His Girl Page 3
“I don’t want to hear it, Eric!” She turns, throwing her hands up. “You don’t have to apologize, alright! I get it. You didn’t mean to lie, it just came out, you didn’t think it would be that big a deal…” She gestures as she speaks, turning her head this way and that as she takes on a mocking tone.
I shake my head, putting an arm between her and the elevator doors as they dinged open. “No, you don’t. You don’t get it.” She scoffs, rolling her eyes as she ducks under my arm and into the elevator. Well, two can play at that game. Undeterred, I follow her as she stands with her arms folded.
“I did mean to lie. I did. Do you know why? Because I knew from the minute I saw you that if you knew who I was, you wouldn’t have given me a chance. I knew you wouldn’t be able to take me seriously if you thought I was just the boss hitting on his employees...” Every time I take a step closer to her, desperate to hold her and get her to really look at me, she ducks away. She shakes her head and exhales sharply, shoving past me when the doors finally open.
Why can’t she see that I’m still not done with her yet? That I’m never going to be done with her.
I follow her out into the foyer where there’s already a morning crowd of people checking out. I assume some of them must recognize me, whispering and nodding in our direction. Me, in my navy robe, and Jessa, barefoot, her hair still wild and untamed.
“You know, I don’t usually spend my evenings sitting in the back corner of a hotel bar. But I did, just because I loved watching you. The way you move, your smile, your laugh. I was falling for you before you even knew my name.”
That, finally, gets her to stop dead in her tracks. She turns back to me slowly, fresh tears pooling in her eyes and she inhales slowly.
“You’re falling for me?” She asks, incredulous. I shrug gently, and this time she doesn’t move away when I step towards her, grazing my fingers along her neck, studying her beauty. She looks even more stunning to me now that I’ve seen her naked, that I’ve claimed her curves as my own.
“Pretty sure I already have,” I reply softly. Jessa throws her arms around my neck to kiss me, lifting herself onto my tiptoes. This time, she’s the one to catch me off guard. I hold her at the waist, never wanting to let go; but when I do, there’s a small cheer of applause. She blushes, and we both break into quiet laughter as I rest my forehead against hers.
“I’m gonna need to hear you say it,” she whispers, just for me to hear.
“I love you, Jessica Monroe.” She closes her eyes as she takes the words in, a smile returning to that beautiful face of hers.
“Oh my god,” she breathes, grinning from ear to ear. She takes a deep breath as she runs her hands down my arm, slipping her hands into mine. “I love you too, funny guy.”
I lift her, spinning her as the crowd laughs and watches on. It’s our own little moment of movie magic, and there’s no one on this earth I’d rather be sharing it with than her.
One Month Later
Jessa
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Although our little romance had been something of a whirlwind – and that was putting it lightly – for the first time in my life, I finally felt like I had somewhere. Eric was my somewhere. I always felt so invisible, so lost in the crowds as the ‘bigger girl’, the one no guy would ever look twice at. Yet when Eric looks at me, I finally feel seen. He sees me, he sees everything that I am, and he loves me for it. I don’t need to worry or feel insecure any more, because the look on his face tells me everything I could need to know – I’m his girl.
It came as no surprise that Eric wouldn’t allow me to work for him for much longer. Although a part of me was sad to be leaving that life behind, there was also a selfish part of me that enjoyed being on the other side of that bar for a change.
He reminded me time and time again how I didn’t need to worry about money or working now that we were together – and oh boy, we were together, every night, going at it like insatiable teenagers – but I didn’t like the idea of sitting around all day with nothing to do. I’d never been one of those girls, and I wasn’t about to start now.
He encouraged me to find something I enjoyed doing. It didn’t take me long to realize I enjoyed reading, romance novels in particular. It had been a quiet pastime of mine as a young girl, something I could get lost in, just for myself, when the day was over. So, given everything that had happened recently, I thought I would take a little inspiration from real life and try my hand at writing my own.
I would hurry to switch windows every time he came to lean over me at the desk, desperate for a peek at how his fictionalized self was getting along. “No, not yet! I’m still working on it,” I insisted, turning around to push him away.
“I just want to see,” he teased, trying to pry the laptop from my hands. “I just want to know if I’m as handsome in book form as I am in real life!” Then he would stop and sigh, looking at me with those piercing eyes that made me want to give him everything. “How did I get so lucky, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You just keep the material coming, funny guy, this is great inspiration!” I waved him away, before biting my lip and giggling as turned back. He grabbed me, lifting me into his arms and dropping me down onto the couch.
“Oh yeah? You want material? I’ll give you something to write about.”
One Year Later
Eric
* * *
Every time I step into the foyer of The Bluebelle, I’m reminded of what has so far been the best day of my life – hearing Jessa say ‘I love you’ for the first time, knowing I finally had my girl.
I have a feeling today will easily trump that though.
As I glance around at the white lilies, white tulips, white linen; the white silk petals, hand–stitched onto lace draped over the chairs, it's as though I’m in a dream.
But I’m not. I’m standing under a beautiful arch of intertwined flowers with accents of green, waiting for Jessa on our wedding day.
Her father and her brothers had been skeptical at first, I'd expected that, but they soon warmed up to the idea when they saw how much I loved her. And I really, truly did. Even if I were to put everything else aside – her beauty, her sincerity, the mind blowing sex – a part of the reason I adored Jessa so much was that she finally gave me a reason to stay in one place.
I didn’t care so much about where my next trip might take me, or what opportunities for expansion were out there. I looked forward to having dinner with her in the evenings, and to seeing her reading in bed every morning, with one of my shirts swamping her curves.
I had always questioned whether I made the right choices in life. Not that I was ever unhappy, but I always felt as if I were missing out on certain things by focusing so much on work. And once everything began to take off, making up for that lost time wasn’t an option any more. But I don’t wonder any more – I know I made the right choices, because they led me to Jessa. They all led me to the only woman I’ve ever loved.
And as I heard the cellist break out her bow, and the collective sigh when everyone laid eyes my blushing bride, I still couldn’t quite believe that I was going to spend the rest of my life with her.
I told myself that I wasn’t leaving New York until I made Jessa mine.
I won.
Before You Go...
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Also By Bella B. Wilde
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