Jade
EACH TIME TOMMY looked at me, kissed me—touched me, my insides confirmed I did the right thing. I stopped denying him. I stopped pretending that getting serious soon after we met was a bad thing, and I started breathing again. The life I created had me holding my breath for three years… three long years. Finally, I exhaled.
“Tell me what you want to do today, baby.” Tommy’s shadowy tone, caressing touch woke me slowly.
“Hmmm…I’d love to stay in bed with you and do everything we did last night and more, but it’s back to work for me,” I giggled, as I kissed his mouth and rolled away, taking the sheet with me; allowing my naked backside to be the last thing Tommy pictured as I headed into the bathroom for a shower.
“Hey, get your beautiful ass back in bed.”
I peeked out of the doorway. “Oh, I see how it is. You love me for my ass.” Grinning, I went back to turn the water on.
Jade…love you is too soon.
Tommy thought nothing of it and played along. “True…I love you for your ass, but I thought Dr. Roth said you couldn’t head back to work until tomorrow?”
Peeking out again, I responded.
“He did, but I called him yesterday and explained I was doing much better thanks to my hot and sexy caregiver, then I begged him to let me go back to work today.”
“I think I should be insulted. First, I’m sexy, and then you're begging the doctor to go back to work to get away from me.”
Climbing back into bed and into Tommy’s lap, I explained between kisses, “It’s not like that. I have a great deal of work to finish for the new place to open on time. But, speaking of time, I guess I’m going to be late.” Then, I showed him vividly just how not insulted he should be.
After the best morning sex a girl could ask for…in the bed, against the wall and in the shower. I dressed and left for the shoppe, leaving Tommy to deconstruct the beach house while I was gone.
The beginning of my day went off without a hitch. There were little glitches here and there, as usual, but when I reached the construction site, black clouds formed in the sky, not over the entire island, only over my future. The permits the workers were counting on this week were going to be delayed, and not for a day or two, but delayed until after the 4th of July holiday.
The foreman asked me not to worry; easy for him to say, but he assured me this wasn’t the first time a building he was working on had gotten pushed back on the schedule. It happened, and he would work around it to get Summertime Sweets up and running for its opening date.
I was worried, but for some reason, I didn’t let it get to me. The situation would work its way out. The construction woes seemed less important than they usually did.
It wasn’t some odd reason…it was Tommy. I had him in my life—and I was grateful. Things were normal…easier.
The hours flew by, so I closed up for the day and headed home for the evening.
I reached my stairs. It was then I heard the sounds of hammering, silence, swearing, and then…
“I give up!”
And what came next, were the sounds of wood, glass, and metal crashing down.
I grimaced and shook my head.
That can’t be good.
I ran the stairs to Tommy’s place, to find him standing in a cloud of white dust, as it rose in slow motion around him, while he stared at the remnants of the ceiling debris on the floor.
Carefully, I crept forward, stopping short of entering the house, by remaining in the doorway.
“Are you okay?”
Just his head turned in my direction, no smile formed on his face. He allowed the crowbar he was holding to slip from his grasp, joining the rest of the mess on the floor.
“No, I’m not okay.”
“You wanna tell me what happened?”
“Took on more than I could handle, obviously. I set out to do the impossible…and lost,” Tommy sulked, sarcastically.
“Not exactly defeated, though. And in less than six months,” I said, with arms crossed, leaning on the doorframe.
“What do mean?”
“Well, you did get the girl,” I said, with a wiggle to my raised eyebrows, and satisfaction in my smile.
His head dropped forward like a dead weight. He knew I was right. He proved that when he couldn’t hide the happiness in his smile.
He brushed the soot from his hair and walked over to me. Leaning in close, he placed a chaste kiss on my mouth, and pushed back, regarding me, tenderly.
“You’re right. I got my girl,” he said, and kissed me hard.
My girl.
The rest of our evening was spent at my house, going over color samples for the shoppe and the beach house as Tommy explained the mishap over dinner.
“I ripped out the floor and moved onto the kitchen cabinets. I was on the last one when it took part of the ceiling with it.”
“The house is old, I guess things like that are bound to happen.”
“You’re probably right. Besides, there’s no use in complaining about it. I knew there was a great deal of work to do.”
“Just add it to your list.”
He nodded and smirked.
“Enough about my day. How was yours?”
“Good, well, sort of, then, not so good.”
“What happened?”
“Let’s just say the beach house isn’t the only renovation that’s going to take longer than expected.”
Tommy put down his fork, quickly wiped his mouth, and anxiously dragged his chair closer to mine.
Grabbing my hand, “Jade, what do you say to a few days in Capri…away from all of this? Away from work, the beach house…away from people.”
Not the reaction I was expecting, but one that was tempting. Yet, one I couldn’t possibly agree to.
“I can’t,” I said and felt worse when I saw the excited look on Tommy’s face drop away.
“Listen, I’d love to go away with you, but it’s impossible right now. Even with construction at a standstill, I have my business to consider. I’ve taken off far too many days, already. It wouldn’t be fair to my staff or my customers, to go on a vacation of sorts, when we just reopened for the season.”
He nodded and appeared to understand.
“How about this…once the new building is completed and the business is up and running for a few weeks, I’ll go away with you then. What do you say?” I asked, excited at the thought of being with Tommy in such a beautifully romantic part of the world.
His mouth kissed my lips and touched my heart.
“I guess that’s a yes.”
“Yeah… It’s a yes, baby.”