AintNoAngel
Page 13
“I’m not sure, Ma,” he told her.
She stared at him shrewdly and then nodded once. “A woman, then.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I guess you’re right. But that isn’t the only reason. I’ve been thinking about the money.”
He knew he didn’t have to explain. It was the money that had torn them apart. Maybe now it could put them back together.
His mother reached her hand out and laid it on his. “Before you say anything I want you to know something. It was never the money. All we ever wanted was you.” She stopped and he could see the tears well in her eyes. “Your father never understood what he did that was so wrong. I tried to tell him that you just needed to make your own way and then you would come home.” She sniffed a little. “Now here you are.”
“Yeah, Ma, here I am.” He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
She pulled herself together and demanded, “So, tell me about this woman.”
Travis leaned back in his chair and looked out across the little yard that he had played in as a kid. It hadn’t changed much.
“She’s strong like you, Ma. I’ve never met anyone like her.”
His mother smiled at him. “You’re in love with her.”
It wasn’t a question but he nodded anyway. He was in love with her.
“What are you going to do about it, son?”
“There is nothing I can do. She never told me that she loved me.”
He heard his mom mutter something and it sounded an awful lot like, “Damn fool men.”
“Did you tell her how you felt?”
“No. We had an agreement. Neither of us is looking for a long-term type of relationship.”
He was surprised when he heard her chuckle. “You may not have been looking, son, but it found you anyway. You need to tell her how you feel.”
“I’ll think about it, Ma.” He could hardly think of anything besides Jessie anyway.
“Good. Now I have to get dinner started and you can help me in the kitchen like you used to,” she said as she got up and hustled him inside.
Jessie had cried herself to sleep the night before. It had only been one day and it felt like forever since Travis had left.
She was regretting not telling him that she was in love with him. Even if he hadn’t told her back she would at least not be wondering if things would have turned out differently.
She should have stuck to their original agreement and only had one night. Then maybe it wouldn’t hurt so bad.
Marc and Brad did their best to cheer her up. Acting silly and doing things for her that she usually did herself.
The days went by and after a week she could finally sleep without tears. But her dreams were another matter altogether. He was always there, waiting for her.
Jessie knew that time would heal her wounds but she wasn’t going to let another day go by without telling him she loved him. If he didn’t feel the same about her then she would be able to move on.
Her decision made, she went home early and changed. Within an hour she was on her way to Travis.
Travis sat at his desk, surrounded by paperwork that needed to be finished. New cases to read over and old ones to close. But it didn’t give him the same feeling of purpose anymore. He missed working with his hands and being able to see his accomplishments at the end of the day. Most of all he missed having Jessie around.
He told himself it would go away after he finished the case and closed it. But it was a hollow victory and his thoughts of Jessie were only getting stronger and more intense instead of fading. He dreamed of her at night, her hair spread out all fiery on the pillows. He heard her moaning his name while she was under him, felt her soft body and heard her giggle from far away.
His red-haired goddess.
He had spent a few days with his parents and then the first thing he had done when he got home was call his sisters’ colleges and pay the tuition. Then he had transferred some into his parents’ bank account.
He had to go through a lot of red tape to do that but it helped that he had once been a police officer. But it had felt good, right.
“Travis!” Ian jolted him out of his thoughts and he jerked to look at him.
“Boy, you have it bad, don’t you?”
“Is it that obvious?” Travis groaned.
“You have been sitting at this desk for two days and have accomplished not one lick of this paperwork.”
“I know. I just can’t concentrate.”
Ian chuckled. “What are you planning to do about it?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Nothing is that complicated. Answer me this. Do you love her?”
Travis hesitated and then gave in. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then what the hell are ya doing? Life waits for no one, boy.”
Travis knew he was right. If he never told her then he would regret it for the rest of his life. “You’re right,” he said as he jumped from his seat. “I need to take the rest of the day off,” he told Ian as he grabbed his keys.
“Hold on now. I came in to tell you that you have a visitor.”
Travis looked up as Jessie entered the doorway. Travis froze and his gaze roamed over her as if she were food to a starving man. Their eyes locked and Ian stepped back into the hallway. “I’ll just give you two some privacy,” he said as he hurried away, closing the door behind him.
She was even more beautiful than he remembered. But when he looked closer he noticed that she had lost a little weight and there were dark circles under her eyes. It gave him hope that maybe she had missed him too.
“You were coming to see me, Travis?”
“Yeah, I was. Is everything okay?”
“Yes. No. I came to tell you something.”
Travis suddenly realized how stupid he was. She loved him. It was written all over her face.
It was now or never. He took a couple steps closer to her so that he could smell her flowery shampoo and see the shallowness of her breaths.
“I’m in love with you, Jessie.”
Her eyes went round and a single tear slipped down her cheek and he could bear it no more. Tugging her into his arms, he held her, still staring down into her face.
“I’m in love with you too, Travis.”
His face split into a grin and she smiled that sweet smirk back at him. “How about a few more one last nights together?” he said as he crushed his mouth to hers.
Jessie pulled back suddenly. “How long is this one going to last?” she asked quietly.
“Forever, I hope,” he whispered back.
She grinned up at him and his world slid into place with that smile. He lowered his head to kiss her and she met him halfway, holding him tight, as if she would never let him go.
He knew that they had made a commitment to each other and it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he had expected. He planned on spending as much time as possible convincing her to marry him. But he was confident in his power of persuasion and getting her to agree was going to be half the fun.
About J L Taft
J L Taft believes that variety is the spice of life. The love of a good man is irreplaceable and that determination will get you anywhere you want to go.
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter and two dogs. She has a large extended family that provides her with a constant source of amusement and inspiration.
She spends her days glued to her laptop with her head in the clouds. When she isn’t writing she can be found reading, gardening, listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra and enjoying great Finger Lakes wine.
J L welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by J L Taft
> Hooked for Life
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Unleashing the Animal
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
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Ain’t No Angel
ISBN 9781419948794
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Ain’t No Angel Copyright © 2013 J L Taft
Edited by Beverly Horne
Cover design by Willo
Cover photography by Syneca & Willo
Models: Nick & Darbie
Electronic book publication October 2013
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