Again we just looked at each other, and he smiled brightly. “You really said yes. You’re my girlfriend?”
I scoffed. “As if I would turn you down. If this is really real, I’d have to be mad. Lads like you…don’t usually go for girls like me. You’re way out of my league.”
He frowned at that. “There’s no league, Jewls. There’s just people. Boys and girls attracted to each other. You think…I’m good looking?”
I scoffed. “Insanely handsome. You know you are. And I am-”
“Insanely beautiful. Stunning. Okay, yes…you’re different to those girls you seem to envy who come to the park. Yes, they’re pretty. And so they wear next to nothing and cover themselves in make up to…” he shrugged as though trying to find the right word, “…enhance that beauty. You? You’re stunning just as you are. You’re pure and perfect. And you don’t even have to try. And that…is sexy as hell. That is what makes you unique and that is what I am attracted to.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just sat there like the dumb pudding I am and gaped at him. Eventually he sighed and got up from his seat, crouching beside me.
“Jewls…I don’t know why you have such a downer on yourself. I really don’t. But I mean what I say. I mean every word.”
I smiled at that and nodded. “You say all the right things, Micah…”
“I’m trying to show it too. Sometimes I will be way off the mark, but I’m gonna keep trying. I believe what I’m saying, and I will make you believe it too. That’s my mission. To make you see what I see when you look in the mirror. And I don’t give up when I want something. I want you.”
“You have me.” I said and he shook his head.
“No…not completely. Not until you believe that I feel for you what you feel for me. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, I’m very patient. You’ll realise that about me. You think I’m gonna get bored, fed up of trying to get through to you and I’ll walk away. You’re wrong.” He grinned. “I’m gonna steal your heart, and when I have it – all of it – I’m gonna hold it with mine. Forever. You just watch me.” he winked. “You just watch.”
I started to say something back – probably something really dumb like he already had my heart – because he did – but Nic picked that precise moment to come back out to us, saving me without realising he had.
Micah smiled knowingly and sat back in his seat as Nic placed possibly the biggest slice of chocolate gateaux I had ever seen down on the table between us.
“I’m afraid we only had one dessert left and I had to prise this one from Mari’s grasp. So…” he held up two long dessert spoons. “You’ll have to share. Enjoy.”
Micah took one of the spoons and gestured to the other one. “You heard him, babe. Tuck in!”
Hell, I didn’t need to be told twice and set about devouring the delicious dessert. I spooned some into my mouth and closed my eyes, moaning in sheer pleasure.
“Oh my God…oh, this is heaven…” he didn’t reply, and I opened my eyes to find him looking at me, his own spoon suspended in mid-air, his expression filled with something I could have sworn was lust.
“Yeah, it is…” he muttered.
That look, on Micah Machvaya, made my stomach actually flip, and suddenly being in such close proximity to him was borderline overwhelming.
“Where’s the loo?” I said suddenly, the words popping out beyond my control.
“Just behind me.” he said, smiling knowingly. “Take your time, I promise I won’t eat it all.”
Chapter Eleven
~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~
Micah
She scurried off to the toilet in some kind of hurry but I knew she no more needed it than I did. She was trying to get a little distance. That was fine, I understood. She was overwhelmed with everything. Hell, so was I.
She had left her phone on the table and I picked it up, smiling to myself. It would be so easy to have a little scoot through it, see if it held any clues to the side of her I didn’t know yet. To her family, to her past. But did I really want to know? Need to know? In that moment, no I didn’t.
She had changed her home screen picture, now it was just a picture of me.
A picture of me taken here. Tonight.
My grin broadened.
I had felt her eyes on me the whole time as I had finished with the last table. I was all too aware of her watching me. I hadn’t been able to so much as glance at her, because I had known if I did the rest of the room would have faded away to nothing, along with that old couple who had spent a small fortune on their meal, expecting five star service to go with their five star meal. And because I knew the minute we made eye contact I would have to kiss her, and kiss her long and hard. But yes, I had known she was watching me. I just hadn’t realised she had snapped herself a little memento.
I knew if I messed with her phone now she would know I had seen it, but it was worth the risk of her potentially getting mad with me. I liked to give her occasional reminders of what she meant to me, and her phone was simply one of my tools for doing so.
After a little play around, my beautiful girlfriend had herself a new ringtone for me, and her phone was safely deposited back where she had left it when she came back and sat opposite me again. Her face was a little flushed and her pink cheeks next to her bright red hair were insanely beautiful. Mind boggling. How could she not see it?
We ate the dessert in silence and then Nic took the plate away and came back out to us.
“Well, Jewls. I hope you enjoyed your first meal at Carousel?”
Jewls grinned at him and nodded. “It was absolutely wonderful, thanks. You have a beautiful place here.”
Nic smiled proudly. “Thank you.” he turned to me. “You coming home with me and Mari?”
“I’m gonna walk Jewls back first.”
“Hang fire for ten minutes and we can all go in the car, yeah? We can drop Jewls home on the way.”
I nodded without asking Jewls, knowing fine well that just out of politeness she would decline. “Yeah, cool. Thanks for tonight, bro.”
“No trouble.” He said. “Wait outside by the car if you like, we’ll be out shortly.”
I stood up and offered Jewls my hand, which she took. I led her outside into the warm, almost-summer night air and immediately wrapped my arms tight around her, holding her to my chest. I felt her inhale, breathing me in and she squeezed me a little tighter. I suspected she loved to be held by me just as much as I loved holding her, and I was glad. Physical affection was something she could expect from me in spades; I was just a cuddly kind of person, very tactile.
We didn’t say anything, we didn’t need to. I just held her, and she held me back.
“How do you feel, right now, Jewls?” I asked eventually. “One word, just one.”
“Safe.” she mumbled immediately, her answer seeming almost involuntary, spontaneous and painfully honest as a result.
She pulled back just a little, though still in my arms and looked up at me, wide-eyed as though worried how I might respond to that. I opened my mouth to ask what she meant, and Nic and Mari picked that moment to come out and join us.
Mari looked me and Jewls up and down, smiling broadly at us holding each other as Nic pressed a button on his keys and his silver Mercedes unlocked.
“Right, home time. Everyone in.”
I opened one of the back doors for Jewls and she climbed in. Mari got in the front and I went round the other side to get in beside Jewls, immediately scooping her back into my arms when we were in our seats.
Nic started the engine, checked his mirrors and took off onto the road, immediately picking up speed.
Nic was the smart, sensible one of all of us, but give him the chance and he drove like a maniac. It was late, the streets were empty and he took the opportunity to put his foot down. Just a little.
I directed him to Jewls’ flat and he bumped up on the curb, practically parking the car on the front mat. Jewls exchanged pleasantries and goodbyes
with Mari and Nic and climbed out of the car. I jumped out too, grabbed her hand and propelled her back into my embrace.
I kissed her ferociously, sensing her slight hesitation for a moment or two before she succumbed and kissed me back. No doubt she was concerned about Pinky and Perky watching from the car – rightfully so, since they were both blatantly watching us, enjoying the show.
“We can take it as slow as you like, Jewls.” I whispered in her ear. “We’ll go slowly, one step at a time, no rush. I’m glad I make you feel safe. You are safe.” I kissed her once more, briefly on the lips and released her to find her keys and open her front door. She turned back to me and kissed my cheek, smiling.
“Goodnight, Micah.”
And with that she was gone. I instantly missed her. I stood for a moment there on the pavement, looking at the spot she had been standing on just seconds before, and then I turned back to the car to find Nic and Mari watching me, both grinning knowingly. I rolled my eyes and got back into the car.
“Go ahead and poke fun, why don’t you?”
Mari turned to face me in the back and sighed. “Micah, she’s lovely. Perfect for you, you look so…peaceful when you’re near her, it’s so sweet. And she obviously adores you; she barely takes her eyes off you.”
Nic nodded, looking at me in the rear-view mirror. “Yeah, nice one bro. She’s a lovely girl. It’s nice to see you so happy. You really think she’s the one then?”
“Yeah,” I said, “I really do. She agreed to be my girlfriend at last. It’s official.”
“Awe!” Mari exclaimed happily. “Ah, that’s so sweet! I can’t wait to get to know her better. Don’t fuck it up, Micah.”
“Language, Marisol!” Nic scolded and she scowled at him before turning her attentions back to me.
“I never thought I’d see the day a girl turned your head, not like this. Go easy with her though, there’s something about her. I think she’s been hurt before.”
I frowned at that. Mari had a certain gift, one that none of the rest of us had. My mother had it too, a sort of sixth sense. She could read people exceptionally well, sense things about them and she was always spot on, always. She could tell when they were lying, she could tell the things they weren’t saying, reading between the lines with a skill that was almost eerie and she could tell what people were thinking and feeling without them ever having to utter a word.
“I think so too,” I said, “I want to make it better.”
She laughed a little at that and shook her head. “Micah, you already are. She has this vulnerable vibe about her, but when she looks at you, it’s like…like it just vanishes. You make her feel secure and she’s not used to that. Just be careful. Sometimes you can be a bit...over the top, and you’re liable to freak her out. Let her set the pace, yeah?”
I shook my head, in awe as ever at my baby sister, wise way beyond her years. “Yeah, I will. But you definitely think she likes me. Like…likes me?”
Mari grinned at me, shifting in her seat to look at me properly. “Micah…I see two things in her eyes when she looks at you. Happiness…and…”
“And?”
“Overwhelmed. Maybe even a little scared. Just…tread carefully. Don’t change who you are, don’t stop showing how you feel, but…maybe tone it down just a teeny tiny bit, yeah? Let her sort of dictate the pace. You don’t have to keep up a constant pace of fussing and spoiling her, you’ve already left her in no doubt how you feel. Now…hand the power to her. Okay?”
I let those words sink in a let out a sigh. “How did you get to be so smart, huh?”
She smiled broadly and shrugged. “It’s genetic. Devastatingly good looks and extreme intelligence. I’m not a kid anymore, Micah. You all need to realise that.”
Nic scoffed. “Oh, I think we’ve noticed that.” He pulled into our driveway and switched the engine off. “Right then smarty pants and lover boy…let’s get those tablecloths out of the boot and in the machine, right?”
Mari and I exchanged a look, rolling our eyes behind Nic’s back and set about doing as he’d asked.
~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~
Jewls
It was turned one in the morning. I should have been sleeping, but I didn’t think I would ever sleep again; I was too filled with adrenalin and excitement.
I had a boyfriend, a wonderful, smart, funny and utterly gorgeous boyfriend. No one from my previous life would believe in a million years that he was with me, that he wanted me. There was still a part of me didn’t believe it. And yet…the more he spoke to me, the more he said the words the more I found myself daring to believe him. After all, if this was all a wind up, it was a pretty elaborate one, especially having brought his family into it too now.
I was, as had become the norm for me, lying on my back looking at my phone. That picture of him in the sexy glasses. My boyfriend was absolutely perfect.
My boyfriend.
As I lay there trying to get those words to sink in, my room was suddenly filled with music. It took me a while to realise it was my phone ringing…because my ringtone had been changed again.
Labyrinth and Emeli Sande, one of my all-time favourite songs, Beneath Your Beautiful. When had he done that?
Of course, you went to the toilet. The sneaky…
Why this song? I listened to the lyrics and felt it slot into place and tears spring in my eyes. Oh bless him. He was a sneaky so and so, invading my privacy and messing with my phone, but he was so insanely sweet with it, I figured it would probably take me all of thirty seconds to forgive him.
‘….you’ve carried on so long, you couldn’t stop if you tried it
You’ve built your walls so high, that no one could climb them
But I’m gonna try…’
It stopped and I realised that while listening I hadn’t actually answered the phone. Before I could think about calling him back, it rang again, and with my heart in my mouth I answered it.
“Hey…” his quiet voice purred down the line. He sounded sleepy, sultry and sexy as hell. “Did I wake you?”
“N-” I started and my voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “No…”
“You were lying awake too, huh?”
“You changed my ringtone…” I said and I sensed his smile.
“I did. That’s a good picture of me by the way. But I have a better one to send you. Not yet though. Soon.”
Huh? What was he on about? Was he sleep-ringing me? I blushed crimson when I realised he had seen the picture I took while he was working. Embarrassing!
“Uh…it was…a spur of the moment…you were working and…”
“Hey, I wasn’t poking fun. I like that you did that. Are you in bed, babe?”
“Yeah…”
“Me too. Uh…I wish I was there. Actually, no…I wish you were here. I have this king sized bed. Always loved having so much space to myself to spread out and get comfy. Only now…I wish I were sharing it with you. If you were here right now…I would wrap you in my arms, and hold you all night and you would sleep better than you ever have before in your life. I will always make you feel safe, that’s what I want. I want you to trust me. I’ll earn that trust, I will. That’s all I wanted to say. That one day when you’re ready, I’m gonna hold you in this bed all night. Goodnight, Jewls.”
“Uh…goodnight…” was all I could say. What else could I say? Once again he had blown my mind.
“See you tomorrow, I’ll call you.”
“Okay…and Micah?”
“Yes, babe.”
“Thank you…just for…”
“Thank you Jewls. You make me so happy.”
Oh God, I just beamed when he said that. Because he made me happy too. So bloody happy, and I just prayed that feeling would never end.
~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~
Micah
As I got ready for a shift at the park, I thought over the previous few days, my conversations with Jewls, and my conversations with Nic and Mari too. Mari was right; there was
something…fragile about Jewls. She took everything to heart, she had no self-esteem and there was a cloud of almost fear around her.
I wanted nothing more than to shout out to the whole park that she was mine. To see her every minute of every day, fuss over her, hold her and kiss her at every available opportunity. I just wasn’t sure how she would react if I did that. The word Mari had used was stuck in my head – overwhelmed. That wasn’t how I wanted her to feel at all. I had the feeling she didn’t like being the centre of any attention, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought I had it all worked out, how I was going to play it. I was going to hold back from my natural inclination to go all out, over the top with her and I was going to let her decide how it was going to be. I would let her make all the moves, and dictate how things were going to be in our working relationship. Hopefully if I gave her more control, she would feel more secure, more confident about it all.
I still sent my good morning and good night texts as usual, wanting to be with her whenever it was possible. That morning when she came down from her flat to walk to work, there I was, waiting for her. She smiled broadly and melted my heart for the millionth time, and I held her and kissed her passionately.
“Good morning…” I hummed happily, resting my chin on the top of her head.
“Hi…” she hummed in response, looking up at me with a small smile. “What brings you here?”
“We’re going the same place, right? So I thought we could walk together. Cool?”
She nodded happily and accepted my hand. “Cool…”
I held her hand all the way to the park, and we made small talk, I asked her had she enjoyed her meal at Carousel and she gushed about how lovely it was, and how lovely my siblings were.
I would have been more than happy to waltz into the park with my tongue down her throat, I was besotted and I didn’t give a damn who knew it, but then it occurred to me that she might, that she might not be ready to let everyone know, and when that occurred to me I made myself drop her hand as we approached the waltzer and Alex standing waiting on the steps.
Gypsy Kiss: Book 1: Micah (The Gypsy Kiss Series) Page 16