Jack Kursed (39 page)

He nodded and gestured to her room.
"Going to bed?"

"Actually, I thought maybe
we could watch a DVD or something?"

"Sounds good to me."

He waited impatiently in
the middle of the stairs as she hobbled with her crutches down
three of them. He finally scooped her into his arms as the crutches
fell. Erica squealed and laughed as she held onto him.

"Jack!"

"This will take all night if I wait
for you to sloth your way around."

He carried her to the
living room and gently set her on the couch. She giggled
hysterically the entire trip. Jack poured two sodas while she
browsed his DVD collection.

In ten minutes they were
watching Vincent Price. Erica kicked her legs up on the couch to
rest her foot, and leaned into Jack. They were in a position
similar to the one they shared a few days ago, her against him and
his arm around her shoulders.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

"No. You’re hideous. Get
away from me."

She laughed and snuggled closer. "Just
let me know when you get tired and want to sleep."

"Try two hundred years
ago."

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, giving
her shoulders a squeeze. "I’m trying to watch Vincent Price
here."

"Maybe you should be quiet
and listen, then," she joked.

"Get your hair out of my face, and
maybe I will."

"Oh, you mean like this?"

She leaned back further,
tickling his nose with her hair. He brushed her hair aside, his
hand trailing across her neck and shoulder accidentally. She held
her breath and gripped his arm tighter, waiting to see what he’d do
next. Jack was attracted to every part of her, and that scared him
enough to make him take no action. Erica sighed, relief mixed with
frustration, as the moment passed.

Jack immediately regretted
his cowardice. He'd seen decades of horror, and was afraid to make
a move on Erica.

*****

It was nearly six
thirty in the morning when Tiffany dragged herself down the stairs.
Jack put a finger to his lips when they made eye contact, and
gestured to Erica, still sleeping on the couch against him. Erica
let out a loud snore and shifted, her head on
Jack
’s lap. Tiffany covered her mouth to
stifle a laugh. She crossed the living room to the kitchen to make
herself a bowl of cereal.

Tiffany had eaten her first spoonful
when Erica snored one last time. She opened her eyes and looked at
Jack upside-down.

"What time is it?"

"Time for my little partner over there
to get ready for school."

"I am, I am."

"Oh my God," Erica said,
putting a hand to her mouth. "Did I sleep on you all night? I’m so
sorry."

"Yeah. It’s no big deal. I
had trouble breathing a few times, since you sucked so much air out
of the room. And I didn’t really like these pants
anyway."

Erica’s face turned bright
red when she lowered her eyes and saw the large drool spot on
Jack’s jeans. She rose from the couch, not bothering to grab her
crutches, and hobbled and hopped across the floor.

"Excuse me," she said.
"I’m gonna use the bathroom."

"You can use the one down
here," Tiffany said. "I’ll use the one upstairs."

The bathroom door slammed
shut, followed by the sink turning on. Jack and Tiffany’s eyes met,
and they burst out laughing.

"I can hear you guys out there," Erica
called.

"Yeah. We’re laughing at a
joke Tiffany heard."

"I’m sure you
are."

He joined Tiffany at the table and
made his own bowl of cereal.

"Jack, you really want to adopt
me?"

"Yeah."

"So we’ll be...a
family?"

"That’s the plan. Me and
you."

She dropped her spoon and
circled the bar. He prepared mentally, seeing her
intention.

"And apparently...a lot of
hugs."

Tiffany hugged his waist as he sat on
the stool. He hugged her with one arm as best he could while
shoving cereal into his mouth.

"Thank you," she said.

He knelt in front of her
to give her a quick hug. "You’re welcome. You make me happy,
Tiffany. Not many mortals can say that. Now, go get dressed and
ready for school."

Fifteen minutes later
Tiffany was waiting by the front door. Jack leaned his head near
the bathroom. Erica was in the shower, a sight he'd love to
see.

"I’m taking Tiffany to
school."

"Okay."

"You’ll be okay? You’re
not gonna fall down or drown in your own drool?"

"Get the hell out of here."

Jack and Tiffany laughed together as
they left the house.

*****

Thirty minutes later Jack
opened the front door and stepped into the living room. He saw no
sign of Erica, only some clothes on the floor near the door to the
basement. He set his iPhone in the dock and played some
music.

"Erica?"

"I’m
downstairs."

He picked up the pile of
clothes, recognizing them as Tiffany’s and his, and made his way to
the basement. He turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs to
see Erica standing with her back to him.

She wore a tank-top, and a
wonderful pair of shorts. Holding up her bad foot, she carefully
balanced herself as she pulled clothes out of the basket and shoved
them in the washer. Her hair was still wet from the shower. He
couldn’t take his eyes off her as he admired her figure.

Looking over her shoulder, she smiled
and did a little shimmy.

"See? Shorts."

Jack forced a cough, trying to sound
casual. "I noticed. Why are you washing clothes?"

"I want to help out. I’m
not gonna just sit around the house."

"I told you," he said, standing next
to her to help. "Just put them in the basket. I can handle the
clothes."

They grabbed a shirt at the same
time.

"Let go," he said.

"No.
You
let go. Don’t make
me smack you."

"Yeah, I’d like to see
that."

"Stop being difficult. I
can wash clothes, Jack."

"I never said you
couldn’t. But what did you do? Hop down the steps? I don’t see your
crutches."

"I was careful."

"Shut up and give me the
shirt."

Erica playfully slapped
his shoulder, and slipped. Jack caught her easily before she could
tumble to the floor. They both laughed as he picked her up and spun
her around, their arms wrapped around each other. He set her down,
still laughing, but they didn’t pull away. Their laughter faded as
they stared into each other’s eyes.

Erica kissed him first. A
brief, gentle kiss, to see his reaction. She pulled away and
studied his face. Jack was surprised for a moment, and then leaned
in to steal his own kiss. He ran a hand through her wet hair and
let it settle on the back of her neck.

She sighed into his mouth,
and hooked her broken foot behind his knee, for support as much as
passion. He lifted her onto the dryer, drawing a giggle from her
before she reached for his face again. She brought her legs around
his hips, pulling him in closer, and shivered slightly when he ran
a hand down her bare leg.

"I knew you'd like my
legs."

"You've been hiding them from me on
purpose."

They kissed once again,
the gentleness gone. Erica reached for his shirt and pulled it over
his head, dropping it to the floor. He was nearly done returning
the favor, her shirt up around her neck, when Jack took a deep
breath and backed away. It took all of his willpower.

"Hold on. Wait."

Erica stared at him as she
pulled her shirt back down. "I'm sorry, did you just tell me to
wait? What's wrong?"

Jack's erection was asking him the
same thing. "I thought you said you didn't want to get involved
with a parent."

"I tried, Jack. I really
did. But you are nicest, most caring man I've ever met, and it
doesn't hurt that you're hot. And Tiffany actually had a good
point. I won't be her teacher forever."

Jack laughed, not at Erica, simply her
choice of words. Nice and caring weren't adjectives he'd use to
describe himself.

"Your legs are very
powerful," he said. She crossed her legs, smiled at the ceiling,
and put a finger to her chin, striking a cute pose. "But I don't
know if we can do this."

He couldn't believe the words coming
out of his mouth.

"Why not?"

"Because I like you. I
don't like to have sex with women I like."

She laughed and
shook her head. "That's funny, one of the reasons I want to strip
you down and make you scream is
because
I like
you."

He laughed and stepped
toward her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She ran her hands
down his bare chest before letting them settle on his
hips.

"This is new to me,"
he said. "I...
really
like you, as stupid as that sounds."

"This isn't a cop-out, is
it? I didn’t think so at first, but I know you find me attractive,
even if I hate what I see in the mirror."

"Are you kidding? Are you on
crack?"

"Now that's romantic."

"Sorry. No, this isn't a cop-out. The
things I would do to you...just give me some time."

"Isn't that what the chick
usually says?"

He laughed as she grabbed the front of
his jeans. She pulled him in for one more hard kiss, but kept her
hands to herself.

"I’m a patient woman. I
can wait." She grabbed him by the back of his neck and nibbled on
his ear before trailing her lips across his skin. Jack shuddered as
goosebumps shot across his flesh. "But if I'm waiting, I will
definitely have my fun."

His erection was almost
gone until Erica brought him back to full attention. He leaned on
the washer as she hobbled past him. She winked at him before
grabbing the railing and hopping up the stairs.

"Maybe I found the one person who can
finally stop my heart and kill me."

*****

Jack and Erica had a fun
day. He spent time cleaning while she sat at the bar, working on
schoolwork for when she returned to work. They decided to go to
lunch and a movie. In the deserted, darkened movie theater Erica
lifted the armrest between them and scooted closer. She kissed him
on the cheek and interlaced her fingers with his own.

He was a bundle of nerves
as his attention was divided between the movie, her incredible
figure, and their holding hands. He never held hands with anyone
before, at least outside the bedroom. Six months ago he would have
taken her to bed, and forgotten about her the next day. He didn’t
believe it was possible to forget about Erica now.

Part of him regretted
backing down in the laundry room. But treading emotional waters was
new for him, and he wanted to fully understand his feelings before
he gave in to Erica.

The last time he had sex with a woman
in his own home, she cursed him.

After the movie ended and
the lights came on Jack helped Erica to her feet as he grabbed her
crutches. She clutched his shoulder with her free hand, and they
locked eyes once again. They didn’t kiss, but they could both see
there was more than passion happening. Looking into her eyes, Jack
could see she cared about him. That frightened him more than
anything he’d ever experienced.

Erica joined him in
picking up Tiffany. The child played with her friends as school let
out. She grabbed one of her friends and pointed her in the
direction of Jack and Erica, talking excitedly. Jack read her
lips.

That’s Jack. He’s my dad
now.

He smiled as Tiffany ran
from the playground to the truck. Erica scooted to the middle so
Tiffany could slide in.

"Hi Jack. Hi Miss
Hernandez." She looked at the teacher. "Did Jack tell you he’s
gonna adopt me? We’re a real family now."

"He told me all about it."

"I’ll be able to get hugs
whenever I want, and bedtime stories. Maybe I’ll be able to have
sleepovers."

Jack smiled at Tiffany before slumping
his shoulders at Erica. "Fun."

After dinner Jack washed
dishes in the sink while Erica stood next to him drying with a
towel. Tiffany danced in the living room to the music playing on
the iPhone. He glanced over his shoulder and stifled a laugh at the
girl’s strange version of dancing, although he knew he couldn’t do
any better. He cringed as Tiffany took her dancing to the next
level, singing the words to the songs.

"What did I get myself in
to?"