Always Been You (28 page)

“That would explain a few things,” he grinned.

Rolling me over so I was lying on him, our conversation was halted for the time being as Jacob pulled my face to his.

His lips were soft and warm, and when I flick my tongue out to taste his lips, a noise issued from his throat that conveyed both shock and desperation for more. The effect it had on Jacob sent my head reeling as he pulled my body closer to his.

When he let out a heavy pant and lifted his head a moment later, I opened my eyes to see what was wrong only to close them again. Kissing his way around the other parts of my face, he then found a particularly sensitive spot near my collarbone, and I arched my back, giving better access to my neck. Except a quick second later as he slipped the strap from my dress off my shoulder, I then felt the full evidence of his desire for me and pulled away.

“What’s the matter?” he growled softly.

“I don’t feel right about being in your room doing what we’re doing when you’re parents aren’t here,” I said, as he gathered my hair in his hands. “I know they already assume I’m staying over since everyone else is, except they also probably think everyone else will be with us, and that we’ll be sleeping in the basement.”

“We’ll join everyone downstairs later. Right now I just want to be here with you without anyone interrupting us.”

“You know, Jacob, to be honest, I’m still trying to get used to the idea that you’re so in love with me,” I sighed. “I really don’t want to feel this way, but I can’t help feeling insecure about our relationship.”

“I’m scared and nervous as you are thinking this is only a dream,” he said, propping himself up on his elbow. “But that’s not going to stop me from loving you.”

“And me to you.”

“Then there shouldn’t be anything to be nervous about,” he grinned. “Besides, I’m sure you’ll be more secure about our relationship after you hear what I have to say.”

“And what exactly is this thing you have to say to me?”

“It’s a dream I had about you,” he sighed happily. “Not that I haven’t already had many other dreams that involve you and me…well…” He blushed. “Anyway, you were standing in our kitchen holding a baby that looked like us.”

“When did this come about?”

“It happened on the night we were trying to calm Tessa. I wanted to see what else was in store for us, but your loud whispering woke me up.”

“Funny,” I said, swatting his arm again as he playfully poked me in the side.

“Now back to my story. When you had opened the door to let me in, and I had seen you with Tessa, somehow subconsciously, the image of you holding our baby popped in my mind when I passed out.”

“Now that’s really weird.”

“Are you telling me that you find my deepest secret weird?”

“What? No. I’m saying that because Amy said the same thing to me.”

“It’s true, Jenna. I really hope you’ll make it come true one day.”

“If you keep treating me like this, maybe we’ll have that future of yours.”

“You really mean it?”

“Of course, especially now that I’m allowed to touch this sexy body of yours.”

“You’re allowed to touch me whenever you want. I’m yours forever, Jenna, and I really want us to one day have that future.”

“Then I hope when the time is right, I’ll make it happen for you,” I grinned.

Seeing the look of love and lust in Jacob’s eyes, we stared at each other for a moment, and I could feel a decision being made, a quiet resolve filling the space between us. As he reached out with a wide grin across his face and pulled me closer to his body, I willingly let him take over as he moved his head and captured my lips again.

 
Epilogue

New Beginnings

Despite the cold winter air, I was feeling quite warm in my new apartment that I shared with Jacob. Within walking distance to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, our place had cream-coloured walls in the living room, celery-green walls in the guest bedroom, and brown walls in our bedroom. Granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and birch cabinets furnished the kitchen. There was even a small nook that was big enough for a computer desk. We even had a view that overlooked downtown Vancouver from our living room window. And with the snow gently falling outside, the scents of pine from the tree decorated in gold and red, the smell of gingerbread from the homemade cookies sitting on a plate in the dining room, and an apple pie still baking in the oven, Christmas was definitely in the air.

A huge smile was etched upon my face as I stood back, watching everyone chatting among themselves as they sat in front of the roaring fire in my cosy living room.

It has been five years, since we had graduated from high school.

Jacob, who was sitting on the left side of our chocolate-coloured couch that faced the fireplace decorated with cream candles and garland, was in his second year at UBC as a med student. Amy, who was eight months pregnant with her first kid with Matt, was a fashion designer, working for one of the bridal companies. Matt, who was sitting on the matching love seat, rubbing his wife’s round stomach, was a journalist for the local newspaper. Nikki, who was sitting in the middle between Jacob and Devon, was a kindergarten teacher. Devon, who had his arm around Nikki’s waist, was a computer programmer. Katie, who was sitting on the plush white area rug in front of the fire, worked in advertising and was engaged to Alex. Alex, who also was mimicking Devon by wrapping his arm around his fiancé’s waist, was a computer graphics artist. As for me, I was also attending UBC, but was a second year law student.

Since everyone was always busy, we barely had any time to see each other. Now that the Christmas holidays were upon us, I was deliriously happy to be spending this special season with my friends.

Letting out another smile as my eyes landed on Matt, who was laughing at something Devon had said, I decided to continue with dinner and headed back into the kitchen. However, once I turned on the tap to wash the vegetables I had in the sink, Jacob suddenly appeared behind me, spun me around, and pulled my body flush against his.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered.

“Hey, to you too,” I whispered back.

“Having fun?”

“I am. You?”

“I will be in a sec,” he said and leaned in for a kiss.

He knew he was winning my undivided attention as I let out a sigh, and he smiled against my lips. But then, just as he wrapped his arms tighter around my waist and deepened our kiss, we were interrupted by a loud “Ahem”.

“Am I interrupting something in here?” asked Amy.

“Go away, Amy,” Jacob growled against my lips.

“Don’t listen to him,” I laughed, lightly swatting his arm.

“I never do,” she grinned. “So, is there anything you want me to do in here?”

“How about you leave the kitchen so I can continue kissing Jenna?” said Jacob.

“How about you leave the kitchen so Jenna can finish up with dinner?” said Amy.

“Just because your husband has a never ending stomach doesn’t mean he can’t wait like everyone else,” he said.

“Jacob, how about you let me finish up in here while you go and see what I’m giving you for Christmas?” I interrupted before Amy got a chance to retort. “It’s on the bed.”

He looked at me curiously for a moment when recognition dawned on his face. With his eyes widening and both eyebrows shooting up, Jacob was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning as he quickly rushed out of the kitchen and towards our room.

“Who would’ve thought the sexiest guy in school can easily be turned into mush by you?” said Amy, taking a seat on one of the chairs. “What did you put on your bed anyway?”

“That see-through, silk lingerie you made me buy,” I grinned.

“I thought that was your Christmas gift to him?”

“That’s a bonus.”

“Can’t wait to see what his reaction will be once he sees it,” she giggled. “By the way, everything smells great in here. I still can’t believe Jacob’s such an amazing cook. You’re lucky you have someone who loves you enough to prepare delicious meals for you every day.”

“I know how much you enjoy his cooking too. Didn’t you send Matt over here late last week so you could polish off his chocolate cake?”

“Once you’re in my position, you’ll understand what craving actually means. Hey, that reminds me. Did Jacob…?”

“He made a fudge chocolate cake with extra frosting. He even made vanilla ice cream and extra chocolate fudge sauce just for you.”

“Is there also…?”

“We also have some fresh raspberries and real whipped cream to go with it.”

“Can I have some of that cake now?”

“And spoil your dinner?”

“Hey, I eat like a pig now so there’s no way I’m going to spoil anything.”

“How about you get the gravy going for the turkey, and then I’ll let you have some?”

“Fine.”

I was amazed that she gave in so easily, but as I started to peel the carrots, I couldn’t hear the rustling sounds of pots getting pulled out from the cupboards or even utensils getting taken out of the drawers. Wondering if Amy had left to use the washroom, I spun around to find half of Amy’s body sticking out of the fridge.

Letting out an exaggerated fake sigh, I placed the peeler down, walked right up to her, and tapped her on the shoulder.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just sampling,” she said, licking her chocolate covered fingers with great enthusiasm. “You know I can’t resist. Besides, he’s not going to notice anyway.”

“How can he not?” I said, pointing to the cake. “There’s a huge void in it.”

“He won’t question it when he knows what happens if you anger a pregnant woman with overreacting hormones,” she said.

Casting another furtive look at her as she headed to the stove with a smug grin on her face, I then went back to the sink and picked up the peeler. A quick second later, she was rustling around in the fridge again.

“Amy, would you stop that?” I said.

“You’re no fun, Jenna,” she whined, as she shut the fridge door. “Does Jacob ever complain when you channel your mother like this?”

“Not when I’ve been getting extremely good use with all the lingerie you keep making me buy.”

“So he still hasn’t figured out a way to evade your tactics?”

“Actually he has better tactics than me. I really don’t know what you would’ve walked in on if you hadn’t interrupted us.”

“It didn’t look like you were fighting him too much,” she laughed. “I take it things are going well now that you two have moved in together?”

Making sure we were completely alone as I poked my head into the hallway, I then grabbed her hands and quickly blurted out, “Ohmygodthesexisincredible!”

Amy stood frozen on the spot, staring at me with a confused expression on her face while trying to puzzle out my words. When she finally realised what I had said, she broke out into a huge grin that stretched from ear-to-ear.

“I knew Jacob was a man of action,” she said.

“I never knew I would get this much action,” I said when she began to frown. “Ames, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she sniffed. “I’m just so happy to see you like this. And I know you’ll be happy even more once…”

“Once what?”

“Um, nothing.” She quickly avoided looking directly at me and headed back to the stove.

“Does it have something to do with my Christmas gift?” I asked her.

“Not a chance, Chow!” she grinned.

“What if I told you Matt’s deepest darkest secret?” I offered.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t cave in like I thought she would.

“I’d like to find that out for myself, thanks,” she said. “Besides how do you know I don’t already know what it is?”

“Because he was drunk when he accidentally spilled it out to me,” I said. “But that’s not the point. Can’t you just tell me what Jacob’s getting me for Christmas?”

“Well…”

We were interrupted by Jacob storming into the kitchen.

“What’s the idea of putting something like that on the bed for me to see?” he grumbled, walking right up to me.

I could see a fine sheen of sweat across his brow. I knew it was due entirely due to what he had found lying on our bed. But instead of giving in to the intensity of his smouldering glare, I bit my lip, slowly leaned in closer, and gave him an innocent look.

“What? I thought you’d like it,” I said.

“I do,” he said, his voice taking on a heated tone of need.

“Then what’s the problem?” I asked calmly.

“You are such a tease,” he muttered, his eyes sparkling with desire.

“You’re only upset because you can’t take Jenna back to your room and have your way with her right now,” Amy grinned at Jacob.

“Since you’re not busy, why don’t you start mashing these potatoes?” I interrupted; thrusting a bowl at her as she giggled at Jacob’s reddening face.

“Th…that’s not the only thing that gets m…mashed around here,” she laughed.

“You know,” coughed Jacob. “I think I hear Matt calling me so I guess I’ll see you two later.”

Giving me a chaste kiss on the cheek, he then quickly left and almost stumbled into Katie and Nikki as they headed into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong with Jacob?” she asked.

“He looks a bit flushed,” added Nikki.

“He’s probably feeling the effects of seeing the nightie Jenna got for him lying on their bed!” giggled Amy. “Boy, does he want her.”

“Weren’t you and Matt like that when you started having sex?” asked Katie.

“Sort of,” said Amy. “Weren’t you?”

“Not like this. Alex never was this attentive, even though we’ve been engaged for six months.”

“Neither has Devon,” said Nikki. “You could almost feel the heat radiating off Jacob just from the way he looks at Jenna.”

“But the difference is Jacob and Jenna have been going at it for a few years now, and it still seems as if they only just started having sex,” smirked Amy.

“And I think we should stop talking about mine and Jacob’s sex life and continue with dinner,” I said, feeling my face rapidly heating up.

Once dinner was eaten and the dishes banished to the sink, everyone then retreated into the living room as I got out the dessert. As I began passing slices of warm apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream, and a huge slice of chocolate cake topped with strawberries, whipped cream and drizzled with fudge sauce for Amy, I noticed this strange look on Nikki’s face as she gazed at my tree.