Unlikely Lovers (4 page)

“Not afraid I’ll seduce you onto the floor?”
she asked, with one eyebrow cocked up.

“Make out your list and behave yourself, little girl
. First item, whipped cream.”

“You like whipped cream?”

“I had something else in mind to do with it...” He flashed a mischievous grin in her direction.

“Cody, now behave yourself, there
’s more to life to sex, you know.”

“There is? Now like Brad Paisley says, “But honey, I’m just a guy.”

“Thank God for that.” She leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips and started to pull away. He stopped her and pulled her in for another.

When she came up for air, she asked if there was anything else he wanted to add to her grocery list.

“I have all I need right here. You take care of the shopping and I’ll help you cook. Let me give you some money for this stuff.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get this. You can take care of Christmas dinner.”

“So you think you’re going to spend Christmas with me, too? This could mean serious stuff here. I’d have to buy you a gift and everything.” He looked at her with a deadly serious look before bursting into gales of laughter. “Come here, you, of course you’re spending Christmas with me. What do you want for Christmas?”

“
You.” She smiled as she gazed into his chocolate brown peepers.

“Well, that’s a given. I’m sure you’ll have me several times before Christmas Eve is over, but what else would you like?”

“Baby, whatever you pick out, I’m sure I’ll love it. Surprise me.”

“Okay, don’t say I didn’t ask you when you open some weird gift that you want to take back to the store but you won’t because you think
it’ll hurt my feelings.” He chuckled.

“No chance of that happening. If it came from you, I w
ould cherish it forever.”

“We’re getting really sappy here, baby, you realize that, don’t you?”

“Then let me get up and get us a beer and we’ll watch the movie that’s coming on in a few minutes.”

“Or we could roll around on the floor
a while.”

“Cody, whatever am I going to do with you?”

“I could think of a few things.”

He kissed her again, this time a deep, passionate kiss, the kind of kiss that only he could give her. It was the kind that stirred her passions and stoked her desire until it flamed into white hot passion for him. Only he could stir her like this to the depths of her soul.

“Let’s go upstairs.” She got up and extended a hand to him. He took it and allowed her to lead him up the stairs to his bedroom where the four poster bed awaited.

The minute they walked into the room, she turned and leaned up on her tiptoes for another kiss. He lifted her into his arms in one fell swoop and carried her to the bed, laying her down gently.
When he joined her on the bed and pulled her into his arms, she was lost again. I could stay like this forever, she thought as she gave in to the sensations stirring within. He was taking her on the journey once more to that special place only he could take her. When the waves of ecstasy finally subsided, she curled up in his arms and slept like a baby.

Thanksgiving Day arrived with Cody and Jessica hosting a dinner party for Missy and Andy
at Cody’s. The four of them cooked, ate, and cleaned up afterward and they had a blast doing it all. The food was delicious and after dinner they played several games of Euchre before finally calling it a night. The whole scenario was quite domesticated and Jessica found she liked it. She’d never been in a relationship quite like the one she shared with Cody. Certainly the years she’d spent in and out of a relationship with Dan had never been nearly as much fun as the time she was spending with Cody.

The rest of the weekend was lazy. Jessica and Missy did their usual Black Friday shopping while Andy and Cody watched ballgames on television. On Saturday and Sunday, Jessica was content to stay in with Cody.

On Monday, Jessica and Missy went to the commissary for lunch together and discussed the weekend.

“It was so different from what I’m used to, you know what I mean?” Jessica asked her friend as she gingerly took a sip of hot coffee.

“Yes, I know exactly what you mean, but I liked it, didn’t you?” Missy replied.

“I did like it. I think I could get used to the domestic life at some point in time.”

“You aren’t falling for him, are you?” Missy looked at her friend worriedly as the waitress brought their soup to the table.

“That’s a loaded question. I love spending time with him, but you know as well as I do that
this’ll never work out. It was supposed to be nothing more than a fling to help me get over the final blow up with Dan.”

“But Jess, I think it’s becoming more than a simple fling, don’t you?”

“It may be but that really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I’ll be leaving here at some point and he has a life here.”

“You might want to think about telling him the truth about your job.”

“Why? It’s not going to last.”

“You don’t know that.”

“What about you and Andy?”

“Nothing going on there, except a few friendly dates. We might become friends with benefits at some point, but it’s not going to go anywhere. He is just out of a relationship and I really wasn’t looking to get into one when I met him. Don’t get me wrong,
he’s a wonderful guy, sweet and funny. And he’s not bad to look at either. It just isn’t in the cards.”

“Strange how I fell right into bed with Cody and you haven’t even kissed Andy. You haven’t, have you?”

“No actually I haven’t. And I’m just as surprised as you are about that.”

“Oh, look at the time, we’ve got to go.” Jessica looked at her watch. She picked up the check and got up.

“What’s my half?” Missy asked.

“I’ll get it today. You can buy tomorrow. Get a move on,
girl.” She paid the bill and they hurried out into the brisk winter weather.

“What are you getting Cody for Christmas?” Missy asked as they walked back to their building.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll go to the mall Saturday and look around. I’ll just have to see what catches my eye. Are you getting something for Andy?”

“Yes,
we’re going to exchange gifts. Actually he invited me to his parents’ house for dinner, but I’m not sure I should go,” Missy replied, shivering from the cold.

“Oh, you might as well, it beats staying home alone. Cody and I are spending a quiet Christmas at his house. He mentioned going to
church on Christmas Eve.”

“Church…
you and him together? Now that sounds a little serious to me.”

“It’s a Christmas tradition. I
’d go to church with Mom if I was home and he’d be going if I wasn’t around, so why not go together this year?”

“I guess you have a point. I’ve just never known you to attend
church services with any other guy you’ve dated.”

“It’s not that big a deal, Missy.”
But is it a big deal?

She thought about what Missy had said for the rest of the afternoon. Finally pushing it out of her mind, she tried to concentrate on work and was relieved when it was finally time to lock the door and go home.

She decided to take a trip to the mall before going home and drove into Lawton. She strolled along, window shopping, enjoying the Christmas spirit. She had put a small Christmas tree in her living room, a wreath on the door, and a few other Christmas items scattered about the apartment, but hadn’t really thought about Cody’s apartment until now.
I wonder if he’ll put up a tree.
As she pondered the possibility of helping him decorate his tree, she almost bumped right into him. He was coming out of a shop with a small package in his hand.

“Well, hello, fancy meeting
you here.” He grinned.

“Hi, I was just trying to finish my shopping. It looks like you’re doing the same.” She pointed to the package in his hand.

Sheepishly he looked at the package and said, “Oh, yeah, just something I picked up for someone. Want to go for a hot chocolate with me?”

“Throw in a burger and I’ll take you up on it. I haven’t eaten yet.”

“You’re on. There’s a sports bar down that aisle that has great burgers.” He pointed in the direction of the bar.

“Okay, lead the way.”

He took her hand as they strolled through the mall. After they’d ordered, he looked at her. “I am picking out a Christmas tree tomorrow after work. Would you like to come with me?”

“Sure, and funny you should ask, I was wondering earlier if
you’d put one up.”

“What’s Christmas without a tree? Of course I’ll put one up. I thought you might want to help me decorate it.”

“I can help you with that. It’ll be fun. I love Christmas.”

“Somehow I thought you would. You seem like the Christmas type of gal.” He chuckled as he touched her hand.

“You know me pretty well then, because I really am the Christmas type of gal.” She laughed and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

The waitress brought their burgers and fries then and Jessica dug into hers. “This is a good burger, Cody. Good choice.”

“Only the best burger for my gal.” He laughed as he popped a catsup covered French fry into his mouth.

His gal, I like the sound of that.

As they were finishing their dinner she mentioned she had more shopping to do. “Do you want me to go with you?” he offered as he helped her out of her chair.

“If you’d like, I need to find a gift for Missy.”

“Lead the way.”

They walked into Dillard’s and she finally decided on a scarf and a bottle of Missy’s favorite perfume. She also picked up a bottle of cologne for Andy as an afterthought.

“I’ve got my mom and my aunt taken care of. I have something for Karen, something for Missy, something for Andy. I guess that about does it. Oh yes, there’s one more person I need to buy a gift for.”

Cody smiled and said, “Who might that be?”

“Just don’t you worry about it, big guy.”

“Are you headed home now?”

“Yeah, I have an early morning. But I really am glad I ran into you. It’s been fun. You are a good sport for tagging along while I shopped.”

“I don’t mind. It was fun.” He leaned down to kiss her as they strolled into the parking lot. “Where’s your car?”

“Over there. Will you walk me to it?”

“Of course I will, sure you don’t want to come by my place?”

“I’d love to but I really can’t tonight, babe.” She kissed him as she opened the car door.

“Well
, all right then. I’ll text you tomorrow and let you know about getting the tree.”

“Sounds good, I’ll meet you after work and then we’ll go to your place for the
decorating party.” She laughed as she looked up at him.

“
Party for two, what do you want to do about dinner?”

“We’ll grab a pizza on the way to your place, sound okay?”

“Perfect. See you tomorrow night, sweetie.”

She drove home smiling all the way there.
Could I be any happier?

True to his word, Cody sent her a text the next afternoon telling her where to meet him. She drove to the tree lot and saw him waiting for her in the parking lot. As she was walking
toward him, she thought, damn, he’s hot! How did I ever find someone like him?
Dan had been good looking but he had known it and that was not a point in his favor. Cody didn’t seem to realize women found him attractive, which made him all the more endearing.

They chose a tree much larger than the small artificial one
gracing her apartment. He tied it to the back of his truck, making sure it was secure. She told him she’d stop and get the pizza while he went home and unloaded the tree.

By the time she arrived with dinner, he already had the tree in the stand and was attempting to put the lights on it.

“Oh, my, you seem to have quite a tangled mess, there. Let me help you.” She giggled as she took one end of the lights with him holding the other and began to work at untangling them. Once they’d accomplished that, she strung the lights on the tree and they decided to take a break and eat their pizza.

He went to the kitchen and brought back two Cokes and some paper plates and napkins and the two of them dug into the sausage and green pepper pizza. After they’d succeeded in stuffing themselves, Jessica picked up a box of ornaments.

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” she said as she began to decorate the tree. By the time she was finished, it was nearly a work of art.

Cody took a beautiful ceramic angel carefully out of a box and said, “This was my mother’s. It goes on the top. I’ll lift you up and you can put it in its place.”

“Oh, Cody, it’s beautiful. And you’ve kept it for all these years.” She admired the angel as he lifted her. She placed the angel in its resting place at the top of the tree and after he’d put her back down, stood back to admire it.