Chapter Eleven
Jade awoke to the sound of a car pulling out of the driveway, the rumble of the engine resembling the familiar hum of Jeremy’s Jeep. She frowned as her hand drifted to the cool side of the bed. Groggily, she squinted at the clock. 10:06.
Deciding to take a shower, she searched for a towel. She was developing new ticks like singing loudly when she was alone or humming to mask the deafening silence. Using a heavy hand, she opened and closed closets, the noise a comfort, as though it might scare off an intruder.
With every passing day, she accepted more of her emerging quirks, as though her brain could only process at a certain pace. Perhaps it was survival instincts, only allowing so much introspection in at a time.
Belting out a few bars of Jack Johnson’s Banana Pancakes—he should totally ask me to do a duet with him—the water heated her skin. As the washcloth brushed over her shoulder, she winced.
Angling her chin close to her shoulder, she held her sopping hair out of her eyes and analyzed the mark in a detached sort of way. The scale of space her ordeal held in her mind was enormous. Even without the memories, she’d never forget. The mark on her skin promised that much.
It seemed like progress to lock the emotions tied to the event in a mental box. That way they weren’t so scary to face. Acknowledging her fears was terrifying in itself. Nothing would take away what had happened. Nothing.
The idea of a stranger touching her was… Words failed her. It was a total mind-fuck, a vortex of unanswerable questions that would drive her to insanity faster than anything else. So she pushed the thoughts into the shadowed recesses of her mind and continued to sing.
As she combed out her tangled mane, making a mental note to pick up conditioner, her phone beeped. There was a missed call from Kat. Thrilled to talk to her best friend and see how things were going on Lover’s Lane, she quickly twisted her hair into a bun and called her back.
“Jade?”
Her familiar voice filled Jade with a sense of peace. “May I please speak to Mrs. Adams?”
“God, that sounds so weird!” She laughed. “How are you?”
“I’m good. How are the Keys?”
“Oh, mygosh, Jade, it’s so much fun here. Last night I actually threw up from drinking too much!”
“No way! That’s so unlike you.”
“I know! Tyson was not happy. Where are you? I called earlier and you didn’t answer. Did you cover someone else’s shift?”
“Uh, no. I’m actually at Jeremy’s … sitting on his bed.”
“What? How did this happen? You aren’t supposed to do anything fun until we get back. Start at the beginning. I want to hear everything! Oh my God, you and Jeremy! I knew you two would eventually hook up. I can’t believe this. Tyson!”
Jade jerked the phone away from her ear. “Whoa, settle down, Kat. We haven’t even slept together—”
“What? Why not? Jade, you’ve been pining after him for a year. And I know Jeremy’s no virgin.”
“Okay, let’s try to steer the focus away from how you know that and settle down a bit. First of all, we didn’t sleep together, but we definitely did some first class fooling around. I, uh, I can’t have sex right now anyway. I, um, I have my period,” she lied.
She normally told Kat everything, but there was no way she was spoiling even a minute of her best friend’s honeymoon.
“Oh, that sucks. Did you spend the night at his house?”
“Yeah.”
“So are you guys, like, an item now?”
“Well, we talked about it and we want to see where things go. We agreed not to see other people and we aren’t telling Mia. Yet.”
“That’s a good idea. Mia gets really attached and you’re already up there with Santa and the Easter Bunny in her eyes. The idea of you and her father would be like… I don’t know, Cinderella joining the family.”
Tyson’s deep baritone mumbled in the background. Kat briefly muffled the phone and explained the situation to him at an inhuman pace. “Tyson said Jeremy’s a good guy, but you already knew that. Anyway, are you going to work today?”
“Yeah. I have to go in at three. Why?”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “Well, is Jeremy with you?”
“No, he went out. What’s up?”
“Nothing, it’s just that Gloria has Trixie and it turns out Darrel’s dog allergies aren’t immune to beagle fur after all. I was wondering if you or Jeremy could take her for the rest of the week, but then I thought about you working doubles and that’s too long for Trixie to be left alone. I mean, you could stay at our house if your lease doesn’t allow dogs, but again, with your schedule… Jeremy’s really the best choice. Besides, I’m sure Mia misses her and she’ll be with him tomorrow night so—”
“Kat.” The girl could ramble for days, worrying herself into a seizure. “It’s okay. Give me Gloria’s number and between Jeremy and me, we’ll work something out.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“And like I said, you can stay at our place if it’s easier. You have your key, right?”
“Yup, and I may just take you up on that.” She thought about crashing there two nights ago but didn’t have an excuse. This was perfect.
“Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
With everything going on in Kat’s life, Jade was sure she had no idea just how much that was true. She longed for the moment her friend was back and life resembled normal again.
“Okay. Ty’s yelling at me to get off the phone. We have reservations for a couples’ massage and then we’re heading to the airport for our flight to Jamaica. I love you.”
“I love you too, babe. Be safe and call me when you get to Negril.”
“I will. And have fun with Jeremy! Bye.”
By twelve o’clock Jeremy still wasn’t back. After an hour of television, claustrophobia set in. Retrieving her latest issue of Cosmo from her car and a glass of water from the kitchen, she dragged one of the beach chairs off his back deck and placed it in a sunny patch on the lawn.
Tall sycamore trees offered a bit of privacy. There wasn’t a neighbor for at least a quarter mile. Looking around one last time to make sure she was alone, she hiked up her shorts and stretched out her legs.
Somewhere in the middle of the 40 Girlie Moves that make Guys Melt article, gravel crunched and Jeremy’s Jeep pulled in the driveway. She shaded her eyes from the sun as he walked around the corner holding a tool kit.
“Well, that’s a nice sight to come home to.”
Self-consciously, she stood and unrolled her shorts to cover her thighs.
“Don’t cover those beautiful legs on my account.” He swaggered closer and placed a soft kiss on her mouth.
Her body hummed with pleasure. “Where were you?”
“Your place.”
She stilled. “What? Why?”
“You said you needed a new lock, so I installed one. You left your keys by your purse so I borrowed them. Here’s your new key.”
She took the keys, not quite understanding her irritation. “Wow, I didn’t realize you were in such a hurry to get rid of me.” But that wasn’t it. She was more annoyed that someone went into her home while she was unconsciously oblivious—again. It didn’t matter that it was Jeremy.
His brows lowered. “No hurry, I just wanted you to feel safe in your apartment.”
“Oh.” Was that all? Well, perhaps he could replace her memory too while he was fixing things. Then she’d be good to go. “Thanks.” He did her a favor, after all. There was no reason to be bitchy about it.
“Did you have lunch?” He picked up a small toy Mia must have left in the grass.
“No, I would’ve made something, but I didn’t know when you were coming back.”
“I left a note.”
“Where?”
“On the fridge. Said I was going to run some errands and I’d be back around lunch. I guess you didn’t get it. Sorry.”
“That’s okay. I kept myself busy.” She followed him into the house.
“Doing what?”
“Nothing much. Took a shower, watched some TV, talked to Kat.”
He gave her an unsure look. “Did you tell her about us?”
“Yes.” She typically told Kat everything. She could keep their relationship a secret from Mia, but Kat … no way. “I didn’t go into detail, but I told her there’s been some kissing.”
His gaze skated to the counter. “What did she say?”
Aw, he was nervous. How cute.
“What do you think she said, Jeremy? She’s my best friend. She’s known how I feel about you for a long time and she’s married now. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I think she’s over you. She was happy for us.”
He looked relieved and then took a slow step toward her. Wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled her close and pressed his face into the curve of her neck. Her insides buzzed with tingling excitement.
“A long time, huh?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t know.” Rolling her eyes, she playfully shoved him, but he only tightened his grip. “I’m sure you had a good old time towing me along for the past twelve months.”
“I didn’t ‘tow’ you along. I was waiting for the right moment.”
“And that moment happened to be when I was all snotty and teary, having a breakdown in your Jeep?”
“Well, yeah, I picked up on some signals. Clearly, your yearning had driven you to a state of emotional delirium. It was that, and, I guess when you tried to break my nose. All serious come-hither moves on your part.”
She laughed. “You’re an ass.”
His lips pressed to hers. “You like it.”
It was true. His ass was very likable. “Feed me, Seymour.”
“As you wish.”
They had a quick lunch of deli sandwiches and chips. “I’m noticing a trend here. Your culinary skills are very bachelor.”
He shrugged. “I can do the basics.”
“One day I’m going to make you a real meal.” First, she’d have to figure out some recipes, but the idea of cooking for him seemed domestically sexy.
After lunch, she, unfortunately, had to get ready for work. She wanted to get in early to see if there had been any headway with her lab work. Her shift started in an hour and she used up an additional twenty minutes making out with Jeremy at the front door. It was the best goodbye she’d ever had.
“Call me when you’re done work,” he insisted.
“It’ll be late.”
He gave her a stern look. “Call me. As a matter of fact, stay with me again tonight.”
Her smile trembled. “Yeah?”
He gave her a slow kiss. “Yeah.”
“O—okay.”
As she pulled away her heart fluttered like a leaf stuck in the windshield wiper of a speeding car. She was so gone for him. She truly hoped he was at least half as gone for her.