My phone rang on Friday. “Hinkley, welding department,” I answered expecting Helen from human resources. She was planning on giving me some applications to look through so we could start setting up interviews.
“I’m leaving,” Marcus said excitedly. I looked over at the clock to see it was two.
“Oh, it’s time.” I tensed. “Good luck,” I said not knowing what you should say when someone was going to sign divorce papers.
“Thanks! I’m so glad to be done with this, Jasmine. You have no idea what a weight will be lifted when I sign these contracts.”
“I’m guessing it’s about a hundred and five pounds.”
“I’ll see you at your house later. Have a nice rest of the day,” he said before he hung up.
I watched him as he came down the stairs two minutes later to go out to his car. He threw me a smile and I couldn’t help but smile back. The best I could do was hide it by pulling down my welding shield.
Of course, my brother and all the guys gave me a hard time about not going to McCleary’s after work.
“Look, it might be the only Friday I get that I don’t have to go to a stupid production meeting. Besides, I need to pack for my trip.”
“I never had to be recertified for aluminum,” Clucky challenged.
“Me, either,” Dennis agreed.
“I think it’s because I’m a crew leader and I don’t have a copy of my original certification. I must have misplaced it,” I said. Everyone looked at me skeptically. I never misplaced things. I was a bit of a neat freak. I shrugged. “See you all on Monday.” I couldn’t look them in the eye as I headed to my car.
“Be careful. Call me and let me know you got there okay,” Chase ordered.
“What did we say about letting me have my own life? If I have a problem, you will be the first person I call. If you don’t hear from me, it means I’m fine.” I didn’t want to have to keep up this charade all weekend.
“Guess where Weller is?” Dunner leered toward me.
I shrugged.
“I heard he’s signing the divorce contracts this afternoon. That means he’s free, Jazzy!” he teased me. I stuck out my tongue and jumped in the car. Marcus Weller was not exactly free. For the moment he was with me. I drove home as quickly as was safely possible.
I ran in the door that was already unlocked and looked around at multiple bouquets of pink roses and a box that most likely contained lingerie from the shop name on the top. Marcus was waiting in my living room.
“What’s all this?” I asked.
“The lingerie is for this weekend. And, I haven’t had the chance to send you flowers. I was worried they might want to see my credit card bills or something. But now it doesn’t matter so I’m making up for all the flowers I had wanted to send you.” His face was almost glowing with happiness.
“These”—the vase on the coffee table rose and then lowered—“are for going with me to visit my parents. These are for the sex that first time in my office. These are for understanding when I was so stupid with Staci. And these”—he held up a bouquet with his hands—“are for tonight.” He kissed me and even though I was covered with a day’s worth of dirt and grime, I felt like a woman.
“Thank you. I’m going to go clean up and change into something more feminine.” I gave him another quick kiss and ran upstairs.
He joined me in the shower to assist and was quite thorough.
I was making the final batch of pancakes in the kitchen the next morning when he came down and hopped up on the countertop to watch me. He was swinging his feet happily.
I felt a little self-conscious, as he stared at me. He was watching my every move intently. I glanced over at him as I waited for the bubbles in the batter to come to the surface. He was smiling with what seemed to be a permanent smile. I flipped the pancakes over and smiled, too.
He didn’t say anything until I tossed the final four pancakes on a plate and set them on the counter.
“Marry me, Jasmine,” he whispered.
I looked over at him, and the smile on his face was bigger.
“Stop it!” We’d had a wonderful night together. We were going away for the weekend. Why did he have to ruin it?
“We’re perfect for each other. We understand each other better than anyone else. Marry me.”
“Marcus, this isn’t the Dark Ages where we have arranged marriages based on compatibility or whose father has the most goats. If I ever get married, it will be because I love the person and I want to be with them. Not because they have the same quirky ability as me!” I huffed, almost irritated by his proposal. Didn’t I deserve a real proposal with a ring and the bending on one knee?
“Okay, forget about the goats and our abilities. What about the other stuff?” My brow creased, not following him again. “The love and the wanting me?” he prompted.
I looked away not wanting to answer, though I knew the answer.
“You just got divorced!” I pointed out, changing the subject.
“That is in the past.” He casually waved his hand like it meant nothing.
“It was yesterday!” I spurted.
“Do you love me?” he asked again point-blank. I didn’t answer that question. Instead, I gave him my brilliant advice.
“Look. I know it’s probably scary to be alone again. But, it will get easier. I’m alone. It’s not so bad.” I went to get the syrup from the cabinet so I could look away from his scorching brown eyes. I needed a moment to collect myself.
“Why can’t we at least discuss it?”
“There is nothing to discuss. It’s true that we know each other better than anyone. That’s how I know you are impulsive and careless when it comes to marriage and relationships, Marcus. You take the easy way out. I’m not going to be the easy way out!”
As I walked past him to the table, he reached for me. He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his legs around me, trapping me there in his embrace.
“I love you, Jasmine Hinkley.” He looked down into my eyes. I swallowed as my insides melted like butter. “You’ve seen that, too. Haven’t you?” I nodded reluctantly. “Did you happen to notice if I’ve ever felt this way about anyone else? Even Staci?”
I sighed in defeat. “No, you haven’t.”
“Did you see any other motivation behind my wanting to marry you, beyond wanting to share the rest of my life with you?” He kissed my neck. I was still trapped in his arms and legs against the counter.
“No,” I said.
“So then, why won’t you even consider it?”
“I can see what’s in your head. So, you’re right, I can’t doubt how you feel about me right now. But, we can’t see the future. The future is out of our control.” I looked him right in the eye. He couldn’t come up with an answer so he released me and followed me to the table for breakfast.
He wasn’t smiling anymore. I felt bad that I’d ruined his otherwise great day. I had brought him down to the hard reality. Weeks ago he had no interest in me at all. But, he changed his mind overnight. What was to keep that from happening again? Nothing.
He didn’t say much as we ate. He went into the living room while I washed up the few dishes. When I was done I went in to apologize. He had put himself out there and I had turned him down. No matter who you are, that has to hurt a little.
Marcus was standing in front of the bookcase holding the picture of my mother. He gave me a weak smile when I walked up beside him.
“She was very pretty. You look a lot like her,” he said quietly. I shrugged. People always said that, but I didn’t see a huge resemblance.
He sat the photo down and turned to me, putting his hands lightly on my shoulders.
“I know the future scares you. I know why you never make plans any further than next weekend’s race. I know you’re scared to have me this close because it would hurt if I wasn’t here anymore. But, Jasmine, what is the point to have a future at all if you don’t have anyone in it with you?” He rested his forehead against mine. “I’m not going to talk about marriage anymore. We will just have fun this weekend. No pressure. But, I want you to think of something you want in your future. I want you to make some sort of plan for your life. For you. Just think about it, okay?” he asked in a whisper. I nodded and he kissed the top of my head.
I wrapped my arms around him and held him for a moment. I looked up to meet his eyes.
“I love you, Marcus.” I said the words for the first time. I had the joy of watching the smile return to his face. He touched my cheek and kissed me.
It felt nice to say it. It was the truth and though I was certain he had heard it in my thoughts, he deserved to hear it out loud.
“And you…care for me?” He smirked and I smacked him lightly on the arm. “When will you be ready to go?” He let me off the hook.
“A few minutes. Then we can leave for the beach house,” I said in a mocking British accent. I headed upstairs to finish packing and Marcus followed me. He really only seemed to care that the lingerie was packed.
“It’s the most romantic place I’ve ever been to,” he commented quietly. “Of course, I’ve only ever been there alone, but when I saw it I thought it was romantic.” I handed him my small suitcase and followed him downstairs to his car. His bag was already in the back.
When we were on the road a few minutes, curiosity got the best of me. “Why have you only been here alone?” Don’t get me wrong, I was glad we weren’t going someplace where he would be reminded of Staci, but it was odd. Why have a beach house if you go there alone?
“Well, first, when I call it a beach house, the word house might be an overstatement. It’s more of a bungalow. It’s only two small bedrooms and one bath. An eat-in kitchen and a little living room. But, the view is phenomenal and it just feels cozy.”
I had remembered seeing something in his thoughts.
“Is there a wide chaise on the secluded back deck that is big enough for two people?” I asked while recalling the memory from when we were connected. Though as I thought about it, it wasn’t a memory. It was a fantasy. I was there with him.
“Yes,” Marcus said steadily. “Did you see something?”
“I think I saw us together on the back deck. I wasn’t wearing lingerie, though.”
“What were you wearing?” he asked urgently.
“Uh. A pair of red panties and your navy blue hoodie,” I told him with a grin.
“Oh, God!” He slapped his hand on his head. “You’ve been in my sex fantasies?” he accused.
“I guess. I didn’t realize at the time it was a fantasy because I was in it.” I shrugged. I thought men always fantasized about models and actresses. Marcus chuckled. “What? You haven’t seen any of mine?” I knew for a fact all of mine were about him and had been for some time.
“Most of yours are not just fantasies anymore.”
“Well, I do have a pair of red panties in my suitcase.”
He smiled. “I have my blue hoodie,” he informed me.
He was quiet for a few moments. He was thinking about it, I could tell.
“So why did you buy the beach house?” I asked to get us back to our original conversation.
“Investment real estate,” he explained. “I bought it last spring. Staci and I were already having big problems with our marriage. I thought it might help to be able to go away on the weekends. Just the two of us. I toured the little place with a Realtor and fell in love with it. It was perfect for a weekend retreat. Or I thought so anyway.” He rolled his eyes.
“I had a property management company take care of it and rent it out when I didn’t need it.” He sighed. “That turned out to be the whole summer. Staci didn’t want to go. There was always something wrong. I’d shown her pictures, and she didn’t like how small it was. She didn’t like that she couldn’t invite all of her friends down to stay with us. She had wanted something in Myrtle Beach.”
“So it kind of just blew up in your face”
“Yeah. She finally agreed to go with me last September. She actually seemed to be excited about going. She was packed for what looked like three weeks, but I made it fit,” he said, proud of his packing skills.
“We were having a pretty good time. We stopped at a little shop on the way down. Staci loved to shop.” Another eye roll. “Her earring fell down in the storm grate in the parking lot. Of course, it wasn’t just an earring. It was a quarter-carat diamond earring.” He was going to get a headache from rolling his eyes so much.
“I don’t know why I did it. Like I said before, I desperately wanted to share the real me. I quickly explained that I needed to show her something. And then I raised the earring out of the grate. I was expecting disbelief or confusion. I anticipated lots of questions, and maybe even some anger from keeping it from her for so long. Never did I imagine she would respond like she did. Like I was a hideous monster.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I murmured.
“She made me drop her off at a hotel. She told me she was going to go back home and call a lawyer. She said she was going to do it anyway, but now it was even more necessary because I was a freak. She told me to stay away from her, or she would tell everyone what I could do.” I was the one who rolled their eyes this time.
“Right! Like anyone would ever believe her.” He threw his hand in the air in disbelief of her idiocy. “Anyway, I was already close to the beach house, so I came down and spent the week drinking myself to oblivion in my very cozy, very romantic bungalow. Alone.” I kissed his hand and he touched my face. “Being with you is so different, Jasmine. So perfect. I love you.”
I was half-afraid he was going to start with the marriage thing again, but to my relief he didn’t. He smiled and started talking about the other panties I brought on our trip.
The little house at Pauley’s Island was cute. It had dark cedar siding and weathered blue trim. There was a small porch in the front. Double windows overlooked the porch. There was another window in the front to the left of the porch.
From the front door, you could see into every room in the small house. We were standing in the living room. To the left was the smaller of the two bedrooms. The next door was the bigger bedroom. The bathroom was the next door and you could see through the living room into the kitchen with the dining table. Most of the back wall in the kitchen was windows or glass patio doors out to the big deck leading to the beach.
Marcus went around opening up windows so the sea breeze could drive out the stale air. I slipped off my sandals and went right for the sand. It felt warm on my feet. Marcus came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing my neck.
“So what do you think?” he asked me.
I turned in his arms to face him. “I think it’s very charming and very romantic, just like I saw it in your thoughts.” I brushed my fingers through his hair.
Marcus insisted I relax in the giant chaise on the deck while he made us dinner.
While I looked out over the ocean, I tried to do what Marcus had asked of me that morning. To think about something I wanted for my life. I thought so hard I started to get a headache, but nothing came to me. I realized how sad it was. To not be able to think of one thing.
The truth was, there was something I may have wanted, if I could let myself. What was even more frustrating was that it was the same thing Marcus thought he wanted. I wasn’t ready yet, but someday I knew I would think over Marcus’s proposal and wish I had said yes.
Marcus came out on the deck barefoot in his cargo shorts and T-shirt, and carrying a large plate of spaghetti with two forks. “It’s the only thing I know how to make. Sometimes I change up the pasta.” He sat the plate beside me and then went back inside and brought out a bottle of wine and two glasses. He opened the wine like a pro and poured it into our glasses as I held them up.
“Isn’t that a comfortable seat?” he asked while he put the cork back in the wine and crawled in beside me on my left.
“It’s even better now.”
He held up his glass. “To learning from our mistakes,” he said as I clinked my glass to his.
Since Marcus was left-handed and I was right-handed, we could share the same plate easily. It was funny to learn that Marcus used his gift to help keep his noodles on his fork like I did. We both laughed.
It was one of those perfect moments. The lighting was amazing, the temperature was just right. Marcus looked so happy and calm. I was happy. He caught me staring at him.
“What? Does it suck?” He pointed to the spaghetti.
I smiled. “No. It’s great. Everything is perfect.” I meant it.
“What?” He tilted his head. “Tell me,” he pleaded before taking another bite.
“I’ve never been as happy as I am right this moment. Thank you, Marcus.”
He was so surprised he stopped chewing for a moment. I started twirling more noodles on my fork, so I wouldn’t have to look at him directly. From the corner of my eye I saw him swallow and then smile. He leaned over and kissed me quickly, as soon as I put a forkful of spaghetti in my mouth. We laughed again.
“Thank you,” he said seriously and leaned his head against mine.
When dinner was over we laid comfortably in his favorite chair until it was dark and the stars shone brightly. I got a chill from the night air and Marcus pulled me closer.
“Are you cold? I could offer you my blue hoodie.” He snickered. “You know what’s weird?”
“What?” I smiled because he was.
“Normally, I wouldn’t have told you about that. But I’m perfectly fine that you know.”
“Why wouldn’t you have told me?”
“Because it’s strange! I bought you fancy lingerie to wear, and now you know I’m really wishing you were wearing my sweatshirt? Very strange.” He shook his head.
“I didn’t really pick up on you liking the sweatshirt as much as the ease of the zipper and the red panties, but I was just reading your mind. What would I know?” I fluttered my hand in the air and Marcus laughed. I started to get up. “I’m going to test the theory.”
“You are really going to go with the hoodie over the lingerie I bought for you?”
“I’m guessing the lingerie isn’t going to be as warm when I come back out here.”
“You’re coming back out here?”
I looked around the secluded, private deck. I looked up at the dark night sky and the bright stars. I looked over at the low light coming from the three small candles on the deck railing. No one would see anything.
“Isn’t the point of this trip to spend as much time in that chair as possible?” He was stunned speechless. “You wait here. I’ll be right back.” I kissed my index finger and pressed it seductively to his lips and then I rushed into the house.
My hair was in a ponytail, but in Marcus’s fantasy it had been down, so I freed my hair and ran a brush through it quickly. I had lip gloss on in his dream. I dug through my bag and found cherry lip gloss as I also searched for my red panties.
I got in Marcus’s bag and found his blue sweatshirt on top. When I tossed his bag on the chair it slid off and his phone fell onto the floor. The display lit up and as I picked it up to put it back in the pocket of his bag, I saw that he had a missed call from Staci.
I closed my eyes tightly. Why was she calling him the day after the divorce was final? Ugh! I was not going to let her ruin our weekend together. I returned his phone back to his bag and took my clothes off.
I slid on the red panties and zipped up the hoodie about halfway. Just like in his fantasy. This was great. It was like having a step-by-step instruction manual to getting it perfect.
I had to admit the effect in the mirror wasn’t bad. And Marcus’s sweatshirt smelled like him, so I was finding it a little erotic, too.
I put on a coat of lip gloss and walked barefoot out to the deck.
His breath caught as he looked me over. “Wow.” I smiled at his reaction. I wasn’t a big girl in the chest department. Nor were my legs that long. I was thin and not very curvy, so when a man looks at me like Marcus was looking at me, I was not going to be able to keep from smiling. “Wow,” he repeated as he continued to stare. “This is even better than I imagined.” He ran his hand up my leg as I sat beside him on the giant chaise lounge. He pushed the chair back two notches so we were reclined a little farther.
I rolled over on him straddling his hips. Using my ability, I started pushing up his shirt. My fingers trailed lightly up his toned stomach to his bare chest. He sat up so the shirt could be pulled over his head and tossed on the deck while I kissed up and down his neck. He was—quite obviously—liking it a lot.
I did a little wiggle of my index finger as his shorts unbuttoned and unzipped, making it look like magic. I rocked up to his waist so I could use my gift to pull his shorts and boxers off at the same time. Marcus gasped and then smiled.
The zipper on the sweatshirt started to come down very slowly while he watched. His smile grew as it made its way to the bottom.
“You were right. It is the zipper I like the most.” His hands were inside the sweatshirt and moving everywhere at once. “Mmm…and the panties.” I continued to play out his fantasy until I got too distracted to think anymore and then we just made it up as we went along, until we were lying side by side gasping for air and looking up at the bright stars.
I turned to look at him at the same time he looked at me. He smiled. “Wow,” he said again.
I tossed him his T-shirt and boxers as I zipped up the hoodie again and went to find some pants. “I’ll be right back.” I kissed him.
“You’d better be,” he mumbled as he tugged on his boxers.
I came back out in my pajama shorts with a glass of water and two blankets. I snuggled in next to him and covered us up with the blankets.
“Are we staying out here?” he asked in surprise.
“Why not? There are no stars in the bedroom.” I pointed up. He kissed my shoulder and rested his head against mine as he pulled me closer to him and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean.
* * * *
We were awakened by the sun rising and the sound of seagulls squawking.
“There may not be stars in the bedroom, but there’s no sun either,” he hinted as we got up and groggily made our way into bedroom.
The bed was just a double so we had to stay close to one another, not that either of us minded.
We slept for another three hours and then I got up to take a shower. When I finished, I walked across to the bedroom in my towel to find something to wear.
Marcus was looking at his phone. I wondered for a moment if I should tell him I knew Staci had called. Then I second-guessed myself and said nothing instead. It was none of my business. My weekend was perfect.
I smiled when he looked up. “Okay. See? I spent a lot of money on this lingerie.” He held up the pink box. “And so far, my old sweatshirt and a twelve-dollar towel are neck and neck for the sexiest-thing-Jasmine’s-worn-this-weekend competition.” He reached for me and then pulled me back in bed with him.
The twelve-dollar towel ended up on the floor with his boxers and T-shirt.
I made breakfast while Marcus showered. I heard his phone vibrate once while it was lying on the nightstand. It’s none of your business! I scolded myself internally as I went in the bedroom to peek at the display. Staci again. This time she left a voice mail. Great.
I went back to the kitchen and beat the crap out of some pancake batter. It was very therapeutic.
I could see into the bedroom from the kitchen so I got to watch Marcus pull on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He picked up his phone and tossed it back on the stand after he viewed who had called.
He didn’t even listen to the voice mail. Instead he came out to the kitchen with me. He looked slightly irritated but when he saw me he smiled genuinely. That made me feel better. Staci was his past. I was his…well…present.
After breakfast, I changed into my bikini and put a WellGen T-shirt over top to walk down to the beach.
Marcus spread out a blanket and looked at the water. “It’s going to be cold. You chicken?” He taunted me. The Atlantic Ocean in mid-May would definitely be cold, but I was not in the habit of letting people call me “chicken.”
I pulled off my T-shirt and started for the water.
“Whoa, whoa!” Marcus called after me. I stopped and turned to him. “What is this?” he pointed down to my swimsuit.
“Uhhh.” I looked down at myself nervously, not understanding what was wrong.
“How much was this?” He smiled and I saw where this was going.
“I got it on sale at the end of the season last year. So thirty dollars.”
“Thirty dollars?” He threw his hands in the air and then grabbed me and kissed me. “I love it!” he murmured against my neck. “Let’s go back inside.”
“Why are you chicken?” I teased him and tore off for the water. He chased after me, catching up to me easily.
The water was like ice as we jumped in and swam out a little farther. I used my gift to guide him through the waves to my side. He chuckled at the effect. It wasn’t easy to move people on land. Not that I’d had the opportunity to try it a lot, but when I had they mostly just lost their balance and fell over. Water was different.
“Okay, I’m a chicken.” Marcus laughed as he started to pull me out of the water.
We ran back to the blanket and huddled in our towels for a while. I laid back allowing the sun to warm me. It wouldn’t take long for the heat to dry my bathing suit.
Marcus ran his fingers lightly over the goose bumps on my arm as he studied my pink bikini more intently. “Is there really only four knots keeping me from Naked Jasmine?”
One around my neck, one across my back and one on each hip. “Yes, I guess so,” I said after I counted them up.
“Let’s go back to the house to warm up,” he suggested with a grin.
We definitely warmed up when we got back to the house. Marcus made quick work of the ties on my bikini and then we took a hot shower together. “Thirty dollars!” he muttered, causing me to giggle.
We got dressed and held hands as we walked down the street to an early dinner. We needed to go back home tonight, and I felt a little sad about that. Being there together made me so happy. But, back in the real world there would be doubts and worries waiting for my return.
We had a nice meal in a cute, little restaurant.
“We’re out on a date.” Marcus beamed.
“I know, it’s nice.” It was more than nice; it was perfect.
“I want to tell people we’re together, so we can go out back home,” he blurted.
“No! Not yet. Please!”
“Why not?”
“I’m not ready. I want to tell my brother first. Once he’s had time to adjust, then I’ll tell the others.”
“Why does he need time to adjust?” Marcus’s eyebrows creased in bewilderment.
“He’s not used to me having a boyfriend. He’s really going to be shocked to find out my boyfriend is his boss. It’s a lot. Please just let me do this my own way. Please?” I begged.
“Okay. Fine. How long do you think this will take?” he asked impatiently.
“Not long,” I said unsure.
We packed and left quietly. I felt sad that we were going.
Marcus reached out and touched my cheek as we pulled away. “Don’t worry. We will be coming back soon,” he assured me. I felt better with that prospect.