Jack and Ginger (Sacred Heart Coven Book 3) (19 page)

Ginger laughed. She sucked in a quick breath and her bottom lip. She bit down on it and let her teeth slide over her lip as she let it back out. She took a sip of her tea.
 

"Ok. You might want to check on the guys first. You won't want to be interrupted once I start to tell you."

"They are fine. These guys are in here almost every day. They know they can call me if they need me. You need to just tell me what is going on."

"Oh man, ok. So you know I moved into my dad's place, and I really wasn't making a lot of effort to change anything. Well, his computer was on and some guy, Jack, was messaging him. I kind of accidentally responded to his messages and pretended that I was my dad."

"Why on Earth would you do that?" Jasinda asked her.

"I have no idea. I was tired and upset. I didn't want to have to tell him that my dad had passed. Besides he started to message me about football."

"You mean that he messaged Art," she clarified.

"Right. Well, we messaged back and forth a few times. The thing is that he had plans with my dad, I told him I didn't think I, my dad, could go. And apparently he knew where my dad lived."

"No!" Jasinda gasped "Did he show up looking for your dad?"

"Wait. So anyway, you know I went to dinner with Jack. I was so embarrassed having to cut it short because Roger called me and started yelling at me.

"When I got home I just wanted to decompress so I drew myself a bath, lit candles all over the bathroom and my bedroom. I was going to treat myself to a nice hot soak and some of your wonderful body scrub." Ginger took a sip of her tea. "This is really good."

"Sounds like you needed the bath. It is good that you decided to do something to take care of yourself."

"Well, I got to thinking about Jack while I was bathing and one thing led to another if you know what I mean." Ginger wagged her brow. "Just as I was about to finish taking care of myself,
 
someone started knocking on the door. Then they started to ring the bell, then the computer started to beep with messages. It was like crazy town at my house.
 

"I had to run out to see what the emergency was. I probably shouldn't have gone to the door in a towel, but I wasn't thinking."

"Did that creep show up at your house. Are you ok? Was I reading your energy wrong?" Jasinda put a hand on her shoulder.
 

"See this is where things get really interesting. I opened the door and guess who was standing there with a six pack and a bag of peanuts?"

"Roger? I don't know, that guy?" Jasinda was on the edge of her seat.

"It was Jack." She smiled and nodded her head at Jasinda.

"What, why, how? How did he know where you lived, that is a little bit stalker-ish. He seemed like such a nice guy."

"Do you know what Redford's first name is?"

"Jackson." Ginger raised her eyebrows once at her. "Ohh, no way."

"Yes he was Jack. He showed up at my house to check in on my father. He knew that he had not been well and apparently they have been online buddies for a few years now. They met in a Chicago Bears fan group."

Jasinda smiled as if she had planned it all along.
 

"Jazz, I am telling you it was crazy, it is crazy. First us talking on line, then at Dunkin' Donuts, then here, then him showing up on my doorstep. It is like some cosmic fairly tale come true."

"It's magic, honey. The magic of the universe just makes things happen sometimes. Sounds like the universe wasn't going to give up until you two connected. So what happened after that, did you guys hang out?"

"Did we hang out? I am pretty much sure that we fell in love. I know that sounds crazy and not possible, but I have never experienced anything like it before. He said the same thing. It was a wild night.
 

"First he started a fire in my oven, the smoke alarm went off, we collided in the hallway next thing I knew my robe was coming off and then his pants."

Jasinda squeezed the top of her knee. "I am so thrilled for you. I told you, if you are open to the path that doors would open for you."

"We stayed up almost all night talking about everything, my dad, his family, football, traveling. He stayed until he had to leave. He had an eight o'clock flight so he left around five thirty to get his stuff from the hotel and get to the airport. I hope he made it. I'm assuming since I haven't heard from him yet that he got back ok. He said he had to go into work and would call me tonight. We slept for like maybe two hours and when he left I just got up and started working on the house."

"You are buzzing like crazy."

"It just really sucks that he lives in Chicago. He said that it wouldn't matter. We would figure it out. Apparently he is a trust fund baby and money is no object."
 

"Get out of here. I would never have guessed that. Although, I am not sure why I wouldn't have ever guessed that." Jasinda put their plates and mess together. "Well, at least you know he will be back next week. He has to come back for our project."

"I might explode or implode before then. I feel like I just got hooked on the best drug a person could ever find. I am Jonesing for more already." Ginger's face was starting to hurt from smiling so much.
 

"You are high, sweetie, the best high a person can have, it's love. It is the purest thing we can experience. How can we not keep wanting more?"

"I didn't know. I thought I knew what love was when I met Roger. Boy did I get it all wrong. I guess you live and you learn."

"Exactly, and sometimes we need to live through certain things before we are ready to recognize what we truly want, need, or deserve. And we all deserve to be loved." Jasinda hugged Ginger.
 

Chapter Nineteen
 

A FEW DAYS HAD PASSED. Ginger kept working on her condo. She had emptied out almost everything of her father's. Most of what remained she was keeping, or was furniture that she wasn't ready to replace yet.

Redford, now Jack. She was sure now that she would call him Jack, Redford just would never do again for her. He'd said that his family and close friends called him Jack. She was now more than a close friend, so Jack felt right. She liked that Jack and Ginger had a natural ring to it. Besides Red(ford) and Ginger was a little bit over the top, she told him that she would rather have people refer to them as a cocktail than making a big deal about the "red" factor.
 

Her red hair, his name being Red, they would probably get it anyway. Then it dawned on her that if they married her name would be Ginger Redford. What more could she do than laugh about it. She had a feeling that she would be more than proud to sport his last name.
 

Ginger managed to work things out with Sandra so that she still wanted to represent them in the sale of her house. Of course she said that the only way she would continue to work with them was if she had no verbal contact with Roger. Ginger couldn't blame her.
 

Sandra worked with Ira and the attorney for they buyers that did not put up their deposit money on time. The attorneys managed to have the buyers put up another ten thousand dollars with their second deposit to show good faith. So their sale was back on track and would hopefully close in the next thirty days. Inspections were set up for that weekend; Ginger knew that wouldn't be an issue. Roger was always on top of everything in that house. He would never want anyone to think things weren't perfect.

At least at this point she didn't have to worry about Roger calling her on her cell anymore. She kept her phone on at all times. She and Jack text messaged each other throughout the day and spoke whenever he had a break in his work schedule or at night until her eyes burned.
 

Ginger woke up Saturday morning and thought it would be a good day to go out and look for some new furniture for the condo. At least now she knew that she would have the money coming from the sale of her old house. So much of what had brought her down was passing. She worried that things were too good to be true, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from enjoying the ride while it lasted.

She made an instant oatmeal and a cup of tea before leaving the house. She usually made a little more effort with her attire, but it was a jeans kind of day. Even though the Bears weren't playing until Sunday, she decided to sport a pink Bears tee with her jeans and a pair of pink glittery flip-flops.
 

She wasn't sure where to start when she got to the furniture store. She really would have liked to have a more feminine bedroom set, but her dad's couch was not her style and it smelled way too much like him for her to be able to constantly handle it. She was ready to let him go. Not in her heart, but in the physical sense.
 

She expected the sales people to be pushy and follow her around; instead they just gave her a yard stick, a pencil and a small pad of paper. The older gentleman told her to just write down anything she had questions about or sku numbers for something she liked and they could go over it together when she was ready.
 

Ginger happily wandered through the store sitting on different style couches wondering exactly what she wanted and at the same time wondering what Jack would like. She had not seen his home, actually she didn't even know if he lived in a house or a condo. It hadn't come up.

One thing she was sure about was it was nice. He was well dressed and very well groomed. She had to assume that he kept the rest of his life just as orderly. She pictured his house being very minimalistic and modern. Her phone started to ring. She looked down at the screen. It was as if she willed him to call her.

"Hey," she answered, "I was just thinking about you."

"What a coincidence, I was thinking about you too. Are you busy later or tomorrow?" he asked.

"Not really. I am at a furniture store right now looking at some new couches. Hopefully I will also be able to find a dining table, I don't think a desk is the best use of my dining room." She chuckled.

"I know we have plans for Monday, but I wasn't sure if you had plans this weekend."

"Nothing special. Why, are you coming back early?" Her stomach started to swirl with excitement. She could not wait to see him again. She longed to feel his touch again.
 

"No, sorry, my flight is for Monday afternoon. I have several proposals set up for Steve and Jasinda. I told them we could get started on Tuesday, that way you and I will have Monday evening together. We can stay in or I will take you anywhere you want to go." Jack's phone voice was like pure sex. His voice was so deep that she could feel it sneak down her ear canal and find its way to her core.

"Can I ask you a question?" The words rolled off his tongue.

"Of course." Her heart stopped. What was wrong, what did he want to ask her.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, unless I shouldn't." She was now confused by what was going on. She pulled the handle on the side of the couch she was sitting on and lounged back.

"Of course you should. I am going to send a car service to pick you up at six a.m. tomorrow morning. Can you be up and ready that early?" he asked.

"Yes, I was up with you that early just a few days ago..."

"I wasn't sure if you went back to bed after I left, you must have been exhausted," he said.

"It didn't hit me until after dinner, what about you?"

"I was ok, but I only sleep four or five hours on average, so my body doesn't require a tremendous amount of sleep."

"I see. So what should I be ready for exactly?" If he weren't going to be there until Monday why on Earth would he send a car service for her on a Sunday morning, and so early?

"Be ready for anything. It's a surprise," he said.

"How do I know what to wear?" She was a woman, with a closet full of clothes, from very casual to very formal, and then the in-betweens of professional and super sexy. Not all attire was appropriate for all events or locations and she was not privy to either.
 

"Whatever you wear will be perfect. I told you last night don't worry about stuff. We can always find a way to work things out if they don't fit."
 

What was he talking about? He was being way to evasive. Under different circumstances she may have been weary of his sneakiness. But this, she was dying to find out what he was up to. She would just have to find the perfect outfit that could be easily dressed up or down.
 

"This is crazy." She didn't know what else to say.
 

"The only thing crazy is the way I feel about you. I'm sorry I can't really chat anymore. I am on my way to a meeting and then entertaining clients for dinner. I will text you when I get home, but you should be sleeping by then.
 

"Just be ready and waiting by six a.m. I will be dreaming about you later. Wish I could kiss you through the phone. Next time we need to do a video chat so I can see your gorgeous face."

"Ok, I will be dreaming about you too. If I can fall asleep."

She stared down at the home screen on her phone for a minute. She smiled and wondered where she would be going when the sun came back up.

Ginger realized that perhaps shopping for a couch was slightly less relevant than shopping for an outfit for tomorrow. She tore off the slip of paper with her notes and stuck it in her purse. She waved over the salesman and grabbed his card and told him she would be back, that something had come up.