Falling In (10 page)

I rub the skin that covers my heart, feeling it burn. He looks so lost. I have the sudden urge to take away the hurt he’s feeling right now. Only, I’m not sure how, or if I even can—at least not in the way he probably wants me to.

But I have to try
.

I step forward and grab his hand, pulling him to me, and wrap my arms around his body. Molding mine into his. I feel his arms squeeze around me tightly, so tightly that I can feel every muscle in his sculpted back. We breathe into each other. I can feel some of the tension release from his body. I’m not sure how long we stay locked in this embrace, but eventually he pulls away first. When our eyes meet, the light is there again, faint but there nonetheless.

              “Come on. I’ll make you some coffee.” I motion to my house with my head and wait for him to answer. He nods, so I take his hand again and lead him inside. Thankfully, our other neighbors are at work—otherwise, this would look a lot worse than it really is.

              Jake follows me to the kitchen. I swear, most of our time together has been spent inside a kitchen. As he sits down, I put a pod inside my single cup coffee brewer and finally turn on the stove to boil water for my tea. I’m looking in the refrigerator for something to make for breakfast when he interrupts my search.

              “I finished your book last night.” I turn to him and raise my eyebrows, my wordless way of asking him to elaborate. He smiles. A real but small smile. It’s still a smile, though. “It’s exactly how it should be. Fucking perfect. I was up half the night reading it. The ending blew my mind. You’re seriously talented, and—damn amazing.” The smile on my own face could not get any bigger.

             
Nope, I lied
. It just grew to ten times the size when he flashed me an equally large one back. I jump up and down like a little girl, clapping my hands excitedly.

              “You really like it? I’ve been so petrified that everyone was going to hate it. Jesus, I still am. But you like it?” I ask again.

              He chuckles at me. “No, I don’t like it. I
love
it. I already told you it was perfect, girl.”

              I run around the counter and practically jump into his arms. Laughing, he accepts me. I give him a big squeeze and whisper a thank you. We release each other, both blushing from the contact. I go back into the kitchen, get my tea ready, and grab his coffee before settling down next to him.

              For the next hour, we go through all of the mistakes I made. There aren’t any big ones, just small errors. As I’m typing the corrections, I catch him staring at me every once in a while. And each time, it makes me hotter and hotter. I’m just about to take off my robe when I realize I’m completely naked underneath.

              “Shit!” I hop off the barstool, clasping my robe closed.

              “What’s wrong?” he asked, startled by my abrupt movement.

              “Nothing, I’m just going to go get dressed real quick.”

              Then an idea springs to mind. A cunning smile crosses my face, and he narrows his eyes.

              “What is that look for?” I don’t answer, just turn on my heel and walk out of the kitchen. I hear Jake shouting, “Evangeline! What was that look for? Evangeline!”

              I smile to myself as I walk upstairs. Once I’m inside my room, I quickly disrobe and pull on some yoga leggings, a sports bra, and my aged Velvet Underground tee. Figured since he’s rocking some Lou, I’d do the same.
Gotta love Lou Reed. May he rest in peace.

Before stepping out, I also grab two mats. I’m going to teach Jake yoga today! I am almost giddy as I rush back downstairs. Yoga is no joke, and he’s about to learn that real quick. He’s in the same spot I left him, though his arms are crossed, and he turns right to me as I enter. His assessing eyes take me in slowly from head to toe, but as he’s traveling back to up my eyes, he pauses at the mats in my hand. His eyebrows shoot up, and he’s shaking his head back and forth.
Ha. Like he’s getting out of this. No way
. Besides, I think it’ll change his mood.
I hope so, at least.
I want my hot neighbor with swagger back.

              “Now Jake, don’t you shake your head at me. We’re so doing this. I need to, so I can keep drinking my wine every night, and I’m not just going to let you sit here and watch me like a perv. So, get your lazy ass up and follow me outside.”              

              “Yes, ma’am. I’m liking bossy Evangeline. She’s hot!” He gets up and moves toward the back door, but I’m still rooted to my spot. Staring at him.
He just called me hot!
I can’t help the dopey smile on my face. No girl in her right mind could.

              “Well, you coming? I thought you were going to school me in all things
Namaste
.” Jake says before opening the door. He walks outside, but not before giving me that sexy-ass, smug smirk. I shake my head free of teenage-girly giddiness and follow him outside.

Tossing him his mat, we set them down on the deck facing each other so he can see my movements. I take it fairly easy on him because within five minutes of starting, I find out that Jake has zero balance. I mean, I’m not even sure how this fool walks without falling. He looks so damn cute trying to perfect the moves, but he fails miserably. He’s been shooting me death glares every time I burst out laughing at his ‘skills’ or lack thereof. But about twenty minutes and probably twenty falls in, he lands on his butt pretty damn hard. Throwing his hands up in the air, he shouts, “I fucking suck at this!” I’m in the middle of one-footed chair, but his earsplitting shriek scares the crap out of me, so before I know it, I lose my balance and fall on my ass right along with him. We both erupt into a fit of giggles like little schoolgirls.

It’s the second time this morning that I have felt like a little girl around him. He makes me feel young again. While I know I’m not old by any means, after the way I grew up, I never really felt like a kid.
He
makes me feel like a kid.
It’s refreshing.

              “They call it a practice for a reason, Jake. It takes practice to do it like a boss, like me.” I say with as much arrogance I can muster—which probably isn’t much. But it was enough for him to grab my arms and pull me to him.

              “Oh, that’s it, girl. You’ve been laughing at me nonstop for the last half hour. You’re gonna fucking pay!” he whispers in my ear, sending dangerous shivers down my entire body. But just when I’m getting all kinds of hot, the mother effer starts to tickle me. Like seriously, make-me-pee-in-my-pants-and-hyperventilate type of tickling.

              “Please! Stop! Jake! Oh. My. God! Stop. Ass. Hole!” I scream through his incessant attack. He’s got me flat on my back, my wrists in his right hand above my head while he’s straddling me
. Yeah, I know this is all kinds of wrong.
Like we are not only crossing the line, but effing leaping over it. But dang, it feels so damn good to be underneath him. I’m getting so turned on as I try to wiggle my way out of his grasp that the friction I’m causing is almost orgasmic. And I’m trying really hard to pretend like I don’t feel his hard-on against my lower belly. Which is actually an easy feat, since he’s distracting me with his relentless assault.

“Okay. I surrender! You. Are. A. Boss!” I scream at him while doing some sort of snort-choke-laugh thing that I am sure is quite sexy—
not
. He finally stops, allowing me to take a few haggard breathes as I try to calm my body down. I roll my head to face him, and the sight I see makes my heart stop.

His smile.

His smile is lighting up his entire face. His green eyes are gleaming with amusement. He looks so happy. And so mother effing gorgeous. Before I can stop myself, I’m reaching up and swiping the hair that has fallen over his eyes. I start to remove it, but he covers my hand with his and holds it there. I watch him close his eyes and take in the moment. This picturesque yet tactless moment that will be over way too quickly. When his eyes reopen, I see determination.

Shit
.

He’s going to kiss me
. I don’t know what to do. I mean, I know what I
want
to do. But what I want to do and what I should do are at total odds. My breathing picks up and my body temperature rises. All of a sudden, everything is in slow motion. He releases my hand, letting it drop by his thigh, which I in turn begin to grip as he very slowly leans in while supporting his weight on his forearms.
This is it. Fuck. Shit
. I am about to cheat on Cole. Our mouths are so close that I can feel his hot breath coat my eager lips. I lick them in anticipation and nervousness.

And then my phone rings.
But it’s not just any ring
. It’s
Lucky
by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat—
Cole’s ringtone
. I turn my head toward the interruption. I hear Jake mutter a “fuck” under his breath. I grab the phone before it goes to voicemail. I close my eyes and answer.

              “Hey.” That’s all I can manage. I’m amazed I could even get that out.

              “What’s wrong? You sound weird.” He doesn’t say this accusingly. No, he says it with worry.
Yeah, I’m a bitch
.

              “Nothing. I’m just in the middle of doing yoga. Getting a bit winded. What’s up babe?”

              Feeling Jake tense, I look up at him and am met with a hard stare. He gets off of me and paces back and forth to the side of my head.
Eff.
He’s angry.
At me? Or the situation—whatever the situation is
. Dang, I didn’t hear what Cole just said. “I’m sorry, baby, what did you say?”

              “Well, I was reminding you that we have an early release today, so I’ll be home in a couple of hours. Thought maybe we could go out to lunch if you’re up to it. You sound kinda out of it though babe.”

              “No, I’m fine, really. Yeah, we can do that. Sounds like a plan. I’m gonna finish up and get ready, okay? I’ll see you soon.” I’m trying to muster all of the enthusiasm I can, but I’m just not feeling it right now. Right now, all I can think about is the irritated man that is burning holes through my head the more I speak.

              “Okay, I love you.”

              “I love you, too.”

I hang up, warily rise from the mat, and make my way to Jake. He abruptly stops his pacing and faces me with a quiet rage. I can feel it rolling off of him in waves. He has something to say.

              “What the fuck are we doing? What the fuck are
you
doing?”

              His emotions seem to be as schizo as mine. I know he’s angry, but I can sense a helplessness in his tone. He’s just as confused and lost as I am.

              “
I don’t know
,” I whisper.

             
I really don’t fucking know
.

              He steps toward me, looking as if he’s going to grab me. But at the last minute, he steps back.

              “Well, let me know when you figure it out.” His eyes spear mine with that same torturous look as yesterday. “Have fun with
your babe
,” he spits out before walking back inside. And from the slam of my door, he’s gone back to his house, and far away from me. I’m left feeling that chill in the air again, and even more confused than ever.

***

Jake ignores me for three days. Three excruciatingly drawn out days. Every morning while I’m out waiting for the bus with the kids, Jake lets Ben come over with Cady and Dyl, while he stands on his porch. He never once glances my way. It’s like I’ve become invisible to him.
And you know what?
I’m kind of mother effing pissed about it.
What did he expect me to do—ignore Cole?
Not answer the phone like I normally would, making him even more suspicious?
This whole thing—
whatever this is
,
attraction or infatuation
—is honestly beginning to grate on my nerves. 

Yes, my emotions are on overdrive. They’re so damn sporadic, I feel like I’m either going to have a panic attack or just start screaming at any moment. I’m constantly having to remind myself to freaking breathe. I really just want to lay in bed alone and attempt to forget the stupid neighbor with haunting green eyes that sparkle when he looks at me.
But I can’t
. Not today, anyway. I have to pull it together because it’s my kiddos’ birthday party. And I’m hosting twelve other kids for the afternoon, plus their parents.

And Jake.

With Cole.

Under the same roof.

Yeah, I need to get my shit together.
Fast
.

So here I am, finishing the dips, doing all of the last minute finishing touches before everyone arrives. We rented a helium machine, so inside the house there are about two-dozen balloons touching the ceiling.
Frozen
for Cady and
Spiderman
for Dyl. Along with matching tablecloths, hats, streamers, and pretty much every other themed birthday supply we could find at
Party City
. Yes, we do it big in the Moreno-Adams residence. It’s like we created a
Frozen-Spiderman
hybrid alternate reality in our kitchen and backyard.