walking down her driveway, along the sidewalk and back to my house, swear jar in hand.
I’ve got four days to come up with a plan to make it count.
Four days until I get my chance to know April Williams, the mom, the nurse, and—most importantly—the woman. Because if she sets my body on fire the way she did tonight with just the touch of her lips to my cheek, then God only knows what she’s gonna do to me when I finally get to kiss her the way I’ve been wanting to.
Thursday can’t come quickly enough.
10
April
Being willing to date and actually dating are two completely different things, and during a little freak-out on Monday night I realized I don’t have anything date-worthy to wear in my wardrobe.
During my lunch break today, I came up with a plan of attack. If I’m going to give this thing with Jamie a real chance, I want to start it with a bang. Not literally. Having sex with Jamie on the first date would be way too much… wouldn’t it? It has been a long time between drinks in that department, so I don’t think I should rush into it. My vagina has probably shut up shop and put an “out of business” sign up by now anyway.
That brings me to now, finishing an hour early to rush to my favorite outlet mall to get the perfect date outfit.
Walking through the doors to the ER, I run chest-first into Dr. Cade Carsen and his equally—ridiculously—good-looking friend Dr. Noah Taylor.
“Shit, I’m so sorry,” I rush out, finding both of them grinning at me. “Hi, sorry. Hi again.”
“April, it’s good to see you,” Noah says. “I hear we now have a mutual friend?”
My lips twist up. “You mean Cade here? Yeah, we know each other.”
Cade chuckles. “He’s talking about my charming brother-in-law.”
How much do they know and where are they going with this?
I eye them skeptically. Their expressions are both amused. “I know Jamie. He’s my neighbor.”
“And he’s also been asking my wife for dating tips for Thursday night. Know anything about that?” Cade asks.
“Now that’s a new one. I don’t think we’ve had a situation where the guy has asked the girls for dating advice,” Noah muses.
I shake my head at the two of them. “You guys are enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Not so much at your expense,” Noah says.
“But definitely at Jamie’s one,” Cade says with a chuckle. “I’ve never seen the guy so nervous yet so absolutely focused on making sure he doesn’t fu—I mean, screw—it up.”
“That is kind of sweet, you know. Maybe you two should take pointers,” I add, earning a laugh from both men.
“My wife hasn’t got any complaints, but I’ll take it under advisement,” Noah says with a smirk that has no doubt dropped a lot of panties in the past.
“You’ll have to come over sometime. Meet Abi and our son, Harry.” Cade’s offer takes me by surprise. I haven’t even had a date with Jamie yet, and I’ve got the brother-in-law inviting me over to meet the sister and nephew already.
“Do all of you guys move at warp speed? Or is it just him?” I ask.
“It’s just part of our charm.” Cade grins. I just shake my head at both of them.
“I’ve gotta go. Places to be, clothes to buy,” I say.
“Oh, date shopping. Abi is going to love this,” Cade muses, pulling a phone from his pocket and typing out a text.
“I swear you turn into a woman more and more every day,” Noah says, turning to Cade then back to me. “I better go too. I’ve got reports to finish before going home to remind my wife why she loves me.”
“Good luck with that,” I reply, waving him off. I turn back to Cade. “See you ’round?”
“Jamie is a really good guy. He’s as genuine as they come,” he says, his serious expression commanding my full attention, “and he has so much more to give to the right person.”
“I can see that already, and we haven’t even had a first date yet.”
“I’m not going to tell you much more because part of the fun of dating is interrogating each other,” he says. I giggle at that because he’s so not wrong. “But Jamie is one of the best men I know, and I’m not just saying that because he’s family. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
“I know. Thank you,” I say, putting my hand on his forearm. “But I really have to go. Otherwise I’ll be turning up to the date naked, and that’s definitely not the kind of first-date impression a girl wants to make.”
Cade’s eyes widen before he bursts out laughing. “You should really meet my Abi. You guys are going to get on like a house on fire.” He grins and moves toward the automatic doors for the ER. “Don’t worry though. From what I hear, you could wear anything, and he’d be fine.” He swipes his access card, then looks at me over his shoulder. “Even sloth pajamas.”
The doors open and I’m left there, gaping at him as he laughs and disappears into the depths of the hospital.
I recover quickly, but now I’ve got a renewed focus on finding clothes to knock Jamie Cook off his feet on Thursday night because if he can’t forget the sloths, I need to give him a sight that sears into his brain so deeply he won’t remember anything else.
With that in mind, I walk to the staff car park and text my friend Ronnie who is set to be my shopping wing woman.
Operation
Make Jamie Speechless is now in play, and I’m not going to stop until I leave that damn man speechless.
That’s what you do on a first date, right?
Forty minutes later, I’m walking towards Ronnie who’s at the front door of the mall.
“Babe, those scrubs…” she says, shaking her head.
“Hello to you too.” I laugh as I give her a hug and hold her tight. “It’s been too long,” I say, letting her go.
“Work, more work. Oh yeah, then more work, and classes and exams.” She sighs and shakes her head. “I know I wanted to go back to school and move forward and all, but being thirty and a student? Damn. So much work!”
Ronnie decided a year ago to go back to college and retrain to be a graphic designer. Despite her complaining, I know she loves it. She’s now doing what she always wanted to, after having tried to toe her family’s line for the first eleven years of her adult life. It was so amazing to see the weight that lifted off her shoulders when she finally gave up trying to make everyone else happy and chose herself for once.
“Well, we definitely miss having Aunty Ron around. Axel keeps asking when you’re gonna go to Wrigley Field again.”
“How is my little chestnut?” she asks as we make our way into the mall.
“Adorable, mischievous. A boy with my heart and his father’s mind.”
“So situation normal then?” She laughs, shaking her head.
Ronnie has been my bestie my entire life. Every single memory I have includes Veronica Nelson being at my side. She’s my ride-or-die chick, and even when we do go a few weeks without seeing each other, it’s like we were together just yesterday.
“Pretty much,” I say with a giggle as we enter one of my favorite clothing stores.
Ronnie and I stand side by side, scanning the racks for anything that catches our eye. “Now, time for you to tell me about this new man.” She looks over at me with an expression telling me she means business.