Deeply Personal

Chapter 24

Jessica

A week later, Jessica agreed to go out again. It was Paul’s idea, who texted her about a restaurant that Jessica had mentioned she liked. Jessica said yes and Friday night found them eating at the sushi bar and drinking plum wine at Sushi Junkies. They wound up at Jessica’s house in East Nashville.

Jessica, who’d only drunk one glass of wine the whole time and was proud of it, showed Paul around, explaining how she’d picked the new Matisse print to match her new rug and walls, how the reds and blues aligned to form a blended symmetry that would synchronize with the rest of the home, how she’d knocked down a middle wall to give the living room a sense of openness with the kitchen.

“Very cool,” Paul said. “It’s all so stylish. What’s this?” he asked, picking up the rose quartz that Jessica had left on her table in the den. It rested beside a photo of an ocean sunrise. She didn’t even know why she’d kept the quartz. She should have thrown it out. She’d meant to.

Now she felt the color rise to her cheeks. “Oh, just something I bought when I was in Sedona.” Jessica began to blush even more as she recalled Adam and how he’d held the quartz in his hands as he’d told her goodbye.

I need to study the masters.

Fuck Adam! Why hadn’t she just gotten rid of the thing? He’d texted her again two days ago, and, once again, she’d ignored him completely.

Paul peered at the quartz more closely, but Jessica took it from him and put it back down on the table.

“Don’t,” she said, moving closer to him.

“Why not?”

“It’s just something from my past, and all I want to do is to be totally in the present with you inside our little bubble.”

“Okay,” Paul said. “I’m here. I’m in the bubble.”

“Good. Don’t pop it.”

They moved closer together, faces inches apart, and Jessica could feel Paul’s heat. She inhaled it, the warmth of him, and his scent too. The stirring wisps of his cologne emanating from him, a fine vanilla and woody scent, his body emitting more waves than a frickin’ piece of rock ever could.

“Oh, by the way, I made reservations at Jasper’s on Friday, seven-thirty for us,” Jessica told him. “You said you always wanted to go there but I heard it’s hard to get into it, so I reserved it way in advance. Does that work for you?” Jessica asked.

“So you mean a week from today?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Sorry, but I’m leaving to see my grandparents that morning.”

“Really. Why?” Jessica was disappointed.

He rubbed the side of his face. “I’m trying to get Gran and Pops into an assisted living center and they’re fighting me every step of the way. But the time has come. They just can’t live without help anymore.”

Jessica spoke sympathetically. “Ah, that’s a shame. I’ll see if I can rebook.”

“They raised me from the ground up practically. Without them in my life, God only knows where I’d be now.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “I owe them a lot.”

“I understand completely,” Jessica said.

Paul smiled and put his arms around her and his brilliant blue eyes lit up like moonbeams. He reached out and touched her hair, stroking it now, caressing it. He gathered a lock of her hair and let it filter through his hands, watching it, his eyes alive with light, as if he were staring at gold.

“I love your hair,” he said softly, with a thickness in his voice. “It’s just so beautiful.”

A warm sensation started creeping through her, face, limbs, belly, neck, and head, then finding its way down to her womanhood, stirring her there, arousing her. She shuddered. Wanting him now . . .

He drew her closer, body to body, and gently stroked her face, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand, so lightly, so gently. Then finally, his lips found hers, softly brushing them at first, then pressing more deeply. The next thing she knew, they were kissing right there, eyes closed, moaning, the pressure of their mouths meshing together as if they were trying to reach a union of their bodies—souls, hearts, and spirits.

“Damn, Paul. Why’d you kiss me like that?” Jessica asked, pulling away for a moment.

He smiled at her. “Let me explain.”

And he kissed her again, this time even deeper with even more passion, explaining fully. Jessica succumbed, moaned, falling toward his passion and meeting him right in the middle. She understood the reason completely. The heat between them rising, lifting them both. She was a match, and he was gasoline.