Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,24

a normal person again."

"That's great. Listen, I'm coming home tomorrow and I want to see you."

"I'm all yours," Aislynn said without hesitation. She even surprised herself with her new, refreshing attitude. "What are we doing?"

"Let me surprise you. Meet me at my house tomorrow afternoon, and we'll go from there. Can you pack us some food to take with us? I don’t think I’ll have time to get anything by the time I get home from the airport."

"Food. Got it. I should tell you I have a love-hate relationship with surprises, but I'll play along this once."

"I really want to hear all about why that is the case, but I'm walking into a meeting. Can I call you tonight?"

Jace’s mind was all caught up with thoughts of Aislynn during his five-hour flight home. He craved her; he wanted to touch her skin, hear her laugh, kiss her lips, and smell her. He wanted to ask her questions, learn to read the expressions on her face, and get to know her likes and dislikes. He wanted to become an Aislynn scholar.

Things felt very new and different with Aislynn, although he couldn’t quite explain what it was about her that continued to reel him in. It definitely went beyond Evan’s nudging at giving the relationship a try, and the fact she was unpretentiously beautiful. She had an energy around her that pulled him in and made him want to trust her, something he had not been able to do with a woman in a really long time. The "relationships" he tried after things ended with his last serious girlfriend had not progressed beyond a couple of outings and an uncomfortable morning-after "I’ll call you" being delivered by either him or his date at the door.

He could tell Aislynn had her secrets, of course. He now knew she had been in a pretty serious relationship before she left Texas, and although he was incredibly curious about what had happened, he didn't feel comfortable prying. He was also afraid it would lead to him having to answer questions about his own failed relationships, which he wasn’t ready to do.

"What the hell?" he said as he walked into his house, rolling his luggage into the foyer and scanning the room. It looked like a completely different house than the one he had before he'd left for New York.

"Before I freak out about your reaction, please tell me you have a marvelous follow-up compliment," Ellie said from the kitchen.

"Hell, yeah! I have lots of compliments. Should I start now?"

"No, not yet. Let me show you around first," she said excitedly.

Ellie gave Jace a tour of his new home. The design was definitely contemporary, but not ultra-modern.

"I wanted to keep the color manly, but neutral. I used a lot of blue, grey and white tones throughout the great room and the master bedroom. I think they go really well with the rich, dark brown in the hardwood floors."

"I agree. I really love it. And the light…"

"Yes, I wanted to take advantage of all the light coming in through this side of the house," she said pointing to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean, and spanning the whole back of the house. "I avoided adding too many beach themed details to the décor. People don’t need to be reminded they’re at the beach by having starfish plastered in every corner."

"Good call. Glad I won’t find little seashell shaped soaps in the bathroom, then."

"Okay, now your bedroom," she said, and pulled him down the hallway to show him his space.

"I don't know how you do it. This place looks spectacular, Rainbow Brite!" Jace said as he checked out his new furniture.

"Cute. Like I've never heard that one before," she said with a smile. "Now, let's hear the compliments. Ready? Go!"

They went over a few more details of things that Ellie had meant to add to the design, but hadn't had time to complete. "I still need to work on the guest bedroom, and we need to bring in some of the items you have in storage that you wanted to incorporate here."

"Okay, great."

"And we should do that before the housewarming party," Ellie said with conviction.

"Umm, what party?"

"Okay, okay. Before you start huffing and puffing and say no to the idea, let me tell you that it must be done. It would be a crime not to show off this place," she argued, and after a few minutes of groveling, Jace agreed.

Saying no to this girl is damn near impossible.

"Great!