Chapter 51

Jesse

Jesse’s eyelids slowly flicked open, and as her vision swam into focus, she frowned. She was certainly not in her own bed. It took her a moment to gather where exactly she was, and she blushed as she remembered the events that had transpired the previous night.

She only blushed more fiercely as she realized that she was still naked under the soft blue blanket that was covering her.

Jesse wrapped the blanket around herself securely as she moved to sit up and look around the room. The first thing she noticed was the simple fact that Hal was nowhere to be found. She listened carefully to try and see if he was simply in another room of his home, but she couldn’t hear anything except her own breathing. She frowned and sighed, feeling slightly afraid of being alone.

The next thing she noticed as she looked around the room was that her dress was missing. She stood up, holding the blanket to her chest, and walked around to the other side of the couch in search of her clothes. She still couldn’t seem to find them, and she sighed in frustration as she searched around the rest of the room, aimlessly looking under the couches and the coffee table for her missing dress and panties.

“Well, good morning …” Jesse blushed and shot bolt upright. She had been bent over checking underneath a chair for her clothes, completely revealing her naked behind when she heard Hal’s voice.

“Good morning,” Jesse said as she spun around, reaching behind her body with one hand to hold up the blanket and conceal as much of her skin as possible. She could see the amused smile twinkling in Hal’s eyes as he leaned against the doorframe, easily watching her.

“Are you looking for this?” he asked, and from behind his back he pulled her dress, hung neatly on a hanger.

Jesse felt relief pass over her body.

“Yes,” she said, releasing a pent-up breath as she approached him to take her dress back.

As she neared him, though, Hal lunged suddenly forward, and Jesse released a soft yelp as he crushed her body to his in a tight embrace. He chuckled as he lowered his face to hers and covered her lips in a soft kiss. Jesse fairly melted into him as she returned his kiss, though she tightened her grip on the blanket covering her so it didn’t slip off.

Hal pulled back from their kiss and looked down at her, a soft smile on his face. Jesse found herself getting lost in his eyes, and she blushed, feeling warmth spread through her body. She finally dropped her head, focusing on the carpet beneath their feet.

“Here,” Hal said softly, holding out her dress on the hanger, which Jesse took, tentatively releasing the blanket from behind her.

“I thought you might like it to be clean before you put it back on,” Hal explained. “Oh, and these, too.”

Jesse’s eyes widened as he withdrew her panties from the pocket of his pants. She noticed that he had changed into a pair of fresh jeans and a white tee. She blinked to clear her head of thoughts of his appearance, then,

“Thank you,” Jesse said, giving him a smile.

“Of course,” Hal smiled down at her. “I’ll just step out and give you a moment to change.”

“Wait!” Jesse spoke up, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “I actually … can you take me to the restroom?”

Hal’s face was blank for a moment before he shook his head as if to focus.

“Yeah, sure,” Hal said, turning to hold open his arms, directing her down the hallway. “It’s the second door down to the left.”

“Thanks,” Jesse said, ducking her face as she passed him and headed in the direction he had indicated. She made it to the bathroom and leaned back against the door as it closed behind her.

Jesse’s mind was spinning, and she could hardly believe the events that had led to this moment. She wandered around the bathroom taking care of her business. She allowed the blanket to pool on the floor, and she looked at for a moment.

Jesse glanced around the bathroom, noticing for the first time exactly how modern it was. The sink stretched all along one wall, and on the other was situated a very large shower with a glass barrier dividing it from the rest of the room. Along the third wall, opposite the door was the toilet and a large towel rack. The whole color scheme of the room was gray tile, and the sink and shower featured black marble.

Suddenly, Jesse felt the urge to take a shower. She moved over into the large shower and turned on the water, which began to pour from the back half of the shower like rain. She noticed there was also a removable shower head in the front half of the shower. A dial was available to alter the water pressure to the desired level.

Jesse stepped into the rainfall section of the shower once the water temperature was to her liking and allowed it to completely wet her hair and body before she stepped into the dry half and began to lather her hair with a mint scented shampoo that was one of many on the shelf built into the wall of the shower.

Jesse felt warmth in her stomach knowing that this was Hal’s shower she was using. She vaguely let her mind wander and couldn’t help imagining him in the shower with her. No sooner than the thought crossed her mind, she dismissed it. She had already gone much farther than she had intended to, and she didn’t need scandalous thoughts to drive things into overdrive any more than they already had been.

Jesse finished up her shower and dried her feet on the mat before she crossed the room to the towel rack and wrapped her hair in a fluffy, dark green towel. She dried off her body and then wrapped up her hair. She looked along the rack and quickly found a mint scented lotion that matched the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that she had used.

She applied the fragrant lotion to her skin, and when she was done, she slipped on her freshly laundered panties and her dress. Looking along the sink for some deodorant, Jesse made use of it. She felt vaguely giddy to be using all of Hal’s things and ending up smelling like him.

Jesse shook her head to focus and let her hair down from the towel turban. She used a comb she found in one of the drawers to untangle her wet hair and then proceeded to style it into a long braid. She frowned that she had no makeup to wear, but she realized there was nothing to be done about it. So, she took a calming breath and gathered the blanket from the floor and opened the door to leave.

Jesse made her way back into the living room and found Hal seated on the couch. He looked up as she came in and gave her a smile.

“Thanks for letting me use your shower,” Jesse said with a soft blush and a small smile as she began to fold up the blanket that had served as her clothing for the night.

“Of course,” Hal said with a soft chuckle. “You’re welcome to use it anytime. That’s the guest bathroom anyway.”

Jesse blinked. If that was his guest bathroom, who knew what the master bathroom was like … she blinked repeatedly to clear her head.

When she was done, she laid the blanket out over the arm of the couch and then sat down beside Hal. He leaned in slowly, placed a soft kiss on her cheek and ran his hand over her damp hair.

“You smell nice,” Hal remarked as he leaned back.

“Thanks.” Jesse laughed. “You have good taste in beauty products.”

Hal laughed and smiled down at her.

“Well, you can thank Liza,” Hal said, turning sideways on the couch so he could face her. “She helped with a lot of the basic stocking of the place.”

“Oh,” Jesse said softly, almost disappointed by the news.

“Maybe you can tell me what you like to use,” Hal suggested softly. “And I can have the bathrooms stocked with it in case you ever end up staying over again …”

Jesse looked up at him and laughed nervously at the implication.

“Sorry about that …” Jesse said. “I guess I got caught up in the moment, and I just got really tired all of a sudden. I know I should have just gone home …”

“Jess,” Hal stopped her, placing his hand on her thigh. “Don’t apologize. I’m not sorry, anyway. I had a great time with you. If anything, I hope I didn’t push you too far, too fast. I know I told you we would take it slow, and I hope you didn’t feel overwhelmed with anything we did.”

Jesse took in a shuddering breath and felt a shiver as she remembered the feeling of his hands on her most intimate places.

“No, no …” Jesse shook her head, blinking as she tried to organize her thoughts. “I … I really enjoyed it, and … thank you. I never would have been able to initiate anything like that myself so … I’m glad you did it …”

Hal looked down at her seriously and searched her face for a moment.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said, his expression somber. “I would hate to think that I pressed you into anything that you didn’t enjoy or want.”

Jesse could see the sincerity in his eyes and hear it in his voice. She could tell that he really meant what he was saying, and it touched her that he cared about her enough to say anything like that.

“That means a lot to me,” Jesse said softly. She drew closer to where he sat on the couch, leaned up, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He kissed her back, his hands moving to tenderly cup her face.

Jesse pulled back, and Hal looked down at her, an easy smile on his face.

“Well, while you’re still unemployed and before you get too busy with a spectacular career,” Hal started, running his hand through his hair. “I was wondering if you’d like to spend a day with me.”

“Oh,” Jesse blinked, somewhat taken by surprise.

“You can always say no, of course,” Hal explained, offering her a shrug.

“Oh no,” Jesse quickly shook her head. “I mean I would love to. It’s just I worry that I would be keeping you from doing things you need to do.”

Hal frowned down at her.

“Things I need to do?” he repeated to her.

Jesse nodded.

“Yeah, like …” Jesse gesticulated with her hands and shook her head as she tried to think of things he could be doing. “I don’t know. You’re famous … isn’t there an interview you have to give or some fancy dinner you have to attend?”

Hal raised an eyebrow at her and frowned.

“Jess,” he said simply. “I have enough money to safely spend the rest of my life doing absolutely nothing. I’ll be getting money from my movie for the rest of my life. I’ll probably do a few projects here and there, but I don’t have to do anything.”

Jesse nodded as she took in his words.

“And today,” he said, going on. “I would really like to spend the day with you. But only if you want to. If not, I can go ahead and take you back home, and you can do whatever you like.”

“Oh, thanks,” Jesse said in response. “But … I think I’d rather spend the day with you than sit at my house worrying about getting an interview.”

Hal’s face lit up, and he immediately stood up from his place on the couch.

“What are we waiting for then?” he asked animatedly. “Let’s get out of here!”