Chance Encounters (8 page)

She collapsed on top of him, spent. He wrapped his arms
around her and held her. She wondered what he would write about her in his
journal. His journal, she had to give it back to him. She slowly pulled away
and got out of bed.

“You are not going to try to run away, are you? I think
you’d definitely bruise my ego if you did.”

Emma shook her head. Reaching in her bag, she pulled out his
journal and turned back to the bed, hopping back in. “Not a chance. I’m
perfectly happy where I am.”

He leaned in and gave her a deep kiss. She pulled away and
handed him the book.

“Wow, my book! I thought it was gone for good. See, ducky …
it reaffirms that this was fate.”

He leaned in and kissed her again. She drew back from him.
“You aren’t mad that I have it?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Why would I be mad? I have
it back. It’s not like some stranger is reading it, and it just restates the
fact that this, here right now, was meant to happen.”

She laid her head down on the pillow next to Jacob. “What if
I told you I read some of it? Would you be mad?”

He rolled on his side and propped his head on his hand so
that he was facing her. “I don’t know who caused you to be so guarded and have
to question everything that you do, but it is fine. My life is an open book. I
don’t pretend to be something I am not, and I live every day to the fullest. My
journals are my way of documenting those moments. So that someday I’ll be able
to look back and know that I lived. The only disadvantage is …” He ran his
finger along her neck and down her chest until he began peeling the sheet off
of her. “You know more about me than I do about you.” He began kissing her
neck, and then lowered himself onto her chest. He playfully pulled the sheet
over their heads, as he made her squeal in delight.

A few hours later as they lay in each other’s arms, Emma
broke their silence. “What will you write about me in your journal?”

Jacob lay with his eyes close on the pillow, and he grinned.
“Oh, I believe I may need a whole separate journal for you. I am hoping this journey
continues for a while.”

She reached over and kissed him gently on his cheek. She had
never expected to feel this way about someone new. She still had mixed emotions
about Matt, but Jacob was so completely different from him. They were like day
and night; there just was no comparison. She wondered what would happen to them
once tomorrow came, when her car was fixed and she had to continue on to New
York to her new life. She didn’t want to think about it. For once she wanted to
enjoy the here and now. Jacob opened his eyes and watched Emma contemplating
the thoughts in her mind. “So tell me about him, this man that broke your
heart.”

Emma quickly snapped out of her own thoughts. “What makes
you think I was thinking about that? Maybe I was thinking about what we are
going to do tomorrow.”

His tone changed. He lost his witty bantering, and became
serious. “I sense the same sadness in your eyes that I noticed from across the
diner, the first time I saw you.”

Emma wasn’t used to someone reading her so well. Even in all
her years with Matthew, he was never able to read her the way Jacob was. Jacob
seemed to know her every look, her eyes, her heart. She sat up and pulled the
sheet around her.

“His name is Matthew. We were together for eight years.”

Jacob began running his thumb up and down the length of her
arm as she spoke. “We were engaged to be married. Our wedding is, was, set for
a few weeks from now. We weren’t engaged for very long. Actually, I never
thought it would ever happen. Matthew never seemed to see the importance of a
wedding ceremony. He always stated that it was only a piece of paper, and he
never felt it was a necessity.” Jacob stopped rubbing her arm. He sat still as
she continued to tell her story.

“I love my job. I have worked really hard to get to where I
am. So, when it all finally paid off and I got the promotion of my dreams, I
was so excited. I left work early to surprise Matt with the good news. I
couldn’t wait to share it with him. Everything was finally coming together. I
finally felt like I was going to have it all: a husband who was a successful
surgeon, the money, the prestige. I honestly thought it was everything I ever
wanted.” She wiped a tear that began to form from her eye, and felt embarrassed
for crying if front of Jacob.

“I planned a romantic dinner for the two of us so that I
could share my good news with him. But, it was me who got the surprise when I
walked into our bedroom to find him in our bed with someone else.” Emma could
feel Jacob’s body tense up.

“Ahh betrayal, that explains a lot about your hang-ups.” He
tried to say it facetiously, but his own voice gave him away. He was starting
to fume over the thought of someone hurting her the way that Matt did. “I hope
you squashed his arse?”

Emma snickered at his comment. “Your accent just makes
everything sound comical.” She reached over and planted a kiss on him. “Yes, I
left. I packed up all my stuff, accepted the new job, and here I am.”

Jacob rolled on his side. “Let me guess, he’s the kind of
guy who flashes around what he’s got, right?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Well, when we first got together we
both made very modest incomes, but yes, when the money started to roll in, he
went wildly extravagant. He only wanted the best.”

Jacob’s tone changed. “Then what took him so long to decide
to propose to you? I don’t understand that. If he was into the best, and the
finest, then I don’t understand what could possibly take him so long to commit
to you. I would have snatched you up from the very beginning.”

Emma shrugged her shoulders. “I really don’t know. It
bothered me for a very long time, but my best friend, Renee, convinced me to
tough it out. She claimed that I should be more appreciative of what I have,
that any girl would be happy to be in my shoes. So, I settled for a life that
really didn’t feel like mine. I spent this last few days driving and reliving
everything in my mind. I was just so wrapped up in that lifestyle, that I lost
sight of who I really am, and what I really want.”

He brushed a hair away from her face. “The bloke is a damn
fool. You are a total package, Emma. You wear your heart on your sleeve. You
are hard-working, ambitious, and smart. I also see under that tough exterior of
yours, you are a free spirit like me. I can sense it, and trust me, I am never wrong.”

Emma leaned into the crook of his arm. “I don’t know what I
am, Jacob, but I do know that I am exhausted. I’ve had a hell of a day and I
just want to stay right here where I am.”

He stroked her hair until he noticed her breathing began to
change. She had fallen asleep. Jacob took a deep breath, knowing he was in
trouble. He’d broken his number one rule: never fall in love. He knew he was in
love with her, which was something he himself never thought was even a
possibility for him. Sure, he’s cared for his share of women over the years,
but never enough to wonder about his future. He fell asleep with her tightly
wrapped in his arms.

EMMA OPENED HER eyes and had to give
herself a minute to remember where she was. The memories came flooding back of her
night with Jacob, and she found herself smiling. She reached out for him, but
he was no longer beside her. She quickly sat up and looked around the hotel
room, but he was gone. She wondered where he could have gone. Did she scare him
off? She got out of the bed and had begun getting dressed when she heard the
door creak open. Jacob teasingly shouted out, “Don’t you even think about
putting those clothes back on! I’ll just take them right back off again.”

He put a tray with coffees and chocolate chip muffins down
on the TV table and treaded his way over to Emma. “Good morning, beautiful. Did
you sleep well?”

“Like a rock,” she answered playfully as she grabbed hold of
the front of his shirt. Jacob began slowly backing up until he sat on the side
of the bed. He hungrily pulled her on top of him. They made love to each other,
this time with less resolve. Emma noticed the change. Jacob made love to her
tenderly, not with the hot urgency she felt the night before. She clung to him
as if he were the very air she needed to breathe. She never knew she could feel
this way. She gave into him with everything she had in her.

Lying there, feeling completely exhausted, Jacob kissed
Emma’s hand and threaded his fingers in between hers.

“Our coffee is going to be cold by now,” Emma mentioned.

Jacob hopped out of bed and walked over to the tray. Picking
up a coffee, he held it to his mouth. “Ahh, well I don’t know about you, but I
just love cold coffee. It’s very popular where I am from,” Jacob teased with a
totally straight face. Emma chuckled.

“I thought you Brits drink tea, not coffee?”

“It’s all relatively the same really.”

He forced himself to take another sip of his cold coffee.
His facial expression made it evident that he did not like the cold coffee, but
he drank it anyway, just to prove his point. He handed her a muffin. “Well at
least we can salvage the food. Eat up, I have a surprise for you today.”

Emma peeled off a piece of the muffin. “Really, you have my
undivided attention then. What is it?”

“You’ll have to wait and see,” he stated as he touched the
tip of her nose with his finger. Emma broke off a piece of the muffin and
stuffed it into his mouth. He grabbed her around her hips and drew her to him.
She snuggled into his chest, and breathed him in. She loved the way he smelled;
it reminded her of the woods, deep and masculine. She could have stayed like
that all day.

They heard someone knocking on the door of the room next to
theirs. They could hear housekeeping call out. Jacob looked down at Emma. “I
suppose that is our cue to get a move on.”

They quickly changed into their clothes and slipped out of
the room before anyone realized they didn’t belong in the hotel.

Once they were outside, Jacob stopped at a pay phone. “I am
just going to give Lena and Todd a ring. They are probably wondering what’s
going on.”

She nodded her head. “Okay. I’ll just be over there on the
bench.” She turned to walk away and he gave her a swat on the backside. She
turned around, and Jacob winked at her.

Lena answered the phone, “Hello.”

“Good morning, dove,” Jacob practically sang out.

“Well hello there, Jacob. I am going out on a limb here and
assume that you are still with the beautiful Emma?”

Jacob made a sound into the phone. For the first time he was
speechless.

“Oh my God, Jacob, are you actually falling for this girl?”
Lena called out to Todd and told him about Jacob.

Todd picked up the other phone. “Dude, it’s about time. I
always knew that sooner or later someone would rope you in. You can’t be a free
spirit forever. Eventually, we all settle down.”

There was a smacking sound and Todd yelled out, “Ouch! Why
did you hit me?”

Lena sounded aggravated. “Settle? Is that what you did with
me?”

Todd burst out laughing. “No snuggie-bear. I found my soul
mate. Now maybe Jacob will be lucky enough to have found his. I wouldn’t want
to live a day without you in it, my sweet Lena.”

“Oh, Todd, I love you.”

Jacob could hear them kissing.

“Well, not that you are making me want to barf or anything,
but I don’t know what’s going to happen with Emma. She is going to New York
tomorrow, and I am not a city guy. She just got out of a really long
relationship. She was about to walk down the aisle with the wanker—”

Todd cut him off, “But she didn’t! She never made it down
the aisle with the … ahh … wanker as you say. Your paths kept crossing. Have
you learned nothing from your travels? Everything happens for a reason.”

Lena said, “Jacob, just follow your heart. I believe
everything happens for a reason. What do you need us to do?”

Emma watched as Jacob’s hands waved in the air throughout
his conversation. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a
carefree, fun day, as she’d had with him. She didn’t want to think about
tomorrow, she told herself as she turned back to give Jacob some privacy. She
would live for just today.

Jacob snuck up behind Emma and reached around her to kiss
her cheek. She nearly jumped off of the bench she was sitting on. “You scared
me,” she squawked.

He hopped over the bench and landed next to her. “It’s going
to be a hot one today. How about if we head on over to the World’s Fair Park?
There are water parks and gardens to walk.”

Emma smiled. She thought about how simple it all seemed.
Matt never just aimlessly spent a day hanging around a park, but here was this
man who wanted to take her to the park to spend the day. She smiled in spite of
herself. “I’d love to, Jacob. It sounds perfect.”

He jumped up off of the bench and reached out his hand for
hers. “All righty then, ducky, let the adventures begin.”

They walked hand in hand through the great city of
Knoxville. Luckily, Emma was getting a chance to see it as the beautiful city
it really is, instead of the city she first encountered with her mugging. He
pointed out some of the restaurants and hotspots where local celebrities
frequent. “How do you possibly know all of this?” she asked him.

“I am one of those people who loves to soak everything in. I
remember everything I see and hear. Some of it ends up useful, while some of it
just sits in the back of my mind.”

He started walking backwards so he was face to face with
her. “Jacob, watch where you are going. You’re going to walk right into
someone, or right out into the street.”

Just as she said it he stepped in front of a cab. The cab
driver screamed some vulgar words at him while waving his fist in the air.
Jacob only rolled his arm and bowed down in front of the cabbie, which
aggravated the cab driver even more. He ended up revving his engine as he sped
by them. Emma looped her arm in his and started shaking her head. “I think
you’ll end up giving me a heart attack before the end of the day. I have never
in my life met anyone quite like you.”

He smiled down at her. “That’s a good thing then. Who wants
to be boring, or ordinary? I like to live life to the fullest. There is no
point in wasting any of it. Now come on, let’s go have some fun!”

He pulled her through a gateway that opened up to a
beautiful grassy area.

“What is that building over there that is shaped like a
ball?” Emma asked him.

“That, my dear, is the Sunsphere. It was constructed in 1982
for the World’s Fair. It was closed to the public for a long time, but it
opened back up a few years ago. Do you want to go up and look out? You can see
everything from up there.”

Emma nodded her head. He walked her along the walkway to the
building.

Like a true gentleman, he opened the door for her. It was
bustling with tourists who were wandering around just as they were. Jacob
pushed the button for the elevator and he wrapped his arms around her as he
rested his chin on her shoulder. The doors slid open and he stayed attached to
her as they walked in unison into the elevator. She closed her eyes and just
absorbed all of him. She wasn’t used to someone who openly showed their
affection. She thought about how refreshing it was.

The elevator doors opened and he ushered her out into the
observation deck. “Wow!” Emma stated. “It kind of reminds me of the Jetson’s
cartoon from when I was a kid.” She looked over at Jacob questioningly. “Do you
even know the Jetson’s?”

He smiled at her. “Yes, love. I had a television, too.”

She smiled tenderly at him. As they walked together around
the giant sphere, Jacob pointed out a lot of the landmarks, and Emma just
watched him in amazement. She thought about tomorrow. Could she just get in her
car and leave? Was she reading too much into this thing with Jacob? Was this
just another romance for him? Did he feel the same way about her as she was
beginning to feel about him?

He lifted her chin up. “Where’d you go just now?”

“Nowhere, I am exactly where I want to be.”

She put her arm around him and leaned into his side. She
wouldn’t think about any of that now. She just wanted this moment, she’d worry
about tomorrow when tomorrow comes, because for now she had Jacob.

When they left the Sunsphere, Jacob led her through a grassy
area. They stopped on top of a bridge that had a man-made river flowing
underneath it. “I can’t believe how beautiful it is. There must be a lot of
weddings that go on here,” Emma commented.

“You are right. There is one going on now. Would you like to
go over and join them?”

She thought he must be joking, but she realized quickly that
he was dead serious. “Jacob, look at us. We’re not exactly dressed for a
wedding. They will know we are crashing.”

He smiled at her. “Are you scared?”

“Well kinda. I mean, I’d be pissed if someone crashed my
wedding.” Her face fell when she thought about her own wedding.

“Come on.” Clasping her hand, he walked her through the park
until they reached a stretch of retail stores.

She pulled herself away so she could stop. “I have a hundred
dollars in my pocket and I have to pay for my car tomorrow. I can’t go
shopping.”

He smiled at her again. “Oh ye of little faith, you need to
live a little, Emma. Let’s go.” He took her to a store called Twice as Nice.
Opening the door, he held out his arm. “After you, love.”

She looked at him quizzically, and he cracked up laughing.
“Haven’t you ever shopped at a second hand store before?”

Emma had to admit she never had, she had received
hand-me-downs when she was younger, but never shopped in a second hand store.
Renee would die of laughter if she told her she was going to shop in one now.
Emma smiled as she thought about what her friend’s response would be. She
strode past Jacob and smiled. “Nope, I haven’t, but I guess I’m learning a
whole lot of new things the last couple of days.”

Emma browsed through numerous racks full of clothing. She
was absolutely astounded by the fact that some of the very same things she
owned and paid top dollar for by leading designers, were here for mere dollars.
She started pulling things off of the racks. “Oh my God, I saw this in the
stores last spring and loved it, but it sold out.” She was holding a little
floral sundress in her hands. She looked at the price tag. “It’s only twenty-five
dollars. How can that be? It retailed at Blanchard’s for over two hundred.”

Jacob just stood, leaning against a clothing rack, admiring
Emma. Every minute that he spent with her, he found himself falling even
harder. He’d had many love interests in his life, but no one made him feel the
way Emma did. He’d always heard that when you find the right person, you just
know. He always thought the idea of it was crazy, until now.

Emma swung open the fitting room curtain. She had found a
lavender sundress with spaghetti straps, and beading along the bodice. The
material flowed to her ankles, and clung to her every curve. She spun around in
a circle. “So, what do you think? Do I look good enough to attend a wedding?”

Jacob stood staring, at a loss for words. She playfully
slapped his arm.

“Well?”

He simply smiled at her. “You are going to steal the
spotlight away from the bride.”

She decided to wear the dress out of the store. She also
picked up the floral dress she was admiring while browsing the rack. The woman
rang up the items and told Emma it was only thirty-five dollars. Emma looked at
the woman in confusion. “Why? I mean, don’t get me wrong, but the tags say more
than that.”

Jacob laughed at Emma’s conversation with the sales clerk.
The clerk bagged her item, and the clothes she had worn in.

“It’s a half-price special. We are having our end of the
season clean out.”

Emma looked at Jacob with a shocked expression on her face.
“Wow! Jacob, you need to go look around.”