"Well, if you love him, then he should know that. It's silly to hold that inside. You're already vulnerable because of the feeling. Share it and I bet it changes things."
"Maybe you're right."
"I'm always right, silly girl." He laughed, and Jamie forced out a tight chuckle.
"Thanks for the talk."
"Anytime. Go win my brother back. I want him with the best, and for him, that will always be you."
Chapter 18
Jamie changed into a blue cotton dress and pulled her hair down, brushing through it a few times before slipping on a pair of pretty sandals and heading up to Alex's. She pulled the key from the potted plant on the deck, wondering if he would ever give her one of her own. Maybe having a key to his place was too much, too intimate for him.
She unlocked and turned the alarm off inside the house and went through the living room and kitchen, opening windows to let in the fresh air. It was far too gorgeous outside not to invite it in. She needed an ambiance of serenity around them for the discussions that were headed their way. She wasn't leaving without full resolution on everything facing them. He was too important to put it off and act as if it didn't matter.
Murray, Alex’s chef, had made a meal that was in the fridge. Jamie checked the pantry and inside the refrigerator. She needed something to do. Murray’s food could be eaten tomorrow. She could make dinner now. Something simple, yet elegant. Jamie started a pot of rice and worked to sauté mushrooms and onions before slipping the chicken into the oven. She put some soft jazz music on her phone and danced around the kitchen, feeling better all of a sudden.
The fact that her parents were going to try and work through things was a huge weight off her shoulders she didn't even realize she was carrying. The idea of them being apart was funny enough a good thing, but maybe that was just what she wanted to believe. After so many years of them being together and most of them being decently happy years, there was something there to save.
The door closed in the front foyer, and she paused from cutting tomatoes for the salad. Her heart started to race as butterflies danced in her stomach. She needed to tread carefully. Her and Alex parting words were quite terse and hateful to one another.
"Jamie?" His voice was deep, but somehow soft.
"In the kitchen." She wiped her hands and sat the towel down before walking toward the living room. She stopped in the doorway as he held up a bottle of wine and a bouquet of red roses.
"Great minds think alike?"
She laughed as tears blurred her vision. "I'm sorry. For everything."
The plan was to let him apologize first, but seeing him standing there with flowers in his hands looking sexy in his slacks and button-down shirt with the look of a thousand apologies on his face broke her in two.
"Me too, baby." He moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her, his hands still full.
Her fingers tugged at the roughness around his cheeks as she pulled him in for a long kiss. She breathed in deeply and opened herself up, wanting him to penetrate her deeply with his warm tongue. She groaned at the taste of need she found on his tongue.
The firm press of his body to hers was almost too good, and though breaking the kiss seemed a tragedy, she pulled back and smiled. "I'm tying you up and spanking you if you actually write me up at work." She moved back and took the flowers before walking into the kitchen and searching for a vase.
"I wrote you up. Spank me?" He stopped behind her, sat the wine down on the counter and slid his arms over her hips. His large hands cupped her sex and he ground himself against her rear, whispering softly in her ear. "I'm an asshole, but I wanna be your asshole. Forgive me. Please. I got scared and honestly, I'm still shaken."
She forgot her task of getting the roses set up and turned in his arms, snaking hers around his neck and lifting to her toes to pepper him in kisses. "I'm scared too, but you and I have to stop beating each other up. If we're going to move forward together, then know that no matter what... I'm here for you. I'm going to be beside you to help with the Annette situation, to raise the baby with you, to take care of you and anything else you need. That's me, Alex."
He pressed his forehead to hers, closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. "And I want that to be me for you. Not a shell. Not half-assed. I want to be everything to you."
"Good." She pressed against him. "Let's eat dinner and figure out a few things and then we're getting in the shower. I need someone to wash my back."
"And your butt?" He opened his eyes and smiled wickedly.
"You have a tool that can do that?"
"Oh hell, I’ve so many tools that’re waiting to drill into you." He wagged his eyebrows and chuckled.