13. Chapter 13 You Don’t Have to Spell It out for Me
Chapter 13: You Don’t Have to Spell It out for Me
J ENNY
Jenny walked away from the sitting area and grabbed a bottle of water from the minifridge. She needed to do something with her hands to keep from wringing them and giving away her discomfort.
What would Gloria do in this situation ? She almost snorted to herself.
If Gloria fake dated someone, she’d have them eating out of her hand and swearing their undying devotion in hours. They’d be the ones left despondent when she couldn’t return their interest. Jenny needed to channel that attitude. Maybe then she’d get out of this disaster without Wade knowing how she felt.
“I’m not explaining this right,” he said.
Jenny took a shallow breath, exhaled quietly through her nose, and squared her shoulders. She didn’t expect to have this conversation now, but it was just as well. Better here, where she’d have some privacy to collect herself than anywhere else. Her eyes remained on her bottle of water as she spoke.
“No, I get it. You don’t have to spell it out for me,” she said.
“I think I do,” Wade said.
Jenny kept her expression a careful blend of polite and friendly calm as she turned back towards him. Being a woman who was always ‘let down easily,’ she had perfected that expression long ago to help protect herself.
When she was alone back in her apartment in a few days, she could fall apart. For the rest of this trip, she had to keep it together. As long as she didn’t think about how excited she’d been about the possibilities, she’d be fine.
She faked a deep sigh, as if put out by having to explain the obvious.
“What’s there to explain? It’s obvious you were about to caution me not to read more into our public actions than you intended. You don’t have to worry. I’m on the same page. I know it’s all for show.”
Jenny avoided looking at him. She couldn’t deal with the sad puppy dog eyes guys sometimes deployed when they wanted to protect her feelings after telling her they weren’t attracted to her.
“No, you don’t get it. At all.”
Wade sounded frustrated. When she glanced at him, he ran his fingers through his hair again in a way she recognized as his ‘I don’t know how to resolve this problem’ move.
She wasn’t a problem, and it pissed her off he thought she was.
“I do get it,” she retorted. “I know I’m not beautiful like Suzanne or a coding genius like Gloria, or super confident like either of them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings.”
“What? That’s not what I said!”
Now Wade looked confused, which annoyed her further. Being annoyed was much better than hurt so she leaned into it.
“Just because I’m not like—“
Jenny’s words cut off when Wade grabbed her around the waist in a more aggressive move than he used earlier for Suzanne’s benefit.
“I. Wasn’t. Faking.” He spoke slowly as his gaze captured hers.
Her eyes widened, but she shook her head. That didn’t make sense.
She gaped at him as she tried to formulate a response, but he rendered her points moot when he tugged her closer. He crushed her breasts against his chest, and she gasped in surprise.
Wade wasted no further time and swooped in to kiss her like she’d never been kissed. Holy hell, she hadn’t believed kisses like this happened in real life, at least not to women like her. One of his arms wrapped around her waist while the other stroked her hair away from her face so he could plunder her mouth.
Jenny wanted to melt. His tongue swept in and took over her mouth in the most erotic duel. He tasted like the chocolate-covered pretzels he snacked on earlier, and he kissed her like he wanted to devour her whole.
No one had ever kissed her before like they couldn’t get enough of her.
While their mouths joined, one of his hands stroked her face. She was an absolute sucker for having a guy’s hands on her face while he kissed her, but Wade went so far beyond that. He made kissing into a full-body experience.
She wanted to swoon when he cradled her face and gently stroked her cheeks and neck. But when he tunneled that same hand under the thick layer of hair at her nape and tugged, her panties went up in flames. Her moan filled the room as he used her hair to adjust her angle to kiss her more deeply.
Jenny understood Wade’s confidence now. He wasn’t just a geek god; he was a god, period. There was no other explanation for the way he short-circuited her brain. He skipped right past all the tentative, getting-to-know-you kisses and headed straight for the kisses that make clothes magically fall off.
Jenny had never felt so desirable in her entire life.
The kiss might have lasted for ten minutes, or it might have gone on for an hour. Wade slowly brought her back to Earth by gentling his ardor. When he placed delicate kisses on her eyelids, she opened them, surprised they were still in their hotel suite and not transported to some magical land.
Wade smiled and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. He stole another kiss before he stepped back and smiled at her bemusement. With one kiss—one amazing, heart-stopping, swoon-worthy kiss—her world was topsy-turvy.
“Now do you get it?” he asked with an infectious grin.
Jenny’s head spun as she caught her breath. Wade looked at her with such affection, such desire, she could hardly believe it.
“This isn’t what I thought you were going to say,” she said.
He laughed. “Obviously. I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion, but it seemed clear you thought I wasn’t interested.”
She gave him a rueful smile as he stroked her hair again as if he couldn’t help himself. To her amazement, he grabbed her hand and pressed kisses to her knuckles again.
“Did I miss something?” she blurted out. “I thought this was all for show.”
Wade gently tugged on her hand and led her back to the couch. He waited for her to get comfortable before he sat close as if he was no longer interested in playing it cool. When he put her hand on his thigh and covered it with his own, she smiled and committed everything to memory.
“I’ve been interested in you for a while.” He nervously tucked some of his hair behind his ear with his free hand.
“Really?” Skepticism colored her tone. “You don’t have to say that to make me feel better.”
“It’s true. Ask Kyle if you don’t believe me. He’s been sending me articles and videos about ‘how to win the girl’ as if he knows anything about dating.”
Wade snorted, and Jenny giggled.
“In all seriousness, I’ve had a thing for you for months. Probably since you started at In-Tech if you want the truth.”
Jenny’s jaw dropped.
“No, you didn’t,” she insisted.
“Remember when we worked on the holiday planning committee?”
Jenny nodded slowly as memories of that horrible party flooded her mind.
“I planned to ask you out after the holiday party.” He smiled wryly at her gasp of dismay. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend. Jeff was thrilled to point him out at the party. Apparently, my interest in you wasn’t as subtle as I thought.”
“I had no idea. You never said anything!”
“We were working on a project together. If you weren’t interested, I didn’t want to make things awkward, so I planned to wait until it was done. That way, it’d be easier for you to avoid me if you were horrified.”
“Why would I be horrified?”
“Uh, because you’re gorgeous, and I’m the ‘King of the Nerds’?” He used air quotes around Jeff’s nickname for him, even though it amused him. “And when I found out you had a boyfriend, I was glad I never said anything. Especially since I’m not your type.”
“Jerks?”
“I didn’t know right away that he was a jerk. But we look nothing alike. I’m short with long hair and glasses, and I tend to wear jeans and a T-shirt. He looked like a lawyer on a TV show with his gelled hair, shiny suit, and fancy shoes.”
“Suzanne and I look nothing alike, either,” Jenny pointed out.
“Thank God. There’s nothing fake about you. Speaking of that, I’m still a little surprised you were willing to pretend we were dating. Why did you do it?”
Jenny’s blush grew stronger.
“Once you told me about Suzanne, I would have helped you regardless, but I was hoping you’d see me in a different light.” Her eyes dropped to their hands. “After that embarrassing conversation at work—“
“The one about the book you were reading?”
He snickered when he said book, and Jenny’s eyes widened.
“You knew?”
“I didn’t intend to eavesdrop. When I came out of Elizabeth’s office, I overheard some of your conversation with Gloria.”
Jenny squeaked. “How much did you hear?”
He smirked instead of answering, and Jenny’s mortification grew.
“Oh, my God, I’m so embarrassed.”
“You shouldn’t be. I was glad you weren’t interested in getting on a hookup app like Gloria suggested. Somebody else would have snapped you up in a minute, and I would have lost my chance again since I thought you were still dating that jerk.”
It was Jenny’s turn to snort.
“No, Chad broke up with me shortly after the holiday party.”
“But wasn’t he sniffing around last week?”
“Oh my god, you really did hear everything.” Jenny tried to hide her face in her hands, but Wade still clung to them.
“Please don’t be embarrassed. I was thrilled when I found out you were single again and positively ecstatic when Elizabeth recommended you for this trip.”
“That was Gloria’s handiwork.”
“Damn, she’s scary good.”
“You know she tried to hook us up, right? Did you know about that part?”
“No, damn it,” Wade laughed. “I would have enlisted her help or made a move much sooner.”
“Once she put the idea in my head, well, it was hard to think about anything else. Chad stood no chance because all I could think about was you. When I met Suzanne, it seemed impossible that you’d be interested in someone like me.”
“But that’s not—“
“I know.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “I wanted so much to impress you, but I’m a disaster. First with that conversation with Gloria, then with the audiobook, and getting drunk…”
She cleared her throat before she bravely added, “But all I wanted was for you to see me as someone you might consider as more than a friend.”
Wade’s finger tipped up her chin so that he could look into her eyes.
“I always saw you for who you are. This trip has only reinforced that I was right. I see you, and I like what I see.”
Wade wanted to shout his excitement, but he tried to play it cool, so he didn’t scare her away. Holy shit, he felt like a king. King of the Nerds, even. Gone was the confident, sometimes cocky, guy who let most things roll off his back.
Women no longer stressed him out as much as when he was younger, but his interest in Jenny went beyond physical attraction. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to be with her. It had become difficult to hide how his feelings, and now he didn’t have to.
Within reason. She probably wasn’t ready for him to drop to one knee and declare his undying love. Obviously, he wasn’t ready for that yet, either. But he could imagine it. No, he needed to shut that thought down. It was way too soon.
Just because he could imagine a future with her was no reason to go off half-cocked and say it. Even as he told himself to calm down, an image of his sisters gently teasing Jenny over family brunch filled his mind. He envisioned his parents doting on her, giving her the familial support and affection she deserved.
“What are you smiling about?” Jenny asked.
“I’m happy to be here with you,” he answered quickly.
Jenny smiled shyly. He might not be the brightest when it came to women, but he knew to shut his mouth now. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away by getting serious too fast despite how easy it was to picture how well she’d fit into his life.
He cleared his throat and searched for something to say. His watch buzzed, which brought him back to the present. He bit back a sigh as he stood and reached out his hand to help Jenny up from the couch.
“What was that?” Jenny asked.
“It’s the reminder I set so we wouldn’t forget about the restaurant hop.”
“Oh, no, I need to get ready.”
Jenny tugged her hand loose, and Wade felt the loss of it. But there would be plenty of time for handholding and more. For now, he was glad Kyle bullied him into bringing something nicer to wear since this would be their first official date. Wouldn’t it?
“Before you disappear, can I get some clarification?”
Jenny stood poised outside her door and looked back at him.
“What’s up?”
“Us.” He gestured between the two of them and smiled. “We are an us, right? This isn’t just because we’re stuck together in this suite, and it’s convenient or something like that?”
“No.”
Wade’s face fell, and Jenny rushed to correct herself.
“No, it’s not convenient. That’s not what I meant. I mean, it’s not a convenience. Ugh, I’m saying this all wrong.”
She crossed back over to him, and this time, she took his hand first.
“I like you,” she said simply with a smile that caused Wade’s heart to thump faster. “A lot.”
“Me, too. Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
Jenny giggled.
“You mean to the group dinner we’re going to with a bunch of people from a work-related conference who already think we’re dating?”
“But we know it’s different. This would be our first date for real.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Then I’ll pick you up in about fifteen minutes.”
Jenny snorted.
“I think I can be ready by then.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Wade turned towards his doorway. He whipped back around and darted back over to Jenny where she still stood outside her own door. She heard him and turned around, a question on her expression.
“Sorry, forgot something,” he said.
Before she could ask, he curled his arm around her waist again and kissed her soundly. She joined in on the fun. He had to remind himself they were short on time and couldn’t stand around kissing all night. Not yet.
When he drew back, she looked flustered but happy. He vowed to himself to put that expression on her face as often as possible.
“See you in a few minutes,” he said. This was going to be the best dinner ever.