Dating Delaney (11 page)

* * * * *

Molly’s text chirps at me. When I finally read it I can’t
help but chuckle.:

Is MagicMouth attending the fourth?

Yup. EEEEE!!!!!

Everyone’s excited to get to know him.

Everyone better back off come bedtime ;)

Ha!

See you in 2 days!

Later Babe.

Today’s the last day I have with Claire before taking her to
her dad’s for her week away. I decided to have an at-home spa day with her. We
spared no expense. We had gotten manicures and pedicures during the morning and
we were now home and onto the facial portion of our day. We change into ratty
clothes so that it won't matter if we get any of our mud masks on our clothes.

“Put the sliced cucumbers in that bowl over there for now,
we’ll need those for our eyes,” I say and she does as she’s told while I mix up
our mud masks. I pull both of our hair into messy ponytails and then apply her
mask for her. When I’m done she does mine for me. She takes the cucumber bowl
out to the deck while I put on the Mellow playlist and turn the volume up loud
so we can hear it outside.

“Okay, now you lie down and put the cucumbers on your eyes,”
I instruct.

“Now what?” she asks.

“Now, baby, we lay here for a while, listen to the music,
and relax,” I say. I lie down on the deck in the sun next to her and place the
cucumbers on my eyes. We settle into silence together and bake in the sun. It
feels glorious: warm sunshine beating down on us, the music blaring from
inside, and momentary silence with a seven-year-old.

Jake

“Holy shit! Laney?! Laney, are you okay? Claire?!!” I scream,
racing to where they lie motionless on the deck. There’s red splattered
everywhere and something’s very wrong with their faces. They aren't moving. Why
aren't they moving? Holy fuck. My heart skips a beat as the thought that
something’s very, very wrong with them crosses my mind. I reach Laney first and
lean down to shake her.

“LANEY! Laney, are you okay?” I scream at her in terror.
Then strangest thing happens. I notice Claire sit up and the cucumber slices on
their faces.

“What are you doing, Jake? We’re
trying
to relax,”
Claire scolds.

“What?”

“Yeah, Jake, what are you doing?” Laney laughs, staring up
at me with amusement.

Relief washes over me and instead of answering, I pull both
of them into a hug.

“What the hell? I saw red splatter, lifeless skin, and no
one moving,” I explain.

“Awww, Claire, he was worried we were hurt,” Laney laughs.
Claire starts giggling too. “We’re having a spa day. These are my old painting
clothes…last room I painted was red, and these are mud masks.” She pulls a
finger down her face, still laughing, creating a big dollop on her fingertip,
then wipes it on my face. “I think you need to relax more than we do,” she
says.

I can't believe what a total idiot I have just made of
myself. Both girls are laughing at me and I can't keep mine in anymore. A deep
belly laugh blows out of me. I lie back on the deck between them and stare up
at the cloudless sky, laughing.

“I can't believe you were so upset,” Laney says, rolling her
head toward me.

“Well, no one wants to find dead people.” I kick myself for
playing it down.

“Right,” she deadpans.

I grab her hand and kiss it. “Of course I was upset. I care
about you.”

Her eyes come to mine, searching for something. I hold her
gaze until she finally rolls her head back to face the sky, unsure as to
whether or not she found what she was searching for.

“Do we take them off yet?” Claire asks.

“Yeah, we can wash them off now.” Laney pushes up onto her
elbows.

“Please wash them off, you two are seriously freaking me
out,” I joke. Claire’s mouth hangs open, slack, and she slowly gets to her feet
and then starts chasing me in her best zombie impression. I can't be sure if it
was my squeals ringing out through the yard or Laney’s laughing at us. But five
minutes later both girls headed inside to wash off the terrible crap on their
faces and I resumed what I came to do: breakdown scaffolding. I take my time
doing so, wanting to stay as long as possible and prolong the inevitable. The
job is finished. I won't be seeing Laney every week--hell, almost every day. My
chest tightens at the thought. She’s really gotten under my skin.

Delaney

“Bye, Trent, bye, Claire! Have a good week,” I call to them
as they climb into Trent’s car. I hop back in my own car, plug in my phone, and
queue up my “oldskool” playlist. I laugh at myself every time I see it and the
songs pump me up and bring back the best memories. "If You Were Here"
from the
Sixteen Candles
soundtrack comes on. Instantly my mind conjures
up thoughts of Jake. How ironic. Ha! If only I was a hot Molly Ringwald. That
final scene when she comes out of the church and the cars pull away revealing
that hottie Jake standing at his car waiting for her? Specifically the moment
she checks behind her to make sure he’s actually looking at her and then mouths
“me” to him? That’s how I feel every time my Jake smiles at me, any time he
flirts with me. I can't help but wonder what the hell he sees in me that I’m
not seeing in myself. “The Choice is Yours” comes on next, taking me back to
1991. By the time I pull into the driveway, I have the windows down, Bonnie
& Shyne blaring, and I’m singing along while car dancing as best as a white
middle class girl can to any hip-hop tune. I pull into my spot while “Pour Some
Sugar on Me” starts. After putting the car in park, I sit back enjoying the
song, one of my favorites, for a moment. The second verse begins.

“ANOTHER DIRTY SONG, EH?”

I jump as far as my seatbelt allows and look out my open
window to find Jake beaming at me. I turn the volume down and kill the engine.

“You didn’t have to turn it off, I like that song, reminds
me of eighth grade,” he reminisces. I burst out laughing.

“I was eight when this song came out,” I inform him. He
gives me an evil look. “Then why do you know it?”

“Oh come on. Everyone knows it, but it reminds me of many
fun drunken nights out in college,” I explain.

“Oh? Do tell,” he prods. Fine, I’ll bite.

“Well this one time, my girlfriend and I got up on the bar
and danced to it while shaking our Coronas up and appropriately shaking them
all over the boys lined up at the bar.” I giggle remembering how Anna and I had
thought we were the shit, but were probably super annoying.

“You? You danced on a bar?” Jake asks, taken aback.

“Yes, me. I know I’m a mom
now
, but I was kinda wild
in college…well, compared to now, anyways.”

Jake laughs and his perfect dimples appear. “I just can't
picture it, Laney.”

“Well you can ask around if you must,” I joke. “Hey, why are
you here? The job’s done, right?”

“Yeah, it is. I’m just collecting the last of my stuff. I
start a new job after we get back from the Fourth.”

All of a sudden I’m not smiling anymore. I’ve really enjoyed
seeing him around the house and I realize I don't want him to go. I don't want
to
not
see him almost every day. He seems to sense my change in mood before
even I do.

“Hey. We can still see each other, Laney. I’d still like to
see where this goes,” he says, gesturing between our bodies.

“Yeah, of course,” I nod. He leans in through the open
window and sweeps a gentle kiss across my lips, instantly quelling any negative
thoughts in my brain.

Jake

“This is it, you can park right there,” she says and points
to the side of the road behind another car. The house we’ve pulled up to is no
small lake camp. It’s a gorgeous house right on the lake. I put the truck in
park and move to unbuckle my seatbelt as Laney does the same. She looks amazing
today. Her eyes are full of excitement. Her long brown hair is braided to the
side, hanging over one shoulder and she’s wearing a little black sundress
showing her perfectly tanned skin, and black and tan stitched cowboy boots. I
hop out of the truck and make my way around the hood to get her door for her.

“Why, thank you,” she teases.

“Anything for a pretty lady,” I return and she snorts. I
grab our bags out of the bed, swinging them over my shoulder, and as I turn I
catch her heated gaze drifting over my body. Her bottom lip slides between her
teeth, attracting my attention to her mouth and the temperature suddenly spikes
between us.

“See something you like?” I tease. A blush creeps up to her
face and her eyes dart to the ground before snapping out of it and smiling up
at me.

“Yeah, I do,” she shrugs and turns on her heel, heading to
the door. I try to wipe the smirk off my face before following her in.

The radio is going and four couples are milling about,
putting things away in the kitchen and bedrooms.

“Okay, so everyone, this is Jake,” Laney introduces. Four
men come over to shake my hand.

“Ryan. Nice to meet you.”

“Brent,” the next one says.

“Miller. Pleasure.”

“Adam, Ellie’s better half,” Adam jokes. Ellie swats him
with a towel and laughs.

“You remember the girls, right?” Laney asks and I nod.

“Nice to see you all again. Thanks for having me,” I tell
them.

“Pleasure’s all ours. Now Laney won’t be bugging us all
night to ‘get a room,’” Ryan laughs.

“Hey!” Laney cries. “I don't do that. You guys are mean,”
she pouts and I think it’s the most adorable pout I’ve ever seen.

“You’re right, usually you just get tanked and provide the
entertainment,” Brent chimes in.

“I have to do something to prolong bedtime. It’s pretty
annoying listening to Miller scream out-
oh yea mama give it to me you dirty
slut!
all night long.”

Everyone chortles as Miller quickly ducks out of the room,
flushed. Once the razzing dies down, Laney gives me a tour of the house. She
claims a room downstairs and after we put our bags away she leads me out the
back door. There is a small green lawn with lots of chairs around a fire pit.
Twenty feet from the fire pit is a small sandy beach and to the left is a long
dock where a pontoon boat sits tied up. The water looks clear and cool.

I get called over to the screened-in tent where the guys are
selecting beers and opening bags of chips. I join the guys and watch Laney as
she heads down to the chairs and spreads her towel over one before sitting down
and joining her friends. I grab a beer for myself and her and head to where
she’s sitting.

“Thirsty?” I whisper into her left ear. I reach my arm
around to her front with the beer in it. She tips her head back to look up at
me. The sun shines on her hair revealing natural red highlights here and there.

“Parched. Thanks,” she says as she takes the beer from my
hand.

“It’s a gorgeous day out, nice and hot,” Ginny comments from
a chair. I sit in the available chair to Laney’s right and twist the cap off my
beer. “Do you mind?” Laney asks, holding her beer out to me.

“Not at all.” I take the beer, twist the cap off, and go to
hand it back to her, but stop short.

She’s standing, stripping her sundress off over her head, revealing
a perfectly rounded butt and muscled legs. She tosses her dress on the chair
behind her. She’s wearing a simple black one piece that shows off a lot of boob
and I can’t tear my eyes away. From the leg of the suit there is a tree trunk
showing on her thigh and as she turns I see the tattoo I noticed from the bar
that first day I met her.

It’s a Japanese cherry blossom tree. It looks as though the
trunk of the tree starts at her thigh and works its way up her side, leading to
the blossoming branch that spreads over her shoulder blade. It’s intricate and
large and sexy as hell. She pulls her hair tie out and runs her hands through
the braid to help it come out.

“See something you like?” she laughs. My head snaps up to
her face, embarrassed at being caught ogling her in front of her friends.

“What?” I choke out, causing her to laugh harder.

“You know what,” she winks. I think she’s going to sit down
to tan but instead she walks towards the dock. When she gets to the wooden
slats she sprints to the end and cannonballs into the water. Hoots and hollers
ring out from the beer tent from the guys while her friends mutter about her
being crazy. I think she’s amazing. I watch her head pop out of the water with
an ear-to-ear grin on her face.

“Come in, Jake! It’s so warm!” she shouts as she swims
toward shore.

I stand up, kick off my flip flops, and pull my shirt over
my head to join her.

Delaney

Holy hell. I think I’m going to fall in love with this man.
He strips his shirt off, revealing the peaks and ripples of his perfectly
sculpted chest and abdomen and suddenly I forget how to breathe.

His suit hangs low off his hips, taunting me. Electricity
streams through my body as I take in the thin line of dark hair trailing down
his torso, disappearing into his shorts. His muscles flex with every step he
takes as he jogs to the end of the dock and jumps into the water. His entrance
into the lake splashes my face, jarring me from my dirty thoughts. His head
pops up and he swims in my direction, smiling. When he gets to me I’m still
treading water even though I can touch the bottom. He stands, the water lapping
at his chest.

“You can stand up, you know,” he says.

“I don't like to touch the bottom.” My nose wrinkles. His
arm cuts through the water, wraps around my waist, and pulls me into him, my
inner thighs hugging his hips as I wrap my legs around his waist. I bring my
hand up and place it on his pec and when I do, it flexes. I like that his
muscles twitch when I touch them. His thumb toys with my bottom lip while his
other arm is wrapped around my midsection. I adjust myself slightly and hear
his breath hitch. It’s not hard to feel his arousal with his hips snug between
my thighs. His eyes lock on mine as his thumb leaves my lips, replacing it with
his mouth. It’s a short kiss but it’s so passionate that it sucks the air out
of my lungs, leaving me panting when he finally pulls away. If there weren't
four couples sitting on the beach right now watching our every move I would
drag him out of the water and to our bedroom. Screw that, I’d take him right
here in the water. But, I can't, because there are four couples sitting fifty
feet away, all taking great pleasure in watching our little show and I know
I’ll never hear the end of this later on. Jake smiles down at me and starts
moving us toward the beach. “Uh, Laney, I need you to hop down,” he says and
grins at me.

I pout. “Why?”

“Because if I move any farther with you grinding into me, I
won't be able to get out of the water for a while,” he says. I laugh at his
honesty, roll my hips into his one last time--I hope seductively--and unwrap
myself from his waist. He reaches down, adjusting himself before we keep going.
This day will not end soon enough. I could care less about the food, my
friends, or the fireworks at this point. All I want is Jake. We exit the water
and reclaim our seats in the yard.

“How’s Claire liking camp?” Ellie asks.

“She loves it. It’s mostly the same kids from school so she
knows a lot of them already. What about yours?”

“Ana likes it a lot but Billy…he’s just so shy,” she says,
shaking her head.

“Enough about kids!” Ginny chastises us. “We actually have a
whole twenty-four hours kid-free, let’s attempt to pretend we are wild
twenty-somethings again, yeah?”

“Anyone interested in a boat ride?” Molly suggests.
Instantly all the men holler yes. We set down our drinks, grab our towels, and
head to the boat.

“There’s a great sandbar we usually stop at,” I tell Jake as
we stroll down the dock.

“Yeah?”

“Mmmhmm,” I murmur as he takes my hand to help me onto the
boat. I claim a seat by the back gate and wait for everyone else to settle in.
Jake sits close, slinging an arm around me.

“Remember our last boat ride?” he breathes into my ear. It’s
nearly eighty-five degrees outside but his words, his breath on my neck, causes
me to shiver.

“I do, yes,” I say.

His fingers glide down my arm slowly and then back up before
he pulls me even closer into him. “I don't think the sandbar will be quite as
good,” he whispers.

I tilt my head back, resting it on his muscled bicep and
stare into his brown eyes. “It definitely won't be,” I mumble, lost in his
gaze. He leans down and kisses the tip of my nose.

He’s been very close to me all day, always touching me
somehow. Normally I don't like clingy, but he’s not being clingy, he’s being
affectionate without being stuck to me. It’s really quite sweet. Even when he
sits with the guys, when he walks by me he leans down to kiss my neck or
shoulder before passing by. I wonder if it’s just that new relationship feeling
or if he is actually one of those guys who is always like that.