Page 48 of Deny Me

Twenty

“So, this is it,” Jameson stood back and spread his arms wide in the open space. “I’ve talked to the realtor and we’ve hammered out a lot of the details, but I needed your opinion on it first before I locked it in.”

His words warmed me from the inside out. Honored that he valued my opinion so much. He’d called me last night and asked if I was available today to look at something important. Jameson didn’t usually ask for much, so I made sure I cleared my schedule. He picked me up in his truck and drove us up to the north side of Cincinnati, explaining that he’d found the perfect building in a new oversized shopping area.

“I’ve got to admit Jamie-Boy: I’m impressed.” Looking around, I took in the modern yet rustic details of the beaten hardwood floors and thick support beams throughout the room. One wall had spotlighting on a stone feature and I could imagine the liquor bottles lined up with a massive bar in front of it.

“The whole area is new and right off the highway, so it’s not too far of a drive. The owner of the apartments above us approved the bar opening. He said it would be a huge draw for renters to be able to have somewhere like King’s within walking distance.”

I stood back and watched him move his hands animatedly. His face glowed around his huge smile. It was contagious and I had to hold back a giggle of joy for him. “So lay it out for me,” I asked, wanting to see what he saw filling the space.

“That’s what I have you here for.”

“I can help you with the little designs, but I don’t know the flow of restaurants and what the best set up should be.”

He rolled his eyes, but began telling me his ideas about booth and table placement, a stage, and a dance floor. “Over here, I thought we could set up a large glass enclosure to house brewing equipment. We could make smaller custom batches here, but I’ve already talked with a brewer that could create a specialized selection for us. I’m not one-hundred percent on that yet since I don’t know how a we could balance that.”

I walked up to him and stood on my tip-toes to place a kiss on his bearded chin. “You’ll do amazing. You conquer anything you set your mind to.” He was about to lean down and continue the kiss until a knock at the front doors interrupted us. “Who’s that?”

Walking to the door, he answered over his shoulder, “I ordered pizza.”

“What? Are you allowed to do that?” I asked, shocked.

He paid for the pizza and came back with a basket too. “I talked to the realtor and told him I was trying to impress my girl and asked for some time alone to show her the place.”

Butterflies still swarmed my stomach every time he possessively called me his girl, even two weeks later.

He set the basket down and pulled a checkered blanket out before shaking and laying it flat on the ground. He stretched out on top of it and patted the spot next to him. “Don’t look so shocked. I’m giving you a surprise picnic so come sit with me.”

A laugh bubbled out and I moved to sit down next to him. “What kind of pizza did you get?”

“Hawaiian. Duh.” He opened the box and began serving the slices up.

“You’re too good to me, Jamie-Boy,” I swooned. Jameson set his phone up to play a jazz station while we ate.

When I’d had my fill, I fell back and groaned. “I think the fifth slice was too much. My pants might bust.”

“I recommend taking them off then,” he suggested.

I just rolled my eyes.

He picked up the trash and set it by the door so we could grab it on the way out. Lying back down, he reached his arm out for me and I moved to curl up on his chest. In the comfort of his arms, I relaxed and shared what had been plaguing me.

“My mom is coming to town for my birthday in a couple weeks,” I announced hesitantly. We didn’t talk about my mom much. But we didn’t have a reason to, so I tried to avoid the topic, remembering how poorly it went in Jamaica. I knew he was curious after the way Lu left last week when she asked how my mom would feel. But somehow we both settled on not talking about it.

Until she let me know she was coming to town and I knew I had to prepare us in some way.

“I know I’ve met her briefly, but it will be nice to get to know her more now that I am dating you.”

“Yeah,” I spoke softly. I loved and respected my mom with every bit of my heart. But I knew she would worry about me if she knew I’d been dating someone for a long time. She could be short-sighted when it came to relationships. She was always looking at the end and how it would hurt and damage me if I let it get too far. At least, that was what she told me. I’d never been a relationship before, so we hadn’t had to face it.

Jameson shifted to look down at my face. “Why do you sound so scared about it?”

“I’m just nervous.” I took a deep breath and prepared myself for trying to explain to him. “She just doesn’t want me to get hurt. She can be a like a pit bull with a bone when she is encouraging me to be successful.” I was rambling and doing a poor job of explaining the tightness in my chest. “I’ve just never been in a relationship and I don’t know how she will react. I didn’t even have to be in a relationship for her to drill in my head how important I was and that I needed to take care of myself. I can only imagine what it will be now.”

“I don’t get scared easily. She can come up with a thousand reasons it won’t work and I’ll give her one reason why it will.”

My heart skipped a beat and my scalp tingled wondering what he would say. Surely he wouldn’t say love. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Wh- What’s that?” I stuttered out.

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