Page 52 of Myself

A horn blares behind us, and I jump in my seat. He looks up and sees the

light has turned green and punches the gas before shifting gears. I sit quietly in his passenger seat, my hand on my chest feeling my heart still pounding.

He just asked me to move in with him! Did he? Did he really mean it? I mean he didn’t say Becca move in with me. He said you could always move in with me. Like there’s a possibility. Maybe, in the future.

He comes to a stop and says, “Wait right here,” then he jumps out of the car. I finally take a deep breath as if I’ve been holding it. This isn’t happening. It can’t be. Things like this don’t happen to me.

I lean down and dig my phone out of my purse. I pull up Ashlyn’s number and go to press call but pause over it. I can’t tell her this. She doesn’t even know we’re sleeping together right now. And what if she panics, thinking I’m gonna move and kick her out? I can’t do that to her. I place my phone back and lean back in the seat. Running my hands through my hair, I take another deep, calming breath.

Calm down, Becca. You’re just overreacting. I’m not gonna move out of my apartment and in with Jaycent. But God, that would be the most amazing thing.

The car door opens, and he slides back in. “Got us lunch,” he announces as he hands me a brown paper bag.

“What’s this?” I ask as I take it from him.

“Burritos,” he says happily. “I got you a steak burrito.” I just stare at him, and his smile fades. “They used to be your favorite. Are they not anymore?”

I look out his driver side window and see the food truck that sells the best burritos in the world. God, I forgot how much I missed New York. “No, no. They are,” I assure him. “Just surprised you remember that,” I say softly, placing the bag on my lap.

“I remember everything about you, Becca.” Then without another word, he puts the car in gear and pulls back into traffic.

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JAYCENT

I sit behind my desk while Becca is in my adjoined bathroom. We just finished eating, and I have to say it was awkward. She didn’t say much. She didn’t even seem very hungry. I scared her when I mentioned moving in with me. I saw it in her eyes. The way she looked at me as if I was joking. It was like she was waiting for me to take it back. I won’t. I meant it.

For four years, I’ve waited for her. And now that I have her, why would we take it slow? We’ve had sex. We said we love one another. Now what? I’ve only ever told one other woman I loved her, and that was Jasmine. And what I felt for her is nothing compared to this. Becca is my life. I want to make her my everything. Yes, I’m talking marriage and kids. And no, I don’t think I’ve lost my mind. I’ve finally found it.

I’m not the kind of guy who wastes his time on a woman I don’t envision a future with. Yes, I’ve had one-night stands and slept around. I’m not a saint, but that’s all I wanted from them. I also know a good thing when I see it. And Becca is that good thing. She’s the type of woman to make you feel lucky.

There’s a knock on my door, and I frown, but say, “Come in.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention when Mr. O’Kane comes

walking into my office dressed in a charcoal gray three-piece suit. Green eyes narrowed and lips thinned. “Hello, Jaycent.” His deep voice all but growls.

“Mr. O’Kane?” I ask standing. “What are you doing here?” I ask, looking from him to the closed bathroom door.

He frowns as if my greeting isn’t welcoming. It’s not. His daughter, who I just asked to move in with me, is ten feet from us. “I just got off the phone with Fredrick, and he said that you met him at the site today.”

I nod and swallow. I should have known he’d show up here. “I did. He said it would be a little longer.”

“And I told him that was unacceptable,” he says with a huff. “I was over by here and thought I would come up and go over the plans that you have drawn up...”

He stops midsentence as the bathroom door opens, and he turns his head to face it. “Babe, I ...” Becca steps out but comes to a quick stop when she spots him. “Dad?” she squeaks. “What are you doing here?” She looks at me wide-eyed, and I place my hands in the pockets of my slacks nervously. This is exactly what she didn’t want to happen, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

Mr. O’Kane doesn’t look surprised in the least, but I know he’s good at keeping his emotions hidden. He would never act surprised because that would mean something was going on that he didn’t know about. And he hates to admit that. “Becca, your mother has been trying to get a hold of you,” he tells her.

She drops her head and places her hands behind her back. I grind my teeth at her submission. “I know,” she says softly.

“Yet you don’t answer or call her back?” he asks.

She shakes her head once. “We got into it.”

He nods. “She filled me in on your lunch the other day.”

She looks up at him through her lashes but says nothing. What is there to say? Her mother was a total bitch. “I want you to come by my office tomorrow, Becca,” he says with no room to argue.

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