The Player - By Rhonda Nelson Page 0,52
Audrey settled in next to Jamie on her couch. “You aren’t a talker are you?”
Jamie’s beer paused halfway to his mouth and he glanced at her. “What do you mean a ‘talker’?”
“I mean, you aren’t one of those people who has to inject commentary throughout the whole movie, right?” She faked a wince. “‘Cause if you are, that’s just going to ruin it for me.”
He chuckled. “What? Are you going to dump me if I am?”
No, Audrey thought, shaking her head. Dumping one person today was enough, thank you very much. Rather than leave Derrick in the lurch, Audrey had taken the opportunity to call him this afternoon while Jamie had been at the camp’s library selecting their movie. He’d nixed a chick flick and she’d vetoed blood and gore, so they’re reached a compromise with a nice comedy.
At any rate, Derrick had been surprised by her answer to his proposal and even more shocked that she hadn’t put up an argument when he’d told her that they’d simply have to break up. Thankfully, Derrick’s ego was substantial enough that her refusal didn’t seem to have affected him that deeply.
Still, she just felt better knowing that she’d ended that chapter in her life and started a new one with Jamie. There was nothing quite so thrilling as the blush of new romance, she thought, snuggling in next to him as the previews rolled.
Ah, Audrey thought happily. Another similarity. He didn’t want to fast-forward through them.
She cast a glance at him from the corner of her eye and felt her chest squeeze with secret joy. Honestly, she could just look at him all day. Her gaze was perpetually drawn to the masculine line of his jaw, the curiously vulnerable patch of soft skin next to those amazing eyes. He just did it for her, Audrey thought. Was he perfect? No. What person was? She was suddenly reminded of a quote by Sam Keen. “You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.” That fit, Audrey thought, smiling softly.
And Jamie had turned a corner today. This afternoon when he’d finally broken down and shared his tragedy with her…Her own chest had ached so much it had brought tears to her eyes. He’d been grieving for so long, and worse, blaming himself. She wasn’t altogether sure that he’d let himself completely off the hook in that regard, but she knew she’d argued a significant enough point to make him doubt. That was a start, at least. Baby steps, Audrey told herself, and wondered if asking him to stay with her indefinitely was more along the lines of taking a giant leap.
Technically he was supposed to go home tomorrow and yet the idea of him leaving now, after everything they’d been through this week, made her belly tip in a nauseated roll. She missed him and he hadn’t even left yet. That couldn’t be good, considering he was based in Atlanta and she in the wilds of Maine. Logistics, she knew, but she couldn’t keep from jumping ahead.
He was it. Jamie Flanagan was The One.
“Can I ask you something?” Audrey said, wanting to make sure they were on the same page. Or at the very least in the same chapter.
He tugged playfully on a lock of her hair. “I thought you said you didn’t like to talk during the movie.”
“Previews don’t count.”
“Ah,” he sighed, inclining his head. “That’s a handy piece of knowledge right there. Sure,” he said in answer to her question. “Ask away.”
Audrey hesitated. “Do you have to go home tomorrow?”
A slow smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and those golden green eyes softened. “Are you issuing an invitation?”
Audrey nodded. “An open one,” she said, putting it all out there. In for a penny, in for a pound, she supposed.
Impossibly, those gorgeous eyes softened even more and he leaned over and brushed his lips across hers in a tender kiss that stole her breath. “I like the sound of that.”
“I’m not scaring you, am I?” she asked, suddenly uncertain. She knew he cared about her—one of the only perks of this empathy thing, but…“I just—”
Jamie pressed a single finger against her mouth and his gaze searched hers. The emotion—the unadulterated feeling he allowed her to see—made her pulse leap. “I’d only be scared if you didn’t want me here.”
“No worries then,” Audrey told him. She leaned over and pressed her lips to his, sighed with pleasure as the innocent gesture quickly morphed