Mending the Soul (9 page)

"So then you won't make me come out shopping with you all the time then?"  Nicholas asked, relieved.

"Hell no!  We'll do this as little as possible!"  Jenna reassured him.  "Speaking of, I've had it for the day.  How about we head home and enjoy our time left until our little monsters come back from the beach?"

"Music to my ears!"  Nicholas said and led her back to his Xterra.  He put her packages in the back and helped her into the passenger seat.  As he drove them back to their houses, he reached over and took Jenna's hand in his, content to just touch her in the simplest form.

Nicholas and Jenna spent the rest of the afternoon at her house relaxing.  She had made them lunch and they sat on the deck eating and talking.  They were taking the time to get to know each other better, sharing stories from their childhood and reliving old memories.  Shortly after lunch, Nicholas got a call on his cell phone.

"Hi Hun, it's mom.  I just wanted to let you know that we're on our way home from the beach and I wanted to make sure that you were home before I dropped Emma and Colby off."

"Yeah, I'm home mom.  You can drop them off here."  Nicholas said into his phone.

"Ok, we'll be there in about 15 minutes.  See you then.  Love you."  She said.

"Love you too mom."  He told her before closing his flip-phone.  "Mom said they'll be here in about 15 minutes."  Nicholas told Jenna.

"Oh, ok.  Sounds good.  I feel like I haven't seen my little monster in forever!"  Jenna laughed.

"Well, how about we spend some quality time with our kids, then meet up again after they've gone to sleep?"  Nicholas suggested.

"Good plan.  You know, I still haven't used my hot tub, maybe we can break it in tonight after they go to sleep.  Why don't you bring Emma over here to spend the night so that you aren't too far away from her."  Jenna offered.

"I think I like the sounds of that."  Nicholas pulled Jenna out of her chair and dragged her over to him.  He pulled her down so that she was sitting in his lap, then captured her mouth with his.  "Mmm, this is going to be the last time I can kiss you like this until later tonight.  I don't know if I can wait that long!"

Jenna laughed.  "You went for months without kissing me when we met.  I think you can handle waiting until later tonight."

"Yeah, but that was all before I got to experience how good it feels to kiss you.  Now I never want to stop."  Nicholas whined.

"Ok, I'll give you that one, it does feel pretty good to kiss you.  But I still think it's not going to kill us to wait until later."  Jenna said, then leaned her lips down for another lip lock.  She could feel the tingle that spread through her body, all the way down to her toes.  She had never experienced so much pleasure just from a kiss.  It kind of made her wonder how sex would be with him, if she felt so much from his kiss.  She could feel her nipples hardening, and the moisture between her legs growing, and knew that she had to stop before they did something they both would regret.  She broke the kiss, and was breathless.  "I think you better go now before the kids walk in on something more than a kiss."

Nicholas had felt the same desire in the kiss.  His pants were getting a little too tight on him in the zipper area.  "I think you're right.  I need to calm myself down before I see Emma and my mom."  He told her, then chuckled.  "Well, that did it.  All I had to do was say 'my mom', and my erection vanished."  He joked.  "But I still better head home."  He said a little reluctantly.  "I'll see you later tonight.  I'll get Emma ready for bed then bring her over.  Then you and I can spend some time getting to know your hot tub."

Jenna stood up from Nicholas's lap and pulled him up too.  "Ok.  I'll see you tonight."  She gave him another quick kiss before pushing him away, towards his house.

Nicholas kept turning around and looking at her as he made his way through their back yards.  Jenna laughed and waved each time, finally turning and walking in her own back door.  She sat on the couch and turned on the TV to wait for Colby to come home from the beach.  Jeter took the opportunity to jump onto the couch and cuddle up with Jenna while they waited.

"Jeter, you're getting too big to be a lap dog.  You're only six months old, and you're already 45 pounds.  I think we have a little problem here."  She said as she stroked the dog's head and back.  "But you're a good boy and Colby loves you to death.  I even like you a little."  She smiled.  "And I really like Nicholas a lot."  She said to herself, more than the dog.

"Mom!  I'm home!"  Colby yelled as he walked through the front door, slamming it shut after he came in.  Jeter jumped down from Jenna's lap and ran to greet Colby.  Colby bent down and pet his dog.  "Hey buddy, did you miss me?"  Jeter licked Colby's face making him laugh.  Colby rolled onto the floor, and Jeter got even more excited, jumping on him and licking him.  Colby giggled uncontrollably as he played with the boxer.

"Hey, save some of those kisses for your mom Cole!"  Jenna said as she walked into the foyer where Colby and Jeter were wrestling.

Colby looked up at his mom and smiled even more.  He got up from the floor and ran over to his mom.  She knelt down and opened her arms to him, and when he reached her, they threw their arms around each other.  "Hi mom."  He said.  "Me and Emma went to the beach today, and it was so cool!"

"I heard.  Did you miss me at least?"  Jenna asked.

"Ah mom."  Colby whined.

"That's ok.  I know you're too cool to tell me you missed me, but I can tell by your hug that you did."  Jenna said and pinched his cheek lightly.  "So, tell me about the beach.  Did you bring me back any shells?  Did you build any sand castles?"  She stood up and took his hand, leading him over to the couch where they sat and talked.

"Mrs. Tiller is so cool.  She gave us buckets and shovels and stuff, and helped us make a castle with a moat and everything.  Then she showed us how to make a turtle sculpture in the sand.  We had to knock it all down though, because some guy was running down the beach and stepped in our moat and hurt his ankle.  But it was cool while it was up.  Mrs. Tiller took some pictures of me and Jenna by the castle and turtle, and she promised she'd give me some pictures.  Can we go back to the beach sometime mom?  We could take Emma and her dad."  Colby chatted on excitedly.

"We sure can.  I'm sure Emma and her dad would love to go with us sometime."  Jenna told him.

"Good, because I like them."  Colby said and hopped off the couch.  "Can I go to my room and play for a little while?"

"Sure, if that's what you want to do."  Jenna said.

Colby smiled and headed to the stairs to get to his room.  "Come on Jeter, let's go play."  He yelled to get his dog to follow him.  Colby and Jeter disappeared into his room as Jenna watched them from the couch.

Half an hour later, it sounded too quiet upstairs, so Jenna went up to check on Colby.  When she looked in the door, she saw Colby and Jeter cuddled up on the bed, sound asleep.  She smiled at how cute they looked, then covered them up with a blanket and left the room.

Later that night, Colby was running around the house full of energy.  She knew that she had let him nap for too long when he got back from the beach, but he was so tired from all the sun that she didn't think it was a problem.  It was now 9:00 at night, and he didn't show any signs of being tired yet.  Jenna wondered how Nicholas was faring at his house, so she decided to give him a call.

"Hey, how's Emma?"  Jenna asked when Nicholas picked up the phone.

"Well, my little bundle of joy is currently a bundle of energy.  I'm surprised you can't hear her from your house right now!"  Nicholas told her.

"Let me guess.  She took a nap after getting home from the beach too?"  Jenna asked, laughing.

"Yup.  I didn't have the heart to wake her up. Same with Colby?"

"Yeah.  I didn't have the heart either."  Jenna sighed.  "Hey, here's an idea.  Why don't you bring Jenna over and maybe they'll wear each other out and go to sleep faster."

"I'll be there in 2 minutes!"  Nicholas said without hesitation and hung up the phone.

Jenna laughed as she heard the phone click, then the dial tone started.  She hung up the phone and told Colby that Emma would be coming right over.  That seemed to rile him up even more, but Jenna also knew that about a half an hour later, both he and Emma would be exhausted and ready for bed.

Two minutes after they had hung up, Emma and Nicholas were at her back door.  Emma ran in looking for Colby, and headed up to his room where Jenna told her he was playing.  Nicholas walked in, wearing a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt.  He looked around to make sure the kids were upstairs, then pulled Jenna into his arms and kissed her lightly.

"So, are we bad parents, wishing our kids would hurry up and go to sleep so that we can have a little fun together?"  Jenna asked, a little worried.

"I don't think so.  Every parent needs a little peace and quiet, a little time to themselves every now and then.  We're no different."  Nicholas told her.

"Ok, good.  I didn't want to feel any guilt tonight."  Jenna let out a sigh of relief.

After the kids calmed down a little, Jenna went up and told them both it was time for bed.  She tucked them in and said goodnight, then headed for her own bedroom.   Once inside, she went to her drawers and found her red string bikini.  She changed into it, then put a t-shirt on over it as a cover-up.  Before heading back downstairs, Jenna stopped outside of Colby's door to make sure the kids were finally asleep.

She continued back downstairs to find that Nicholas was already outside, taking the cover off the hot tub and getting it all warmed up.  She stood at the door and silently watched him for a minute.  He had taken his t-shirt off , so she watched the muscles in his back ripple as he removed the cover.  His shoulders were so broad and toned, and his back went into a 'V' at his waist.  He had the perfect shape, and the perfect muscle tone.  He was tanned a light golden brown, to perfection.

He was startled when he turned around and saw her watching him.  "Hey, the kids asleep?"

"Yeah, finally.  You want some wine or a beer or anything?"  Jenna asked softly.

"I'll have whatever you're having."  He told her.  She nodded and walked back into the house.  He watched as she walked, all he could see were her long, slim legs peeking out from under the over-sized t-shirt, and it was enough to drive him wild.

She came back out to the deck, with two wine glasses and a bottle of wine.  She poured the wine and left the bottle on the table next to the hot tub.  She handed his glass to him, her eyes never leaving his.  He took her free hand and led her over to the hot tub.  When they reached the steps, he took her glass of wine and set both his and hers on the ledge.  Nicholas pulled her closer and reached for the hem of her t-shirt.  The only time their eye contact was broken was when he lifted the shirt over her head.

Jenna stood there, feeling nervous under his gaze.  She looked down to the ground, feeling less than perfect in her bikini.  Nicholas allowed his eyes to wander up and down her body, giving a small gasp when he saw her body.  He reached over and put his forefinger under Jenna's chin and lightly raised her head so that she was looking into his eyes again.

"You are so beautiful.  I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep my hands off you tonight."  Nicholas told her, his arousal already growing.

"You're just saying that."  Jenna said shyly.

Nicholas took her into his arms and pressed her body to his.  Their hips met and she felt him poking into her.  "Does it feel like I'm just saying that?"  He asked her.

Jenna smiled and kissed him, feeling him growing more and more as the kiss went on.  "Come on, let's get in."

Nicholas helped her into the hot tub, then climbed in himself.  He took his glass of wine and handed her to her.  "You know, we've only been together since this morning, and already I'm having a hard time keeping my mind off you.  That bathing suit isn't helping much either."  He told her.

"Nicholas, can I ask you a question?"  Jenna asked.  Nicholas nodded and she continued.  "Was Leslie the only woman you've ever been with?"

Nicholas nodded.  "Yeah.  We got together in high school and were together until she died.  I haven't been with anyone since.  It's been a long, long time."  He smirked a little.  "What about you?"

"Kyle was my only one.  Although, I feel like I've been with a lot more people since Kyle cheated on me so much and I feel like everyone he slept with, I've slept with too."  Jenna laughed a little.  "But we haven't slept together in over a year.  I got sick of knowing that he was cheating on me, and I always worried that one day he was going to bring some disease home with him.  I went to the doctor and had myself checked for all the STDs and AIDS, and since that time, I didn't let him touch me again.  I was so scared waiting for the results of the tests, and that was enough to make me not want to go near him again.  To think that he was the one who put me through all that, and he had no idea, nor did he care."  Jenna told him.  "But, it all worked out in the end.  I'm clean and rid of him forever."

"I can't imagine what it was like to have to wait for those tests to come back.  I'm sorry that you had to go through something like that."  Nicholas said, as he pulled her closer to him.  He wrapped his arms around her and comforted her.

"You have no reason to be sorry.  It's not your fault.  Besides, it's over and I've moved on.  Things have been much better since!"  Jenna smiled.