Page 71 of Jilted Jock
Adele walked out of her building at noon on the dot, eyed me with a large hot pink box and smiled hesitantly. “What’s in the box?”
“You’ll see.”
“Where are we going? I’m starving.”
“I was hoping you’d be okay with letting me stuff you full of sugar and kiss you senseless. I didn’t plan on real food. We can grab something else though, if you prefer?”
She giggled and linked her arm through mine. “Sounds perfect.”
We found a bench outside a small park. Adele’s eyes widened and her smile was bigger than I’d ever seen as I lifted the box on the cupcakes.
“Those look divine.” She went for the chocolate one, lifting it from the box and testing the frosting by running her index finger along the edge and bringing it to her mouth to sample.
“Better than sex?”
“Excuse me?”
I took a big bite out of an Orgasmic Vanilla and tried to talk around it. “The name of the flavor.”
Once she’d taken a small nibble, I asked. “So, is it?”
She blushed. “No.”
“Try this one. It’s Orgasmic Vanilla.” I fed her from my half-eaten cupcake.
“Mmmm. That one is good too.”
We shared our cupcakes with each other and when I offered her another, she shook her head. I set the box on the bench next to me and moved closer.
“Did you really think we were going to eat twelve cupcakes for lunch?” She asked, smiling.
“Didn’t know how hungry you’d be.” I dipped my head to take her lips with mine. I kissed her softly. A tougher challenge than it sounded. I’d waited for months to be able to kiss her whenever I wanted, but some part of me also realized she needed to know the things I wanted from her went beyond physical.
“I’ll make it up to you tonight with real food. Dinner anywhere you want.”
She smiled. “Deal. Now kiss me like you mean it. I’ve only got fifteen minutes until I have to get back.”
Anywhere she wanted turned out to be her place. We went shopping for groceries together, which turned out to be fun. She perused the vegetables and I perused her.
Even though I knew she wasn’t much for cooking, I let her order me around in the kitchen. Adele wielding a sharp knife was a little scary. Hot, but scary.
“Learned to cook, I see.”
“Not really. I finally admitted defeat that I’m never going to be the next Gordon Ramsay and found one simple thing I could cook. Literally, I Googled the easiest recipe on the planet and found this fifteen-minute pasta meal. I have it at least twice a week.”
We sat on the couch with our food and caught up on life. We’d talked on the phone, but in person it was so much easier to let the conversation flow naturally.
“Have you been back to California much?”
“Just for Christmas.” She ducked her head a little, pausing with her fork stuck in the pasta on her plate. “I’m sorry that I left the way I did, without even hearing you out.”
“I suppose I understand. You two had history.”
“That’s true. I did feel like I owed it to Richard to try and make things work, but if I’m super honest, I think I was hiding behind him because I was afraid of what would happen if I admitted how I felt about you. Being with someone like you scares me.”
“I’m notsomeone. And you don’t need to be scared of me. Ever.”
She nodded.
