Chapter Eleven
“Hope we’re not interrupting. Is everyone decent?”
I look up from the computer at J & J’s to see Jodie skipping through the front door in her bright red sundress. She’s got company with her—Darren, looking supersleek in his black pants and tight shirt. Jodie’s grinning ear to ear, and the two are holding hands.
“Clearly we’re decent,” I answer, looking back to the computer as I finalize the last few steps in getting Jesse’s books in order. “What are you doing here?”
“Well,” Jodie says, leaning on the counter.
Jesse is standing beside me. He’s been looking over my shoulder for the past hour or so, taking in all the information about accounts payable and debits and other accounting lingo.
“Darren and I are heading out to dinner and we thought the two of you might like to join us. If Jesse’s done cracking the whip, that is.” She winks in a creepy fashion, and I shake my head. Jesse just smirks.
“If anyone is cracking the whip, it’s this one. I told her an hour ago to take a break.”
“Workaholic. So boring. It’s official then. You two are coming with us. Let’s show them what fun really looks like.” Jodie leans into Darren.
“But I’m almost done here.” I really do want to finish up. I have things looking really good.
As I’m getting ready to show Jesse the next section, the screen goes black. My mouth opens, and I’m raging. Jesse pulls my hand away from the mouse.
He’s turned the damn computer off. “You’ve done enough already. Seriously. Thank you. All the stuff you’ve shown me is already going to save me so much time. We can perfect the system later. Come on, I owe you. Let me take you out.”
I stare into those green eyes. I want to say no. I want to finish my work. I want to say this double-date scenario isn’t a good idea.
But damn, those eyes can make me do just about anything.
“Okay,” I say, and Jodie literally jumps up and down clapping.
“So let’s go. What are you waiting for? I’m ready to get my drink on,” she says.
“Are you sure you can handle this one?” I ask, turning to Darren. He’s just smiling.
“I’m not so sure. But she’s worth a try.”
The two now are kissing quite comfortably in the waiting room. Jesse and I pretend to stare at the floor. I finally clear my throat.
“Sorry. We just can’t help ourselves,” Jodie says.
“Well, try?” Jesse leads us out of the shop, shutting off the lights and locking up on the way out the door.
Darren and Jodie walk ahead of us, leaning on each other, Darren’s hand on Jodie’s hip. I try not to think about how awkward this is because Jesse and I are nowhere near their level of intimacy.
“So, this isn’t awkward at all,” Jesse says as we watch Darren’s hand slip a little lower on Jodie.
“Not at all,” I say, laughing.
“Do you think those two would even notice if we ran away right now?”
“Probably not for at least twenty minutes,” I say, laughing. “But I can’t really say anything. At least Jodie’s happy. They seem to make a cute couple.”
“Yeah. I guess love really is the answer for some people.”
“But not for all of us.”
“I’ll drink to that as soon as we get to the restaurant.”
We laugh now, both sharing in the common theme. I don’t know what’s happened to Jesse, but I sense a familiar pain and hesitancy in him. We seem to get each other when it comes to the L-word.
The four of us really do enjoy the evening. Jesse and Darren talk about tattoos and fitness. Jodie fawns over Darren. I study Jesse and try to map out more about him. After a few rounds of drinks, nothing is as awkward, even when Darren and Jodie get all googly eyed over each other throughout the night—or when Jodie rather loudly tells me she’s going back to Darren’s place for some fun.
When we leave, all feeling a little bit more relaxed, and Darren and Jodie go their own way, Jesse turns to me, hands in his pockets, as we walk home.
“So, what are you up to next Saturday?”
I mentally think about my schedule. “Nothing actually. I’m off work as far as I know.”
“Good. I want to take you somewhere.”
I feel the grin widen on my face. “Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
My grin fades a little. I’m not a surprise kind of girl. “I don’t like surprises.”
“Correction. You typically don’t like surprises. You haven’t seen my kind of surprises yet.”
“It makes me nervous.”
“Good. Nervous means you’re living right. I’ll pick you up at eight in the morning.”
“What should I wear?”
He thinks about it for a second. “A swimsuit.”
I feel my cheeks flush. “I don’t think I’m wearing just a swimsuit.”
“So toss a T-shirt over it and some shorts. We’re going to be outside, though. Consider it a beachy rite of passage.”
“I don’t like the sound of this.”
“One more question,” he says, ignoring my fears. “Are you afraid of anything?”
Now I’m really getting nervous. “Let’s see. I’m afraid of spiders, snakes, clowns, and airplanes.”
“Okay. Well, we should be fine then. I think.”
“What do you mean ‘you think’?” Now the fear is creeping in.
Jesse just laughs at my obvious terror. “It’ll be great. I promise. And I’ll even take you to lunch afterward.”
“If we survive the surprise, that is.”
“Right. If we survive.”
“Jesse Pearce, has anyone told you that you really know how to make a girl nervous?”
“Avery Johannas, has anyone ever told you that you need to trust a little more?”
It’s an innocent comment, but it stabs a little.
Trust.
It’s something I haven’t really felt for a long time. But as we say our goodbyes, Jesse looking like he might want to kiss me again but fighting it off, I smile inside.
Jesse Pearce might be a little bit wild and a little bit reserved… but there’s something about him that makes me want to trust him, even if he’s got me scared shitless for next week’s surprise.