by Natalie Ann
“It’s very neat.”
She sighed when he laughed at her. She really had to stop blurting things out without thought.
“Don’t you dare apologize. I told you I’d let you know if you insulted me. I just found it funny.”
“Sorry. I need to think more before I actually speak.”
“So used to playing by yourself and saying what you want, right?”
He was joking with her, he had to be. He was smiling when he said it, so she was sure he was joking.
“Something like that.” She wasn’t about to tell him that his very presence made her tongue-tied half the time.
“Did Brynn tell you what pictures she wanted you to take of our house?”
“She asked that I take them of the kitchen, the basement, and the open living area here.”
“Okay, well, do your thing. Do you want anything to drink or eat? It’s getting close to dinnertime. We can take a break and grab something to eat quick if you want.”
“Are you going to cook for me?”
“I hadn’t planned on it, but I make a mean sandwich. My father normally does the cooking, but he doesn’t get home for another hour or so. I’m not much of a cook.”
He was smiling again. He had a kind face. She liked that about him, that he always seemed so happy. She’d thought she was happy, but she never smiled that much. Or much at all. Guess happiness was at different levels for different people.
“A sandwich sounds good. I don’t mind cooking, but I don’t really like cooking for myself.”
“And you don’t have a kitchen right now either,” he reminded her.
“True.”
“We’ve got pretty much every sandwich meat here. We eat a lot of sandwiches. Tell me what you like and I’ll go throw everything together while you take pictures.”
“I’m not fussy. Surprise me.”
She heard his soft laugh but decided to ignore it. “Okay then, a surprise sandwich coming up.”
She looked around the big open space, focused her camera, took a bunch of shots and then found her way into the kitchen. He looked so at home at the island that she focused her camera and started taking pictures of him.
He looked up from what he was doing when he heard the first click, smiled that bright smile of his for a picture, then said, “Service with a smile.”
She giggled, then was shocked the sound came from her lips. It was such a funny statement in that moment though. “I bet you didn’t expect to mean it this way.”
“Nope, not really. Do you want me to move out of the way while you take some more pictures?”
“No. Pretend I’m not here. I think it will look good seeing someone in here working.”
She walked around him, took a few more pictures and then put her camera down on the island.
“Pull up a seat and I’ll grab some drinks. I think Brynn has some diet soda in here for you if you want it. We have regular too.”
“Why would Brynn keep soda in your house?”
“She works out of the front office too when she is showing people around the development or showing this house.”
She’d forgotten he’d told her that before. “So that’s why it’s so neat.” He burst out laughing and she cringed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“Do you know you apologize way too much? And yes, we keep it neat for that reason, but honestly, we are all pretty neat people. My mother was a neat person and Brynn is a neat freak. We men didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.”
She nodded and pulled her sandwich forward. She eyed it, wondering how she was going to eat it all. She was expecting two slices of bread, some meat and maybe cheese. Instead she had a massive roll loaded with several kinds of meats and cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and what looked like slices of avocado.
“Too much?” he asked. Guess she was pretty obvious about her opinion of her sandwich.
“I’m not sure I can fit it in my mouth,” she said seriously.
“Just squish it down.”
“Then it won’t look so nice. You went to a lot of trouble to make it.”
“It’s a sandwich, Jordyn. Don’t analyze it.”
He was laughing at her silently. She knew it, she heard it in his voice, but she refused to look up at him to verify it.
“Do you have a knife so I can cut it in half?”
He pulled one out of a drawer and handed it to her. She picked it up, squished the sandwich down like he’d said, cut it in half and then picked a half up and took a bite.
“This is really good,” she said around a mouthful. “I’ve never had avocado on a sandwich before.”
“First time for everything.”
Seems like she was having a lot of firsts lately.
***
“So here is my place. Or I should say my space.”
He looked around quickly and tried to see it out of her eyes. It was a pretty big place for a basement suite.
“This is bigger than my first apartment was.”
“It suits me. I tend to go upstairs and hang out with my father at night and watch TV, but it gives me my own space too. We both need it.”
“I didn’t realize you had a full kitchen down here. It’s just small.”
He looked over at the full-sized fridge, even though it was on the smaller end, and the small stove and sink with an island to sit at.
“The only thing I don’t have is a dishwasher, but there is space for one if someone wants to turn this into a rentable apartment when they sell it.”
She started snapping pictures, then walked into the living room and did the same. “Sit on the couch.”
“Why?”
“I want to take some pictures of you as if you lived here. Show how comfortable it is.” He shrugged and did as she asked, then watched her focus on him and take a few more pictures. “Can we go to your bedroom now?” Too bad she didn’t mean that the way he hoped.
She seemed to realize the way she said it and promptly blushed. “For pictures,” she clarified.
“Sure.”
He stood up and walked her over to the door and tried to take his mind off the fact she was standing in his bedroom and no one else was in the house. They’d stood in her bedroom alone already too. It was no big deal.
Only it was. He was starting to feel something stronger for her than just attraction, but that attraction was fierce and standing in here next to her was harder than he imagined it might be.
She walked around trying to ignore him, but he saw her movements were a bit forced. She snapped a bunch of pictures and in an effort to lighten things up he asked, “Want me to lie on the bed too?”
The alarmed look that crossed her face made him pause. He wondered if she was a virgin and was trying to figure out what to do now, what to say. “Sorry, it was a joke.”
“No, it was funny.”
“Then why didn’t you laugh?”
“Nerves.”
He smiled. “I make you nervous.”
“I would have thought that was pretty obvious,” she mumbled.
“Then come here and I’ll help get rid of them.”
“How’s that?” she asked, dropping her camera to her side and walking over like he asked, hesitantly.
“I’m going to kiss you.”
“You think that’s going to get rid of my nerves? That might only make it worse,” she said, her voice squeaking.
Good to know. “One way to find out.”
He pulled her forward and laid his lips over hers. They were so soft and yielded so easily.
He felt the camera hit his back and realized she’d wrapped her arms around his neck. Even better.
She opened her mouth under his and suddenly she became the aggressor. She sure didn’t kiss like a virgin, so now he was doubting his earlier thoughts.
Moments later she shifted back, her big eyes focused on his, and whispered, “Yeah, I’m still nervous, but you can kiss me again if you want, because that was really nice.”
***
“Come on in, Drew. Sean told me you were coming over.”
Drew placed his hand on Jordyn’s lower back and ushered her into the first house they were visiting in the development that had residents. She stuck her hand out and introduced herself, “Thanks for letting me come take pictures of your house. I’m Jordyn Montgomery.”
“I already told her your name,” Sean said when he walked to the front door from somewhere else in the house.
“Oh, I didn’t know it was your house.”
“Yep, we moved in a few months ago. This is my wife, Carly.”
Jordyn turned her head, eying Drew, and said, “Carly?” It seemed like too much of a coincidence in her eyes.
“Yes, Brynn’s best friend Carly.” Carly was a tiny thing but looked so sweet.
“How are you feeling, Carly?” Drew asked.
“I’m doing good. Not as bad as Brynn was in the beginning.”
Drew turned. “Carly is a few months pregnant.”
“Congratulations,” she said.
Boy there seemed to be a lot of babies lately. She wondered if that was normal or not.
“Thanks, we’re thrilled.” Carly held her hand out for Jordyn to move forward. “Go ahead and take the pictures you need. I’m sure Brynn told you where she wanted them taken.”
“She did. I’ll be fast and get out of your way.”
“Take your time. We aren’t in a hurry,” Sean said, and Jordyn didn’t miss the knowing look Sean was sending Drew’s way.
Almost as if he knew what the two of them had been doing at Drew’s place before they arrived. She hoped not. Talk about awkward.
Boy Toy
“Are you sure you’re going to be warm enough?” Drew asked, fighting the urge to chuckle.
It wasn’t going to be that cold tonight, nothing that called for the huge down jacket and fuzzy hood Jordyn was sporting over her jeans and knee-high boots.
“I checked the weather and it said it was going to be in the high fifties,” she replied when she grabbed her gloves, slipped them on, and picked her hat up off the bench.
“That’s not too cold, especially since there won’t be any wind.”
He still couldn’t believe she suggested they go to Friday Night Football under the lights at the local field. He thought it was a brilliant date and was thrilled she’d put some thought into it.
“I’m still getting used to the cold. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
He shrugged and let her proceed to the truck. “I don’t think you need your hat on right yet, we’re just going to dinner first.”
Watching her fumble to take it off was just too cute. “Yeah, you’re right.” She pulled a list out of her jacket pocket when they got in the truck. “I wasn’t sure what type of food you wanted tonight, so I researched a few places with different kinds of foods. What would you like?”
Oh God, talk about sweet. Funny, but still sweet, even a bit corny. He looked over at her list. “You’re pretty thorough, aren’t you?”
“I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”
Yeah, so did he and he hoped she caught up because right now he felt he was ahead of her. “What are you in the mood for?”
“Whatever you want. You said this date was my choice, so I wanted to do something you would like.”
That totally wasn’t what he expected when he said it was her choice. He really thought she’d pick something that she liked to do and that he could find out more about her.
So far all he knew was she was alone and liked to do things that kept her that way. He was guessing now it was because she wasn’t very confident or comfortable in most settings. “How about burgers?”
“Great. This pub was rated really high in the area. Have you been here before?” she asked, pointing to the name on the list.
“I have, and it’s a good choice.”
Twenty minutes later they had their drinks in front of them and their orders placed. “I wouldn’t have pictured you as a football fan,” he said.
“I’m not really. This will be my first game.”
He choked. “You’ve never been to a football game? Ever? Not even in school?”
“No. I didn’t know that was a prerequisite of high school,” she said dryly.
He didn’t take offense at her tone, not when she was squinting at him with a humorous gleam in her eyes.
“I guess it’s not. Just figured you knew something about it. Why else make the suggestion?”
“I thought you’d like it,” she said, surprising him.
“I will. I think it’s great, but I thought you’d want to do something you would enjoy too.”
“I’ll enjoy it. And I read up on it too, so I’m familiar with the game and how it’s played.”
This was just too much and too hilarious. He was having a hard time not insulting her by laughing. He could see she was trying so hard and he was more touched than he cared to admit.
He reached his hand over and clasped hers, entwining their fingers. “I appreciate the effort you’ve gone to for tonight. But I want you to have fun too.”
“I will. I’m looking forward to this. Now I’ll get to see what I was missing by not going to all those Hurricane games I heard about on campus.”
“You went to the University of Miami and you never went to a game? And you don’t know anything about football? Isn’t that sacrilegious or something?”
“I’m sure a lot of people thought that, which is another reason I kept to myself. I didn’t live on campus anyway, so it’s not like I was that involved.”
He let it go. He could tell he was making her uncomfortable and didn’t want to. It wasn’t what he intended when he made the comment. Thankfully their food was delivered and they started to eat.
“If you have any questions during the game, just ask me. I’ll be glad to enrich your experience, even if it’s a little late in life.”
“Better late than never, don’t you think?”
“I think that’s a good attitude to have.”
***
Jordyn looked around the bleachers. She couldn’t get over the number of people in attendance for a high school football game.
She was glad that Drew was happy over her choice of a date. She felt she did well on that level at least.
Too bad he probably thought of her as some wallflower that never left her house as a kid. The bottom line was—that was her as a kid.
She was more focused on keeping her face in her books and going to school if she wasn’t working.
Looking back, even though her mother encouraged her to go out and meet new friends and do things, she also liked that Jordyn didn’t do those things.
Since Jordyn struggled with putting herself out there, she knew she used her mother’s reluctance as an excuse too.
Jordyn had caught enough sly remarks over the years about men never being honest and friends never being there for you. Her mother obviously had some deep-rooted issues, and whether she meant them to or not, they did influence some of Jordyn’s decisions in life.
Now she was wondering why she let that happen. She loved her mother. Libby had been her best friend along with being her mother, but looking at it now, it was a pretty sad state of affairs.
Jordyn was changing that, she reminded herself. She was going to start a new life and be a new person.
Even if she never found out anything on her father, she still could use this opportunity to reinvent herself. She never expected it to be so hard, though.
“Not too loud for you?”
She looked over at Drew, his face flushed from the brisk air. He was right—it really wasn’t that cold out. She was actually comfortable with her new winter jacket, her hat and gloves, but she noticed that not too many other people were dressed as warmly as she was.
“No, actually it’s not. Then again, I’m lis
tening to construction all day long,” she said, reminding him.
He leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips. “I’d say we would try to be quieter, but it’s not really possible.”
He kissed her in front of everyone in the stands. Not that anyone seemed to be paying attention to them. “What was that for?’
“Do I need a reason to kiss you?”
“No.”
“Then why did you look so surprised by it?”
Shrugging, she said, “No reason.”
There was no time to talk about it anymore, not with the crowd roaring and the game coming to the end. She was sorry that the night seemed to be coming to an end as well. She’d had a great time so far and wasn’t sure when she’d see him again since the second half of the next week he’d be at other projects and no longer needed at her house.
***
“Would you like to come in?”
Drew looked at Jordyn as she asked that question after he pulled into her driveway. It wasn’t that late, close to ten and he had no other plans. “Sure, if you want.”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you to.” He grinned. The minute he did, she flushed and amended. “I thought maybe you’d like a drink to warm up.”
Nodding, he said, “That would be good.” He shut his truck off and followed her into the house, took his fleece jacket off and hung it up.
“I’ve got some coffee, tea and cocoa.”
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had hot cocoa, but he knew she drank it. He’d seen the box of it next to her one-cup coffee maker. Surprisingly, he’d never seen coffee there before, so the offer came as a surprise.
“How about I have a cup of cocoa with you, since I know you’ll have one too.”
“You’re not a coffee drinker, either?”
“I am, but I know you aren’t.” When she raised her eyebrow he amended. “I’ve seen your stash of stuff next to your coffee maker.”
“Oh. I bought some to have on hand figuring that I would be meeting clients now and again, so I would cover my bases.”