Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
From my vantage point on the stairs, I could see Jackson sitting at the island. His glance up at me was brief, but I immediately felt self-conscious. To compensate, I bustled into the kitchen, and asked in a bright voice, “What would you like for breakfast?”
“You don’t have to bother.”
“It’s no bother,” I pulled a pan out of the oven drawer. “Omelet?”
“Anything is fine.”
I felt unnerved by his presence. My kitchen was huge, but when he watched me, there wasn’t room to breathe. I did my best to ignore him and started to cook. I wracked my brain to think of something to say, but I came up blank. So I just concentrated on what I was doing.
“Do you want some coffee?”
Did my voice sound breathless? I took a few calming breaths.
“Sure.”
I looked over my shoulder. “I can do a cappuccino, or a latte and Matt has some coffee syrups.”
He didn’t answer me, so I walked over to the espresso machine and started reading off the labels. “He has Bourbon Caramel, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Mojito Mint, and Sweet Heat. ”
A long pause hung between us, and finally, he asked, “What’s Sweet Heat?”
“I’m not sure,” I picked up the bottle and read out loud, “fiery heat of ghost peppers with the sweetness of pure cane sugar.”
More silence. I glanced over my shoulder. He had no expression. “Just a coffee.”
“So an Americano?”
He gave a short nod.
I made him a coffee which he took black. Of course, he did. Then I slid fruit and an omelet in front of him.
“Where’s your plate?”
I set a bowl of fruit down. “I’m not much of a breakfast eater.”
He waited for me to sit, before he picked up his fork.
We ate in silence. I studied him through my eyelashes. “So where are you visiting from?”
“Virginia.”
I wasn’t used to a man giving me so little to work with during a conversation. “Are you just up for a visit?”
“I’m doing a three-month outpatient program at the hospital.”
I eyed him. There didn’t seem to be anything physically wrong with him.
“I hope everything is okay.”
He didn’t respond.
“That means you’ll be here for our wedding.”
Green eyes flickered over my face and then dropped to the ring on my left hand. “Matt didn’t tell me he was engaged.”
I could not reconcile Matt with this man. Matt’s friends were smooth and eloquent. They liked to talk about fine wines and the Met. Jackson’s silence made him unique.
He stood up and picked up his plate.
“I’ll do those,” I protested.
He ignored me. I watched in bemusement as he ran the water and then found the soap from beneath the sink. He washed the pan and the three other items in the sink, before picking up a dishtowel and drying them off. He even wiped the length of my countertops. I had never seen Matt willingly volunteer to help with dishes. This guy, who looked like he could kill with his bare hands, quietly tidied up.
“Thank you.”
He nodded and looked towards the door. I knew he wanted to leave. I stood up. “Why don’t I show you your room?”
He turned his attention back to me. Again, I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
“I mean it. I’m not letting you leave here.”
“I don’t want to put you out.”
I stood up next to his giant frame. “If you leave, Matt is going to ask me why. And I don’t want to have that conversation.”
The best I got from him was a nod.
He grabbed his duffle bag and then I led him up the steps. I was nervous, and when I get nervous, I babble.
“This is Matt’s room. This is my room. Both our rooms have bathrooms. This is the laundry room. Please help yourself. I’m sorry, but your room doesn’t have a bathroom attached. There’s one in the hall here. And this’ll be your room.”
I pushed open the door and shut my eyes in shame. There was a partially deflated air mattress lying on the floor, an old dresser and a vacuum cleaner in the middle of the room. His eyes looked around the room. “This is fine.”
“Ha,” I said, my face red. “Obviously, I'll get a bed in here.”
“I don’t need a bed. I can sleep anywhere.”
“Well, you can’t sleep on the hardwood.”
“This is fine.”
My eyebrows went up. “I’ll get you a bed.”
Even if it meant I had to drag my own bed into this room.
“You two have separate rooms.”
My face burst into heat. The first comment he volunteered in over an hour was about my sex life?
I lifted my chin a notch. “I’m saving myself for marriage. ”
“People still do that?”
I forced myself to meet his gaze. There was an expression of faint curiosity on his face. So Mr. Stone Face had some emotion within him. “You seem surprised.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you saving yourself?”
My mouth dropped open. No one was this blunt. Especially about something so delicate. I could offer him a pat answer, but I decided to be honest.
“It wasn’t a conscious choice but it just happened.”
My face felt hot.
“Are you religious?”
“Not particularly.”
“How long have you and Matt been together?”
“About a year.”
He stood and stared at me.
“Okay,” I said. My voice firm. “I’ll let you unpack.”
I pushed the vacuum cleaner towards the door.
“I don’t think something like that just happens.”
I went completely still. “Excuse me?”
“It’s definitely a choice.”
My face was on fire. I glanced back at him. A slow smile crossed his face. Good grief . That smile changed his whole face. He was stunning looking. Magnificent. Something dark fluttered in my belly. In my throat, my breath hitched. I worked to yank my gaze away from his.
Out of breath, I beelined it to my bedroom. He gives me one smile and my entire body tingles?
From my bedroom, I called Matt. No answer.
I texted him.
Me: Your friend Jackson arrived. Did you invite him to stay here?
No response. Well that was just perfect. Typical of Matt to drop a bomb and pull a disappearing act. I put my hands on my warm face. My overreaction to Jackson was probably just a fall out response to the stress of this morning. I had an inordinate fear of home invasions. This morning had triggered a lot of repressed fear.
I sucked in a big breath and worked to remember what my therapist told me.
I needed to focus on the now.
Now, I need to find a bed for the guest room. I walked downstairs with my iPad. My mysterious guest was not in sight.
After a series of phone calls, I realized that beds are not bought and delivered on the same day. In fact, beds take a couple of weeks to be ordered and delivered. Finally, I found one factory warehouse store that did have new mattresses and frames ready to go, but I’d need to pick up the bed myself. Renting a truck would not be an issue, but I didn’t know how to drive a truck in the city. Anything bigger than my mini put me at risk of side-swiping other cars. Not to mention I had no idea how I’d unload a bed and drag it upstairs. Maybe if I could unload it off the truck in the garage downstairs, Matt and Jackson could bring it up tonight.
I sensed Jackson coming down the stairs behind me.
I twisted in my seat to look at him. “Do you know how to drive a truck?”
“I have a truck. What do you need?”
“I need to pick up your bed.”
“From where?”
“The store.”
A beat passed. “I don’t have to stay here. Emily.”
My stupid heart fluttered at the sound of him saying my name. He was right. He didn’t have to stay here. In fact, it didn’t make any sense that this stranger would become an extended guest. But for reasons I could not explain, I wanted to make him stay .
Perhaps it was the sense that he was hell-bent on leaving. I got the distinct impression he despised imposing. Especially on strangers. The man seemed resolute on being self-contained. He was not some freeloader who walked into a place and made himself at home. He didn’t want to be here. Which made me want to welcome him and make him feel at home.
“Why don’t you want to stay here?”
Green eyes squinted at me. He spread his big hands out wide to stretch and then relaxed them. “Let’s go.”
I grabbed my bag and then headed downstairs. His truck was big and black and looked exactly like the kind of vehicle this man would drive. I didn’t want to drive with him because we might have to talk .
In a cowardly act, with my head bent over my phone, I gave him the address. He didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I wanted to take my own car.
“See you there!”
He responded with another intense look and then he was gone.