Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (217 page)

"I have to have some kind of claim to you don't I?"

"That sounded very Neanderthal Daylin.  I'm not going to know what to do with one man in my life, let alone more than one."

"Okay."  She could see he was trying not to look pleased.

When everything was rang up and they were back outside in the parking lot Daylin said, trying to look nonchalant "Do you think you'd mind some company tonight?"

"Don't you have to work in the morning?"

He grinned.  "I told them I'm working from home today and tomorrow.  My boss doesn't mind.  I've made him a hell of a lot of money in the last four years."

"Well.  I wouldn't mind if you cooked me dinner."

"Oh.  Shit.  I guess it would be helpful if we bought you some groceries huh?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

They could see the grocery store from where they were. 

Daylin took forever in the grocery store, buying things that she never bought because she rarely made real meals and didn't eat breakfast.  The total came to over three hundred dollars.  He didn't blink.  She sighed as she let him pay.  That was more than she normally spent on groceries in a month.

When they got back to the apartment, it was near dark.  He insisted on making several trips out to the car instead of letting her carry anything he considered too heavy for her.  She couldn't imagine what he would be like if by some miracle she ever let him talk her into having his child.

He made them a dinner of pork chops, potatoes and corn, laughing at her mismatched pots and pans. 

They ate sitting on the living room floor.  He told her that he couldn't imagine living without a TV set.

She laughed and told him that she couldn't imagine living with one.

He relented and let her do the dishes, setting up her stereo system so they'd have some noise.

They made love on the living room floor, the soft scent of jazz playing in the background.

When it had gotten late, he said "Are you sure that thing will hold both of us?"  He made a face at her air mattress.

"It's fine Daylin.  People sleep on these things all the time.  I've had this thing for a couple years now.  It's pretty comfortable.  More comfortable than some of the real beds I've had."

"If you say so.”   When they had both lay down and she was in what had become her favorite position, curled up against him with her head tucked underneath his chin he said "I could get used to this."

"I told you it was comfortable.”

"I wasn't talking about the bed.”

"Yeah."  She let it go at that.  Unfortunately for her, so could she.

Chapter 6

Her sleep was uneasy that night.  She had dreams that she couldn't remember, only that she knew weren't good.  She tossed and turned so much that she was afraid she was going to wake Daylin up.

But he was still up before her.  She could smell coffee brewing in the kitchen and hear the sizzle of bacon cooking.

"Morning sleepy head," he said, giving her a grin after she had used the restroom and wandered out to the living room.

"Morning."  She lit a cigarette.

"You smoke too much.”

"Yeah, I suppose I do.”

"So why don't you quit?" 

"I don't want to.  It comforts me."

"Comforts you that you're going to give yourself lung cancer?  Have you not heard the wonderful nicknames that your little friends there have?  Coffin nails, cancer sticks?"

"I like the smell.  It keeps me calm."

"You're addicted.  I like the smell too.  Well, not the smell in the air, in your clothes, in your hair, but while they're burning.  You shouldn't make excuses Jess.  It's your health you're putting on the line."

"I know that.  I can read the warnings they make them put on the packs."

"And that doesn't disturb you one bit?" 

He came out to the living room and put a plate in front of her that had a huge pile of scrambled eggs, several slices of bacon and toast piled on it.

"I never said cigarettes were healthy.  But there are so many products that aren't one bit healthy that aren't labeled the way that cigarettes are.  I have to have something Daylin."

He made a face.  "Your something is going to put you into an early grave, make you look older than you are.  It can even make it harder to get pregnant."

She snorted.  "Who the hell said I planned on getting pregnant anytime soon Daylin?"

He sighed.  "Nobody, but it's something to think about."

"Lucy got pregnant didn't she?" 

"Yeah, yeah.  Eat your breakfast."

"What you put on my plate is easily enough for two people.  I hardly ever eat breakfast."

"Eat it.”

"Yes Dad.”

"Easy woman, maybe I like to be called Daddy."

"Daylin you are totally and completely disgusting."

He grinned.  "You liked it last night.  And the night before, and the night before that."

She scowled at him.  "Don't remind me."

"I'll show you after you eat your breakfast.”

"No thanks.”

But the very thought made her heart beat fast.

"No thanks?”  He'd finished half of the food on his plate which had been piled even higher than hers was.  "You wound me Jess."

"A man's ego is a very dangerous thing Daylin.  Especially one as hot as you."

"Now I'm hot."  He reached out and brushed her hair gently back from her face.  "You really do drive me crazy you know.”

"I know.”

He drove her crazier than she wanted to admit too and in more ways than one.

They were silent as they finished eating, both lost in their thoughts.  She wondered what he was thinking, and then figured she probably didn't want to know.  She finished all of the food on her plate to please Daylin though she was so stuffed she thought that she probably wouldn't need to eat lunch.

He took the plates back to the kitchen and said "So when did they say they'd be delivering your furniture?"

"Around ten I think.  Why?"

"I think we can find a way to occupy the time until they get here."  He took her hand and led her back to the bedroom.

They had made love, showered and were dressed and sitting on the living room floor playing around with her laptop when there was a knock at the door.

Daylin jumped up and said "I'll get it."

She gave him an amused smile, checking out his butt as he headed to the door.  A butt like that could cause a woman to go out of her mind Jess thought.  He didn't even need tight jeans.  Just his movements were enough.  He was definitely starting to make her feel more than a little crazy.

A tall, muscular man stood at the door.  "Just wanted to make sure you were home," he said.  "We got your furniture.  The guys will start bringing it."

"Can I help?"  Daylin said.

"Nah," the guy said.  "Thanks though."

Soon she had furniture and the apartment was already starting to feel more livable.  Even Daylin admitted it didn't look half bad when it was finished. 

They sat down on the couch.  His arm was around her shoulder, her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

"You sure you won't let me buy you a TV?"

"I don't need one.  Besides, anything I want to watch I can watch on the computer."

"Yeah, I guess.”  He sighed.

"What?"

"I have to leave you soon babe and I don't want to.  Will you let me call you sometime?  I don’t want to pressure you into something that you don’t think you’re ready for, but I really like you Jess.  I really feel like we could have something.”

“Maybe we can go out Daylin.  I don’t know.  It just doesn’t feel like a good idea to rush into something.”

“We don’t have to rush.  We can take it slow.”

“Yeah right Daylin.  How slow can we take things when we’ve already had sex?”

Daylin grinned.  “Well, I’ll stop bugging you about moving in with me.”

“Ha ha.” 

"I will.  I promise.  If you decide to look for a job, let me know.  I might be able to get you one.”

She sighed.  “I’m not going to work for you Daylin.  Though I might look for a job.  I won’t know what to do with myself without one.”

Daylin winked at her.  “I could think of plenty of things to occupy your time.”

Jess shook her head at him.  “I’m sure you could.  Thanks but no thanks Daylin.”

He kissed her slow and easy, leaving her breathless when he pulled away.  He sighed.  "I guess I'd better get going.  Walk me to my car will you?"  He took her hand and squeezed it, looking dejected.

She followed him to the door, shutting it behind them.  "You're not going to lock it?"

"I'm just going right outside Daylin.”  For someone that had grown up and lived in a small town, he didn't seem very trusting she thought.

"How much cash do you have Jess?"

"You probably don't want to know Daylin."  Even with buying the computer and paying the rent and the deposit she still had almost ten grand in cash. 

He made a face.  "You're probably right about that.  Didn't you ever worry that someone would think you were a hooker or a drug dealer with all that cash?"

"Nice Daylin.”

"I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.  You're putting yourself at risk almost as much as you are with your smoking having so much cash on hand."

“Sure Daylin.”

“If you need anything call me.  I put my number in your phone and I put my e-mail address in your computer so there's no way for you to say that you don't have a way to get a hold of me.  Don’t try to forget me Jess.  I won’t call you until you call me, but I do expect to hear from you soon."  He gave her a cocky grin.

“Sure Daylin.”

She was sure she would call him if she stayed in town long enough.  Maybe looking for a job wasn’t such a good idea she thought.  But then again, she had to have some way to live until she figured out what the hell she was going to do with her life.

He gave her another quick kiss and then with a huge sigh got behind the wheel of his car.  "Goodbye Jess."

"Bye Daylin.” 

She stood and watched until she couldn't see his car anymore.  She didn't know how she felt.  Part of her had wanted to run after him when he was leaving to tell her to take her with him.  Another part was afraid that he would.  Another small part told her that she wouldn't see him again, that she wouldn't hear from him.  That she was just another woman in a long list of them that could never mean to him what Amanda had meant to him.

She shook her head at herself and headed back to her apartment.

She ran a brush through her hair once she was back in the apartment and decided to leave her hair down.  She decided she might as well look for a job as soon as possible.  At least if she was working she wouldn’t be sitting around her apartment all day, trying not to think about Daylin.

She checked her wallet to make sure that her social security card was inside, and pulled out the only picture she'd ever kept in her wallet.  It was an old picture.  She'd only been two when it was taken.  It was hard to believe sometimes that she'd ever been that young.  They all looked so happy, she balanced on her father's knee, her mother standing proudly beside them, one hand on top of Jess's and the other clasped in her husband's on the other side where he was holding the hand that she had slung around his waist.  Who would have known that a year later he would be gone?  Who would have known that the little girl in that picture would grow up to be the woman that she was today?  Now truly fatherless and feeling so lost.

She sighed, shoving the picture back into her wallet, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fill her eyes. 

She took a deep breath and went outside, locking the door behind her.

Chapter 7

She drove downtown since she’s remembered seeing a bar that had a help wanted sign.  She wasn’t sure how much Daylin would like her working in a bar, but she still thought that maybe she could push him away before he got any closer.  She wasn’t looking forward to running into him in town and wondered how long she could really stand to stay in Welton.  She figured that working at a bar would be a job that would be easy to walk away from at any time since she certainly didn’t expect to make bartending her life’s work.

There was a pretty woman tending the bar when she walked in.  The woman gave her a smile and said “What can I get you hon?”

“An application please.”

“Sure.  Have you bartended before?”

“No.  But I’m a quick learner and I do have experience with a cash register.  I’m looking for something kind of short term if that’s okay.”

The woman nodded.  “Yeah, most people that come through Welton don’t stay long.  It’s okay hon.  Right now we’re looking for someone to fill a spot while one of our bartenders is on maternity leave.  Tomorrow is her last night.  If you’re interested you could start Wednesday.”

“That sounds great.”

The woman dug around on a shelf underneath the cash register and come back with an application.  “Fill this out please.  I’ll take your ID and social if you have it to make a copy.
”

Jess nodded.  She pulled both out of her wallet and handed them to the woman, glad that getting a job had been easy at least.  With the way things were going in her life lately, she was glad that something was easy at least.

She filled out the application and left a few minutes later.  She headed home, wondering what Daylin was up to.  Then she shook her head at herself.  She had to stop thinking about him or she was going to drive herself crazy.

Moments later she was in her apartment.  Her phone rang when she was seated on the couch in front of her computer, wondering if she should e-mail her stepmom. 

Since Daylin was the only one that had her number, she knew that it had to be him.  She looked at the screen amused when she saw that he had put his number in under "lover" and pressed the button to answer the call “Hello.”

"Just the voice I wanted to hear.”

"I'd guess so Daylin since I'm the one you called.”

"Smart ass.  Are you happy with your new place?”

“Sure.  I got a job.”

“Jess, I told you to talk to me before you went looking for a job.  Where will you be working?”

“The bar downtown.”

“Jess, men get drunk when they go to the bar.”

“Duh, that’s kind of the point Daylin.”

“You’re going to get hit on all the time Jess.”

“I can handle myself Daylin.  I am a grown woman.”

“You make me want to protect you Jess.  Why won’t you give it up and just let me?”

“Because I just met you Daylin.”

“You are stubborn Jess.”

“Never said I wasn’t.”

"What are you up to tonight?"

"Not much.  I decided to get one of those online movie subscriptions so I'll probably watch a couple movies and then go to bed." 

"I knew you'd like having a computer.  Are you going to make enough money working at the bar?”

"With tips I should be good."

"I hope so, though I will always be here if you need anything and I mean anything.  Have you met any of your neighbors?"

Jess smiled because he couldn’t see her.  "Not yet." 

“That’s too bad.  So Cam and Lucy found a house."

"Did they really?  That's good."

"Lucy and my aunt dragged Cameron around all day looking at every house in town that was for sale.  Or that's what he claims anyway.  They ended up taking the first one they looked at."

"Is it nice?"

"It's pretty nice.  It's got a nice big fenced yard, three bedrooms.  They got a pretty good price so hopefully they won't be paying for it for the rest of their lives."

"That's good.  Did Lucy get whatever was going on at work straightened out?"

Daylin sighed.  "I wrote the fuck a check first thing after I got home.  I swear Lucy invites trouble.  I don't know what she's going to do sitting in the house with Cameron at work all day trying not to think about drinking and smoking."

"I'm sure she'll be fine."

"You could hang out with her, help distract her."

"Daylin.”

"I'll shut up.  She does have a couple of friends that stay home with their kids so she'll have them to hang out with."

"That's good."

"They set a date for the wedding too."

"When is it?"

"They're getting married on Valentine's Day.  Lucy insisted."

"That's very romantic."

"Cameron originally wanted it to be in April on the 5th, that's the day between his birthday and Lucy's birthday.  She said she'll be too fat then."

"It sounds nice."

"You know, there's still time.  .  ."

"Do not start Daylin.”

“Okay, I'll be good.  Don't you even miss me a little bit Jess?"

"I didn't say I didn't miss you.  I said that I'm not going to move in with you or marry you four days after I met you."

"February is five months away."

"I don't think that I'm going to be ready to get married in five months Daylin."

"You're a spoil sport.  I'll buy you a really nice ring, even nicer than Lucy's."

"Daylin."

"Yes, I promised to be good.  I know.  I don't want to lose you.  I'm so afraid of losing you before you even really given me a chance."

"You won't lose me Daylin."

Never mind that there was still a part of her that wanted to run away from him, never mind that she had a feeling she was going to run away from him if she let herself feel too much of what she was feeling.

He sighed.  "I never thought I'd lose Amanda either."

"Oh Daylin.” 

Jess thought that he must have figured it was best to change the subject then, because he said "When are you planning on meeting your stepmom?"

"I'm not sure.  I'm still getting used to the idea of having a stepmom and a half grown brother and sister."

"I can be there with you when you meet them if you want."

"I don't know Daylin.  I'm not even sure how far away they are.  I have the address from my mom but I never bothered to check out exactly where it was.  If they're close to my grandparents’ maybe I could do it all at the same time."

"If you want me there I'm more than willing."

"Thanks."

"So have you put any thought into where you'll be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas?"

"Not really."

"You could meet the rest of my family.  With my mom being so sick it probably won't be much of a celebration, but it looks like it might be her last.  I'd like you to be here.  I mean, if you don't mind."

"Sure."  Who the hell knew what things would be like in two months anyway Jess thought?  She didn't want to hurt his feelings by refusing outright.

"Great.  Well, as much as I hate to, I'd better let you go.  Have a good night.  Call me anytime, text me, IM me.  Just don't forget me and remember to miss me okay?"

She laughed.  "Of course."

"Bye baby."

"Bye Daylin."

Later that night when she was ready for bed, she shut her computer down and went into the bedroom, using the restroom and then changing into her pajamas and climbing into bed.

She put her arm under her pillow and felt a piece of cloth.  She pulled it out and saw Daylin’s t-shirt.  So he was trying to make sure she couldn’t forget about him, she thought.  She smiled and slipped her shirt over her head and replaced it with his.  It wasn’t quite as good as being in his arms, but it would have to do for now, because there was no way she was going to break down this easily and give in to him.  She knew that if she called him anytime soon, she’d end up right back in his bed.