Imperfect Love (12 page)

“They are, although they’re a bit bigger now and will leave us soon.”

Holly had no idea what they were talking about, so she just stood there and listened.

“My apologies, Leonora. This is Holly.” He winked at Holly.

“Nice to meet you, Holly. I wondered where Jake’s been all this time.”

“I promise you, it wasn’t with me,” Holly joked, making Leonora laugh while simultaneously giving Jake the eye.

“It’s a long story. One we don’t have time for now.”

“Fine, just as long as you don’t wait weeks before you show your face again.”

Holly wondered about that. Was he really that depressed over his supposed affair with the married woman? And what would it mean if she become available again? Would he leave her in order to reunite with this woman? Holly’s insecurities soon washed away as she followed Leonora and Jake to the backyard. Her heart started to pound softly when she saw a huge cage housing three lion cubs. Apparently, it was play time as they rolled around inside, pawing one another.

“HOLLY, I’D LIKE YOU TO MEET JAKE, Leo, and Amy,” Leonora proclaimed, as one of the lion cubs wrapped his paws around her arm. He was still a baby, but not as small as one would have imagined.

“How old are they?”

“Approximately two months. The wildlife rescue organization gave us permission for them to stay until they found a permanent home for them in Africa. They will be leaving us soon,” she sighed, looking sad while she watched Jake wrestle with one of the cubs.

“That one’s Amy,” Leonora offered, pointing at the feline Jake was wrestling. “When she was tiny, Jake used to sit for hours feeding her from a syringe. They have a special bond.” This last part she whispered softly.

“I can see that.”

One of the other cubs came rambling up and climbed onto Holly’s lap. He was strong and managed to push Holly back against the cage with his soft paws.

Both Leonora and Jake laughed as Holly let out a small, involuntary shriek, followed by giggles.

“Come here, Jake.” Jake pulled the lion cub’s tail and suddenly the lion cub by the same name started playing with him.

“It looks to me like both Jakes are crazy about you, Holly.”

Before Holly could utter a single word, someone joined them.

“Jake, is that you?” a male voice asked.

The man, who looked to be around Leonora’s age, opened the gate. Jake got up and shook his hand with a smile on his face.

“Holly, this is Chris. He’s Leonora’s husband.”

“Nice to meet you, Holly,” the older man greeted her, a twinkle evident in his eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Holly nodded.

They spent another delightful hour with the cubs, after which they made their way to the house for a much needed cup of coffee. As they settled around the large, oak table that served as the family’s eating area, Leonora recounted the sad story of how the lion cubs came to be at the farm.

Apparently, a nearby neighbor had kept lions without a permit. One night, a storm hit and lightning struck a large tree on the edge of Chris’ and Leonora’s farm. When Chris went to investigate the damage, he saw the lions roaming their pasture.

The storm had blown down the rickety fence their irresponsible neighbor had constructed to keep the lions caged. Chris had immediately phoned the authorities, who arrived in record time in order to remove all the lions. Days later, Chris found the three cubs tucked inside a hollow tree near where the lightning had struck. He brought the three malnourished cubs back to the farm, and applied for a temporary permit to care of them until a suitable home could be found.

Holly still didn’t know if Leo was named after Leonard, or Leonora.

Leonora continued with the cubs’ story, explaining how the minute the cubs were safe on the property she had given Jake a call. He’d raced over in a big SUV, Amelia with him. Brother and sister had sat with the cubs for weeks, feeding them and playing with them.

Another thousand points for him, because anyone who loves animals has a good heart
.

“We couldn’t have cared for all three if we hadn’t received the funds to do so from Jake and his family.”

“You are too modest. Anyone would’ve done the same.”

“I wish that was the truth, Jake,” Chris said honestly, getting up to pack their mugs in the dishwasher.

Holly and Jake stayed and visited with the couple until three, then decided it was time to go.

“That was amazing!” Holly said as they got into Jake’s car, thinking that she probably would never see wild animals up close ever again.

“I thought you might appreciate that.” Jake had both a look of sorrow and peace on his face.

“Are you sad they are leaving?”

“A little, but this isn’t the right place for them. They belong in Africa.”

“I agree.”

“You should have seen them when Chris and Leonora found them. They were literally starving. The vet provided us with a special formula to feed them, and we slept with them for days.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me and Amelia.”

“I can’t believe how stupid some people can be. I mean, you have to be pretty insane to keep grown lions in your backyard. Although, I’m sure nobody ever broke in there!”

Jake laughed. “That’s one way to look at it. But, I agree, they were pretty stupid.”

Silence took over for a while before Jake spoke again. “So, Leo tells me you don’t have a phone.”

Holly shrugged. “I don’t. I smashed mine against the wall after the last time I spoke to Brandon.”

“Remind me to never piss you off.”

They chuckled. Holly couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed and enjoyed herself so much, and the thought made her sigh a little with happiness. They drove for about twenty minutes before Jake pulled up at the mall. Clasping her hand in his much larger one, he dragged her into the first cell phone store they came upon. Her protests didn’t help one bit as he shoved a brand new Samsung Smartphone into her hand.

Holly eventually accepted it graciously.

After that elaborate purchase was made, they walked hand in hand into Jake’s favorite clothing store. Curiously watching him pick through what was on offer, Holly couldn’t help but think how much she loved his taste in clothes as well, and pondered once again why a guy like him would be interested in her.

A satisfied Jake paid for his purchases, and once again taking Holly’s hand they decided to go watch a movie. Of course, the genre was action, something she didn’t really care for but didn’t complain as the venue allowed her to sit very close to a certain heart-throb hooligan who had stolen her heart with one glance.

It didn’t escape Holly that when they entered the dark theater, he led her to the back and settled them into chairs at the end of the aisle, against the back wall. The theater wasn’t particularly full, but at least twenty or so people occupied the chairs below them.

Talking was kept to a minimum as loud voices rang out from the speakers right above them, followed by the dimming lights. As always, previews of upcoming movies didn’t grab Holly’s attention even though she’d hoped they would, because she was totally distracted. She couldn’t stop thinking about Jake. The theater’s darkness, coupled with the heat, started to wash over her body and it began to feel like they were stuck in a heatwave.

Ten minutes into the movie, Jake lifted the armrest dividing their seats and pulled her closer. She rested her head gently against his shoulder as his right arm wrapped around her body. When he began to draw circles on her upper thigh, Holly thought that she was going to pass out.

Turning his head, Jake gently lifted Holly’s chin, and when she looked up her lips were inches from his. He kissed her softly, making her stomach knot, and when the kiss deepened their tongues dueled and moved in an age old perfect rhythm. A foreign feeling she was sure was lust, moved up her chest and flushed her face. Holly started to kiss him harder and by the way he’d moved her on to his lap, told her that he didn’t mind it one bit.

Her hands became tangled in his hair, and his were moving from her ass to her legs, pulling her harder against him. She was on the verge of complaining but then remembered where they were, as loud noises from the shooting scene playing out on the big screen filtered through. Holly couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. There they were, necking in the back of a theater like a couple of teenagers, only the action was of a different kind.

“What is it?” Jake whispered in her ear.

Her body riddled with goose pimples. “Nothing important, just the movie. Is this the reason why you chose it?”

Jake chuckled. “Busted.” He closed in on her lips and kissed her again.

Holly had no idea for how long they’d been kissing, but when music started playing she looked up and saw the white lettered credits rolling on the screen.

“That must be a record,” she said.

“I could kiss you forever, woman.”

Likewise
, she thought, but smiled instead.

Holly climbed off his lap and pulled her shorts back into place.

Shit, this has never happened before.

When she’d retrieved her handbag,
Jake took her hand as they made their way out of the theater, both feeling quite satisfied.

The drive home was too short. It seemed like they’d just left and Jake was already pulling into Bernie’s driveway. The clock on the dash showed that it was just after ten in glowing red letters.

“So, I won’t be seeing you this week. Weeks are strictly for studying. But, I promise that I will phone you every day, a dozen times if I have to. However, I will see you first thing on Friday.”

Holly looked at him. “This is going to be one long week,” she confessed.

Jake leaned over, placing his hand on the back of her neck, while looking intently into her eyes. After what seemed like eons, he pulled her closer to him and drove his lips against hers for another long, juicy kiss. Somehow during their kiss, she had once again ended up on his lap with the steering wheel pressing hard into her back, but she didn’t mind. All that mattered was that she was kissing him; everything else was soon forgotten.

All too soon, Jake broke the kiss, rested his forehead against hers and sighed. “Go, before I do something I shouldn’t.” He patted her on the ass and opened the door.

An awkward exit was on the cards, and she was soon proven right when she stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face. Righting herself in case anyone was watching, she asked Jake to reach over for her handbag.

“Thank you, Jake. I had an awesome time.” Holly was mortified.

Jake smiled broadly. “Believe me, it was my absolute pleasure, Holly.” He took his sweet time in drawing out her name.

Holly felt hot and bothered all of a sudden, but then Jake knew exactly what he was doing.

“Put your phone on charge. I’ll be calling you soon.”

“Yes, dear,” she mocked, walking toward the front door followed by Jake’s laughter. She noticed, ecstatically, that he’d waited until she was safely inside before leaving. Looking out the window, Holly felt an utter loneliness fill her gut as the lights of his car faded away.

She’d sat by the window for a while, letting the events of the day wash over her, welcoming the touch of the cold glass against her forehead; it helped in cooling her raging libido. It was then she realized that she’d forgotten to phone Marabella, her boss, to explain what had happened with her hand. She jumped up and made for the landline in Leo’s office. Her new phone was still charging.

The two spoke for almost half an hour, with Holly having to answer all of Marabella’s questions as to why she’d hit Steward. After that tale of woe had been shared, she then went on to tell her about Jake. Marabella’s laughter had echoed down the line throughout her explanation, which only served to make Holly sigh dramatically. Nevertheless, she moved on to describing Jake, knowing her boss could be overly nosy when it came to men. However, despite that tiny flaw, Holly did confide in Marabella about Brandon and his trunk load of shit. Her boss had retaliated with “Dump his sorry ass!” on numerous occasions. Still, she had always been nice to Brandon when he’d come to the lodge, which in all honesty had been the right thing to do.

When their call came to an end, finally, Holly noticed a light flashing on her cell phone. A missed call; Jake.

“You going to dream about me tonight?” he asked, in a very seductive voice when she called him back.

“Why dream about you? I was under the impression that I already had you,” Holly replied with confidence.

“That’s my girl. Well, I’ll definitely be dreaming about you, and next weekend.”

Holly felt herself blushing as her mind imagined what all Jake was planning.

“You do that. At least I don’t have to come up with the fun stuff anymore.”

He chuckled. “Sweet dreams, Holly. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”

“Sweet dreams, Hooligan.”

He snorted and bid his final good night. The line went dead in her ear.

That was one thing Holly would never be able to do, disconnect first. Sighing, she put her phone down but as she did so, it beeped with a message. Smiling happily, she opened it.