Love Realized (26 page)

Feeling a little guilty knowing he had stayed up for her last night, she quickly said, “I'm sorry about that. You didn’t have to wait up for me, you know.”

He shook his head at her, “I didn’t
have
to, but I wanted to, Gillian. I was worried about you—still am. I really don’t like the idea that this crazy person—whoever it is—has your number. You think maybe you should get a new one?”

“That’s what my brother said last night, but I don’t know. I like my number.” She knew she was pouting a little, but it was true. It pissed her off to think that she had to change her number because of some crazy person. The truth was Gillian was pretty convinced that it was Jody Spencer. She always had this underlying concern about the woman making her presence known, and while it may not have been a rational concern before, it now seemed completely legit.

“Okay, I’ll go to the wireless store as soon as I can. But I'm working twelve-hour shifts for the next four days, so I don’t see it happening until after that.” When it seemed like he was going to have something to say about that, she gave him a look that told him she wasn’t going to argue about it. He put his hands up in surrender, and she changed the subject.

“Thank you for talking with Jonathan last night. I appreciate it.”

Jake shrugged his shoulders and said, “It wasn’t planned. He just sort of threw it all out there. He looked better once he got it all out, though. But you should be prepared—I told him that Allie also shares some of the animosity toward Logan that he does, so he’ll be teaming up with her now.”

“Oh great! Just what we need; Allie, the ring leader, with an angry following.” She laughed at the mental picture that provided her with.

Jake stood up from his position against her station and placed his hands on both her shoulders, commanding her attention. The serious look on his face made her focus on only him as he said, “I want you to promise me that you’ll pay attention to things around you, Gillian. Clearly somebody is angry, and we can assume that it’s directed toward Logan, but the truth of the matter is that
you
are the one who got the messages. So I wouldn’t like it if you disregarded your safety by ignoring it.” He paused as he ran his hands down her arms ‘til he could hold both of her hands in his, pulling them in his direction, forcing her to stand up.

It certainly was no hardship to stare at this beautiful man in front of her, but the fact that he could place her under this spell with just a look was mind-boggling. The only way she could answer him was to nod like a fool as she felt her body sway toward his. His swift smile as he lifted their hands up to kiss, had her stopping mid sway and remembering she was at work. She was at work and was trying to make out with Jake. She could feel the heat fill her cheeks when the embarrassment at her behavior set in. His knowing smile only escalated her embarrassment as she ducked her head a little to avoid his gaze.

His fingers at her chin forced her to tilt her head back up at him, and he tapped a finger to her nose playfully. “Promise me you’ll be careful? Promise me you will not walk out of here alone tonight? If nobody can walk with you, I expect you to call any one of us—your brother, my brother … me.”

“I promise,” she whispered.

Jake responded, “Good. Now I’ve gotta go. Eddie is down in the rig waiting for me.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“Anytime, beautiful.” He winked, and then he was gone. What the hell was it about Jake winking that made her swoon? She shook her head in an attempt to focus and snap out of her daze. Somewhat successfully, she managed to finish her patient charting in a timely manner, that is, once her caffeine kicked in. Before she headed down to the cafeteria for lunch, she quickly texted Jake to thank him again for the caffeine fix.

~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~

The next three days were filled with busy work shifts, text conversations, missed phone calls, quick hellos at her work station when he had a patient to drop off, and enough pent up longing to choke an elephant. Jake was getting tired of missing Gillian and was determined to make sure he got to spend some time with her tonight. It was Thursday and the last of her four shifts in a row, so he knew she would be tired. He thought it would be a great idea to pick up some pizzas, his son, and head over to her place. Of course, he sent her a message first to make sure she was on board.

Jake: Hey beautiful! Pizza for dinner, your place, my treat?

Gillian:
Yes please! I want pepperoni and mushroom on mine =)

Jake:
You got it … what time you off?

Gillian: I get off early at five today, but have to run by the police station to sign my statement about the other night. Shouldn’t take more than an hour.

Jake: Okay, I’ll try to time it for them.

Gillian:
Perfect!

Glad they had set those plans in stone, he was able to push through the rest of his day.

After picking up both Dylan and Ryan from his parents’ house, they all went and picked up the pizzas from Gillian’s favorite place, Bronx Pizza. It was a little out of the way to go there, but the establishment was known around San Diego and was well worth the drive—especially if it put a smile on her face. Jake arrived at her house shortly after she said she would be home, and he smiled when he saw that her SUV was already there. He and the boys climbed out, carrying their assigned item:, a pizza for each boy while Jake had the drinks and ice cream. The first clue that his evening wasn’t going to turn out as he had hoped was the sounds of feminine laughter coming from inside. Dylan opened the door for Ryan and Jake heard his excited son yell, “Aunt Allie!” before both boys took off in the direction of the laughter.

What the hell was Allie doing here … and where the hell was her car
? Jake looked behind him to see if he had somehow missed it, but no, it wasn’t there. He decided that Allie was officially having her superhero name changed to Cockblocker, for her epic ability to show up and completely derail his plans with Gillian. Making his way into the house, he saw that Allie and Gillian were sitting on the couch together with a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table in front of them. When Gillian looked up at him, she smiled, and he almost forgot about his irritation with Allie.

“Hey you,” she said, as she got up to help them with the pizza. She leaned up on her tip-toes to place a kiss on his cheek, but he wasn’t having that anymore. He snaked his arm around her waist and held her against him, as he closed the space between them and kissed her on the lips. That was where her kisses belonged now—on his lips—not his cheek. Knowing they had an audience, he was mindful not to slip her tongue, but he sure thought about it. He could taste the wine she was drinking on her lips, and it made it even harder not to taste more of her.

Pulling back just a little, but still holding her against him, he smiled down at her and said, “Hey yourself. I’ve missed you.”

She blushed at his comment and shyly whispered back, “I’ve missed you, too.” Jake turned to see Allie watching them from the couch, completely awestruck.

“Allie, to what do we owe the honor of your presence today? Don’t you have clients to take care of?”

A huge smile spread across her face as she said, “Well, I’ll be damned. That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.” Gillian was still pressed against him, so when she giggled and buried her face in his neck, Jake couldn’t help his reaction. His body hardened, and he knew he needed a moment alone with her.

Looking to Allie, he extended the bag in his hand toward her and asked, “Could you take this into the kitchen and give us a minute, please?”

Allie jumped right up, took the bag and said, “Absolutely.” With shit-eating grin, she went to the kitchen where Jake could hear the boys.

Now that his other arm was free, he wrapped it around Gillian and just held her against him. He pressed his face into her hair and smiled as her scent filled his nose, livening his senses. His body was on edge with need, especially since her hands were idly stroking a small area above his waistband. He just needed one more kiss—a real kiss. Sliding his hand up her back and burying it in her hair, he tilted her head back so she had no choice but to look at him. Her eyes met his gaze as he slowly leaned into her, and said softly, “I'm sorry, but I just can’t wait any longer to do this.” Pressing his lips against hers, he felt them soften and mold to his, before he let his tongue glide along the seam. Feeling her softness, tasting her, wanting more, he used his hand in her hair to position her for the perfect angle as he pressed his tongue through the barrier of her lips.

Jake felt her tongue slide out to meet his, and he couldn’t control the rumble of satisfaction that escaped him as his body responded to hers. The hands that had been at his low back were now digging into his skin through his shirt, spurring him on further even as he felt her tongue slip into his mouth. He wanted to devour her, take all of her inside him and keep her all to himself. It was like he couldn’t get her close enough as the two of them stood in her living room, making out, with their sons in the next room. Jake wanted to care, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. This kiss had been a long time coming, and he wasn’t going to apologize for this inherent need to have her. Her lips on his, her tongue stroking his, her nails digging into his back, his body tightened further, and he pressed his hips forward so she knew exactly what she was doing to him.
She moaned in response and pressed her hips back into his …
Oh yeah, he was a goner for sure
.

Not wanting to stop, but knowing he had to, Jake slowed down the kiss. He let his lips linger against hers for a moment before he gently sucked her lower lip into his mouth one more time before pulling back. When he looked down at her, he could actually see the lust hazing her eyes as she opened them, and a slow smile spread across her face. He rubbed a finger across her now swollen bottom lip, reveling in the softness and the fact that he could touch them—that they were his now. He sighed in contentment and said, “Sorry, but I couldn’t wait another minute to do that. I hope I didn’t embarrass you in front of Allie, but I really missed you.”

Gillian let out one of those adorable snorts of hers before saying, “To feel embarrassed, I would have to be aware of people around me. I can only see you right now, Jake.”

“Now isn’t that the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever heard,” he growled before pressing his lips against hers again for a quick, yet firm, kiss.

When he pulled back, she smiled at him again and said, “I seem to recall the promise of pizza. Are you going to feed me or what?”

Thinking of all sorts of crude comments to say in response to being
fed
, Jake amazingly held it all in and groaned at the thought of them. Giving her one more squeeze and getting one more smile from her, he reluctantly let her go. Well, let her go enough so she could walk to the kitchen with his arm still planted firmly on her waist.

When they got to the kitchen, Jake saw that Allie and the boys were elbow deep in pizza and talking about the whole who-could-stay-underwater-longer topic that they had talked about on Sunday. Gillian prepared a plate with a couple slices of pizza on it and handed it to him with a smile. He made his way to the table as Gillian went out to the living room for the wine that the girls had left out there. Taking the seat next to Allie, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before saying quietly, “Just so you know, I have revoked your superhero name. You are no longer Superbitch. You are now officially known as Cockblocker.” Allie almost choked on her food as she laughed out loud.

The boys looked to see what was going on, and Jake just shrugged at them and said, “All I said was fart, butt-crack, and booger.” Both boys started to giggle, which was exactly why he said it.

He huffed a laugh at them as he turned back to Allie, who was just recovering from her outburst, but managed to say between deep breaths, “Oh, I am
so
getting a shirt made with
that
on it!” Jake laughed before shoving a slice of pizza in his mouth.

Gillian had just made her way back into the kitchen and sat down next to him when she asked, “What’s so funny in here?”

Ryan chimed in quickly with, “My dad said fart, butt-crack, and booger!” And then both boys were laughing like fools again. The adults were laughing at the fools who were laughing at stupid words, and Jake had finally gotten a taste of Gillian. Damn, it was going to be a good night—at least he thought it was. That is, until he heard the sound of Logan and Jason yelling hellos from the front of the house. Great, now the whole gang was there.

As irritation began to set in again, and the cloud of contentment he was residing in lifted, Allie leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Better make that Little Cockblocker because Super Cockblocker just got here.”

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

Gillian always knew her house was like Grand Central Station, but give a girl a break. Once again, the family had hosed her plans of a quiet evening with Jake. She always loved a surprise visit from Allie, but today, she was more than a little bummed, and she felt like complete shit for it, too. Her disappointment at seeing Allie at the door must have been evident on her face because her best friend said, “That sure isn’t the look I usually get when I surprise you.”

As she made her way into the house, Gillian composed her features and told her the truth, “I thought you were Jake.”