Jolene had been extremely nervous about asking me if we could hold off on telling Cameron or her ex about us. Since we hadn't even had a conversation about there being an us, I hadn't had any arguments. Not that I would have anyway, because I understood the importance of finding the right time to tell a kid about a new relationship. But admittedly, I was getting nervous that maybe it wasn't just her son that was keeping Jolene from wanting to take our relationship public.
We still went on dates when we could, but it was always to the next town over, and if she ran into anyone she knew, she introduced me as a friend of her family’s and nothing more. When Pete had asked me about Jolene, seemingly because he'd heard it through the grapevine, I'd only told him that I'd helped her with her car, which had been true enough. But I suspected the older man knew something was going on, especially since Jolene often came to visit me at the garage and we'd end up in the bathroom or Pete's office for an extended and wholly necessary amount of time.
On the nights that we didn't have to sneak around because her ex had Cameron, Jolene and I often hung out at her house and did wonderfully boring domestic things like making dinner together and watching TV. It'd given us the time we needed to learn about all the little quirks the other had. Jolene, for example, was a little bit of a clean freak, while I, admittedly, was an unashamed slob. The few small fights we'd had always led to amazing make-up sex sessions, not that we needed any excuse to be going at one another. But sex with Jolene was just the icing on the cake. The things I looked forward to most were talking to her at the end of each day, even if it was just by phone. I loved hearing about her customers at the diner where she waitressed and I was more than happy to talk car shop with her, though she usually had no clue what I was talking about.
I knew I was starting to fall for her and that was definitely a scary thing for me. But every time I tried to find reasons that I couldn't be with her, they just sounded like hollow excuses I was using to mask my fear of being rejected. While I’d tried having long-term relationships with a couple of women, I'd never been in a position where I’d actually put my heart on the line, so the unknown was unnerving. But every time I thought about getting in my car and just driving out of Eden, I found myself with more reasons not to.
I smiled as I watched Jolene's hips swaying as she bent over to check something in the oven. I move slowly into the kitchen, waiting until she closed the oven door before moving into place behind her. She shrieked when I grabbed her, but when I turned her head and covered her mouth with mine, she was moaning within seconds. Something clattered to the floor, presumably the spatula she'd been holding. I laughed against her mouth when I tasted butter on her tongue.
“Have you been cheating on me with the Land O’Lakes lady again?” I asked.
“That’ll teach you to sleep so long next time,” she said against my mouth. Then her arms wound around my neck and she was eagerly kissing me back. I lifted her into my arms and wasn't surprised when she wrapped her legs around my waist. I had enough sense to turn off both the burners that were going before I turned Jolene and carried her to the kitchen table.
Jolene's confidence both in and out of the bedroom had grown considerably in the weeks that we'd been seeing each other. When it came to sex, she didn't hold back at all and never had any issue with trying something new. The fact that sex with her just got better and better was another sign of how deep in this whole thing I was. There were some days where I took her hard and fast and others where I never wanted the lovemaking to end.
In addition to her sexual confidence, she’d started to come out of her shell when it came to things like the clothes she wore and the activities she participated in. I’d discovered over the weeks that Jolene was essentially living two lives. Outside the house, she was always careful about how she was dressed and the few times I'd seen her with others in public, I'd noticed that she never seemed to share her opinion or stand up for herself. She volunteered with multiple groups to the point that she had little extra time for herself and her son, and people often took advantage of her kindness and dumped even more tasks on her already busy shoulders.