“Of course. I’m happy to see you having a good time. Who else would I invite other than my handsome boyfriend?” Holly replied as she tenderly caressed his cheek with the tips of her fingers. This was the first time she’d ever heard herself call him her boyfriend and truly mean it.
Jake took both her hands and kissed them repeatedly. “There is no one I’d rather be here with more than you.”
The most handsome, well-known actor could not have ripped her apart or diverted her focus from this man’s intoxicating stare.
***
The movie showing wasn’t as lavish as premiers usually go. There weren’t any paparazzi hanging around waiting for their chance to strike gold, or any media lingering outside hoping for that first, rare interview. Rather, it was discrete where everyone was ushered into the theater upon arrival. Holly and Jake sat side-by-side, holding hands during the movie. Neither of them really concentrated on the film, which was about a couple who realized that everyone was growing old around them and the two had stopped aging at thirty. Although the film was great, Holly could not wait for it to be over so she could be alone with Jake.
At the end of the evening, as they headed back to their cars, Holly asked, “So what’s the plan now?”
“What did you have in mind?” Jake glanced at his watch. “I don’t think we have many options. It’s pretty late.”
She flashed him a seductive grin. “Want to go to my place?”
Jake saw the green light and wasn’t about to pass it up. “Uh, sure. My car or yours?”
“I’ll drive,” Holly responded.
They arrived at Holly’s apartment unable to keep their hands off each other. The two were as hot as blood in a vein, famished and pulsing its way back to the heart. A bit sloppily, they made it through the doorway, kissing with a savagery that seemed to have no limits. Jake put his arm around Holly’s waist and gently pinned her up against the wall. When her feet left the ground, she wrapped her legs around his waist and locked herself around him.
Fuck the rules, Holly thought as she unbuttoned his shirt. He lifted her chin and lowered his mouth for another kiss.
“So your aunt moved out?” Jake asked breathlessly.
Holly thought about the comment and answered in almost a whisper, “Oh yeah. Last week.”
“Where is your bedroom?” He kissed her collarbone, her neck, the top of her breasts. The heat between the two of them felt like a raging fire.
“Down the hall.”
After finally reaching the bedroom, Jake carefully laid Holly on her bed. He unzipped her dress in one fluid movement and used his fingertips to slide the material away from her soft skin.
Though she burned with desire for Jake to the point where she was almost losing control, Holly felt a little intimidated. She hadn’t been with anyone since Matthew. When Jake’s tongue trickled and flowed like water over her skin, she suddenly forgot about her fears. He was so gentle that it made her head spin.
What Holly discovered when Jake finally stopped to undress himself blew her mind. All this time he’d been hiding his perfect physique: broad shoulders and abs that looked like he worked out at least seven-days a week. As soon as he was fully disrobed, he grabbed her around the waist and removed her final articles of clothing.
“God damn you are beautiful,” Jake said in a throaty whisper.
“Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
Making love to Jake was like a symphony between the sheets. Holly felt like she was dancing in his arms as he led the way. He knew her very need, her every want. Never had any man she’d slept with been so focused on just her. His body was so addictive that she never wanted the night to end. Throughout their lovemaking, they would laugh over silly things for no reason or sometimes silently stare into each other’s eyes for moments on end. There were no words when they already knew what the other was thinking. For the first time in her life, this wasn’t just sex, but rather—real, genuine love.
***
Holly woke the next morning to find Jake staring at the ceiling. She gently touched his arm and asked, “Hey. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking.”
Holly snuggled in the crook of his arm. “About what?”
“About how unbelievable these last six-months have been with you.”
His compliment made Holly blush and she had his heart soaring because he knew he was falling for her.
“Darlene—” He threaded his fingers with hers. “I haven’t been this happy in a long, long time. You make me feel things I wasn’t sure existed anymore. I love being in love with… you.”
Holly gulped. Huh- oh, she thought. Here comes the point of no return. As much as she adored him, she didn’t feel she was ready to say the words back. Not until this experiment was over.
Jake squeezed her closer to him. “You don’t have to say it back yet. No offense taken.”
“I’m, uh—wow,” she stammered.
“It’s okay,” he said with a genuine smile. “When you feel the time is right it will come. I don’t want to force it.”
Holly lay back on her pillow and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m at a loss for words… for the first time in my life.”
She felt her pulse rise under his lips when he kissed the crook of her neck. “My life hasn’t always been a cake walk, Darlene.”
“What do you mean?” Holly asked as she moved close enough to his body to drink in his scent, which was sweet with a touch of spicy aftershave.
“My childhood that is.”
“Is that why you’ve been so secretive about your past?”
Jake paused and swallowed uneasily. “You might not like certain things I tell you about myself.”
“I’ll never know until you tell me.”
“Okay—like that I was adopted at fourteen-years old.”
Holly was suddenly paying full attention. “Really?”
“When I was six, my birth mother decided that she didn’t want to be a mother anymore. One night, she drove us clear across Kentucky where we ended up at this run down diner. I was almost about done with my hamburger when she said that she had to use the restroom. I sat at that booth for two hours waiting for her to come back, but she never did.”
A pang of hurt shot through Holly’s heart. “Oh my God.”
“Because my father didn’t exist, the authorities were informed, and that was the beginning of me being sent from foster home to foster home, the worst experience of my life. So, fed up with the bullshit system, I ran away at twelve and lived homeless on the streets until I was picked up again at fourteen.”
“Then what happened?”
“God came through and answered my prayers. I met my adoptive, rich parents and they gave me a life I at one time could have only dreamt about.”
“I admit that I’m a little shocked.” Holly wrapped herself around Jake’s arm. “I would have never thought you’d been through so much. You’re so well grounded.”
“Well, you can thank my parents for that because at the beginning I was a pretty messed up kid,” Jake said, weaving his fingers through Holly’s hair.
“So is this why you made it your goal to open a group home?”
“Exactly. After my horrendous experience in the foster care system, I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing after I’d been given a fighting chance at life. When I was eighteen, I made a vow to myself that I would give back so that other kids could have the same chance I did.”
“I have no words,” Holly said, with tears in her eyes. “That’s a beautiful story.”
“So you’re not freaked out about it?”
“Of course not.” Holly kissed his delicious lips and grazed her fingers over the stubble on his chin. “Why would I be? What you’ve done is heroic.”
Yeah, she could do this thing with Jake. There was only a few months left of the experiment. When this whole thing blew over, she could be with Jake, just as they were right now. She could forget that t
his whole game ever existed and he would never have to find out her secret. For now, she would just enjoy the moment and work out the kinks later.
October 22, 2013
Sparks101.com- I Teach Women How Men Think
Why People Stay in Bad Relationships
Class is now in session.
Call it common sense, but when I’m in a relationship and I see red-flags, I won’t stick around long enough to find myself stuck in a situation I can’t get out of. I have my friends to thank for this sixth sense. Over the years, I’ve heard numerous stories about past relationships gone awry. You bet I want to be sure to avoid their same mistakes at all costs. The funny thing is that when these friends tell me how miserable they are, usually they are still in the relationship. Why can’t these people just cut the cancer out of their lives and move on? I have a male friend who told me that at one point in time his friends gave him all the reasons why he needed to dump his girlfriend. Did he get a clue and do it? Nope and now, he’s paying the price.
Over the years and through extensive research, I’ve figured out that these type of individuals fall under one of the following categories:
The Self-Delusional:
Deep inside they know the relationship is unhealthy, but they delude themselves into believing that everything is fine. So what if their boyfriend/girlfriend treats them like crap. They will convince themselves that it’s just a phase and that their significant other will eventually come around and everything will be fine. Uh—wrong! The number one problem is believing that they can “change” the other person. I’m sorry to break the bad news, but once someone is set in their ways, there’s no going back for them. If she’s a controlling self-absorbed bitch, she’s going to stay a controlling self-absorbed bitch. If he’s a lying, cheating, scumbag, he will be one for the rest of his sad, pathetic life. Honestly, sometimes people don’t show their true colors at the beginning of a relationship. This is what makes it so hard to leave a person after we fall head over heels. When the relationship starts out, everyone is sweet and on their best behavior. We believe that this person is the genuine article. Ah, but then later down the road everyone gets comfortable. This is when true personalities are slowly revealed and it’s not always pretty. You might end up hearing yourself say, “Well she/he wasn’t like this when we first met.” Well of course not! Dating is like a job interview where everyone is acting prim and proper until hired for the job. This is why I urge people to get to know someone really well before getting into a relationship.
The Habit
Some habits are difficult to root out. Once we get into the routine of being in a bad relationship, it becomes a normal way of life. Some will end up tolerating a lot, sometimes more than we are willing to put up with. He/she will end up dodging the shit their significant other flings at them just because they think they are genuinely in love with this person. Once a person gets into this groove, it’s hard to find a way out. As they say, old habits die-hard.
The Guilt
When we finally decide that we want ditch the relationship, we can sometimes feel guilty about hurting the other person before we go through with it. I’ve been here before, many times, but if you feel this way, you need a reality check. When it comes to your self-worth and happiness, you are number one. You need to think about what’s best for yourself first, instead of thinking about the boyfriend/girlfriend’s feelings.
Low Self-Esteem/ The Fear of being Alone
This is the number one problem as to why most people can’t leave a bad relationship. It’s also precisely how they ended up in the relationship in the first place, regardless of it being good or bad. He/she tends to jump into relationships impulsively. When low-self esteemers get into a relationship, they begin to believe that they can’t live without the other person, which drives them to do crazy things. These type of people have some real psychological issues. Honestly, you should never revolve your life around someone in that capacity. This seems to be more of a female problem. I know many women who attain boyfriends and then it’s as though she can’t function unless she is with him 100 percent of the time. It’s the old, “I’m nothing without you,” garbage. Any man or woman who can’t function on their own has mental issues that need to be addressed before they get into a relationship.
Class dismissed.
Lesson 13
It was hard for Holly to forget about the incredible, steamy night she had spent with Jake. Yes, her feelings for him were turbulent and powerful, rushing deeper and stronger every moment they were together. Up until the night they made love, she’d done a hell of a job keeping her heart guarded from him. As much as Holly wanted to deny it, she knew she had turned into a walking contradiction. She daydreamed about him instead of finishing her work. She was too distracted to concentrate and too wound up to eat. Deep down, Holly was falling for him. There was no way in hell she’d ever admit any of this to Dr. Adams. She would just keep this little part of the experiment under wraps for the time being and of course, off the blog. This was a private matter. The whole world had no business knowing how she really felt about Jake. Still one problem remained: her real name as well as her true professional life. She would come up with something that made sense when this experiment ended. Until then, she was keeping mum about everything and not saying a word to anyone, not even to Chris or Emma. Everything just became a whole lot more complicated now that sex and feelings were involved. Holly would try to keep her cool as best she could and pretend like this whole thing between her and Jake was still just a game.
Now that Emma was officially on maternity leave, the pesky problem of finding her temporary replacement remained. After interviewing over thirty applicants, Holly was still not satisfied with the results. She just hadn’t found that one person who fit the company like a lock and key.
After the fifth applicant of the day walked out the door, Holly was completely fed up with the whole process. She sat at her desk with her head in her hands, ready to pull her hair out. “My God. I can’t take this anymore.”
“Don’t stress.” Chris was in the middle of replying to the email inquiries from a slew of potential male recruits. “Eventually someone you really like is going to walk through that door. Just give it some time.”
“Time? We don’t have any more time! I’m overwhelmed enough as it is. We needed someone like yesterday.”
At that exact moment, Todd walked in the door and that’s precisely when an idea hit Holly like a religious epiphany.
“Hello my lovelies,” Todd announced. He had two medium-sized wicker baskets in his arms.
“Hey man,” Chris said, so focused on what he was doing that he barely noticed Todd’s entrance.
“I come baring gifts.” He plopped a gift basket down on Chris’s desk. They were both wrapped in red cellophane, which enveloped an assortment of baked goods on slivers of shiny paper.
“Todd! Just the person I wanted to see,” Holly said, kissing him on the cheek.
Todd handed her a gift basket. “For you—it’s from Blake. He baked a ton this weekend, so he thought he would share the love.”
Chris stuffed a brownie into his mouth. “Thanks, dude.”
“Perfect timing.” Holly dragged Todd away to her desk. “I need to talk to you about something really important.”
“Sure. What’s up sugar tits?”
“You know Emma is on maternity leave, right?”
“Yeah. I heard she’s huuuge.”
“Okay, never mind that. I’ve been looking for a temporary replacement for weeks now.”
“Yeah. It must be tough between you and Chris with how busy this place is getting.”
“So, my dear friend,” Holly said sweetly as she cuddled up to him and batted her eyes. “Any chance you’re looking for a temporary part-time gig?”
Todd gasped for breath. “What me? Work here?”
“Yes. You’re just the man for the job.”
He put his hand over his heart and said, “Have I died and gone to
Holly heaven?”
“Maybe. I just really need you to say, yes. I’m about to go crazy because I don’t have enough manpower.”
“Hmmm—” Todd considered her offer for a moment. “I don’t know. If this is going to affect my quality time with Blake, I’m going to have to pass.”
“No, sweetie. I promise it won’t interfere. I need you for just a couple hours a day, that’s all—and I will pay you handsomely.”
“Hmm.” Todd contemplated the proposal again. “Well—”
Holly practically got on her knees. “Oh please. I am begging you.”
“Do I get to pick out hotties?”
“My clients are female, but yes, you can help pick out the male recruits.”
“Well, even though I’m off the market…you have a deal, honey.”
Holly jumped up and down as though she had just won the lottery. “Oh—if you weren’t a homo I would marry you.”
“So when do I start, little miss thang?”
“Tomorrow morning. I’ll have Chris train you on everything.”
“Guess this means I have to go home and get some beauty sleep before my big day tomorrow.”
“Chris!” Holly yelled from across the room. “Call off our search. We have a new employee.”
***
November 14, 2013
Holly and Jake spent an afternoon trekking and sightseeing around Laguna Beach in Orange County. They took the beaten path and walked hand in hand down the sandy shore of Crystal Cove beach just as the sun began to set. They would stop periodically to look at the horizon as the waves lapped at their feet. The two reminisced about all the wonderful moments they’d been sharing over the past several months. It was true that their feelings for each other had grown prosperously deep since the night they shared a bed. Holly was becoming the center of Jake’s universe, the love of his life. Holly knew one thing was for certain: if a man could go six-months without suddenly showing his true colors, he was the real deal—the genuine article. He wasn’t putting on a front just to impress her.
The Experiment Page 25