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“What can I say, I’m a sucker for a pretty girl. You’d have to pry me away from this little princess. Now finish your lunch and go study.”
With this I have effectively ended the conversation.
Roses
Emily
How in the world am I supposed to study and focus on anything other than Jonathan in the other room with Ireland? I still can’t figure out what he’s doing here. Why does he want to spend his Saturday with a four-year old and her single mom who sits in the other room studying? I know the image I’ve kept of him from years ago has been glorified with time. But now . . . the real him . . . the him that is actually here . . . that Jonathan is exceeding all of my dreams of him. I am so confused.
After giving myself an internal pep talk, hours have gone by and I was actually able to get a lot done. I told myself that I needed to get through this school work to make a better life for Ireland and that was what I needed to focus on. Not boys. I close my book and get up to go check on the new BFF’s. When I get to her doorway, I see her fast asleep on her bed and Jonathan sitting in her tiny little bean bag chair playing a game on his phone.
“Bored yet?” I whisper.
“Nope,” he whispers back.
“You can head home now. I got all my studying done,” I say as I motion for him to join me with a nod of my head.
He gets up and walks out of the room, and I follow him into the kitchen. He helps himself to a glass of water and drinks it down before replying to my statement about him leaving.
“I was thinking, I could run home real quick, feed Frances, take her for a little walk and then come back with some pizzas and we could have a movie night.”
“Jonathan, what are you doing?”
“Just keeping you safe. We still need to talk about these threats, Em. We’ll do that later though. So, I’ll head out and be back in an hour or so, sound good?”
“Jonathan, I don’t need a babysitter. You don’t have to hang out just because my big brother asked you to check on me.”
“This has nothing to do with Mick. I want to spend time with you and I won’t be able to function if I know you two are here alone. So let me do this, okay?”
“Okay.”
Jonathan should be back any minute and I’m one frazzled woman. I don’t know what to do with myself. As soon as Jonathan left I finally hopped into the shower, put on real clothes, did my hair and added a touch of make-up.
I cannot believe that he caught me wearing his shirt. I saw the moment it connected in his brain and how he tried to hide his smile, but of course couldn’t keep it hidden. I was mortified and waiting for the smart ass comments to start flying my way, but he didn’t make it a big deal. He made his little comment to acknowledge that he noticed, but didn’t accuse me of stealing or any other embarrassing thing he could have come up with.
I still can’t believe he spent his day off sitting in Ireland’s room playing with her and just hanging out while she napped. What guy does that? I know he said he wanted to try and that he wanted to get to know Ireland too, but he’s actually doing it. I guess his words weren’t hollow pick-up lines and he actually meant them. It also looks like he isn’t taking no for an answer, but he also isn’t making any moves. Is this all just a friendly gesture or does this mean he’s still trying for more? Do I want more?
Emily, don’t be stupid . . . of course you want more. Now what are you going to do about it?
“Mommy, do you think Jonafon will like my dress?” Ireland asks as she does a twirl in her Princess Elsa dress. She is so sweet and kind and I really don’t want her heart to get broken this early. Do I subject her to also falling in love with Jonathan knowing full well that he could leave one day and leave us both broken-hearted?
I don’t get to answer the thought in my head because there’s a knock on the door. I take one final glance at myself and decide my skinny jeans and lose sweater will have to do . . .
I check the peep-hole and there he is with pizza just like he promised. Talking a calming breath, I unlock the door and open it to dimples. I haven’t seen much of his elusive dimples since seeing him again, and I must say it is quite a panty-dropping sight.
“Sorry sir, but we didn’t order any pizza,” I play with him but it’s really just to hide my nerves.
“I know you didn’t ma’am but I did. You see there are these two really cute girls that I’m trying to impress. I thought I could win them over with pizza.”
I don’t reply because in my head all I can think is that he just said I was cute and he was trying to impress me. Well, me and my four-year old but still . . . cue butterflies. . . .
“I drove all the way to Sparky’s to pick it up and I got two kinds just to be safe. Do you think my plan will work?”
I lean on the door and shake my head. “You really are too much, you know that?”
“Ah, you love it and you know it. Now let me in woman!” he jokes as he pushes past me.
He’s right, I really do love it. I love all of it. His protectiveness, kindness, humor, dimples, everything about him really.
