They walked down the street, arms linked, as they pointed out different holiday decorations in store fronts. Jake was easy to talk to. He listened and commented appropriately as she told him about her parents and her sister in Florida.
His genuine interest in her life was refreshing and added to his smoldering good looks. The man belonged on a cover of GQ. He was the type of man to give women wet dreams. Sure, he had run her over, but on the short walk, he had shown his funny-and-sweet side.
“Do you come here often?” Jake asked as he opened the door for her.
Michelle looked back at him. “No, I prefer cooking at home,” she whispered.
Jake’s face froze. “What? Well shit, what are we doing here?” He made a show of pretending to escort her back outside. “No? Damn, can’t blame me for trying,” he teased. Grabbing her uninjured hand, he pulled her to the counter and stopped. “Do you have a usual whenever you do come here?”
Michelle told him and watched as he called their food order back toward the cook. While she loved staying at home and cooking for one, it seemed that Jake frequented the diner.
“Come on, let’s go—”
“Jake! How are you holding up?” Annie, Lukas’s wife, asked.
“Hey, Annie! One day at a time.”
Michelle watched the curious exchange and noticed how Jake avoided her eyes. What he couldn’t avoid was the sadness in his words.
Jake wrapped his hand around hers and took a step forward when Annie called out again. The smirk on the woman’s face made Michelle’s stomach clench with nerves.
“Yes, darling?” Jake asked Annie.
She signaled to them both to look up. Sure enough, above them by the counter hung mistletoe. A fresh one, not a fake plastic one. Michelle gasped with surprise and looked at the woman. Annie’s grin filled her face, and it took ten years off her.
“It is tradition,” Jake whispered.
Michelle looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Running women over, spraining their wrist, bringing them here, and kissing them under the mistletoe is tradition?”
Jake chuckled. “No, sweetheart. Kissing under the mistletoe. The rest was a blessing in disguise.”
The last part came out low and seductive. Michelle found herself surprised and aroused by his confession. She never would have called being knocked down a blessing. Hell, there still was time for this night to go to shit. Let’s face it, she was out to dinner with a complete stranger. He could be a serial killer for all she knew.
Look at what everyone said about Ted Bundy. He was a charming and intelligent man when he wasn’t killing women. Michelle bit her lower lip at the gruesome thought.
“Unless I read you wrong, and you’re taken or are only being polite?” Jake asked with a frown.
“No,” she blurted.
“No, you’re not taken, or no you won’t kiss me under the mistletoe?”
Michelle smiled. “I’m single.”
“Phew…” Jake exaggerated a long breath. “You sure know how to make a man squirm.”
She found herself giggling at him. “Do you do this a lot?”
Jake’s brows furrowed. “Do what a lot?”
“Make a girl wait to be kissed?” Michelle whispered.
The bold words slipped from her lips before she could have processed them. Her nerves were going haywire as she focused on his full lips.
Time slowed as Jake registered her words. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey and the quiet chatter of the few patrons created the soundtrack to the moment.
“You sure?” Jake asked as he searched her eyes. “We’ve just met. I’m not expecting anything from you.”
When her day had started, she hadn’t anticipated anything different from her routine. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was that defining moment in her life where things would change.
“Yes,” she told him and ran her tongue along her lips.
Jake’s hand came to her neck and tipped up her face. Michelle’s lids grew heavy as Jake studied her. When he finally lowered his lips toward hers, blood rushed through her ears. She felt a puff of his breath land along her lips. Michelle placed her palm against his firm chest to hold herself steady. His lips met hers, and she noted they were softer than she’d imagined.
They took their time with the sweet kiss. It was innocent by all accounts, and yet no other kiss had made her burn from the inside before. Jake’s thumb caressed her cheek as he kissed her slowly, keeping the heat to a minimum in the very public diner.
All too soon, and to her dismay, he kissed her one last time before breaking their connection. Michelle’s eyes fluttered open, and she brought her fingertips to her mouth.
“Wow…” Jake whispered.
Michelle gave him a small nod of understanding. She was unable to speak as a myriad of emotions ran through her. The kiss lasted only seconds to anyone that watched, but its power packed a one-two punch.
Jake linked their fingers and pulled her to a booth in the corner. He stepped aside so she could slide onto the bench when his phone rang.
He looked at the caller ID, and Michelle watched his face soften. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”
Michelle grabbed her own phone and couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the one-sided conversation.
“Hey, everything okay?... Okay, yeah. I can do that.… Do you need it now?... ” Jake chuckled, and Michelle noted the amusement in his eyes. In the diner’s light, she could finally see that they were hazel. “Hey, you married her.” Jake cast Michelle a side glance before adding, “You owe me big time.”
“Is everything okay?” Michelle asked as he ended the call.
Jake sighed. “Yeah. My best friend,” he said as he lifted the phone. “He needs me to pick some things up. I’m really sorry, but I have to make my sub to go.”
“Ah… okay.” Disappointment filled her as she looked down at her folded hands.
Jake sat next to her and turned his body to face her. “I would really like to pick this up where we left off. Do you think you could give me another chance?”
Searching his face, Michelle found sincerity in his words. What was the worst that could happen?
He stands me up, he dies, he’s married, murder…
Michelle halted her line of thoughts, making a memo to herself that she needed to stop watching crime shows. Closing her eyes for a second, she rearranged her thoughts.
“Is that a no?” Jake asked when she took a moment too long to answer. “I’d be willing to beg if you’re into that sort of thing.”
Her eyes popped open when he shifted his weight next to her. “What? No, you don’t—sorry. Yes, we can try this again.”
“Oh, good! That’s a relief. The last woman I ran over called the cops—”
“What?” Michelle squeaked.
Jake chuckled, throwing his head back for full effect. “Oh man, your face. I’m teasing you, sweetheart.”
His hand covered hers, and his face became serious. “I really would like to go out again. Preferably on purpose and without interruptions.”
“I would like that too—”
“Here you kids go,” Annie said, putting their plates on the table.
“Actually, Annie, it looks like I have to leave earlier than I wanted. Any way you can wrap that up to go and add a chicken salad sub with extra pickles to my bag?” Jake smiled sweetly at the older woman.
Annie looked between them, and her brows furrowed. “I may not be young, but I know a promising kiss. What the hell did you do, Jacob?”
“Hey!” Jake cried, his hand shooting to his chest in outrage.
“He didn’t do anything. Something’s come up. Can you wrap up mine too?” Michelle told her.
Annie looked between them one more time before lifting the two plates and mumbling to herself. “Kids these days… have to knock some sense into them.”
Michelle and Jake laughed at Annie’s retreating frame. He turned toward her, and the sweetest sad sigh she’d heard escaped his lips. Her heart beat rapidly at the look he gave her. She met this man barely an hour ago, but something about it all made her feel like she’d known him all her life.
It really was the strangest thing.
“Where were you off to when you fell over?”
“I fell over?”
Jake rubbed his rough cheek. “Well, you took one look at me and toppled over.”
“Wow, aren’t we just full of ourselves?” Michelle chuckled.
He brushed nonexistent lint off his chest. “I can’t help it if women just fall at my feet.”
Michelle watched as Jake’s head jerked toward her with the impact of Annie’s hand.
“Ow! What was that for?” Jake asked Annie as she dropped the bags and walked away.
He never got a response. The woman shook her head and shot him an annoyed look as she took her place behind the counter once again.
“Do you make friends with women everywhere you go?” Michelle teased.
“I must be losing my touch.” He glanced down to look at the text preview that lit up his phone. “Big baby,” he mumbled at the screen before his eyes met hers. “May I walk you to your car? Or were you going home on foot?”
Michelle pointed at his phone. “Sounds like you’re being beckoned.”
“He can wait however long it will take me to walk you somewhere.”
Her stomach flipped and flopped at those words. So simple, and yet the sweetness of it all caused her to feel special. Something a man hadn’t made her feel in way too long. “My car is a couple blocks in the direction we just came from.”
Jake put cash on the table to cover the food and offered her his hand. She placed hers in it, and he helped her from the booth. He refused to let her carry her own food and led her past the curious eyes in the diner.
The snow came down once again, and the icy flakes fell on her warm skin. After releasing his hand, she adjusted her scarf and he flipped up the collar to his coat. With a shy smile, she slipped her bare hand back into his. She knew it was too cold to go without gloves, but she wanted to feel his warm skin against hers.
“You probably won’t agree with me, and it’s a crappy thing to say, but—”
“But?” Michelle asked.
His smile lit up his face as he looked over at her. “I’m really glad I ran you over.”
She leaned her head on his arm and laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. That is crappy, and trust me, my wrist doesn’t agree with you at all, but—”
“But?” he teased.
Michelle sighed and playfully rolled her eyes at him. “I’m glad you tackled me to the ground too.”
Jake chuckled. “That was not a tackle.”
She raised her eyebrow in disbelief. “You’re so full of it.”
Jake only laughed. He released her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Butterflies made their home in her stomach at his touch.
“That your car?” he asked of the only vehicle left in the lot.
“Yup,” she whispered. Michelle couldn’t help but feel sad that the night was coming to an end. She was used to the routine of her life, and tonight was far from the norm. She could get accustomed to this norm, and that scared her a bit.
Jake waited patiently by her car as she searched for her keys. “Give me your phone?”
Michelle handed it to him as she dug farther into her bag. This was a daily problem for her. She really needed to stop throwing them in here or find a smaller purse. Glancing up after her fingers felt the cold metal, she found Jake inputting his number into her phone. A moment later, his own began to ring.
“There you go. Now our wrists are safe from falls. What’s your last name, Michelle with a sprained wrist?”
She shook her head and smiled. “Harper, what’s yours? Defensive Tackle?”
“Smith.”
“Nuh uh… you’re lying!” Michelle playfully swatted his arm.
“Cross my heart, hope to—”
“Don’t say that! That’s bad luck!” Michelle yelled.
It was Jake’s turn to look at her like she’d lost her mind. “Says who? It’s just a kid phrase.”
“Just don’t!” Michelle looked at the ground and sighed. She couldn’t help but feel silly for being superstitious.
“Okay, sweetheart, I won’t. My last name really is Smith. Why don’t you believe me?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry… it’s just so generic.”
Jake put his finger under her chin and tipped it up to face him. “It’s probably one of the lamest last names, but it’s mine. I’m not sure what some previous douchebag has said or done to make you feel like I’m making it up, but it’s not how I roll. I really did have fun tonight, and I really do want to see you again.”
Flakes of snow stuck in his hair, and she found herself falling into his eyes at his reassurance. If this night happened during a warm summer night, it wouldn’t feel as magical as it did in that moment.
“Save for the obvious, I really enjoyed myself too.”
Jake pressed her against the cold car. His hands dove into the hair at the base of her head, and his mouth met hers. This kiss was more forceful than the last. His lips were firmer and yet gentle. The feel of his tongue along the seam of her mouth felt great. Michelle parted her lips, and Jake deepened their kiss. He caressed her tongue with his. He explored her taste, moaning in satisfaction. He nibbled on her lips.
It was an onslaught of feelings and by far the best kiss Michelle had experienced in her life. The man knew how to kiss, and he wasn’t afraid to take charge. She melted in his touch and was grateful for the car holding her up.
The longer the kiss went, the more daring she became. Michelle slid her tongue along his and sucked on the smooth, sweet muscle. When Jake’s answering moan reached her ears, her nipples puckered.
His hands hadn’t left their spot on her head, holding her in place for his consumption, and she was seconds from begging him to explore her body.
The night was quiet, only their labored breathing could be heard. It was as if time froze for this moment. The passionate kiss warmed her to the core and left her aching to learn if their explosive chemistry would follow them under the sheets.
Buzz. Buzz.
The sound was so out of place that Michelle froze until she heard it again. “Jake?”
“Ugh… I need to go.”
Jake rubbed his lips against hers once more before pulling back and opening the door. He waited until she was settled and promised her he would call or text later that night with plans to meet soon.