Page 18 of Jay

“Mandy. How are you?” Jay asks as he pulls me closer to him. I sink into his touch, wrapping one arm around him, grounding myselftohim.

“I’m good, Jay, even better now that I get to look at your sexy face during myshift.”

“Unbelievable,” I mutter, hoping they didn’t hear me, but this is me we’re talkingabout.

“Excuse me?” Mandy snipes. I take a deep breath and go to answer her, but Jay beats to metoit.

“I believe my date said ‘unbelievable’, because you’re being unbelievably disgusting in the way you’re acting. I am here with this gorgeous girl and you’re flirting with me in front of her. Have some sense of self-respect, Mandy. Now, can you get us a table for two, please, somewhere in the corner, close to the stage.” She huffs and picks up two menus and walks away. Jay chuckles, takes my hand and tugs me along with him. We follow Mandy through the pub, a few people greeting Jay as we pass. One guy even stands and they do the man hug thing. I just smile, because through all this, Jay never lets go of my hand. He says his goodbye to the man and we walk over to the table that has a very impatient Mandy standing by it. My inner superhero is smiling to highheaven.

“Just order at the bar.” She slams the menus down on the oak table and storms off. Jay laughs, causing me to chuckle with him. We slide into a booth with patchwork material seats and oak woodpanels.

“Stroppy much. Oh, and by the way, she has never seen me ‘in the flesh’. Never.” I let out a big sigh ofrelief.

“Oh, thank you, God.” Jay laughs at my reaction. “I don’t know if I could have got over the fact that she’s already touched you. She is a mega hard limit for me, Jay, as in hard like granite. Just FYI for thefuture.”

“Got it. Have you eaten here before?” heasksme.

“Yeah, my parents like to go out for lunch every week. It’s our thing. Every Sunday we pick a different place to eat as a family. We all work during the week, so Sunday is ‘Dawson Day’” I say, using air quotes. Jay smiles at me. Adoration crosses his face, but so does a little sadness. It’s gone in a flash. I love my parents; they are freaking amazing. I drop my eyes to my menu, not being able to see the look on Jay’s face any longer. I don’t know much about him, but his face shows the sadness that one gets when they have lost a parent. I look over the menu, making sure that I read every word to draw out the time, but Jay is having none of it. He seems like a man that doesn’t hide from things. If he wants them he gets them. He says what he wants and he doesn’t let people walkoverhim.

“Hey, you okay?” I nod my head, not trusting my voice. “Kitten, look at me. What’s wrong?” I shakemyhead.

“It’s nothing, Jay.Leaveit.”

“Nope. Tell me. No secrets remember? I hate the hiding game.” I nod slightly, letting him know that I doremember.

“I saw the sadness flash on your face when I talked about my parents. I was wondering if you lost one or both of yours. But I don’t want deep tonight, Jay, we need to have things light between us right now. We’re just starting out; dark and deep can come later.” He stares at me for a moment - or several, I’m not sure. Our eyes stay locked, and the light music and chatter fades away until it’s just us intheroom.

“It is sadness, Kitten. Dex and I lost our parents when we were young. But you’re right, no deep conversation between us tonight. The only thing that will be deep, is me inside of you later.” My breath catches in my throat, and Jay winks at me. He said we were going slow.Holy Batman. I cannot do fast, fast messed everything up last time. I need time to get to know him. To see what makes him smile. What makes him tick. I jumped in with Dale and look where thatgotme.

“You can’t say that, Jay,” I whisper, and look down at my hands in my lap. My heart races in my chest and I feel lightheaded. I don’t see Jay move until he’s sitting next to me and touching my face. He gently lifts my head until oureyesmeet.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Talk to me, Kitten,” he whispers gently. The hot breath from his lungs spreads across my now dry lips. My tongue feels like it’s swelling in my mouth, making it impossible for me to speak. I manage to shake my head and try to pull away from his warm body, but Jay doesn’t let me. He sits closer and pulls my body tight to his. His strong arms are wrapped around me, one hand on my head, firmly holding me in place. I take a few deep breaths and slowly pull my head back to meethisgaze.

I shake my head one last time to clear the last of the fog. “I’m okay, Jay. I know you didn’t mean to upset me. We need to go slow. Me and fast did not work out too well last time. Slow, okay?” He gives me a sweet smile that still makes my core pulse. Damn, is there anything this man does that doesn’t make my body tighten ortingle.

“Slow. I can do slow. Slow is good, baby.” He leans in and gently kisses my lips. A soft butpromisingkiss.

Jay Castle might be the one person who can put me back together again. I just hope he doesn’t rip me apart when he’sfinished.

jay

We ateour food and talked about anything and everything. Nothing deep, that was the one rule. We both promised that if we got deeper in our relationship, then we would both spill the beans. I can already tell that I want a long time with Cass, she understands the same things as me, from politics to life scenario's. We both want more, but we also don’t want to ruin things by spilling all the bad shit that has happened, not that my shit would ruin things with her. But I sense that she thinks her past is bad enough to make me want to walk away. Well, if there is one thing that Cassie Dawson needs to understand about me, it’s that I am loyal to a fucking fault. Once you are in my head and heart, you’re there for good, unless you commit the ultimate betrayal. But somehow, I don’t think Cassie would ever betray me, her eyes say that she’s been betrayedbefore.

“Do you want another drink?” I ask her, as she moves our empty plates into a pile, she even wiped the table down. I think my kitten was a waitress at some point in her younger years. I smile at the thought of a younger, beautiful Cassie. A flash of a beautiful blonde-haired little girl running on the beach with Cassie, zips through my head. My heart flutters in my chest, makingmegasp.

“Are you okay, Jay?” I shake my head and smileather.

“Yeah, babe, I’m good. So, about that drink. The band will be on soon and this place will start tofillup.”

“I’ll have another Prosecco, please,” shetellsme.

“On it. Be right back.” I kiss the side of her head before climbing out of the booth, and walk over to the bar. There are more people here than when we walked in earlier. I heard the band that are playing tonight are really good. They’re a cover band from the next town over. I lean on the bar and flag the barman down, but the girl behind the counter signals to him that she’s got me. She walks over, smiling at me, giving me the fuck-me eyes.Oh honey, there is only one woman I want fucking me with her eyes,I think tomyself.

“What can I get you, handsome?”sheasks.

“Can I get a pint of Fosters and another glass of Prosecco for my girl.” I add the ‘my girl’ part to make it clear I’m taken, but by the look on this girl’s face, that isn’t going to stop her pursuit. She nods her head and goes about sorting my order out, which doesn’t take long. She places the pint in front of me and then the glass of champagneforCass.

“Here you go.” She looks over my shoulder, towards the booth where Cassie is sitting, staring at her phone. She frowns down at the screen before putting the phone away. “Are you sure you want to go home with her? She doesn’t look like much fun, but me…” She leaves thesentenceopen.

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