Rebecca“Oh man, I love this place.”Jason stood just behind Rebecca at the counter, as an elderly black woman approached them with a big smile on her face. “Hi ya, folks. You can sit anywhere you like. Nelda will be right out to getcha order.”Rebecca smiled and moved into the dining hall as Jason thanked the hostess. Rebecca slid into a small, two person table near the window, the sun streaming in but the coldness pressing against the glass just beside her. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.“You want to move over there so we’re not by the window?” Jason sat down and placed his hands on his coat as if he were going to remove it but wanted to see what she wanted to do first.“No, I’m good. I like being near the sun, but the glass is cold.” She reached up to flip over the coffee cup that sat upside down on a small saucer before her.He took off his coat and stood up, walking around her and putting it on her shoulders. She slipped her hands into the sleeves and pulled it
RebeccaThe waitress moved in beside them with their food as Rebecca was getting ready to attack Jason for his silly move. His smile was bright and wide as he thanked the waitress, calling her honey or something endearing. She giggled and moved away as he reached out his hand toward Rebecca.“I’ll pray. Give me your hand.”She wasn’t sure what to say, but extended her hand and bowed her head. Her mother would’ve been proud. Rebecca hadn’t prayed or shadowed the walk of a church in years. Too much life to live to give God any time in the midst of it. She figured she’d get back to church when she was old and seeking entrance to heaven. Why did the fact that Jason prayed warm her down to the core of her soul? This wasn’t good.He finished then squeezed her hand, pulling his back and moving his napkin into his lap.“I’m thinking after this we’ll go deal with your house situation and then I need to grab a paper from the corner store.”She reached for her silverware, her eyebrow lifting. “W
RebeccaThe drive to the house was longer than she remembered, but it was enjoyable, seeing that she and Jason spent the whole time talking about music they loved and their favorite foods. She found out that she had way more in common with him than she might have imagined.She pointed to a long dirt road that led into the middle of nowhere, trees lining the path and covering the view of the house.“Wow.”“What?” she asked, looking over at him, the mid-morning sun coming through the windows of the old truck to warm her soul.“It’s beautiful out here.” He kept his eyes on the road before them, but his expression softened a little. “My grandfather lives up near Lufkin. It looks a lot like this. The trees are big and old, spread out for coverage, and the city life fades fast as you reach his place. There’s only serenity to be found out here.”She smiled, wrapping her arms around herself as anticipation tore at her. The house that she’d helped to design was beautiful, the long wraparound p
RebeccaRebecca pulled back from the kiss. It was obvious that the look on her face alarmed Jason. She turned in his arms and did what she always did when emotions beat over her like ice water—she faked it. A warm smile spread across her face as she moved toward Kade and gave him a quick hug, which he tried to extend a little too long.“Wow. It’s a small world.” She laughed, her heart breaking into a million pieces as the one man she’d have done anything for stood in front of her, looking a little shocked. Did he think she would have waited for him? Just stayed by the front porch looking for his sorry—You basically did.Jason moved in beside her and extended his hand toward Kade. “Hi. I’m Jason, Becca’s boyfriend.”She almost corrected him, not wanting Kade to think she was with someone else, but a plan was a plan, and she certainly didn’t want to embarrass Jason. She smiled and wrapped an arm around his waist as Kade introduced himself.“Kade McMillian. Becca was my best friend in h
RebeccaRebecca snorted softly at her wayward thoughts and signed the paper, the look on Kade’s handsome face causing her to pause before she left. “What?”“How long have you been dating Junior?”She smiled, knowing that the age thing wasn’t just something she was going to have to combat within herself, but that others would sense it and see it too. She tilted her head a little, studying her lost love and thinking about how to answer.“Long enough to invite him to meet with the contractor on my house.”He flinched and nodded his head once. “That was fair.”“Damn straight.” She pulled another set of keys from her pocket and dropped them on the clipboard. “These are the contractor’s set. Use them as you will, but if my car is out front, don’t come in here without knocking. And don’t leave my house unlocked, ever.”He took the keys and slipped them in his pocket. “Got it. I’ll call you about that dinner.”“What dinner?” she asked, backing up slowly as she studied him, her blood pressure
RebeccaRebecca leaned over the bathroom counter, her hair pulled up into a loose bun of sorts with strands framing her face. She touched her lip gloss to her lips and jumped as the buzz of her phone scared her. She reached for it and cursed. Trisha was earlier than she should be and was texting to say that she didn’t want to come up.Rebecca texted that she’d be down in a few minutes and stepped back from the mirror, holding onto the sink to step into her red high heels. She looked all of twenty-two herself with her make-up in ‘going out’ mode. She wore a tight black dress that hit mid-thigh, her jewelry and shoes the only true color in her outfit.A quick turn to make sure her butt didn’t look too flat, and she was good to go. No Jason or Kade to think about tonight, just her and her bestie going out for a few drinks and a night of dancing. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d gone out like this. She always turned Trisha down, complaining that she was tired, or busy, or workin
RebeccaFunny enough, heaven shined down on Rebecca as a group of girls grabbed their drinks and cleared off of two tables. She moved in fast and sat down at one of the tables, a tall gangly looking fellow taking the other table. He smiled at her and lifted his beer.“Not drinking tonight, beautiful?”She pointed to the bar. “We just got here. My friend’s grabbing us a few drinks.”He smiled. “I’d ask you to dance, but we’d lose our tables.”She laughed and nodded. “I’d turn you down in a New York heartbeat. I don’t want to lose this prime real estate.”He winked at her and turned his attention to the dance floor before them, an old Michael Jackson song gaining everyone’s attention. The drunkenness of the people dancing in front of her gave her a serious laugh, which only caused them to act more ridiculous. She turned to see Trisha working her way through the crowd, a smile on her friend’s face. They both needed a break, so the night would prove interesting, but important to their san
RebeccaThis was everything Rebecca had been waiting for, and yet it all just felt awkward to her somehow now. Kade’s hand in hers made her strangely nervous, and she kept wondering what to expect from him next. Why was he suddenly interested after all these years? As far as Kade knew, Rebecca had a boyfriend—and a serious one at that. Still, that didn’t seem to deter him from pulling her even closer as they danced. The idea that he would blatantly hit on someone else’s girlfriend—just assume that she’d forget all about anyone else at the sight of him sixteen years later—was slightly repugnant to her.What was wrong with her? This was Kade.“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”“No, but thank you.” She tried to relax and leaned into him as they danced around the floor, his smooth movements proving he had dancing ability and causing her to have to concentrate on being better than she was. It had been forever since she’d graced a dance floor, and where she was more than capa
RebeccaJason had called into work on Friday and Monday and ignored Rebecca’s calls and texts completely. Parker had railed at her over not telling Jason about meeting Kade, and if she felt any worse, she might jump from a building.Rebecca sat at her desk, the dark circles under her eyes throbbing from lack of sleep and crying. She should be at home, and yet there was too much to do because it was month-end for a lot of her clients. She worked late into the night every night and shut her door in the mid-afternoon, just to make sure no one stopped by to talk to her or invite her anywhere.Parker stuck his head in as the sun set in the window behind her, a sad smile on his face. “Come eat with me.”“I’m not hungry,” she mumbled and grabbed her calculator, her fingers furiously slipping over the keys.“You have to eat.”“No I don’t.”He walked in and she huffed loudly, closing the file in front of her and sitting back, the burn of misunderstanding sitting heavy on her chest. It hurt to
RebeccaRebecca climbed out of her car. The pub was packed with people because it was two dollar beer night. Thursday night was college night, and all the University of Houston students enjoyed a release. She remembered all too well having many Thursday nights at Barney’s. She pulled her coat tighter and walked toward the front door, a nagging sensation about Parker’s warning eating at her. She didn’t want to text Jason. It seemed like a controlling, silly thing to do.Yes they were together, but they were starting out with a trusting relationship. If he texted her that he was going to have dinner with an old flame she would either be put off or think it was a silly text and wonder if he thought she was controlling and overbearing. Either way, Parker wanted her to do it because of his own situation, not because it was reasonable.She walked in and was greeted by an uber-happy hostess who bopped up to the front. Rebecca smiled politely and pointed toward Kade, who was standing and wavi
RebeccaThe soft buzz of the alarm was an unwelcome pest. Rebecca rolled over and pressed the snooze button, Jason moving up to snuggle in behind her. She collapsed back on her pillow. The seven a.m. wake up call had given her only two hours of sleep. There was definitely something to be said about younger men … they had endless energy.“Morning, beautiful,” he whispered, kissing the side of her neck and then her shoulder.She looked over at him and smiled at the sight of his handsome face filled with affection.“This is like a dream.”“What is?” she asked and then turned over to cough, pulling the covers up to cover herself.“Me waking up next to you.”He leaned over and kissed her lips, her hand coming up to touch his face. He moved closer, as if he wanted to replay the night’s events, and she laughed, unable to help herself.“What?”“What? It’s seven in the morning and we have a meeting at nine.”He laughed and kissed her again before getting up and baring himself without concern.
RebeccaShe was a ball of nervous anticipation by the time they made it back to the hotel, Jason doing a great job of making simple conversation that didn’t deaden their lust but certainly didn’t throw fuel on the fire. She got out of the car, thanking the bellman and then walking into the warmth of the hotel. People filled every corner of the place, the conference attendees not seeming to have a ride around town. She was almost grateful for Parker and his ridiculous idea of a rental car. If they’d stayed at the hotel restaurant, it might have been a longer wait than their drive back from the restaurant. She felt Jason’s hand on the lower part of her back as he moved up beside her, excusing them all the way through the crowd. They slipped into the elevator and moved to the back as twelve other people piled in.She stepped back, looking over her shoulder in an apologetic way toward him as her back bumped into his chest. His fingers found her hips and he pulled her the rest of the way b
RebeccaJason moved back across from Rebecca after the server left, and she raised her eyebrow, as if questioning him.“I want to see your expressions as we talk about this. I’ll move over there and paw at you later if this goes well.”She laughed and reached for another chip. “No pressure, right?”“None at all.” The seriousness of his voice and the stern look on his face laid open truth in his words.“I want to try us.” She held up her hand before he jumped in with celebration, which he seemed poised to do.“But?” he asked.“But, I need to work through a few things with you first.”“Us working together?”“No, I think we’re good there. But I’m not comfortable with mixing business and pleasure. I want everything to stay very professional with us at work. I don’t care if the office knows we’re dating, but we’ll not be touching or ‘pawing’ at each other in the office.”“What if I close the door?” He bit at his lip, looking far too attractive for his own good.She rolled her eyes and laug
RebeccaThe valet had been happy to take the car off their hands.“Two tonight?” the host greeted them as they walked through the door of the large steakhouse.Jason moved to the front and nodded at the host, talking with him as they walked back to the table. He reached back to help Rebecca remove her coat and slipped into the booth across from her, a smile on his handsome face. “You look beautiful, by the way.”“Me?” She set her purse down and reached up to fuss with her hair.“Yes, you.”“I’m in the same thing I was in earlier.”“I know, but the cold makes your cheeks and little nose red, and brings out the fiery color of your hair.” He shrugged and pulled his napkin into his lap. “You’re just stunning to me.”She wasn’t sure what to say. No one had ever called her stunning. Pretty, beautiful, lovely, sure, but stunning? No.“Thanks,” she whispered, her facade dropping a little as he smiled and chuckled. “What?”“You. You have such a wall built up around you where men are concerned.
RebeccaJason pulled the curtains back as Rebecca flipped on the lights in the room, her phone buzzing in her pocket. She checked it and was slightly surprised to see that her mom was trying to get ahold of her. Her parents had moved into the country after she’d graduated college, her dad wanting to get back to his roots, which she totally understood. They saw each other once every couple of months and spoke every once in a while, but a call in the middle of the day was a bit alarming.“Hey, I’m going to step out to take a call. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”Jason turned and walked toward his suitcase. “Sounds good. I’ll be here.”She slipped out into the hall, looking to her right and left before finding a small alcove where large bay windows let light slip in. She moved toward it and hit redial, her heart thumping hard in her chest. Her mother’s voice sounded fine as she answered the phone, and a small bit of relief settled over Rebecca.“Hello?”“Mom? It’s Becca. Everything okay?
RebeccaThe hotel was large and far more elaborate than anything she would’ve picked out, but that was Parker for you. He was into creating an experience, no matter where he went or whom he was with. Life had always been ‘too short’ for her illustrious partner, and over the last few years their budget had expanded at the office because his tastes had gone one way—up. She would’ve given him more grief about it if he weren’t so good at bringing in new clients and loading their bank account with revenues. Half the reason she was able to build such a large house in the country was thanks to his three year sales record. He’d more than tripled her original revenue when she was running the firm on her own.Parker was a big-picture guy and knew how to sell multiple product offerings to anyone who walked through their door. To say she was grateful for him would be an understatement, and as such, she’d not be mentioning the fancy hotel stays or the first class tickets.“This place is more count
Rebecca“All settled in?” Jason worked to get his seatbelt buckled, his hair a bit disheveled, making him appear more boyish.She smiled and settled back, her black sweater dress fitting perfectly and keeping her warm too. Tall black boots that her mother had bought her for Christmas accented the outfit nicely. To say that she’d dressed to be casual and to impress would be an understatement. She’d even dragged Parker into her room to tell her which outfit looked both laid back and hot. He laughed, but played along perfectly. A smile touched her lips at the thought of him.“Whatcha thinking about?”“Parker’s been going through a lot lately, and he’s still finding it within him to be silly and fun, caring and kind.” She shrugged and frowned slightly at the expression on Jason’s face.He sat back and lifted his hips a little, his arm touching hers and his leg coming to rest against hers as well. “Are you and Parker just friends, or am I sensing more competition for your heart?”She laugh