Back To You (32 page)

I threw open the door and ran to him when I heard the car.  It was like high school all over again.  I jumped into his arms as soon as he got out of the car.  He held me tight, laughing and spinning me around.

“Well, it’s good to see you too stranger!”  His laugh rumbled in his chest.

I couldn’t let go.  For a couple of years, I wondered what was missing from my life.  Why Dale couldn’t fill the void.  And at that moment I remembered.  There was only one person who completed me.

“Let me see you.”  He pulled away enough for me to see the green gold pools of heaven in his eyes.  It still felt like he could see the bottom of my soul with those eyes.

“Well?”  I smiled at him.

He touched my face with the back of his hand, then
moved so his thumb caressed my cheek.  “There appears to be something missing.”

I froze.  What did I forget?  Lip gloss?  Check for boogers?  Self
-consciousness flooded my brain.  “What?”

“This.” 
He leaned in and kissed me.  I melted like butter in a hot pan.  Lord that man knew how to kiss a girl!

“MMMMMMMM.”

“Now close your eyes,” he said as he pulled away.  “I have a surprise for you.”

“I
’m not sure I can move after a kiss like that.”

“Well, in case you can’t feel it, you seem to have that e
ffect on me too.”  Indicating the slight bulge in his shorts.

I blushed.

“Now go inside and keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them.”

I closed one eye.

“Suzy!”  He laughed.  Then he tried very unsuccessfully to look stern.  “I am serious.  No peeking or I will lock you in the bathroom.”  He turned me around and swatted me on the butt.

“As long as you will be in the bathroom with me...“

“Go.  Before you ruin the surprise and I am forced to ravish you right here on the steaming hot asphalt.”

Begrudgingly, I obeyed. I definitely wanted to be ra
vished, but not on the hot asphalt.  Air conditioning and the thought of a comfortable bed sounded much more appealing.   He carried in about three loads of stuff from his tiny little car.  One sounded like a grocery bag and maybe an overnight bag.  Another was obviously a bag of ice since he dropped it on the floor to break it up.  The last one sounded suspiciously like an ice chest.  Snacks and beverages?  This could be good.  Maybe we wouldn’t have to leave the room at all.  My mind was racing.

“I
’m getting wrinkles over here.”  I complained as he continued to rustle around.

“I know patience isn’t always your strong suit Suzy, but I promise, it
’s worth it.”

Another very long minute passed.

“Okay.  Open.”

I opened my eyes to the most beautiful roses I had ever seen.  And a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket.  And a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries.  Wow.  If it was possible to make my heart melt any more, I wouldn
’t have believed it.

We spent a couple of hours talking and kissing, eating and drinking.  We agreed to save the sex for later that night.  At
the moment we just wanted to be together.  Besides, we were meeting Andrea and her family for dinner.  We didn’t have enough time to make up for the years of lost time.  There were so many things I had to say.  So many things I had kept bottled up in my past, refusing to tell him the truth of what I felt for so long.  All of the things I had learned while in therapy.

It was fun seeing Andrea and the kids.  We had a great time at dinner and sitting around having a few drinks before Jack and I headed back to the hotel.  I would have stayed at Andrea’s, but she didn’t want to explain to the kids why I shared a be
droom with a guy.  Besides, I had plans with that guy that might not have been easy to carry out in the presence of my family.

*****

Jack couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel room with Suzy.  He enjoyed spending time with her family.  Both of her sisters were pretty, and funny like Suzy was, but neither of them had the same sparkle about them that Suzy had.  While sitting at dinner, he took a moment to look at everyone sitting there.  A thought crossed his mind.  If everything goes right, they might be my family too.  He felt like he was already part of Suzy’s family.  They all knew about the back and forth of their relationship over the years.  And they welcomed him with open arms.

When they got back to the room, they had been laughing and talking all night.  It felt so natural.  And it felt natural to lock the door and grab her up into his arms, kissing her passionately before they had time to turn on a light.  Kissing her still felt like a
lightning bolt was running through him.  Like his stomach was full of helium and he had a hard time not floating off. 

Her hair was still a bit wild, but at the length she was wea
ring it now, she had it pulled back into a braid.  She said it was “convertible hair” for when she was riding with the top down in her car.  He started to pull the elastic band from her hair, slowly running his fingers through it as he unleashed the braid.  The blonde was getting a little darker in places, giving her hair a natural highlight that looked like cinnamon bread when she had it braided.  He took in every moment, every sensation. 
Yes.  She is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.

Suzy pulled herself away from his kiss, excusing herself to the bathroom.  Saying she needed to get out of the clothes she had on.  Yes, she certainly did because he wanted to see, touch
and taste every inch of her.

*****

I was so nervous.  I wished that someone in any language on earth could come up with a word to describe the feelings I had when he was near.  Nervous, excited, calm, peaceful, anxious, clumsy, graceful, loved, mature, childish, the list went on.  Hell, Shakespeare came up with new words when he wrote, maybe one day I could make up one for it!

I had to catch my breath when I closed the bathroom door.  The bag of ice was still in the tub.  I took some of it and ran it across the back of my neck.  Nice.  Then I tossed a piece in my mouth while I changed into the sexy little thing I bought a couple of days ago.  Crunch crunch crunch.  I hoped he would like it.  It was a deep pu
rple two piece with a corset type top and thong underwear.  The top had like ten bows down the front holding it together.  It was made of silk and lined with tiny lace.  It barely contained my boobs so my nipples peeked above the corset.  Classy.  Sexy.  Beautiful.

I checked my image in the mirror.  Crunch crunch.  My
hair was down, already a bit frazzled.  Most of my make-up was off so no worries on getting it smeared.  Crunch crunch crunch.  I couldn’t stop chewing the ice.  Nervous energy.  At least I was not as boney as I was a few months ago.  Crunch crunch.  I needed to work up my nerve to go out there.  Crunch crunch crunch.  I needed to say what I wanted to say when I was sixteen.  Crunch.  When I was eighteen.  Crunch.  When I was twenty.  Crunch crunch.  And every single day since the night he held me close on the dance floor at Monopoly’s.  Crunch.  I want to spend the rest of my life with him.  Forever.  Gulp.

“Let’s do this,” I whispered to myself
, blew my reflection a kiss for good luck and stepped into a room filled with candlelight.  Oh I loved that man.

*****

Jack dug out the candles he had brought with him and set them all over the room. 
Who needed to turn on lights when candles were so much better?
  He thought.

The second bottle of champagne was chilled to perfe
ction.  More strawberries still waiting for her lips.  The roses to tease her senses.  He was ready to explode by the time he heard her open the bathroom door.

“Wow.  Jack.  This is amazing.  So beautif...”

“Shhhhh.”  He put his finger to her lips.  He led her to the bed where he had already turned the covers back so she could feel the cool sheets on her skin.

The purple lingerie was almost too much for him to bear.  Her eyes sparkled deep blue gre
y in the candlelight.  The perfect colors to enhance the roses.

He took out one of the roses and began caressing her arm with the silky petals.  The scent was heavenly.  Not too sweet, not too heavy, just right.

Suzy moaned a little.  “Jack...”

“Shhh.  Don’t speak.  Not yet.”  He continued to caress her skin with the rose, spinning it in his fingers as he ran it across her chest, missing the rise of her breasts by just a little.  With his other hand, he began to untie the first ribbon, exposing a little more of her to the touch of the rose.  Each ribbon untied, followed by the caress of the silver rose.  As the rose reached her abdomen, Suzy lifted her body to feel the gentle touch of his fi
ngers and the sensual touch of the flower.

“These roses are rare.”  One more ribbon. 

“Unique.”  Another ribbon. 

“Stunning.”  Another. 

“Strong.” Last ribbon. 

“And sweet.”  The rose drifted back up her chest.  “The first time I saw them, I thought of you.”  Her top still barely co
vering her breasts, Jack guided the rose back to her neck, barely able to tear his eyes away from hers. 

“I thought they were one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life.”  Across her lips. 

“And yet, not nearly as beautiful as you.”  He set the rose on the nightstand.  Suzy could not hide the desire and love she felt.  He was her match.  Her soul mate.  And she was his.  When they were together, all was right with the world.  He caressed her skin with his fingers the same way he did with the rose.  His lips followed leaving a trail of heat down her stomach and back up her neck to her lips.

*****

Needless to say, I had nothing to say.  Words failed me once again.  That must be why we have so many other senses.  The scent of the rose mingled with Jack’s personal scent and a hint of cologne.  The feel of the soft rose petals and the tough skin of his fingers from playing the guitar.  The feel of his lips as he kissed me all over.  The sound of his breathing as he whispered how much he loved me.  The look in his eyes as he moved on top of me and showed me how he felt.  It was a night that could never be written about in romance novels.  Words would never do it justice.

I am not sure when we fell asleep.  I didn’t care.  I was co
mpletely satiated, wrapped in his arms with the smell of our lovemaking all around us.  We woke up to a disheveled room, plates with strawberry stems, champagne flutes with a sip or two left in them, candles that burned themselves out at some point, clothes tossed on the floor, rumpled covers, and complete happiness.

After another round of the mos
t incredible sex I had ever had, we cleaned up our mess, showered (together, with a little messing around and a lot of giggling), packed up his car and headed out for Hammond.  I left my car at Andrea’s and would be back to get it Sunday.  We got some food along the way and pulled up at Mom’s new place.  Hugs all around then we dove into the boxes to help her unpack.  It was a great day.  And night. 

I got to see Jack’s parents right before his band came on.  I sat with them front and center of the stage at a renovated bar near Hammond.  The bar was bigger than Augustine’s and act
ually had a stage for live bands.  It was exciting to see him come out with his guitar.

I noticed the lead singer, Alex was what Jack called her, looked at me with a strange look in her eyes.  She sang with ev
erything she had, and was very good at it too.  After their first set, I got to meet all of them.  Alex was less than friendly.  I went back to sit with Jack’s parents and waited for the closing song.

Jack came up to the microphone and announced that the next song was for me.  His mom grabbed my hand and squeezed.  Alex glared at me.  Jack began to strum the notes.  Alexis backed away from her mic.  He looked at her, urging her to sing, wo
ndering what was wrong.  This was HIS song.  He had told me enough about it to get my curiosity up.  He was actually going to sing.  Alex was the back-up vocals.  Jack started to sing. 

Alexis slammed her microphone on the stage floor and screamed, “NO
! I refuse to do this.  Jack don’t make me do this.  Jack, I love you, don’t make me do this!”  And she stomped off the stage.

*****

“Alex!  Alex, wait!”  Jack tossed his guitar to the side and chased after her.  “What in the hell is going on?”  Alexis locked herself in the bathroom.  Jack looked panicked.  And confused.  This wasn’t like her.  They had been close friends for so long.  Why was she screwing this night up?

“Jack?  Is everything ok?”  Suzy touched him on his shou
lder.

“I don’t know Suzy.  I don’t know.  She isn’t normally like this.”

“She said she loved you Jack.”

“I know.  I know.  She
’s my friend.  We play music together.  We just got an offer to make a demo tape.  I wanted to surprise you Suzy.  I wanted to tell you tonight.”