Page 22 of Winter's Surprise
A week had passed since that emotional roller coaster. With Bobby’s arrival into their world, Janey was at home, and they were one person short at work. Michelle and a few others had agreed upon a system to help pick up Janey’s responsibilities.
This meant Michelle found herself at the office every night after everyone left. She knew she didn’t have to do this, but it was her way of doing things. She couldn’t focus on one thing if there were ten other tasks needing her attention.
Normally, she didn’t mind the solitude of it all. Now… now she hated that it kept her from seeing more of Jake.
They spoke on the phone or texted each other every day. He was the last person she spoke to before her eyes shut for sleep. The thought of it alone brought a smile to her face.
Jake was… her biggest fear.
He was a romantic, even after his own heartbreak. He was the gentleman she used to fantasize about as a little girl when she dreamed about Prince Charming. He was sexy to the core, and the man could tease her through the phone like no other had.
Every day she fell a little harder for him. Which meant she was terrified of things going wrong.
Michelle’s fingers rubbed her temples. “Get your shit together! Be positive,” she reminded herself.
As if on cue, her phone vibrated inside her desk drawer. Before she could even tell herself to take a breath to calm her mind, her fingers pulled the drawer open, grabbed the phone, and unlocked it.
Jake Smith: Please have dinner with me tonight. I can’t take another day of not seeing you.
A smile spread across her face, and her stomach did a somersault. When reality crashed in that she didn’t even finish one file yet, let alone checking into Janey’s, she wanted to cry. Michelle missed him, and she worried what the withdrawals of him meant.
Michelle Harper: I can’t… God I want to…
Jake must have kept his phone in his hands because his reply came within moments of her hitting send.
Jake Smith: Then have dinner with me Elle. I’m losing my mind over here without seeing you…
Another piece in her heart disappeared, and her stomach flipped over once more.
Michelle Harper: I miss you too! I have so much work to do with Janey gone.
Jake Smith: You’re going to make me pout.
Laughter burst from Michelle. A deep, from-the-belly chuckle at imagining Jake pouting to see her. Her phone buzzed again, and she was still giggling as she read it.
Jake Smith: Okay. I’ll give you tonight but tomorrow is Friday and I refuse to go another day without seeing your beautiful face.
Michelle Harper: We’ve video chatted almost every night you big baby.
Her skin flushed, thinking about some of those calls. They may not have had sex yet, but Jake was quite creative in telling her what he wanted to do to her. What heplannedto do to her.
Jake Smith: It’s not the same and you know it. I miss your smell… your taste… your warm body. Tomorrow night at six. No excuses baby.
Michelle stared at the text. Her breaths were shallow, and her legs were pressed together. When her eyes fell to the last bit, she found herself smiling like a schoolgirl. It wasn’t the first time he called her baby, but it felt different somehow.
She was being ridiculous, and she knew it. Michelle needed to tone down the emotions swirling around her head and heart.
Michelle Harper: It’s not the same. Six, tomorrow. You big baby.
She opened the drawer, intent on tossing her phone back in, when it went off with another text. Wondering what else he had to say after she agreed to seeing him, she unlocked the screen.
Jake Smith: I’m *your* big baby…
In that moment, she froze as excitement and nerves ran along her skin. This was the first time there was any kind of mention of belonging to the other. For Michelle, she hadn’t had any sort of desire to date other men since Jake had ran her over. That didn’t mean Jake wasn’t still eyeballing other women.
It wasn’t a conversation she was keen on having. On one hand, it could work in her favor and he’d be on the same page as her. On the other… she could learn he was seeing a couple of women in addition to her.
She always knew it was a possibility and planned on safe sex whenever they circled backed around to it. Her heart wouldn’t have managed learning his attention was divided. This last text led her to believe there were no others. The problem was that she didn’t know if he expected her to not date around but he still planned to.
