“Yeah?” I replied and watched him, now fully clothed, lean into a hand on the bed toward me.
I held still as he got closer and came into better focus.
“Grab your glasses, darlin’,” he whispered and I must have narrowed my eyes to focus on him or something.
Jake, I also knew, didn’t miss much.
I forced my body to come unstuck, rolled as I kept the blanket pressed to me, nabbed my glasses off the nightstand and slid them on. Then I rolled back to him.
Seeing him focused, I saw his eyes were no longer conflicted and remorseful. They were quicksilver still but affectionate, gazing at me like he gazed at me when I fancied he was thinking I was cute. Or at least I hoped it was that.
He liked me wearing my glasses. He’d told me that flat out. Said he never had a woman who wore glasses. He told me it was like stepping out with a sweet, sexy school teacher.
I’d never felt sexy, not in my life. Not until Jake.
“We’ll talk later, yeah?” he said quietly.
“Yeah,” I answered, hope budding in my heart at his look, his tone, his words.
“We’ll talk later, Tess. Yeah?” he somewhat repeated and I blinked.
“Yeah,” I repeated too.
“Promise me, babe.”
I stared at him not sure why he needed that. I didn’t play games with him, not at all, not even when Martha told me I should, repeatedly. Test the waters. Test him. Don’t be too available. Don’t let on how much I liked him.
But I was too old for that shit and I’d never had a man like Jake. There was no way I was going to f**k it up with games.
So now I didn’t get where he was going with his need for a promise.
But still, he asked and I’d give him anything he asked. Anything. Even from the very beginning.
“Promise,” I whispered.
He nodded.
Then he asked, “You sleep naked?”
A shiver I couldn’t quite read slithered over my skin. It wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t good.
“No,” I answered.
“Don’t start tonight,” he ordered, I stared at him and while doing it saw his eyes move over my face.
Then he leaned in, his hand not in the bed coming to cup the back of my head, he pulled me to him and kissed me hard and wet.
His mouth released mine but he only allowed me to pull back an inch before his hand still at the back of my head put pressure on to stop my retreat and his eyes locked with mine.
“We’ll talk later,” he whispered.
Then his hand disappeared because he disappeared.
Gone.
I listened to my front door close.
Then I collapsed back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.