Mending the Soul (23 page)

"I'm sure that Nicholas won't lose Emma.  Anyone can see how good he is with her and how much she loves her daddy.  No one in their right mind would ever separate them."  Vanessa soothed her worried mind.

"And that's not all of it.  When we were saying goodnight, he got frustrated that we had decided to not have any sleepovers on weeknights when we have to work or when the kids have school.  So, he asked me to move in with him."  Jenna told her.

"Oh!  My!  God!  Are you kidding?"  Vanessa asked excitedly.  "That is so great!"

"Is it?  I mean, aren't we moving too fast?  I told him that I would think about it, and that if I said yes there was no way I was moving into his house, that we'd have to live in mine.  There are just too many ghosts of Leslie in his house for me to be comfortable there.  What do you think?  I am so confused, I don't want to make the wrong decision."  Jenna needed her best friend's advice.

"Well, what does your heart say?  I don't think there's a rulebook that says you need to wait a certain amount of time before you move in with someone.  You need to do what you feel is best."  Vanessa suggested.

"I don't know what's best though.  I mean, when I think about his arms wrapped around me every single night, it gives me such a warm feeling.  I want to see him every night before I fall asleep, I want to feel him beside me as I dream about him, and I want to see him first thing in the morning when I wake up.  I just don't want to rush into anything and end up making a mistake."  Jenna said, weighing her thoughts out loud.  "I don't know.  I guess me and Nicholas need to talk about this some more, together."

"Good idea."  Vanessa laughed.  "Glad I could help!"

Jenna rolled her eyes with a smile.  "So, you and Nathan seem to be getting along fabulously.  This has to be some sort of record for you!"

"Yeah, it is."  Vanessa smiled as her eyes got all dreamy thinking of her man.  "There's just something about that man, I can't get enough of him."

"So, is it love?"  Jenna asked.

"If it's not, I don't know what it is!"  Vanessa laughed.

"I never thought I'd see the day where a man made my Nessa fall in love!"  Jenna joked.  "I'm happy for you though.  I think this being in love stuff is doing wonders for your complexion.  Your skin's all clear, and it's got a healthy glow to it…"

"Shut the fuck up and get out of my office!"  Vanessa laughed as the blush crept up her cheeks.  She threw her pencil at Jenna's retreating form.

"Thanks Ness!"  Jenna yelled as she walked down the hall to her office.  It was about time that she was finally able to tease Vanessa about being in love!

As Jenna sat at her desk getting ready for her day, her mind started to wander over all the questions she had for Nicholas about them moving in together.  She took out a pad of paper and began writing them down so that she didn't forget any.  Jenna knew that if there weren't any children involved that she would have moved in with him in a heartbeat.  But when she thought about Colby and Emma, she became more cautious.  She didn't want the kids to get hurt as the result of a rushed decision, one that she could have protected them from.

Jenna was finally snapped out of her thoughts by the phone ringing.  She looked at her clock and realized that an hour and a half had gone by, and she hadn't done any work yet, except for writing down her personal questions for Nicholas.

"Jenna Chase."  She said when she picked up the receiver to answer her phone.

"Hi Ms. Chase, this is Zoey Davis, Nicholas Tiller's assistant.  He was trying to call you and got interrupted by an important business call and asked that I keep the connection as he finishes the business with them, is that alright?"  The woman at the other end of the line asked.

"That's fine.  I'm sure we'll be talking to one another a lot more often, and please, call me Jenna."

"Well thank you Jenna.  Call me Zoey.  I'm looking forward to meeting you.  Nicholas has been so much more pleasant to work for since he met you.  I've been his assistant for nearly six years, and this is the happiest I've ever seen him."

"Thank you Zoey, that means a lot to me.  I'm glad that I can make him happy because he does the same in return for me."  Jenna told her with a huge smile on her face.

"Well, he's ready to take the call now.  He's practically pulling the phone out of my hand, so I better let you talk to him.  It was nice finally speaking with you."  Zoey said.

"It was nice speaking with you too.  Maybe we can all get together for lunch one day?"  Jenna asked.

"Sounds good.  Here's boss-man!"  Zoey said before transferring her to Nicholas.

"Good morning beautiful."  A deep voice said into the phone.

"Good morning!  How are you today?"  Jenna asked.

"Tired, and missing you.  Think you can meet me for lunch today?"  Nicholas asked.

"I think I might be able to arrange it.  Is everything ok?"  Jenna questioned him.

"Yeah, I just want to see you and I can't wait until tonight."  Nicholas told her.  "And I talked to my lawyer and I wanted to tell you what he said, but I don't have much time to go into it now."

"Sure.  I'll meet you at noon, at the diner at the corner of 18th and State St.?  That's about halfway between our offices."  Jenna suggested.

"Sounds good to me.  I like the food there."  Nicholas told her.

"Ok, well I'll see you then?"  Jenna asked, thinking he had to get back to work.

"Noooo…not yet.  I just got you on the phone, I can't stop talking to you yet."  Nicholas mock whined.

"Well, you said you were busy."  Jenna laughed.

"I know, but not too busy to tell you how much I've missed you since I left you last night.  Have you given any more thought to what I asked you?"  Nicholas questioned.

"Yeah, I've done nothing but think about it.  I sat down at my desk this morning to start working, but my mind drifted to that and I haven't gotten a bit of work done yet."  Jenna told him.  "If you keep giving me things like this to think about then I'm going to lose my job.  She teased.

"I'll support you then."  He laughed, even though he knew it wasn't a joke.  He would be more than happy to bring home the bacon if Jenna wanted to stay home with the kids.

"Ok, now I have to go.  I have another call coming in.  I'll see you at lunch."  Jenna told him.

"Ok, see you then. Love you!"  He told her.

"Love you too."  She said before breaking the connection.

Jenna worked like crazy right up until lunch time to make up for the time that she spent daydreaming that morning.  By the time she got to the diner, she had worked up quite an appetite.  As soon as she stepped through the doors, Jenna spotted Nicholas sitting at a booth waiting for her.

When Nicholas spotted Jenna, his eyes lit up.  As she approached the table, he stood up and gave her a soft kiss on her lips.  They sat down and he took her hand and held it from across the table, slowly rubbing his thumb across the soft skin on the back.  They placed their order, and as soon as the waitress left, they started talking.

"Ok, I have a list of questions that we need to talk about before I agree to live with you."  Jenna told him.

"You're making this sound a lot less romantic than it is."  Nicholas replied, flashing a big smile across his face.

"I know, but if we don't think this through, then I'm worried that it might have a negative impact on the kids."  Jenna said.

"Ok, you're right.  We'll look at it from every angle before we do it.  Ok, grab your questions and hit me with them."

"Ok, first is what would you do with your house?"  Jenna asked.

"Well, I can either sell it or I can rent it out.  If you're really nervous about this, then the best bet would be for me to rent it out, and if you decide that you don't want me anymore, I'll kick the tenants out and move back in."  Nicholas said, half teasing, half serious.  "Or, if you decide you want to keep me I'll put it up for sale."

Jenna smiled.  Nicholas always knew how to calm her fears.  "Ok, glad to know I have options then."  She joked.  Jenna looked at all her other questions and none of them really seemed that important.  She crumpled up the piece of paper and looked into Nicholas's eyes.  "I only have one more question."

"But you had a whole list there.  Jenna, I don't mind answering your questions if it's going to make you feel better."  Nicholas protested.

"There is only one question that I need an answer to, the rest of them don't matter anymore."  Jenna drew in a deep breath.  "Where do you see this going between us?"

"Jenna, if I thought that either of us was ready for it, I'd ask you to marry me today.  I think you still have some trust issues and are trying to work past the insecurities you have about my marriage with Leslie.  And I'm finally just able to let go of a marriage that ended three years ago.  We have some work to do before I ask you to marry me, but I promise you, that day will come.  I can't see myself spending one day of my life without you Jenna.  And I think that us living together will help us come to the point where we are both ready to go the next step and make it official.  I love you Jenna, so much that it scares me sometimes."  Nicholas told her.

"I love you too."  Jenna told him, feeling more sure of their relationship now more than ever.  "And after everything blows over with Linda, I want you and Emma to move in."

"You do?"  Nicholas asked excitedly.  "Are you sure?"

Jenna laughed.  "I've never been so sure!"

Nicholas leaned over the table and took Jenna's head between his hands.  "I love you so much Jenna!"  He said before he kissed her lips.  Jenna giggled as he started placing kisses all over her face.  He didn't stop until the waitress brought their food out.

"So, what did the lawyer say?"  Jenna asked.

"Just that there's no chance in hell that biddy will get my kid."  Nicholas said.  "He said that if she does try to pursue a custody battle, then we will first go in for mediation since the family courts are too full, and if we can't reach an agreement in mediation then we will have to go to court.  It's best to settle with the mediator, because if not, the court battle could take forever."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.  Mediators are usually pretty fair, so hopefully that will work out for you."  Jenna said.

"Plus, my lawyer is putting a letter together for Linda telling her that I have done nothing wrong, that it's ridiculous for her to want to uproot Emma from her school, friends, and family just for personal reasons.  She lives in Florida for nine months out of the year, then the other 3 months she spends traveling.  How is that good for Emma?  He's going to make it sound all legal and lawyer-ly, so hopefully that will stop her before she tries to start anything."  Nicholas added.

"Lawyer-ly?  Did you get that one out of the dictionary?"  Jenna teased.

"It just so happens I did.  They were selling the dictionaries down on the street corner for $0.25 apiece.  I got one for you too."  Nicholas joked.

Jenna laughed as she looked over at Nicholas.  She couldn't remember the last time someone had made her laugh so much, and he did it with ease.  She loved his sense of humor.  She always thought that a guy who could make her laugh was always sexier than one who couldn't.  She had to admit though, she couldn't find anything about Nicholas that she didn't find sexy.  As she watched him eat, her mind started to wander to all the dirty things she wanted to do to him.  She was getting hot just thinking about it all.

Nicholas noticed that Jenna's eyes were glossed over and her face was getting red.  "Baby, are you ok?"

Jenna grinned.  "Yeah, I'm ok."  She told him.  "Um, do you have a busy afternoon today?"

"Not really.  Why?"  He asked.

"Well, I was just thinking that the babysitter was taking Colby and Emma to the zoo today to celebrate their last day of freedom before heading back to school tomorrow, and my afternoon is empty, so…"  She started to explain.

"So you were thinking about a little 'afternoon delight'?"  Nicholas asked, hopefully.

"You could say that."  Jenna told him.  "I was just sitting here watching you and thinking about how sexy you are…I guess I got myself a little excited."

Nicholas took out his wallet and threw $30 on the table.  He grabbed Jenna's hand and dragged her out of the restaurant.  "We'll take my car, I just have to stop at the office quick to get some paper work that I need to get done by tomorrow."

Jenna smiled as she got into Nicholas's Xterra and buckled her seatbelt.  Nicholas hauled ass driving over to his office, and when he parked, he told Jenna he didn't think he'd make it until they got home.  "Zoey is out to lunch, she won't be back for another half an hour, and my office has a lock on the door.  Let's go."  He said, pulling Jenna out of his car and into his office building.

As soon as they got into his office, Nicholas locked the door and shut the blinds on his window.  Clothes were shed in a mad fury before they met in a passionate embrace.  Jenna hopped up on Nicholas's desk as they joined together.  When things started to fall off Nicholas's desk from the zealous coupling, Nicholas picked Jenna up and sat back in his leather office chair, with her on top of him.  She rode him to their climaxes, kissing him at that point to drown out both of their screams of ecstasy.