“Take them all, I don’t care,” I sighed, watching Maddy play around in the car outside. “I’m sending it all back.”
“Like hell you are, girlfriend! These are too pretty to just be wasted. And that car? Girl, you need that car and you know it. I’m tired of carting your ass to the grocery store every time you need a cup of sugar!”
“I’ve never asked you to take me to the grocery store!” I protested.
“Well, you would eventually! Look, I don’t know who this Jesse character is, but I like him already!”
“You haven’t even met him, Eddie,” I replied.
“No, but I’ve smelled him. And he smells like money and flowers. And any man that smells like cash and roses is a keeper!”
I laughed, shaking my head at him.
“You’re as crazy as he is,” I said.
“And so are you if you don’t keep all this,” he said, snapping his fingers.
“Maddy, come back in,” I yelled. She jumped out of the car and jogged back in the house. I cringed when I realized that just that little bit of exertion had left her breathless.
“Are you okay, honey?” I asked. “Do you need your inhaler?”
“Maybe,” she said. “I’ll go get it. I love that car, mama!” she yelled over her shoulder as she ran to her room.
I turned back to Eddie to see him studying my face intently.
“You got laid.”
“Oh, my God, Eddie! We are not talking about this right now!”
“Girl, I know that look, that glow. Don’t try to lie to Uncle Eddie, because I can always tell. Mmm, mmmm - roses, money and sex - girl, what kind of fancy treasure have you found?”
“Shut up!” I said, hushing him. I’d be mortified if Maddy heard him. I turned to go to her room when the doorbell rang.
“God, what now?” I asked, opening the door.
An old lady, with her white hair perched on top of her head in a huge bun, stood there holding a tiny white kitten in her arms.
“Yes?” I asked. “Can I help you?”
“Delivery for Maisey Jayne,” she replied, as she pushed the kitten into my arms. My mouth dropped in surprise.
“No, I can’t —,” I began, pushing the kitten back towards her.
“All the food, bedding, toys and everything else is right here,” she gestured to a pile of things she’d left on the porch and turned abruptly and walked away, leaving me standing there completely dumbfounded with the cutest kitten I’d ever seen purring in my arms. She brushed up against my cheek, staring up at me with huge, blinking blue eyes.
Maddy bounded around the corner and shrieked in pleasure.
“A kitten!” she cried. I sighed, handing her the kitten, and walking back into my flower filled house.
“What have I gotten myself into?” I wondered out loud.
“I don’t know, but does he have a lonely brother?” Eddie asked.
JESSE
My phone rang as I was doing the exercises Maisey left and insisted I do three times a day. My knee was getting much better, instead of worse like I thought it might be after the work out I’d given it last night.
“Hey beautiful,” I answered with a smile.
“Jesse, you are too much!”
“I take it you got my delivery?”
“Delivery? More like you sent an entire florist’s shop to my house!”
“Four of them… Actually… Do you like the flowers?” I asked.
“Like them? Well, of course, they’re flowers, what’s not to like? But it’s too much! It fills up my entire house!”
“Good, that was my intention.”
“And what was your intention with the kitten?”
“Oh, good Susie showed up, too? I love that little lady. She fosters cats and always has someone ready to be adopted. Did she bring you the white one?”
“Yes, but —,” she protested.
“That’s for your daughter,” I interjected. “Did she name her yet?”
“Yes - Snowflake - but Jesse, we can’t keep all this!”
“Of course you can. Why can’t you?”
“Because it’s too much, for one. Secondly, I can barely walk in my house. I’m not sure how big you think my house is, but this is ridiculous. And how in the hell did you find out my address, by the way?”
“Does it matter? Listen, Maisey,” I said. “This is more for me than it is for you. Did it make you smile?”
“Well, of course.”
“Then my mission is accomplished. I want to make you happy, babe,” I said, my heart swelling as I said it out loud. “I care about you, Maise.”
Her sigh on the other end of the phone ripped through me.
“I don’t mean to be ungrateful, Jesse,” she said. “I just don’t know if this is a good idea.”
“Tell you what,” I said. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow. Just enjoy yourself today, go for a ride somewhere nice with your daughter and I’ll see you in the morning, okay? It’s not the end of the world, Maisey. If it helps you feel any better, my team owner paid a disgusting amount of money to get me through rehabilitation. Your boss is hanging onto all of it without giving you so much as a pay raise. You’re riding around in a cab trying to make ends meet. You deserve better. Consider the car a work bonus that you damn well deserve for all the time and energy you’ve given that place. If you still don’t think you earned it by the time my knee is working, I’ll take it back no questions asked…”
“You’re very generous,” she said.
“Sometimes, I am,” I said. “You bring out the best in me.”
I could hear her smile in her voice.
“So… Tomorrow then?” I asked.
“Okay. Tomorrow,” she replied. “See you then.”
“Bye, Maise,” I hung up the phone quickly before I ended the conversation in privacy with three little words I knew she wasn’t ready to hear.
Soon, though. I was making progress. I’d broken through her shell, got her back into my bed, and in return, she’d managed to climb her way into my heart at the same time.
I’d never felt like such a fucking soft-hearted mushy freak before, and damn, it felt good to care about someone again.
I smiled as I went back to my exercises, allowing my mind to drift back to last night and the sound of my name on her moaning lips. If my knee was hurting, I sure as shit wasn’t feeling it. This high was better than anything I’d find in a painkiller…
Tomorrow would be a good day.
MAISEY
“Wow, look at you!” I said, after Jesse opened the door to his penthouse. “You’re barely limping.”
“Well, I’d like to take all the credit myself, but I can’t. I have this amazing physical therapist who’s a total hard-ass and she’s been giving me the best goddamned workout of my life,” he winked.
“Well, apparently that’s exactly what you needed,” I quipped. He looked great, I had to admit it. His limp was noticeably improved and he wasn’t wincing in pain with every step he took. I didn’t mind taking credit for it at all, but if he hadn’t been working to get better, he wouldn’t have.
“I’m thinking maybe we should move up to two or three treatment sessions a day,” Jesse replied, giving me a sideways smile.
“You sure you can handle that kind of hard work?” I said, laughing. “Seriously though Jesse, we’re not out of the woods yet. This is fun, but we still need to get you back in top shape. You’ll need to get back to the clinic soon.”
“Or maybe I can get them to bring the clinic to me.”
“Do you always get your way?” I asked, teasingly.
“Yes, in fact, I do,” he said, jutting his chin out proudly.
“Lucky you,” I replied, dryly.
“Don’t you?” he asked.
“I don’t really have a lot of things I want, so not getting them doesn’t make much of an impact,” I replied.
“You wanted me, didn’t you?” he asked, pulling me into his arms and brushing his lips again
st mine. I kissed him back quickly.
“Yes, I did,” I whispered, my skin rippling with goosebumps at his touch. He reached up and spun one of my curls around his fingertip, then let it spring loose before he trailed the tip of his finger over my jaw. I bit my lip, looking up at him, mesmerized by his touch again.
“Do you still want me?” he asked.
“I want you more, now that I’ve had you again,” I replied, my voice thick with emotion.
He kissed me again, harder this time, electric jolts of pleasure rushing through my body. I couldn’t help but kiss back. I’d been thirsty for him since I’d left him. I’d thought about him all day yesterday, my body still buzzing from our lovemaking.
“But,” I said, breaking our kiss and pushing him slightly away from me. “I’m here to work first. If we don’t get serious about your treatment, we’ll be behind and you won’t be ready in September.”
“But I’m already doing better,” he protested, attempting to pull me back into his arms. I spun around, untangling myself from him.