Page 74 of Cinderella Screwed Me Over
After I collected myself, I listened to the messages from Patricia. I didn’t have the energy to explain everything that had happened, and I didn’t want to talk to her anyway, so I sent her a lengthy text with the important details.
Jake set a giant stack of pancakes in front of me, along with a bottle of syrup. “I’ve got to get back to work. Do you need anything else before I go?”
I shook my head. “Thank you, Jake. I don’t deserve it.”
He cupped my cheek and wiped a tear away with his thumb. “Call me if you need anything.”
I barely restrained myself from begging him not to go.
…
Mrs. Crabtree and her stories about her husband stuck with me. I went to bed thinking about her, and immediately thought of her again the next morning. As soon as I got into the office, I sent flowers, wishing I could do something more helpful.
Jake was also on my mind. He’d come in and made me dinner, even after I’d basically dumped and avoided him. Digging into the Lion Inn account seemed like an impossible task, but I didn’t have a choice. With all the catching up I had to do, I worked through lunch.
At five, I couldn’t take it anymore.
The walk to Blue was nice. It gave me the chance to prepare a speech thanking Jake for his help last night and telling him how much I appreciated his friendship, then reaffirming that he deserved a girl who had the same stance as he did on relationships.
When I got to Blue, Mindy informed me Jake wasn’t in.
I walked back to the office, got my car, and headed home. My speech got lengthier on the drive. The more I thought about it, the more I knew it was the right thing to do. Tell him I cared, but insist he’d be better off without me. Surely he’d understand that he meant a lot to me even though we couldn’t be together.
Worried I might lose the courage to give my speech if I went to my place first, I got into the elevator and punched the button for the twentieth floor.
My heart raced as I stepped out of the elevator. My stomach churned as I walked down the hall. By the time I knocked on the door, I was a nervous, sweaty wreck.
Jake opened the door and all the words I planned on saying flew out of my head. I threw my arms around his neck, and smashed my mouth to his, kissing him the way I’d been thinking about kissing him for days.
Jake pulled me into his place, closed the door, and pinned me against it. With each caress of his tongue, heat built up in my body, until every inch of me was burning. I was seconds from getting carried away and ripping off his shirt when he broke the kiss.
His chest rose and fell against mine. He ran his nose across the top of my cheek and kissed the sensitive spot under my ear, sending a delicious chill down my spine. “Hey.”
I bit my lip, barely managing to suppress a moan. “I came to thank you for last night.”
His warm breath tickled my neck. “Much better than a card.”
This was the moment to follow up with the rest of it.
“I’m on my way to meet some friends for dinner,” Jake said. “You wanna come with me?”
“I wouldn’t want to intrude on your plans. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you did last night. Even though I didn’t deserve it.”
Jake put a hand on my hip, the way he had the first night we met. And like the first night we met, it sent my pulse skyrocketing. “You wouldn’t be intruding. We’re just meeting at Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game. Tina and her boyfriend will be there, and a couple of guys I play in a basketball league with.”
Meeting his friends. More entanglement. Opposite of what I was supposed to be doing…
He slipped his hand behind me and pulled me tighter against him, making my thoughts go fuzzy. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
The grin he flashed did me in. Especially as I took in his T-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap. Casual and sporty looked good on him. I, on the other hand, was wearing a cream-colored silk shirt that didn’t seem like a good idea when it came to eating bright orange wings. “Do I have time to change?”
…
Jake and I walked into Buffalo Wild Wings. Flat-screen televisions hung on every wall, so no matter where you were, you could see some kind of sporting event playing out. He grabbed my hand and led me to a table in the back with a great view of a giant screen.
“Hey, everyone,” Jake said. “This is Darby.”
A sea of greetings came at me.
