Authors: Jessica Wilde
I had been so deep in thought, I
didn't realize that I had already run 5 miles and had hardly broken a sweat. My
usual 10 mile run would be a cinch today and I could use the last 5 to think
about Jocelyn and come up with a way to talk to her.
I felt like a moron trying to set
up a way to run into her or knock on her door. Maybe I could ask her for a cup
of sugar or flour, but then what could I possibly be making? I wasn't very good
at the actual cooking I had tried to do. I could chop and stir and mix, but I
usually burnt anything I baked or cooked or it tasted like cardboard.
Better think of something else.
I guess I could ask her to help
me make something. The helpless, single guy next door act would probably work,
only it wouldn't really be acting. I
was
pretty helpless with stuff like
that. So yeah, I would ask her to help me make something. Cookies. That made
sense that I would want to make some cookies. Guys love cookies. Plus, I could
see Olivia getting excited about them, too.
I planned it out on the last 3
miles and had it all worked out by the time I got back to the house. As soon as
I saw Jocelyn walking out the door with Olivia in her arms, my nerves decided
to ruin all of it. She looked incredible in her jeans and a white button up
blouse with strappy black sandals. Her hair was wavy and framed her face making
her look like a freaking angel. Olivia looked adorable with her hair braided
across her head and bunched into a small side pony tail. That girl had a lot of
hair.
Without thinking about it, I
moved closer and shouted, "Hey, beautiful girls!"
Jocelyn's head snapped up and her
full lips turned up into a dubious smirk. "If I didn't know any better, I
would say you were sucking up to me so I'd feed you again."
"Ha ha," I smiled and
jogged up to her. "Not even close." Oh, but she
was
close.
Now, either way, I would look ridiculous.
"Adoo!" Olivia smiled
and pointed her tiny finger at me.
"Hey, pretty girl. Where you
off to today?"
I noticed that Monty was standing
behind Jocelyn and was on the end of a bright red leash, eyeing me down.
"We are just going for a
walk to the park. Monty likes to play fetch with a Frisbee and Liv absolutely
loves to make a mess in the sand. We thought we might feed the ducks,
too," she said, holding up a small bag of bread. She smiled down at Olivia
who started to make quacking sounds. "That's right, babe."
"That sounds like fun, the
park is pretty far, though. Were you going to carry her the whole way?"
She glanced down at her feet,
"Well, she will probably walk some of the way, but yeah. I don't have a
stroller anymore, but this is better exercise anyway."
No stroller. That sounded off to
me. Didn't every person with a kid Olivia's age require a stroller? I was sure
they did, it was too hard to carry a kid everywhere. Just another thing about
Jocelyn that was a mystery. She seemed a little embarrassed by her confession,
but recovered quicker than I expected.
"Anyway, it was good to see
you," she said as she turned to walk away.
I desperately tried to think of
something to say that would make her stay a little longer so I could carry out
my plan, but nothing came to mind, so I just blurted the first thing that came
out.
"I like Frisbee."
She turned slowly with an amused
grin, "That's nice."
"I mean…"
Ugh, this
is pathetic.
"I could throw the Frisbee with Monty while you are with
Olivia, if you don't mind me tagging along."
That's the best I can do, now
just wait for the rejection and move on, Andrew.
She looked deep in thought for
several long, excruciating seconds. She looked down at Olivia and then at
Monty, then looked like she had made a decision. "What do you guys think?
Should Andrew come with us?"
Olivia looked at me and smiled,
"Hi," she said, making me chuckle.
I glanced at Monty who was
panting and staring at the Frisbee sticking out of Jocelyn's bag.
"Monty? Would you mind if
Andrew threw the Frisbee to you?"
Crap. If it was up to the dog, I
had no hope.
I
smiled at him when he looked back up at me and found myself hoping that he
wouldn't see right through me. He kept panting, but almost looked like he
smiled.
"Okay, it's settled,"
Jocelyn nodded. "You can come."
I couldn't take my eyes away from
her and the air seemed to thicken around us. It didn't even register that she
had just approved my tagging along with her family, she was smiling big and it
reached her eyes, and I had never seen anything more tempting than what I was
seeing at that moment. I wasn't prepared for this and I was suddenly terrified
of how she affected me. My fingers were itching to touch her.
I'm in so much trouble.
Jocelyn
Andrew hadn't said anything and
he was really starting to make me think he was suffering from heat stroke or
something because he had paled significantly and his fingers were twitching.
"You okay?" I asked as
I took a step toward him.
He flinched as if he had been
smacked out of a trance, "Oh, um, yeah. Sorry, I just… I don't know what
happened just now. I…" he ran a hand through his messy hair and made it
stick up in the front more so than it was already. "I'll go change really
quick. Can you wait for a few minutes?"
I eyed him skeptically, but
nodded. "Sure."
I watched him dart into his house
and let out the breath that I apparently had been holding. He was shirtless and
sweaty. When I saw him running down the street before I walked out of the
house, I had felt a warm dizziness sweep through me. I may or may not have
moved a little quicker than usual to make sure I ran into him. He was very fit
and very sexy.
I knew he had been running for
quite a while because I heard him leave earlier, but even though he was sweaty
from it, he smelled delicious. I was expecting a dirty scent to hit me when he
approached, but I was pleasantly surprised that his spicy, sweet scent had
stuck with him.
I hadn't expected him to offer to
come along, but as soon as the words left his mouth, my stomach rolled with
anticipation. The sight of his strong chest and toned arms had nearly taken all
my basic speaking skills away and I was expecting to make a fool out of myself.
When he asked about carrying Olivia, I had wanted to walk away and avoid
explaining not having a stroller, but I steeled myself and tried to be
pleasant.
I had to sell a lot of things,
the stroller being one of them, and I had always regretted it, but I didn't
have a choice. I needed to pay the first 3 months of rent in order to move in
and the little savings I had wasn't meant for that.
Monty was lying on the grass
patiently. It would be good for us to have an extra person today. I always felt
stretched when I was entertaining both of them. Monty wanted the Frisbee thrown
consistently and it was hard to help Olivia at the same time.
"Don't worry, bud. I have a
feeling you are going to play hard today."
Andrew walked out a few minutes
later and my knees wobbled at the sight. He was in khaki cargo shorts and a
black t-shirt that hugged his chest and shoulders perfectly and his hair was
wet. The smile he gave me was bashful and made my heart sputter.
Get a hold
of yourself.
"Did you shower?" I
asked without pulling my eyes away.
His cheeks turned pink and he
looked down at his feet, "Yeah, I did. Sorry to keep you waiting. I just
didn't want to be all sweaty on the way."
I blinked several times as I
processed his answer, then decided to just shrug it off. He only took 5 minutes
in all, so I couldn't complain, and he smelled even better than before. I had
no problem walking next to him surrounded by that scent.
"Do you want me to take
Monty?" he gestured to the leash that I had clutched in my hand and I had
to adjust my grip when Olivia wriggled a bit.
"Oh…" I looked down at
my dog and he looked up at me and wiggled his eyebrows. "Sure, but I think
he is planning to give you a run for your money."
Andrew glanced down at him and
chuckled, "Probably, but I think I might be able to handle him." He
dropped down to his haunches and ran his hand over Monty's back, then scratched
behind his ears lightly. "Hey buddy, I only want to play Frisbee with you,
so promise to be nice?"
Monty's tongue dropped out of his
mouth and he started panting again. His ears went back and I knew he had
decided to respect Andrew. Probably because of the ear scratching thing.
"I think you won him
over."
Andrew was still scratching him
when he said, "How can you tell?"
I grinned at the sight of him
babying my baby boy, "Because his ears went back. He is in beta mode now.
It shows that he has respect for you and your position in this pack." I
paused when I realized what that really meant. We weren't a pack. Andrew was
just tagging along. He was looking up at me with a wide grin and I knew he
realized it, too. "I'm the alpha in this pack, though, so I get to decide
who stays and who goes."
He stood at that point and was
only a foot away, if that. I suddenly became very aware of how tall he actually
was. He towered over me and I was positive he was at least six feet tall, if
not more.
I had started breathing faster
when he locked eyes with me and hoped I didn't look like Monty with my tongue
hanging out. Damn, why did this man do this to me? I'm not supposed to be
thinking these things right now. Not when I had so many other things to worry
about.
He spoke softly, but firmly,
"Well then, I hope I make the cut." Then he winked.
He
winked.
Didn't he know what that did to
my already rattled nerves?
He did, because he laughed as he
pulled the leash out of my hand. "Shall we?"
Olivia started talking gibberish
then with a few random, clear words here and there. She was trying to
communicate something to me and from what I could tell, it had to do with
getting our butts moving so she could play. I kissed her tiny cheek and wiggled
my eyebrows at her. "You ready to go play in the sand?"
"San!" she shouted and
pointed to the path we would take to walk. I had only taken her to this park
once in the few days we had been here, but she remembered.
Andrew and I walked side by side
down the sidewalk and Monty pulled ahead slightly in front of Andrew and kept
up a good pace. Olivia started wiggling in my arms within seconds of hitting
the sidewalk and I set her down and took her little hand in mine. She didn't
like being held onto when there was so much to explore, but she knew I was
going to hold onto her hand whether she wanted me to or not.
Andrew had waited for us to move
in front of him and I felt self conscious about my backside for a few seconds.
I knew he was looking at it, but I was too embarrassed to try to catch him.
"So, did you go to the park
a lot where you came from?"
He was fishing for some answers
and even though I was hesitant to give him any, I couldn't deny that I liked
that he asked. "Yeah, we did actually. There was a great park a couple
blocks from my apartment in Seattle. Olivia didn't really get into it at first,
but now she loves it. Plus, it wears her out and she sleeps a lot better at
night if we go."
"Seattle is a big city. No
wonder you moved here. Did Monty do pretty well in your apartment?"
"Yeah, he has always been
more of an inside dog, even though he loves to be out. I just never really had
a yard for him so he is used to the house. I think he likes the warmth in the
winter and air conditioning in the summer. He is pretty spoiled."
Andrew was still behind me and I
couldn't see his face, but I could hear the wheels turning in his head with
more questions. "Did you do the same kind of work in Seattle?"
"Yeah, I did. I have a
friend who is a doctor and I did his transcription for a while, plus some of
his partners' as well. Kept me pretty busy when Liv was a baby."
"And now? Who do you do it
for?"
"I got certified a couple of
months back, so now I work with a small company that has lots of different
clients. I just do whatever is available at the time when I am able to work for
a couple hours. They are really good to work with and since there are so many
employees available, I don't have to worry too much about deadlines." We
were passing by an elementary school and Olivia saw all the kids playing in the
schoolyard. I picked her up and walked a little faster before she had the
desire to go in there. "Oh, sweetie, the park is going to be so much fun
today. You will have the sandbox all to yourself!"
She giggled and looked back at
Andrew, "Adoo, san." She added a little more gibberish before ending
her words as a question.
"Um…" Andrew wasn't
sure what to say and he hesitated a little too long for her liking. She frowned
and repeated the same sounds she had just made and he realized that he needed
to give her an answer.