Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
A NNIE
I look at the clock and it’s already four-fifteen p.m. so I pick up my desk phone, call our secretary, and ask her to send Sadie back to my office when she has a minute.
A few minutes later, there’s a knock on my open office door.
“Hey, Annie. You wanted to see me?” Sadie asks.
“Yes, thanks. Can you pull the door shut and have a seat, please?” I wait for a second while she closes the door, then turn to her. “Sadie, I know you’re new here, but I want you to know that if something is upsetting you or someone is making you uncomfortable, you can come to me to talk about it.”
“I’m… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, not making eye contact.
Let me try this again.
“So, last week, when we had my breakfast, it seemed like you were upset when we were talking about what a flirt Teddy is. Then I felt like I interrupted an argument you were having later in the day. I want you to know that if he’s making you uncomfortable?—”
“No, it’s fine. He’s not doing anything, and I don’t want to talk about it. It was just a simple disagreement. Everything is okay,” she answers curtly.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
Everything in me is screaming that I’m missing something.
“Yes, I’m sure. Is there anything else or can I go back out now?”
I hesitate for several seconds, then tell her it’s okay to go.
Something is most definitely off there.
As I pull into my driveway, my body is humming with excitement for my date with Jack tonight. We’re going to a winery on the lake to celebrate my promotion and him acing his captain’s test. He’s expecting an announcement any day now that he will officially be promoted to captain on October first.
It’s already five o’clock and our reservation is for six, so I take a quick shower and then dry my hair, deciding to wear my curls down tonight since I know Jack loves it when I do. Honestly, though, I feel like I could wear dirty sweats and not wash my hair for a week and that man would still tell me I’m sexy.
When my hair is done, I put on a little mascara and lip gloss and then slip into the pretty new sundress I bought as a present to myself for my promotion.
I can’t wait to see Jack. Just as I’m sliding on my wedge heels, the pitter patter of dog paws ascends the stairs to my unit and my excitement grows since I’m also eager to see Bean. He’s been with Jack today so he wasn’t here to greet me when I got home. I meet them at the door and my day gets infinitely better.
I kneel and I’m greeted with wagging tails and a few slobbery dog kisses from Bean and Grace, but I don’t mind at all. After all our lovies, Bean and Grace, clearly wiped out from whatever they did with Jack today, walk over and climb into their dog beds to lie down.
When I stand back up, I’m at a loss for words when my eyes land on Jack.
He’s holding a bouquet of my favorite flowers—Gerber daisies—and he’s got a charcoal gray T-shirt on that hugs his chest and arms in the most perfect way. His dark jeans fit him amazingly in all the right places. His wavy hair is slightly messy in a tousled style that’s a toss between “I just finished fucking my girlfriend” and “messy on purpose.” I want to wrap my fingers in his hair and pull his head toward my?—
“Holy fuck, you look stunning,” he says, interrupting my stare-a-thon at my hot-as-hell boyfriend. His smoky gray eyes are piercing as he blatantly looks up and down my body, and I love it. Jack makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world every single time he looks at me.
His eyes darken, and his gaze is so intense. “If we didn’t have to leave like five minutes ago for our reservation, I would lay you out on that dining room table, move your panties to the side and bury my face in your pussy so I could watch you come in that dress,” he says. Between his searing eye contact and his voice that’s smooth as top-shelf whiskey, I’m immediately aroused.
Trying to maintain my composure even though I’m incredibly turned on by his words, I grab my purse off the aforementioned table and walk over to him at the entrance to my apartment. I position myself closer to the door than him, stand on my tiptoes, and kiss him high on his cheek. My lips are near his ear .
“That would be impossible, Jack… I’m not wearing panties.” With that, I turn and take off down the stairs, smirking because I know the effect that will have.
“Sugar…” he rumbles, pulling the door shut and taking the stairs two at a time to make up the head start I got.
I let him catch me at the bottom landing.
“Let me see, baby, please,” he practically begs, pinning my body against the wall with his pelvis, his firm hands on either side of my head.
“One touch. You can touch me once, so you know I’m telling the truth”—I smirk—“and then you have to wait until we get back home to see again. Deal?”
He growls and moves his hand, but I grab his wrist and stop him. “Do we have a deal, Mr. Donley?”
“Fine, baby, we have a deal. But if you’re going to tease me all night with this, you better be prepared to be thoroughly fucked when we get home. Got it?”
I nod, my bottom lip between my teeth in anticipation.
He slides his hand up my dress and we both moan as he touches my wet, waiting pussy.
JACK
I nearly lose it when I confirm Annie is, in fact, not wearing panties. I can’t stop myself from audibly groaning as I slide my finger along her wet center. When I cup her breast with my other hand and I realize she’s also not wearing a bra, everything in me goes crazy with need.
“Fuck, Annie, are you telling me that the only thing between your body and my hand and mouth is this thin little dress?” I ask. I hold her gaze and circle her left nipple with my index finger .
“Mmhmm.” She smirks, maintaining our eye contact with a sultry stare and biting her lower lip between her teeth.
Damn, she’s sexy-as-fuck.
“Jesus,” I say with a moan. “I hope you know you’re going to pay for this when we get back home tonight.” I smile at her as I begrudgingly remove my hands from her body.
“I was hoping so.” She purrs her words out as she leans in and plants a kiss on my lips before she turns, pulls the door open, and steps outside.
As I drive us to the winery, we hold hands across the console, and she tells me about her week at work.
Once we arrive at our destination, I easily find a parking space and turn the truck off before climbing out and going around to her side to open her door. We make our way inside and are walked to our table by the winery hostess.
Annie’s gorgeous eyes are enormous with awe as she takes in our surroundings.
“Wow, Jack, this is gorgeous.” Her voice is soft as she looks at the view from our table overlooking the lake. “I never even knew this place was here.”
She orders a glass of chardonnay and I ask for a cola, while we peruse the menus. We decide on stuffed pork chops for me, and honey-glazed chicken for her.
While we wait for our food, Annie asks, “Do you think it’s working out having Bean stay with you on your days off? I want to make sure he’s not too much.”
I smile and chuckle, recalling the playfulness of the big brown ball of fur.
“He’s got a lot of energy, I’ll give you that. But, it’s going great. He and Gracie play a lot and it gets her some activity. He’s a good boy. Though when he jumps up on my lap with his eighty-five-pound self, it’s a little much.” I laugh. “Has Gracie been okay for you on my work nights?”
“Absolutely.” She smiles at me, looking radiant. “I think it’s a good plan we came up with. This way, Bean isn’t home alone all day while I work, and you don’t have to take Gracie to your parents. Plus, I enjoy sleeping with one of them snuggled on each side of me. As long as you’re okay with it, I think we should keep doing it while it’s working.”
Dinner arrives and we eat. It’s beautifully presented, and the aroma is mouthwatering. So far everything about this evening is perfect.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you about my lunch with Teddy today. I agree that something seems a bit off about him, mainly in that he only really talked about superficial stuff, but there weren’t any major red flags. You asked me not to, so I didn’t mention that you had seen him arguing with Sadie at work.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable or angry with me,” she answers. “I talked with Sadie. Well, I tried to anyway. She was pretty closed off and basically told me that everything was okay.”
We make small talk through the rest of dinner and, when we’re finished, I pull the small package out I brought with me and slide it across the table toward Annie.
“For your promotion,” I say.
“What’s this?” she asks. “You didn’t have to get me a present, Jack.”
“It’s nothing big. Just something for your desk, if you want, or you can keep it at home,” I respond. I’m suddenly nervous.
Annie opens the package and pulls out the small framed photo of us and the dogs that my mom snapped at my birthday party. She’s laughing at something Shayna said and I’m looking at Annie and smiling in the photo.
She beams as she looks at it.
“I love it,” she whispers. “And I will put it on my desk at work. I’m okay with whoever knowing about us, Jack. Every day you show me I don’t need to be afraid of getting hurt and you’ve never once made me feel like I have to worry about you doing… what Jason did.”
“I’d never do that to you, Annie. The picture—I chose it because all four of us are in it, but also, it represents the day you decided to take a chance on us and I’m so happy that you did. These last six weeks have been the best of my life. I’d be a fool to do anything to risk us.”
I pull out a small envelope from the inside of my jacket pocket and push it over to her. “I struggle to express what I’m feeling sometimes, but I want you to know. So, I wrote some of my thoughts here for you.”
“You wrote me a letter? Can I read it now?” Her voice is hushed and her glistening eyes are fixed on mine.
A tear escapes from her right eye, and I wipe it away with my thumb, cupping her face.
“Yeah, I did, and yes, you can. But please tell me that’s one of those happy tears, sweet girl.”
“It is, I promise. It means so much that you would care enough to write your thoughts for me.”
Her hands tremble as she opens the letter, and I sit quietly as she reads it.
ANNIE
I unfold the handwritten letter that Jack’s given me and read while he waits patiently.
Dear Annie,
I know that this may be an unconventional way to share my feelings with you, but I can’t let any more time go by without you knowing exactly how I feel.
First, I’m so proud of you, sugar. You’re the best ER nurse I’ve ever worked alongside. Your knowledge, compassion, calm demeanor under stress, and leadership are unmatched and they’re lucky to have you as their new Assistant Manager. Never doubt you earned this, because you did. I look forward to watching you achieve all your professional dreams. If you’ll let me, know that I’ll always be there to support you in that.
On a personal note, I need you to know that since I first laid eyes on you on Cinco de Mayo at O’Riley’s, you have consumed my thoughts and changed my life. I knew when I looked at you that you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen on the outside. As I’ve gotten to know you, I’ve learned you are also the most beautiful woman on the inside. I’m literally in awe of you. You need to know that no one else will ever be able to pull my attention from you.
I don’t know why you broke your rule and took a chance on us, but I’m so grateful every day that you did. As many wonderful people as I have in my life, I didn’t realize there was a gaping hole until you filled it. Now that I know what it is to have you, I never want to be without you.
You make me laugh, make me smile every day, drive me crazy when we have a disagreement and you won’t admit when you’re wrong even though I can tell when you realize you are, but you dig in anyway. There is nothing about you I don’t like.
You have become my best friend, my lover, and you have my heart. I’m not good at saying how I feel, but I think I’ve fallen in love with you. It’s like nothing I have ever felt before and when I think it can’t get any stronger, it does.
I hope this doesn’t freak you out or make you feel any pressure. I’m not telling you this because I expect or need you to respond. I just wanted you to know.
Love,
Jack
I look up at Jack, surprised by the nervous look on his gorgeous face.
“You… you think you love me?” I whisper.
He reaches for my hand and pulls me over onto his lap, cups my face gently with both hands and looks at me intensely.
“I know I love you, Annie. I love every part of you,” he answers before kissing my forehead tenderly .
Several more happy tears slip down my face.
“I love you, Jack. God, I love you so much.”
His eyes widen like he’s shocked that I feel the same, and then his mouth finds mine.
I lose myself in his kisses for several moments but, when I get my wits about me again, I whisper, “Let’s go home. Now. Please.”
Jack alerts the server we’re ready for our check but doesn’t let me up off his lap while we wait. He holds me, caressing my face and planting soft kisses filled with promises of more to come on my cheeks and neck.
When the check is paid, he grabs my hand, and we hurry to the car.