Carpe Diem - Jesse 3 (19 page)

It felt a little strange now, this new idea of what it meant to be a man. It was a glimpse at happiness, hope for what could be and now I was finally thankful to have Kenny as my role model.

“I’m really proud of you, Jesse. Not many people have someone like you in their life. I consider myself very lucky.” There was a tear in Kenny’s eye as he gave me the typical man-hug. I felt a little awkward, as I wasn’t used to dealing with men who show emotions other than anger. I was more used to averting my feelings with crass remarks and calling my friends the beloved “asshole” word, or something like “shit for brains.” But I was convinced they always understood that I said it with love.

I ducked my head down, sheepishly, not knowing what to say. Was that a lump growing in my throat? Kenny relieved me of my awkward moment by saying, “Well, let’s get back to work.” Customers will be coming in. You can go unlock the door, now.”

I took the keys from behind the counter and went to the front door. I hadn’t noticed someone standing on the other side of the glass, waiting to get in. I turned the key thinking how impatient this person was when I looked up in surprise.

“Niki.”

Oh shit.
Niki showed up to see me. This could be a good sign, or it could be a bad sign; either way, my heart leapt into my throat and I could barely get the words out, but before I had a chance, she made the first move and spoke. “Hey, Jess.” She peered over my shoulder as I held open the door and when she spotted Kenny she didn’t come in. Instead, she said, “Can we take a walk?”

I turned my head in Kenny’s direction and yelled across the empty tables, “Is it okay if I take ten minutes?”

Kenny’s head popped up from the screen on the cash register and he caught sight of Niki, standing in the doorway. She gave a little wave and said “Hi,” to Kenny.

He smiled and waved us away and yelled back, “Yeah, yeah, go on, you two.”

I dropped the front door keys into my pocket and held the door for Niki as we walked out.

As we strolled down the sidewalk I hardly noticed the day was clear and sunny. I was too busy trying to gauge Niki’s mood. We walked and I looked at her sideways, trying to read the expression on her face. She was so beautiful, all I wanted to do was hold her in my arms and beg her for another chance. But I had to bite my tongue and bide my time. I needed to let her say what she had come here for.

“How’s your mom?”

This was starting out awkward and a little stiff. “She’s doing great. You’re not going to believe this, but my dad’s going to propose to her. Yeah, I know that sounds strange, but... go figure it.”

“Aw, how exciting.” Niki sounded truly delighted by the news and I was glad it made her smile. “I guess it’s true what they say, love conquers all.”

I smiled. “Words of wisdom.” I wagged my head from side to side. “Sooo, does that apply to us, too?” I peered over at her, searching her eyes.

“Well about that. My dad came to my apartment earlier today.”

“Your dad? Oh, he must be thrilled,” I said sarcastically. “I suppose my recent events haven’t helped to improve his opinion of me.”

“Not exactly, but you know my dad, he just came by to tell me what he thinks is best for me.”

“That’s no news.”

She looked at me and rolled her eyes.

“Look, Jesse, you have to understand that when I saw Gio that day at his studio with a broken nose, I thought you had lost it. I thought, this time you’ve gone too far and I swore I would never see you again. Now I understand. I know you were upset because of the photos, but even if they were genuine and real, handling it the way you did is not a quality I look for in a man.”

“I know and I’m sorry,
again
. I told you I’m in therapy and it’s going great.”

“Which is the reason why I’m here right now, to tell you that I want to help you through this, that I’ll be by your side. Jesse, I want to help you... and not just as a friend.”

Niki stopped walking and turned to look me in the eyes. “I missed you, Jesse.”

That was a start. My pulse picked up as I waited to hear more. I hadn’t intended it, but we had walked down to the beach, only three blocks from Rookies. The sun was glistening off the water, a light breeze was blowing Niki’s hair. It wasn’t summer, like when we first met, but Niki still looked amazing standing there, pulling her hair out of her face as it whipped in the breeze. Life looked bright again.

By this time, I was pretty sure she had come to take me back. She wouldn’t have come all this way if she never wanted to see me again. It was a good sign and I was about to go with my gut instinct and make a bold move.

She opened her mouth to speak and I stopped her. “Before you continue... do you know what this reminds me of? Her eyes followed mine as they scanned the empty sand and she pulled her jacket around her body tighter.

“What?”

I cupped her face in his hands and in a low voice said, “The first time I did this...” And I drew her soft full lips into my mouth. I could feel her body relax as she melted into my arms, her tongue filling my mouth, swirling and twisting into the sweetest tasting kiss I’d ever had. Her hands clung to my forearms as we deepened the kiss and I could feel her trembling beneath my touch. I pulled back from the kiss but held her head to mine, our foreheads touching and with my eyes closed, I whispered, “I love you.” Then I waited, squeezing my eyes shut, hoping to hear those same words spoken back to me.

“I love you too, Jesse.” And my heart sang, “
She loves me, she still loves me.”
Slipping both of my arms around her, I opened my eyes, happy again. I pulled her close, and locked my arms around her tightly, partially to keep her warm from the cold breeze, but mostly because I was never going to let her go again.

I rocked our bodies from side to side, with her head was buried in my chest and, even though I couldn’t see it, I knew she was smiling. I tipped my head down enough to talk into her ear and said, “So now what? Where do we go from here?”

She tipped her head up wearing a big grin and with a sparkle in her eyes, said, “Well, someone once told me, ‘Yesterday is history, and tomorrow is a mystery.’”

Niki

W
inter was almost here in up-state New York. It was cold in Jimmy’s small house and, being from California, I wasn’t used to this sweater weather. I missed wearing flip flops but Jesse and I came for the Thanksgiving holidays, so I had to make the best of it. We were all sitting at a beautifully decorated table for Thanksgiving dinner. The last time we had all been together was four months ago, in Las Vegas, for Kenny and Emily’s wedding and it had been almost a year since Jesse and I returned home from Italy, and the trip that nearly broke our love for each other. Jesse had a tough season racing with the Yamaha team but, overall, Coach and everyone else was pleased with his performance and after winning four of his races, he had been signed on with Yamaha for three more seasons. That is what he had hoped for in the beginning, so he was happy with his career.

We had just sat down to eat when Jimmy and his wife, Sarah, began to squabble. Sarah was pregnant again, almost nine months, and was due to give birth right before Christmas.

Jimmy tapped his fork on the wooden table, making a noise to get everyone’s attention. “Sarah and I have an announcement.”

We all paused and turned to listen.

“We are buying a bigger house.”

“That’s great, Jimmy. You’ll need it,” Kenny said with a chuckle, and everyone nodded, murmuring similar sentiments.

“Yep, that’s right. We’ll need it if we’re going to have four kids.” He raised his eyebrows and wiggled them.

“Four kids? You’ve gotta be crazy. I’m not ruining my figure for four kids. After breast feeding four kids, my boobs will be so saggy, I’ll have to go to Florida every morning just to pick them up.”

Sarah, as I recalled, was always in a grouchy mood near the end of her pregnancy. But then, from the looks of her bulbous stomach and swayed back, who wouldn’t be? Jimmy, on the other hand, appeared to be enjoying fatherhood. I looked over at him as he screwed a sippy cup lid on the baby’s drink and set it on the tray of her high chair. The baby sat close to Jimmy, giving Sarah a wide berth.

“Four kids—” Sarah shrieked, launching into a rant and berated Jimmy, who took it with a smile. “You try popping these puppies out of your body! I’ll tell you what, you want four? How about you give birth to the next two. Deal?”

Jimmy knew the next thing out of his mouth would just spur her on, so he intentionally razzed her about it. “No way. That’s a woman’s lot in life, you know, cook, clean, have the babies. Sorry, dear, you married a caveman. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”

“Like hell I am.” She jokingly tossed a dinner roll at him and he leaned away as it glanced off his shoulder. “I have news for you. I don’t need you anyway. I’m secretly having an affair with the mailman. He’s going to come for me, any day now, and take me away in his helicopter to his expensive mansion, where he likes to tie me up in a red room and do naughty things to me. This baby is going to come out with red hair. Or maybe...”

“Hold on, Sarah, I think you’ve been reading too many books lately. Our mailman doesn’t have red hair.”

“Oh Jesus, Jimmy can’t I have a little fantasy in my life?” She winced in pain and placed her hand on her lower back. I ran and got a small pillow from the couch and tucked it behind her back.

“There you go, Sarah. Maybe this will help.”

“Thanks, Niki. Just wait, some day you will get to have this kind of fun, too,” she remarked sarcastically.

I smiled and caught Jesse looking my way. His eyes danced with humor and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing I was. I glanced down at my hand and took my seat again next to him. I pursed my lips and said, “We have an announcement, too.”

The conversations ground to a halt and all eyes were on Jesse and me.

Jesse blurted out, “We’re moving to New York.”

Emily’s eyes widened and she said, “What? I move to California and now you’re moving to New York?”

Kenny had a strange look on his face that Emily was quick to notice. He didn’t say a word and just kept shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. She turned to him and said, “You knew?”

With a shrug, Kenny said, “Yeah. Jesse told me they were moving a couple of days ago so I could look for someone to take over for him at Rookies.”

“Why am I always the last to know?” Emily replied. “Jesse, why are you and Niki moving to New York? I mean, will you live here, in Thunderidge?”

I couldn’t contain myself any longer and I had to blurt out my good news. “I got a job—with a famous design company and we’re moving to New York City.” I was practically bouncing up and down on my seat. Jesse reached over and put his hand on mine.

“Yup, I’m so proud of her. She’ll do amazing. This is a really big step for both of us.” He was grinning from ear to ear.

Jimmy stopped chewing long enough to say, “That’s great news, Niki. I’m sure Jesse is right, you will be good at this job.”

As all the others at the table were congratulating me, I bit my lip and threw a sidelong glance at Jesse. He put his arm on the back of my chair and leaned in to kiss my cheek, then whispered in my ear, “Go ahead.”

I took a deep breath and spun the diamond I had been hiding on my ring around so it was facing up.

“Oh, and by the way,” I stuck my left hand out and hovered it over the middle of the table, right above the turkey. “We did this, too.” And I wiggled my fingers, flashing my engagement ring for all to see.

With a hand to her breast, Emily gasped, “Oh my goodness! When did this happen?”

Jesse pulled my shoulder in to his chest in a hug and said, “Last night, when I took her out for dinner.”

Sarah tilted her head to the side and smiled. “Congratulations. I hope you will be as happy as Jimmy and I.”

Kenny continued shoveling food with his right hand and simply gave thumbs up with left hand.

Emily rose from her hair and came to stand behind Jesse and me, to give us both a hug.

“I’m so happy for the both of you.”

I looked around the table at all the smiling faces, a warm glow filling my body as I realized these were the best of times. After all of the ups and downs, the anxiety and the joy, the tears and the smiles, my future was bright and all my plans were coming to fruition. I had learned a lot about myself since I met Jesse. If he hadn’t walked into my life, there’d be no sunshine and I would still be under the control of my father, probably enrolled in law school and miserable. With Jesse at my side, I was free to discover my “inner artist.” Jesse taught me to be myself and not be afraid to take risks in life. I considered myself blessed. Not only did I have my dream job, but I was also going to marry my inspiration, my one true love.

The End

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Other books by Eve Carter:

Deceived 1 – New York (Free ebook) 

Deceived 2 - Paris

Deceived 3 - Chloe’s Revenge

Deceived 4 – The Wedding

Breathless – Jesse 1

Fearless – Jesse 2

Pure Temptation – Tempted 1

Coming in the summer:

Raw Temptation – Tempted 2

Deceived 5

Deceived 6