by Noelle Adams
Turning away, Isabella ran over to a mirror to look at the mark and then cursed. Looking over at Elise—who was finishing up for the day too—she asked, “What do I do?”
“I think I have some Benadryl, and you should put some ice on that,” Elise replied. “Give me a minute. Why don’t you sit and relax?” And then she ran to the back room.
Jace walked over, feeling horrible. This was not the way he had hoped to start off their night. “Bella, I’m so sorry! I…I don’t even know what to say!”
She gave him a weak smile and waved him off. “Oh, stop. It’s not your fault. It was just a… freakish accident. I’ll be fine.”
But he knew she wouldn’t. She’d say she was, but he knew how much she hated bugs. Plus, it had to hurt pain and now the medicine would make her sleepy. With a sigh, he resigned himself to the fact that tonight was not going to be his night.
When Elise came out of the back room, she handed Isabella a tablet, some water, and then an ice pack. Jace held her hand and within minutes he already noticed her eyes going a little soft and heavy.
Another sigh.
Standing, he took her by the hand. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
“But it’s pizza night,” she protested around a very loud yawn.
Jace chuckled. “I’ll call our order in.”
“But…”
He shook his head, passed Elise the ice pack, and then handed Isabella her purse. “I’m walking you home right now.”
She yawned again. “Those pills lie. Non-drowsy my ass.”
He tucked her in at his side and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Yup. Has nothing to do with you being a light-weight.”
She laughed softly and hugged him and then grabbed her bouquet on their way out the door. “Thank you for my flowers. And tulips. My favorite.” She sighed happily. “You’re the best. You know me so well.”
“That I do.”
“I just hope when I meet my perfect man that he remembers all of the little things like you do.” She looked up at him with a sleepy smile. “And if he doesn’t, you’ll remind him, right?”
For a moment, he could only stare at her. But she looked so hopeful and happy that, hell, what could he possibly say?”
“Of course I will,” he said, his voice gruff.
Isabella hugged him close again. “And that’s why you’re the best.”
Shit. This definitely wasn’t his night.
Three
The following Friday, after eleven in the evening, Isabella knocked on the door to Jace’s apartment, hoping he hadn’t yet gone to bed.
She should have called first to make sure, but she’d been so frustrated after her date—the first one she’d arranged from the dating site—that she’d headed right over to his place.
That was always her first instinct. To go see Jace.
His building was called Preston’s Mill. It was a converted mill—the historic building redone to house beautifully designed apartments. Isabella had loved it ever since he’d moved in a couple of years ago. She sometimes thought about moving into the building herself, but it was a lot more expensive then the little place she rented and not nearly as conveniently located to the salon.
Jace opened the door after a minute, his expression turned down in a frown that she knew was one of surprise. “Is everything all right?” he asked, his voice a bit hoarse. He wore sweat pants and a gray T-shirt with a yellow duck on the front. She’d bought the shirt for him a couple of years ago because she’d thought it was cute.
“Yeah. Sorry to just come over. Is it too late?”
“You don’t have to be sorry. Of course it’s not too late.” He stepped to the side to let her in. “Are you okay? Did something happen on your date?”
She sighed. “No. Nothing. I mean, nothing.”
His face relaxed as they walked farther into the apartment. Isabella slumped onto a stool at the kitchen bar and dropped her purse on the floor at her feet.
Jace went to the refrigerator to get two bottles of water. “He wasn’t into you?”
“I guess he was. Maybe. But he was so incredibly boring that I couldn’t tell if he was interested in anything at all.”
Chuckling, Jace handed her the water and leaned against the countertop across from her. “Sounds like a winner.”
“He seemed like a decent guy over email, but in person he was so boring.” A rustle beside her caught her attention, and she noticed that the parrot Jace was pet-sitting was perched on the back of a dining room chair, looking at her inquisitively. Smiling, she grabbed a grape from a bowl on the counter and extended her hand to offer it to him. The bird snatched it up enthusiastically.
“What did he talk about?” Jace asked.
“That was part of the problem. He didn’t seem to be able to make any conversation on his own, so I had to lead the discussion all the time. But whenever I asked him a direct question, he’d go off on a long, tedious answer about everything he knew on the topic.” She made a face. “So boring.”
Beau had flapped over to perch on the stool beside her, so she gave him another grape. Jace hadn’t been all that excited about taking care of the parrot, but she thought he was lovely with the vivid greens and blues of his feathers. She liked his bright eyes and the way he cocked his head, as if he were listening to them.
“You should have heard him,” she continued after a pause. “First, I had to hear about who he thought would win the Grammy awards this year—with all these quotes from reviews and columns he’d read. Then I had to hear about the history of toilets.”
“Toilets?”
“Yes, toilets!” Despite her exasperation, she giggled softly. “And let me tell you, there are some details about the early days of toilets that I really didn’t need to know.”
“I would imagine so.”
“And then there was twenty-two minutes on different kinds of wine and how they’re made. Twenty-two minutes! I actually timed it. It was so boring!”
“Well, I guess that’s what happens when you hook up with someone online.”
She frowned at the evident skepticism and amusement in his tone. “Don’t be a downer. It was just my first date. I’m sure the other dates will be better.”
Jace’s brows drew together. “What other dates?”
“I’ve got a date tomorrow and then one next Friday. Things are happening fast. I should have tried online dating a long time ago. I just hope these other guys aren’t so boring.”
“So… ring,” Beau squawked from beside her.
She and Jace both gasped and jerked to look at the bird. When she realized what he’d said, she repeated, “So boring,” very slowly and handed the bird a grape.
“So bo-ring,” Beau squawked, reaching out for another grape before she’d managed to retrieve her hand.
She laughed in delight and handed him three more grapes as he repeated the words each time.
“Why didn’t you tell me he could talk?” she demanded, when Jace finally took the grapes away, muttering about not encouraging poultry to rise above their station.
“Erin said he could, but he hasn’t said a word the whole time he’s been here. He’s just made loud squawks. I thought she was making it up.”
“He’s brilliant! We should teach him to say something really funny.”
“I really don’t want him chattering all the time.”
Her chest tightened at the adorably grumpy expression on his face, and she reached out to push his hair back from his forehead. “Don’t be grouchy about the poor bird. It’s not his fault your sister stuck you with him.”
“I know.” He seemed to lean into her hand for a moment before he pulled away. “So who are these other guys you’re going out with?”
“Just guys from the area—not from town but not too far away. One is in real estate and the other has done a lot of work in DC.”
His lip curled up slightly. “Sounds great.”
“I thought you were going to be encouraging. I don’t
have very long before Tori’s wedding.”
His expression smoothed out intentionally, as if he were making an effort to do so. “I know. I’m sure your other dates will be fine.”
“I hope they’re better than fine.”
“So bo-ring,” Beau squawked.
Jace chuckled. “That would be my prediction.”
She gave him a friendly swat and then slid off the jacket she still wore. “Were you planning to go to bed? We could watch TV or something.”
Jace started to answer. She saw his mouth open. But then he froze as he stared at her speechlessly, his eyes running up and down her body.
She glanced down. “What?” Self-conscious at his fixed gaze, she smoothed down her little blue dress. She’d made an effort at dressing these evening, and she’d thought the result was pretty and sexy.
Jace just stared, his body completely motionless.
“What?” she demanded again. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” he managed to say hoarsely. “No.” He looked away from her. “You look great.”
She smiled at the compliment, but said, “Well, you don’t have to be all shocked about it. I can occasionally look good, you know.”
“I know,” Jace muttered, heading toward the living room to turn on the television. “Believe me, I know.”
“So bo-ring,” Beau chimed in.
***
The following night, Isabella was once again pounding on Jace’s door.
This time, it was only ten o’clock, so she was surprised when Jace didn’t come to the door immediately.
She knocked again and waited, wondering if Jace was out.
Irrationally, she didn’t like that idea. What if he was on a date? Surely he would have told her if he’d been going out tonight.
She didn’t like for him to keep secrets from her.
Where the hell was he?
She knocked again.
Finally, she heard some movement inside the apartment, and then Jace swung open the door.
His hair was damp, and he was wearing nothing but a pair of black sweatpants.
Her eyes widened at the sight of his fine shoulders and bare chest. He’d been very skinny in high school, but now he had a very nice, tight body, and she felt a moment of physical response to the sight of it.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, when she didn’t say anything.
“Yes,” she said, pushing through the tension in her throat and tearing her eyes away. “Sorry. Was I interrupting something?”
“No. I was just in the shower.” He let her in, and she had to exert a ridiculous amount of effort not to leer at him.
What was wrong with her? It was just Jace. Her best friend for so long.
“Another boring date?” Jace asked, as she slid off her jacket and slouched down onto the couch.
“So bo-ring.”
Isabella looked to the corner of the room, where Beau was perched on the swing in his big cage. “Why is he locked up?”
“He pooped on my table,” Jace said with a sneer at the bird.
Laughing, she got up and opened the door to the cage. “That mean Jace put you in prison for a natural bodily function. He’s not very nice.”
“That bird can keep his natural bodily functions to himself.”
“So bo-ring,” Beau squawked hopefully, flying over to perch on the back of a dining room chair.
“We’ve got to teach you something else to say.” Isabella said, going to get some grapes from the refrigerator. “Can you say, ‘Hi Bella’?”
“So bo-ring.”
She kept the grape out of range of Beau’s beak. “Hi Bella.”
“Hi-li.”
This was at least an attempt so she gave the bird a grape. “Hi Bella,” she said very slowly. “Hi Bella.”
“Hi Be-li. Hi Be-li.”
She laughed and rewarded this performance with more grapes. Then turned back to Jace, who was pulling on a T-shirt. “He’s super smart. I didn’t think parrots learned words that quickly.”
“Oh, he’s an evil genius all right. I had to put a towel over his cage last night because he wouldn’t stop screaming about how boring everything was.” His eyes narrowed as she kept giggling. “Sure, you can laugh. You’re not the one who has to live with the feathered freak.”
When they’d both sat down on the couch, he turned to her and said, “So what was wrong with this date?”
“What makes you think something was wrong with it?”
“You’re over here at ten o’clock. Obviously it wasn’t a winner.”
She sighed, thinking back to dinner she’d just had with another guy from the dating site. “He was an asshole.”
Jace’s shoulders stiffened slightly. “What did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything. He just talked about himself the whole time. I’ve never met someone so pumped up on his own importance. I had to hear all about his car and his apartment and all the people he knows in DC. Ugh. He didn’t ask me a single thing about myself, and then he thought I was going to invite him back to my place afterwards.”
“I hope you let him have it.”
“Well, I might have mentioned that I’m not inclined to invite arrogant assholes back to my apartment.”
Jace chuckled appreciatively. “Good for you.”
Her eyes rested on his face for a minute, wondering why she all of a sudden found him so attractive. It must have something to do with her reaction to going out with two losers in a row. She’d always found Jace very cute—even way back in high school. But she’d never been distracted by it like this before.
“What?” he asked, his turning his head as if he’d felt her staring.
“What what?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I wasn’t. I was just glad to be with a nice guy after that nightmare of a date.”
“Maybe you should give up and cancel your date on Friday.”
“I’m not going to give up. Surely there’s a decent guy in the area who is still single.”
“Right,” Jace muttered. “A decent guy who is still single.”
Something in his tone made her reach out and put a hand on his arm. “Other than you, I mean. You’re the most decent guy I know.”
He smiled and rolled his eyes slightly. “Did you want to stay and watch TV?”
“Sure. Why not? Nothing better to do tonight.”
***
The following Friday, Isabella was knocking on Jace’s door again, more flustered and upset than she’d been the previous weekend.
If Jace wasn’t here tonight, she was definitely going to burst into tears.
She sighed in relief when he swung open the door, wearing his normal sweats and a T-shirt with a frog in a crown on it she’d bought for him last year.
Instead of his normal greeting, he studied her face for a minute and pulled her inside. “What happened?” he asked urgently. “Bella, what happened?”
“Nothing,” she managed to say, more emotional because of his obvious concern.
“Something is wrong. What happened on your date?”
She took a few breaths and managed to control herself. “It’s really nothing major. He was another jerk.”
“What did he do?” Jace was still eyeing her urgently, as if searching for signs of damage.
“He was okay during dinner, but then we took a walk and he turned into Mr. McGropey.”
“What?” Jace demanded, his whole body tensing.
“He was really gropey. It was… humiliating and disgusting.” When she saw his expression, she hurried on, “It wasn’t a huge deal though. He didn’t force himself on me. He just groped when it was way too soon. I mean, we were in public, so I just pushed him away and went back to my car. But the whole thing made me feel dirty.”
“Who is this guy?” Jace growled, his hands clenched at his sides.
“Just a guy.”
“Tell me who he is.”
“So you can go beat him u
p or something? Don’t be ridiculous. It was… yuck, but it’s over. I want to just forget about it.”
“I want to know who he—”
“Jace, would you stop? I didn’t come over here so you could save me. I just wanted…wanted…” She trailed off, her throat tightening again.
Jace’s expression changed. “Oh, I’m sorry, Bella. Come here.” He pulled her into a tight hug.
She shook against him for a minute, feeling better, loved, known.
When she finally pulled away, Jace asked, “You want to watch a movie?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
He got them beers and then settled on the couch to watch a light romantic comedy—which he let her pick out. He even put his arm around her so she could snuggle up against him.
She felt a lot better when the movie finished and she got up to leave.
“You can stay if you need to,” Jace said, looking rumpled and concerned and adorable.
“I’m fine.” She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Call me when you get home.”
She laughed. “I will.” Then she suddenly remembered something. “Hey, where’s Beau? I thought Erin wasn’t going to be back for a couple of weeks?”
“She’s not. Beau is finally sleeping after driving me crazy all evening. Don’t you dare wake him up.” Jace gestured over toward the bird cage which was covered with a blanket. Isabella had been so distracted she hadn’t even noticed it before.
“Okay.” She smiled and kissed his cheek again. Then wondered why she was doing that.
She wasn’t in the habit of kissing Jace. She must be feeling particularly vulnerable.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Jace said, as they closed the apartment door behind them.
They were passing the stairs that led down to the basement when an elderly woman with a head full of pink sponge curlers was coming up, carrying a small laundry basket.
“Good evening, young man,” she said to Jace. Then she turned to Isabella. “And you too, young lady.”
Isabella had been hanging around Jace’s apartment building long enough to have met Estelle Berry, one of his upstairs neighbors, on multiple occasions.
“Hi, Mrs. Berry,” she said with a smile.