Chapter 31
Bennett
JILLIAN PUSHED ME back on the couch and stood directly in front of my knees. She was so close, I could reach out and touch her, but I held back. She seemed to have more to say. Never breaking eye contact, she reached up and slowly started unbuttoning her shirt.
“Jill, what are you doing?” I reached up to stop her, but she shook her head. She had calmed down, her tears had stopped.
“I’m showing you perfect.” With the last button free, she turned so I was looking at her back. With one quick motion, she shrugged, and the shirt slid off her shoulders where it fell in a puddle at my feet. I stole a glance at her skin, flawless with a light dusting of freckles across her shoulders. I wanted to touch her. I needed to confirm she was as silky smooth as she looked from where I was sitting. But I didn’t get the chance.
Calmly and with the grace of a dancer, she turned back around, revealing angry red, webbed skin on her right side and across her torso. “How’s this for perfect?” she whispered.
And it took just one flick of her wrist behind her, and the pretty pink bra she’d been wearing came sliding down her arms, uncovering even more of her hidden secret. The burns continued, covering her entire right breast, stopping just below the shoulder.
“Jill, no, stop,” I demanded and tried to grab her hands as she tugged on the button of her jeans. “I get it.”
She backed up, placing herself just out of my reach. “No, I don’t think you do, Bennett. I’m just getting started.” She wiggled her narrow hips and her oversized jeans fell down, pooling around her ankles, before she kicked them away. Jillian Walker stood in front of me, wearing only a small pair of pink panties, and I couldn’t breathe. Tearing my eyes from her body, I met hers and saw they were brimming with fresh tears. The burns extended all the way down to her knee and a giant, red surgical scar covered her hip and lower torso. It took every ounce of willpower I’d ever been given not to cross the two feet that divided us, but I knew this had to play out on her terms. I sat on my hands to keep from touching her.
“My volunteer work at the cafe was not altruistic by any stretch of the word. A few months before, I’d driven drunk and run my brand-new little sports car up a telephone pole in the middle of the night. A Good Samaritan pulled me out of the burning car moments before it exploded, but not before leaving me… like this.” She turned 360 degrees to show me everything.
“See, Bennett.” She sniffed. Tears freely streamed down her face as she looked at me. “You’re not so special. We all have scars.” With both hands, she wiped the tears from her face, but more took their place almost immediately.
I looked her up and down while she watched, taking in the details of the body my imagination had dreamed of more times than I could count. Never, in my fantasies, had she looked quite like the reality that stood before me.
“But I was right,” I simply stated. Her brows knitted together, and she cocked her head… as if that would help her understand.
“Right about what?”
I leaned forward and placed my palms on the backs of her thighs—pulling her close, planting my lips on her right hip—and kissed one of the worst scars on her body. “You. Are. Perfect.” I pressed my head against her stomach, directly on her burns, and almost instantly she cradled it, running her hands through my hair. It was perfect. Everything about the moment was absolutely perfect.
We stayed like that for I don’t know how long. I didn’t want to let go. Because I’d done it. I got my mind set straight and I’d gotten the girl I never thought would give me a second glance. She was mine now. She was in my arms, holding me against her like I was the most precious thing her hands had ever touched. I pulled away just enough to look up into her beautiful eyes. Eyes that didn’t just look at me, but saw me.
“These aren’t scars, Jill.” I pulled, yanking her down onto the couch. She landed in my lap, facing me. “They’re wings.” Her hands continued their assault on my hair while I ran my hands up and down her perfect imperfections.
“I don’t understand… “ She looked free, like she’d just rid herself of the world’s burdens as her lips connected with my forehead.
“These scars… they brought you to me.” Her breath caught and I wrapped my arms fully around her, bringing her beautiful body flush with mine. “But you were right about one thing. I am homeless.” Jill pulled back and we found ourselves nose to nose. She shook her head back and forth, so very slowly.
“No, you’re not.” She grabbed my face between her hands and pulled my lips to hers, but just before they met, she whispered, “Not anymore.”