AJ's Salvation (11 page)

"Isobel, watch your filthy mouth!" The women laughed, and Aly closed her eyes for a second. Her whole body was thrumming just from the simple touch and the look Jam had given her. She knew he had wanted to lean in and kiss her cheek. Even though she was somewhat disappointed, she knew that would have caused even more talk.

"I don't think you ladies are what he's preying on, so show some respect. No objectifying any men in here unless it's me doing the objectifying," Philomena announced, moving around the tables to pour some coffee. Thankfully, the topic shifted from there to men the ladies also found objectify-worthy, and Aly bit her cheeks to keep a stupid grin from appearing.

"Wow, Aly," Phil hissed as she finally stood next to her again. "I tell you, woman, I would've tumbled into bed with him after a smile like that, too. No wonder you let him right back in." 

Aly just shook her head. "It's for Alessandro, not for me," she protested.

"Who are you trying to convince? Did you see the way he looked at you? Aly, that man wanted to own you in the best way possible. I swear he's just as doe-eyed about you as you are about him! I know I totally changed my tune about him, but then I hadn’t seen the way he looked at you yet. This was ...” She fanned herself. “Still, a word of caution. You know how it is with flames. They burn bright and hot before quickly extinguishing. Be careful, okay?" Alessia just looked at her friend and gave a tentative nod. After all, when did a heart ever care about caution?

"Look. And that's what Mom sometimes buys. And then she buys that, too. And over there, she buys that, too." Jam highly doubted that, since all of the things were more or less sweets.

He decided to divert Alessandro's attention from them to something far more important. "Okay, I wanna impress your mom. What does she like to eat?"

"Noodles," Alessandro decided, and Jam rolled his eyes. He sure wasn't going to impress Aly with noodles.

"And what else?" 

"Beef and rosemary potatoes, peas or mushrooms on the side. I think that's something she likes. Jam it is, right? I'm Spencer," a voice behind him said, and Jam turned around. It was the beach guy Aly had talked to the other day.

"Jamison," Jam corrected, shaking Spencer's hand.

"Oh, you," Alessandro said next to him, and Jam placed a hand on his son's shoulder. 

"Alessandro," he scolded with a warning in his voice. Lesso instantly rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry. Hey, Spence," he then corrected, meeting Jam's eyes. "Can I go look at the comics?" He pointed at a stand in Jam's view, and Jam nodded. The boy left, and he focused back on Spencer.

"Aly always has to do that, too. The scolding, I mean," the other man mumbled, and Jam just nodded. He wanted to tell Spencer to stop calling her Aly, simply because it sounded as if Spencer had real feelings for Alessia.

"Thank you for the tip with the beef. I'm gonna try that, I guess," Jam replied, hoping to change the topic. 

"It's nearly impossible to impress Aly. Taking her to a movie and then dinner doesn't work, just dinner doesn't work, huge bouquets of roses don't do the trick ... I never tried cooking for her, though."

"Aly hated the movies. She always had. The dark room, and the fact you don't have much privacy never suited her. She used to say that dates belong in an atmosphere where you can exchange deep, meaningful looks and secrets smiles. Taking her to dinner will work if it's a cozy restaurant. She hates show-off restaurants where you can't pronounce the meals and have a plate as big as the table without anything on it really. She's the fries-and-burger kind. And of course, you couldn't get her with the roses ... she likes them meaningful, and it must be a single rose or no roses at all. She loves colorful flowers. She ..." Jam actually stopped himself as he noticed how Spencer was looking at him.

"Why did you ever leave her?"

Jam laughed. "I never left her."

"Oh," Spencer commented, paling. Just then, Jam realized how that sounded. 

"No, I mean that she and I never really were an item."

"You have a child together."
Shit, true.
He hadn't even thought about that. 

"It was one night. She ... I ... this didn't exactly work out the way we wanted it, and she moved away anyway, so ... you know." Spencer's jaw dropped, and Jam made fists in his pocket.

"You’re a real jerk. I guess that's what Aly needs to get off, huh? No wonder a nice guy like me couldn't get her in bed," Spencer taunted, and Jam wanted to punch him right there. 

"Watch your mouth, buddy. Alessia is an amazing woman. The thing between us is complicated, and I'm not going to try to explain it to you. I never planned for her to stay alone after she left. In fact, I was sure she had found someone by now, but it seems you just weren't the one for her. I bet you always asked her if it would be okay to kiss her, too." The way Spencer's eyes glittered with anger told Jam he had hit a spot. "Dude, you don't ask a woman you want if you can kiss her. You frame her face, draw her in, and then kiss her until she's gasping for air. Women want to be owned in certain aspects of life. Sweeping her off her feet won't happen with polite questions," Jam explained, wishing he could do exactly that to Aly now. He wanted to possess her and make her knees weak.

"Yeah, or you give her a child and always tie her to you. Whatever you did, you certainly made her addicted to you. But you wanna know something? You aren't here to stay, so I guess there'll be a time when she'll need a shoulder to cry on, and I'll be there to come in—the hero on his white horse. She’s amazing, you’re right about that, and one day, she'll see I'm her safest bet," Spencer snapped, and Jam just wanted to reach out when a papery hand closed around his fist. 

"Young man, come and help me get those beans down the shelf, will you?" Jam looked at Dorly and then up at his son, who was still flipping through the magazines. When he focused back, Spencer was gone, and it was probably better that way, too.

"Alessandro, come on," he called, and instantly, Lesso complied.

"Hey, Dorly! You should have told us you needed something. We would have brought it," his son exclaimed, giving the elderly woman a hug.

"I had no idea you two handsome men would be buying groceries today. Besides, I'm glad I'm here." She gave Jam a sharp look, and Jam pulled his shoulders up until they almost covered his ears, looking sheepish. "You do better if you stop antagonizing Alessia's friends," she went on, and Jam nodded.

"I didn't mean to. He just made me so mad."

Dorly just shrugged. "Because you worry he's right. You wanted to leave today, remember?" Jam knew that, no doubt, but he planned to come back.

"You should’ve heard how he talked about Aly." Jam defended himself, and Dorly patted his arm while Alessandro kept putting stuff in her shopping cart.

"Two of those, darling," the old lady told Alessandro and then looked back at him. "He's hurt, Jamison. He worked hard to get Alessia where he wanted and then you come in and she doesn't remember his name. Besides, I heard the way
you
talked about her, and I think that was enough to make anyone jealous," Dorly explained.

"It doesn't matter. I should find him and apologize."

"Nah, boy, no reason. He certainly needs to know that Alessia needs passion, not polite. Especially if you plan to leave her to him." She snuck a sidelong glance at him, but he didn't care. He didn't plan on anything besides getting home and cooking for her so he knew she was with him and no one else.

Aly was beat. She had been on her feet all day, and as much as she had looked forward to spending the evening with Jam and Alessandro, she now wanted to crawl onto the sofa and read.

She went around the back, wanting to feel the water around her feet and enjoy the calm for a few minutes before finally going inside. Laughter and music instantly greeted her, as well as a mouthwatering scent. Walking quietly to the kitchen, she watched how Jam and Alessandro danced through the kitchen. It was rap music, which made her want to cry out in protest until she realized that kids were in the song, too, and it was about astronauts and heroes. She had never heard it before, but the boys seemed to have the lyrics down already.

Jam spotted her and held up his hand. “Everybody freeze!” Instantly, Lesso stopped, his hip cocked to the side. “Don’t turn around, but we’re being monitored,” he then explained, whispering to his son.

“A woman?” Jam looked over Alessandro’s shoulder and then nodded. “Is she hot?”

Jam looked at her again. “Pretty much,” he agreed.

Lesso waved him off. “It’s just my mom. She won’t tell anyone we’re dancing,” her son decided and then turned to her, smiling. He wore an apron, just like Jamison, and she wanted to take a picture.

Jam’s features softened as she picked up her son and placed him on the counter. “You look exhausted,” he commented and reached out. But she avoided his touch, bending down to tug at her son’s clothes. Philomena’s words stuck with her, and this was insane. Then again, this was Jam, the only guy she had ever wanted. And she was lonely. Very lonely. Who could blame her for wanting a little time in paradise? She could, and she knew she would regret it once Jam went back, but maybe, just maybe it was worth it. After all, wasn’t that saying ‘better loved and lost than never loved at all’?

“I’m …” She trailed off because she wasn’t sure if she was mentally or physically exhausted anymore.

“Champ, turn around,” Jam called, coming over to her. 

“You got it,” her son called, turning his back toward them. It took a second until Aly realized what Jam was aiming at, but by then he had already reached around her, bent her back a little, and grinned with mischief in his eyes.

He was kissing her as if he hadn’t seen her in forever, tasting of rosemary and something sweet, then he stood, straightening her. “Hey,” he beamed, obviously feeling pretty proud of himself.

“Oh, Jam,” she whispered. She wouldn’t be able to resist him. Ever.

“Can I look again?” Lesso called, seemingly getting bored. 

“Sure thing. Rosemary. I want it,” she commented, catching her breath while biting her lip. Jam’s eyes got dark, and she wished they were back in high school. She wanted to be brave and talk to him. She didn’t want to give him any chance to turn her down. God, how she wished she had avoided Jam getting anyone else’s kid. She wanted him to be the father of
her
kids.

“Champ, tell your mom what we cooked while I prepare the table,” Jam ordered and Alessandro nodded, taking her hand to lead her over to the stove. He could barely look into the pots, but he still pointed at them all. 

“We wanted you to have something you don’t get every night, so we cooked some steaks, made potatoes that we then … what was it called?” He scrunched up his face in thought. Eventually, he shook his head. “We threw them in butter and some green stuff that smells like Dorly’s candles. And we made salsifies. They look like asparagus, but they taste a lot better.” Alessia did a double take. 

“You tried them?” she asked in utter disbelief, and Lesso nodded. 

“And he liked them,” Jam interrupted, coming back in. “Wash up, we can eat.”

Aly cleaned her hands alongside her son, making sure they were dry before they went to the table. There was a candle burning. Jam had foregone the tablecloth, and she was thankful for that. Alessandro had a tendency to pull on the material and make everything tumble over.

The food was incredible. The beef was soft on her tongue, just the right kind of cooked with only a little rosy color left. She hated blood and couldn’t eat anything that was still spilling onto her plate. The potatoes were well done and bite-sized. The mixture of herbs came off well, and she couldn’t get enough of it. Alessandro didn’t have any of the potatoes, which didn’t surprise her. He only ate them if they were fried and cut into wedges. She didn’t trust her eyes, though, as he had two helpings of the vegetables; the salsifies vanished quicker than she’d ever expected.

She stayed silent while Lesso told her about his day at school and the way he and Tom had teased some younger girls. 

“I told him that was no way to treat a girl and asked him if he’d ever treat you that way. He promised he’d apologize to the girls tomorrow,” Jam assured her before she could say anything at all.