His First Cherry Pie: A Double Virgin Valentine

He shrugs his shoulders. "I think it's the same for all of us. We try to eat right, we work out, get warmed up, watch film on our competitors, do walkthroughs, do some self-care."

I write it all down.

He asks me, "Do you have any other questions?"

Instantly, my head goes haywire. In my mind I say all of the things that I want to ask him. "Would you kiss me? Would you take me here and now? Would you put your baby in me?" But of course, I don't say any of that. Instead, I shake my head, embarrassed, feeling the heat rise on my cheeks. "No nothing else." But then I remember. “Uh, I was supposed to take pictures. Do you mind if I get a shot of you right now?”

He looks stumped for a minute. “You want to take my picture?”

I pull my phone out of my bag and hold it tightly in my hand. “Is that okay?”

He seems to think about it. “You take one of me and then I’ll take one of both of us.”

I try not to blanche. I hate getting my picture taken, but I agree nonetheless.

I take a few pictures of him, snapping them quickly. When I’m done, he holds his hand out for the phone. I hand it to him, and he comes around the table to stand next to me. Even though I’m standing up now, I’m still so much shorter than him. He bends down and holds his big, beefy arm out in front of us. He hooks his arm around my shoulder, and I swear I forget to breathe. He says smile, and I do it without thinking.

He snaps pictures and then stands up. “I’m going to send these to myself, okay?”

I nod as he walks back around the other side of the table. My heart is still flip-flopping in my chest just from being near him. When he sits down again, I do the same, and he hands me my phone. I drop it into my bag, fighting the urge to open it and look at the pictures of us.

“So no more questions?” he asks again.

And I know if I try to answer him, I won’t be able to. I’m still trying to recover from his closeness, so I just shake my head side to side.

I'm probably going to lose my job. I know JD is elusive and never gives out interviews, but I'm so nervous I don't know what to say right now.

Chapter 5

JD

I knew that Willa was working at the Knoxville Daily News. I have copies of everything she's ever written in high school, college, and for the paper that she writes for now. I’m sure if people saw all my clippings of her stories on gardening, home decorating, and all the human interest stories, I would probably be asked to turn in my man card from my teammates, but I don’t care. If Willa wrote it, I’m interested.

For the last few years, I’ve given up putting Willa out of my mind. I tried, but it wasn’t happening. It’s driven me crazy, wanting someone I know I couldn’t have, but no matter how many times I’ve told myself she didn’t want me, I couldn’t completely give up. But now, here she is right in front of me, and I’m not going to miss this opportunity.

I want this interview to last longer than it is, and she surprises me when she tells me that she doesn't have any more questions. Her hands are fidgeting on the table between us, and it makes me wonder if I make her nervous. Fuck, I hope not. I don't want to make her nervous. I want her at ease when she's with me. If anyone should be nervous, it’s me.

"Call your boss and tell him you're going to write a piece on me," I tell her.

She does that cute little giggle that she has. "I can't do that. I'm a junior reporter. I don't tell my boss what I'm going to write. He tells me what story I’m going to write."

I grit my teeth at that. I just don't like the sound of it. I don't want any man to tell her anything, even if it is just her boss and it's all on the up and up.

"Call your boss," I tell her again.

She shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders as if she already knows how this is going to play out, but at least she pulls her tote bag off her shoulder and digs in it for her phone. She punches in some numbers and puts the phone up to her ear.

She says, "Hey, sir," and then there's silence on her end. She smiles at me when she catches me staring at her. "Yes, I got notes. Yes, I'll send them to Jamieson."