Unexpected Love (Jo's Story) (21 page)

I think I love that you are making friends with my friends.  It means a lot to me.  I'm game for whatever you want to do.

Perfect.  See you soo
n


“Jake checking up on you?” Lisa smiles as we pay and get ready to leave.

“Of course.  I asked him about dinner and he said it sounds good.”  I smile at her.  I could definitely see myself being friends with her.

“Good, I'm excited.  Jake is Mark’s closest friend and it makes me so happy that I have someone to hang out with now when he is around.  I hope you and I become good friends too!”

“I would like that.”  We walk up the road to some shops and do some shopping.  They have such cute clothes for both me and the girls.  I end up spoiling the girls and finding a couple outfits for myself.  About an hour later we start heading back to the condo.  We talked about where we live and it turns out they are only about three blocks from me which is good for the girls because now they have friends that are close too.  We walk in the door and I see that the kitchen is a mess.  “Snack time gone bad.”  I smile at Lisa.

“Looks that way.  Melissa must have gone up to do some shopping and left the guys in charge.  Not a good thing,” I follow her to the porch and we walk out and see Jake and Mark by the pool with the girls.  I see Abby and Lizzy jumping into the water from the deck and smile.  “Did you guys forget how to clean up?”  Lisa looks down at Mark.

“Yeah, we got a little occupied with something else,” he flashes a smile up at her.  I just shake my head.  I see Jake wink at me and smile. 

“I will help clean it up,” I turn and walk back into the kitchen.  We are just about done when Melissa comes in the door.

“Oh no, I'm so sorry Lisa,” she says.  “I had to run and get some things for the girls and thought the guys could at least handle snack time.  Guess I was wrong.”

Lisa smiles, “no worries, we got it all cleaned up.  Did you get some stuff for dinner?”

“Yeah, Mark said you four would be going out tonight so I picked up some stuff for the girls and me.  Thought a taco night sounded delicious.”  She smiles.

“They will enjoy that,” I smile at her.  “If my girls could eat tacos every night they would.”

“Perfect,” she smiles and starts to put her groceries away.  I hear squealing from the pool and just smile.  I know the girls are having fun.  I decide to go up to the room and call Annie.  I haven’t really talked to her the last couple days and now that the girls are occupied and I know Jake is with them I can relax and tell her all the fun we’ve had.

“Well if it isn’t my bestie,” she answers.

“Hey, how are you?”  I smile.

“Good.  How’s the beach?”

“Amazing.  I haven’t been on it yet, but I have an amazing view!  I will send you a picture later.”

“What have you been doing?”

“Well, his friend Mark, the one we are staying with, his wife Lisa and I went and got our hair done and a pedi, then while we were out we decided to go to some of the local shops and do some shopping.  A lot of fun actually.”

“Really?  She better watch herself trying to steal by best friend.”

I just laugh, “Don’t worry; there is room for both of you in my life.  You would like her, she is really nice.  I think we will all become good friends.”

“Oh yeah?  Well I suppose I could use a few more friends.”

“Your funny,” I laugh.  “So, how are things with Michael?  Did you talk to him yet?”

“Yes, I did.  We sat down Saturday night after we left Jake’s place and talked.  We decided to start trying.”

“Annie!  That is amazing!  I'm so excited for you.”

“Thanks,” I can hear her smile.  “After talking to him I realized that I do want a family with him, and right now is probably no better than any other time.”

“I'm so happy for you Annie.”

“So, tell me about you and Mr. Hottie.” She laughs.

“What about him?”

“How are things?”

“Amazing.  I wish it wasn’t so amazing because I would love for him to be a normal person,” I smile.  I walk to the balcony and look down and see that the girls are getting out of the pool with the help of Melissa.  I see Jake and Mark walking across the porch to the other side of the condo. 

“So what have you guys been doing the last couple days?”

“Nothing really.  I had my meeting yesterday which I told you about, and then this morning we came down here.”

“I heard from Lucas that he stayed at your place Sunday night.”

“Yeah, he did, and last night too.”

“Jo, you little slut!”

“Just because he stayed at my house does not mean anything happened.”

“But it did right?”  I can hear her laughing.

“Well, almost, but no.”

“What?”

“We got interrupted.”

“Well that sucks for you.”

“Annie, his body is amazing,” I smile thinking about last night and today down by the pool.  “I mean I knew he was muscular, but it is crazy ridiculous.”

She laughs, “I bet.  If I had to stay fit I might look that good too.”

“Please don’t judge me, I have fallen for him bad bad Annie!”

“I know, you have to remember I was with you guys for a couple hours on Saturday.  I approve of him.  Long term, I'm talking moving in together, getting married, having kids, the whole shebang.”  I hear her start laughing again.

“Little soon for that,” I smile. 

“Ok, maybe, but still, I approve.”

“Oh, hey, I expect you and Michael to stop by the fire station next Saturday.  I think Jake and possibly a couple other guys will be there signing autographs to help them raise some money at the corn roast.”

“That’s this weekend already?”

“Yep, which means only a month until Jarrod’s memorial.”

“Yeah, does Jake know about that yet?”

“No, we kind of had a rough day yesterday after I got home so I haven’t mentioned that part yet.”

“What happened?”

“We had a pretty big fight, which turned out to be actually a good thing because we cleared the air about a few things.  Abby said some things to him that he tried to keep from me so that I wouldn’t feel guilty, but I told him that he can’t do that.  But like I said it worked out ok.”

“What did she say?”  She asks me.  I hear the door close and turn around and see Jake standing there smiling at me.

“Something about how she knew her daddy wasn’t coming home and she was glad he was there.  You know, something that little kids say but don’t completely understand,” I walk over to him and stand right in front of him.  He pulls my chin up and looks at me.  “Listen Annie, I'm gonna get going we are going to dinner with Mark and Lisa, I will talk to you later.”

“Sounds good, love you, see you Saturday.”

“Love you too,” I say never taking my eyes off of Jake’s and hang up my phone.  I throw it on the bed and put my arms up around Jake’s neck.

“Hi,” he smiles down at me.  “I love your hair,” he runs his finger through it.

“Thank you,” I smile at him still not taking my eyes off his.

“Annie?”  He asks about my phone call.

“Yes, just checking in with her.  I feel like so much has happened in the last couple days.  Apparently my brother told her that you stayed over Sunday night.”

He smiles, “oh yeah, what did she have to say about that?”

“She called me a slut, but that was after I told her you stayed last night too.”

“A slut huh?’

“Yeah, until I disappointedly told her nothing happened.”

“Disappointed?  I hate to disappoint you,” he smiles that smile at me.

I shake my head and pull him down to me so that I can kiss him.  He pulls me into him and I feel his damp skin against my tank top.  It seems like every kiss we share gets more intimate.  I pull back from him.  “Not the right time,” I smile. 

“I know that, but doesn’t mean I don’t like it.  I don’t need more, I'm ok with this,” he pulls me back into a kiss. 

We are lying on the bed just snuggling when I hear a knock.  I get up and walk to open it.  “Hey, we were thinking of leaving in about half hour.  Does that work?” It’s Mark.

“Yeah that should be good,” I smile back at him.

“Perfect.  Melissa took the girls down to the pier and said she would start supper as soon as they got back.  Hope you don’t mind?”

“No, I know they are in good hands, and they obviously are having fun.”

“Yeah, I would agree.”  He smiles then goes back downstairs.  I walk back to the bed, and look down at Jake.  He is just lying there looking up at me.

“I have to get ready,” I smile and sit next to him.  “Are you going to shower?”

“I had thought about it.  I don’t know, I enjoy just lying here with you,” he pulls me back down toward him.

“I enjoy it too, but I need a little time to get ready,” I smile at him.

He takes a deep breath.  “Jo, you amaze me more every day.”

“Where did that come from?”

“I'm just telling you how I feel.  Well, not really but I can’t say how I really feel yet.”

“What do you mean?”

He just smiles at me and sits up.  “I'm going to get in the shower.  No peeking,” he kisses my cheek and stands up.  I just smile back.  I wouldn’t mind peeking that’s for sure, but I get up as soon as I hear the bathroom door shut and the shower turn on.  I grab out one of the new dresses that I bought today, it is almost exact to the pink one that Jake likes so much but it is a dark purple.  I thought he would like it just as much.  I also found a really cute pair of heeled sandals that I am going to wear.  I slip the dress on and sit on the bed to put on the sandals.  Then I grab my phone and text Annie.

Do you think it is way too early to say I Love You?  I think he was going to say it to me just a little bit ago, but he didn’t.  I'm freaking out, because I think I might have those kinds of feelings already!

Honestly, no I don’t think so.  You can’t help how the heart feels can you?  I support yo
u
And I think that he does love you and that you do love him!

I don’t even know why I asked her, I should have already known her answer.  I sit there on the bed waiting for Jake to get out of the shower.  I look at the clock and it is only 4:30.  I'm guessing they are anticipating a long wait to sit and eat that we are leaving so early.  Although who knows, I am with football stars, it may take us no time at all to get in.  I hear the shower turn off and not too long after the door opens.  He walks out in nothing but his towel.  I just sit there, staring because it is all I can do.  He smirks at me.  “You like?”

“You will never know how much,” I smirk back and him and stand up.  “Do you?”  I twirl.

“You take my breath away baby!”  I blush at the nickname.  That is the first time he has called me by a nickname.  “Catch you off guard?”

“A little,” I sit back on the bed.  He grabs some clothes out of his bag and goes back into the bathroom.  “Jake?”

“Yeah?” I hear him ask.

“Why me?”  He doesn’t say anything.  I'm guessing he is shaking his head at me.  He walks out of the bathroom in just his cargo shorts and sits on the bed next to me.

“Because like I told you, there was just something about you from the minute I saw you.”

“Yeah, and you said you wanted to figure out what that was.  Have you figured it out yet?”

“Parts of it, yes.  First off, you are beautiful, and I keep telling you that.  Next, when I kiss you, I never want to stop.  I feel like a teenager again, getting my first kiss.  Which if I remember correctly is how you described how I made you feel.  And today, you amazed me.  You met new people and instantly made friends with them.  You were uncomfortable coming here, I know you were, but you did it because you knew that I was excited for you to come.  The rest, I'm still working on,” he smiles at me.

“What are you still working on?”

He looks at me, puzzled by my question.  “What do you mean?”

“Before, you said you were telling me how you felt, but not really because you couldn’t say how you really felt.”

He puts his hand on my shoulder.  “Jo, it’s too soon to try and figure out all these crazy feelings.  I like you, a lot.  But, I don’t want to rush things, we agreed, remember?”

I shake my head, “You seem to say that a lot.”

“Well, it’s true, and I think that it takes the pressure off knowing that we are in agreement that we should take things slow.  You know what, let’s just go out tonight, have a great time and be a fun dating couple.  How does that sound?”

“Wonderful,” I have that stupid teenager smile on my face.  He shakes his head and gets back up off the bed and goes back to the bathroom.  After five more minutes we are walking downstairs to leave.  I see Mark standing at the bar drinking a bottle of beer.  He smiles when he sees me.

“You look gorgeous,” he walks behind the bar and pours me a glass of wine.  “Lisa isn’t quite ready yet.  She got a little preoccupied,” he smiles at me.  I can just imagine what she got preoccupied with.  I look back to the steps and I seem to have lost Jake someplace between the bedroom and here.  “Where is he?”  Mark looks at the same direction I am.