Testing Recipes for Disaster (Emberwood #2)

Chapter 28- Jeremy

I did not want to be in the car going to get Greek food. I wanted to have her on her kitchen counter and be under that skirt. But that was old - Jeremy behavior. This Jeremy went on dates and spent the night and called the next day. It was a whole new world. I did take advantage of the skirt by resting my hand on her thigh while I drove, but I almost passed the food truck in my distracted state.

The sun was setting when we pulled up to the ticket stand at the drive-in, and I happily handed over the money to get to see Lauren’s happy face from the passenger seat. I guided the car to a spot, backed in, and popped the hatch. Lauren had dutifully hidden the bag of food from the kid at the gate, but I was pretty sure he was high and didn’t give a shit about much of anything.

I set up the pillows and blankets I’d brought along and helped her into the back of the car.

“Give me your drink and candy order, Princess.”

She tried to glare at me, but the pink across her cheeks made it feel harmless.

“Dr. Pepper and all the sour candy. Do I have to wait for you to eat my pita since this is a date?”

“You can do whatever makes you happy.”

She grinned and dug into the bag while I made my way to the concessions.

As the movie started, I returned with her requests and climbed in beside her to see if she left me any food.

“Try the falafel pita pocket. It’ll change your life,” she said seriously while wiggling closer to my side.

I had to agree that they were good. All the food was amazing, but my life had changed plenty in the last week, and I didn’t know if I could handle any more.

The movie was all but background noise to me, but I tried to focus on it instead of her in case I needed to participate in some sort of post-date analysis of the film. When we were finished, I cleared the remnants of our dinner and laid down on the pile of pillows I’d stacked up.

“C’mere.”

I held out my arm, and she slid in next to me, her head fitting perfectly on my shoulder.

“Your jacket is scratchy. There’s no way you’re comfy in that, is there?” I asked.

“Are you trying to get me to take off my clothes?” she replied without missing a beat.

“Well, technically speaking, yes. But I have more blankets to cover you back up.”

She rolled her eyes and shimmied out of her jacket, leaving her arms bare. I pulled the blankets up over both of us and tucked one in underneath her.

“There, now you’re a burrito.”

“I wanna be a pita pocket.”

“Fine. You’re a pita pocket. Are you going to change my life?” The words were out before I realized how they might land. “Sorry, that was maybe—”

She laughed at my discomfort.

“Would you kiss me already? I had expectations about going to the drive-in with Jeremy Ash, and tucking me in like a food product was not on the agenda.”

Oh, thank god.

“I live to exceed your expectations.”

She had broken out of the blankets and had her hands in my hair, pulling me down to meet her mouth almost before I got the words out. I couldn’t decide where my hands needed to be. I wanted them everywhere. I grazed my fingers up the back of her thigh and squeezed where it met her ass. Lightly, I traced paths up her stomach under her shirt to meet her bra line and back down again. All the while, she was kissing me like she had all the time in the world. Her mouth moved slowly; she bit my lip and then ran her tongue across it over and over.

It hit me that we could have all the time in the world. If we wanted it. We didn’t have to rush anything here. I could lie here and kiss her and hold her hand and wrap her in my arms, and it was fine because the point was being together and not hooking up. That thought made my heart swell because it wasn’t even something I’d known I wanted. But here it was in front of me, and I wanted it desperately.

“Okay, so now explain to me what’s happening because you distracted me, and I’m lost.”

“What? You’ve never seen it? I thought this was a repeat for both of us; I’m so sorry. I never would have tampered with your first experience with You’ve Got Mail. ”

She caught me up and snuggled back under my arm, and I relished that as much as the feeling of her nails across my stomach. The movie wasn’t all bad, either.

“YOU DID NOT DISCLOSE the fact that you had peanut butter rice crispy treats in the car. You let me think that Sour Patch Kids were my only option , Jer. That’s where the betrayal lies.”

“Betrayal might be a bit strong, no?”

“Well, it depends on how good they are, I guess. Let’s try them out.”

I placed the pan on her counter and cut two, handing her the large piece. She sank her teeth in and rolled her eyes.

“ Absolute betrayal!” she got out with her mouth full.

“I’m so sorry, Laur. I’ll never forget to present all your dessert options ever again.”

“Thank you. I’m a reasonable sort of person, Jer. You have to do better, is all.”

She grinned at me and took another giant bite of her treat. I wrapped my hands around her waist and hoisted her up onto the counter so I could stand between her legs.

“Tonight was fun.”

“Tonight was fun,” she agreed.

“I want to keep doing this, Laur.”

“Eating delicious desserts?”

“No. Well, yes, I want to bake for a living. But no, not in the context of right now.”

“Hmmm. I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean, then.” Her words held humor, but her tone was serious.

“I think this thing with us... it could work. I want to keep you.”

“Oh?” She asked, her eyes now wide.

“Yeah. Can I?” I let the moment hang between us for a breath, hoping she answered the way I wanted her to. Needed her to.

“Yeah, Jer. I think you can.” Her voice was soft now, and I searched her eyes for any hesitation, but she seemed calm. I kissed her lightly.

“It’s late. Do you want me to pick you up before work tomorrow?” I asked.

“No.”

“Oh. Okay. Is Sam—”

“I don’t want you to leave. If that’s all right.”

I rested my forehead on hers, not knowing how badly I wanted to hear those words until they registered.

“Let’s go to bed.”

“Okay. But I get to take two more rice crispy treats with me,” she whispered in my ear. I laughed but cut her two more and followed her upstairs.