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“Then we should get going.” I open the door for her and close it once she’s in her seat. “You look great,” I add once I’ve walked around and gotten into the truck myself. She’s wearing a long-sleeved black dress with black stockings and black heels.
“Thanks. How was your day?”
“Well, I talked to Kayla and I made a decision.” I glance over and catch her eyes widening. “Gregory seems pretty sure she’ll flip out more than I think she will, so I think sooner might be better instead of waiting for things to get really serious. If it’s okay with you, if we’re still seeing each other in two weeks, I’m going to tell her.”
Jamie takes a deep breath. “Okay, now I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be. I’m not going to make you be there when I tell her to start with.” That way if she freaks as much as Gregory seems to think she will, Jamie won’t be subjected to it. I’m also hoping it’ll be easier for her to accept the news without having Jamie right there.
“If that’s what you want to do and if you think it’s best, then it sounds good to me.”
We fall into silence and soon make small talk on the way to the restaurant. After we’ve ordered, though, Jamie decides today is the day to grill me.
“Did you work as much as you do now while you were married?” she flat-out asks.
“Not quite as much, no.”
“Then why do you continue to work like you do when it seems as if everyone is concerned? Even when I tried to spend time with you instead of going back to campus, you decided to go work instead of us hanging out at your house. I’m a little worried about you at this point.”
“I like to work.” That’s a good standard response.
Except she doesn’t accept it. “I like to work too, but I won’t work as much as possible. I like my down time, too. What’s really the problem, Brent? Come on. Tell me.” I open my mouth to say whatever I can think of to shut this down, but she says, “I’m stubborn, too, and I plan to keep asking until you give me a real answer. Make this easier on both of us and be real with me.”
I grumble under my breath about how ridiculous this is, but she waits with patience and I sigh. “It’s stupid and quite frankly, a bit embarrassing.”
“I promise not to tell anyone.”
It’d make me feel better if I didn’t have to tell her in the first place. The waitress buys me a little time by dropping off our meals, but Jamie keeps her expectant gaze on me. “I’ve never lived alone. I grew up with my parents and moved right in with Shannon soon after graduation. And then, all of a sudden, I’m in another big house all by myself, lonely and bored to death. At least if I’m at the shop, I can stay busy and accomplish something. It just became a habit after awhile. There, now you have it.” I breathe hard in relief and lean back in my chair, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“That’s not stupid or embarrassing. It makes sense that you’d feel that way, Brent,” Jamie tells me, her voice soft and sweet. “You need to learn the art of doing nothing and enjoying it.” She smiles. “I can teach you.” I must not look so convinced because she adds, “I mean, do you want people to keep harping on you about it? And wouldn’t you rather I fall asleep at your house, maybe in your bed,” she wiggles her eyebrows with a little laugh, “than at the shop?”
She definitely has a point there. Not to mention, it wasn’t all that comfortable with both of us sleeping on the couch.
“Okay, you win. For everyone’s sake—”
Jamie shakes her head and interrupts me. “It’s ultimately for your sake, Brent.”
“For everyone’s sake, including mine,” I amend, “I’ll work less.” What’s sad is this will probably be harder on me than my divorce was. “Did you have a better day today?” I’ve been meaning to ask since I picked her up, but she’s successfully kept the conversation away from her.
“Oh, yeah,” she answers easily. “I was just overthinking things. No need to rehash it, though.”
It’s tempting to push her like I’ve been pushed tonight, but I decide not to. We finish our meals in silence, I pay the bill, and we’re back in the truck.
“Let’s go to your house for a bit,” Jamie says before I can drive in the direction of campus.
“All right.” I let my arm rest diagonally on the center console with my hand hanging over the edge. My fingers move nonsensically over Jamie’s thigh in an almost automatic way. Her dress is much softer than I thought it would be. Part of me wonders when we’ll further things physically, but then again, I try not to rush that for two reasons. One, the longer, the better before jumping into bed with someone. Shouldn’t you learn more about a person before you see them naked and be intimate with them? But also, I don’t want to be a hypocrite to my kids. We’ve taught them to wait as long as possible before sleeping with someone. It has always seemed like solid advice to make sure you’re comfortable and you should be sure you really want to do it before sleeping with someone.
But what do I know? I’ve only been with one woman my entire life and it’s been a long time since I was with her.
And I have a feeling, if things continue to go well, Jamie could be the second woman. The last thing I want to do is think too much about that, though. Things have a way of naturally progressing and that’s the way I prefer it. Any and all images of Jamie slipping out of her dress need to leave my mind right now.
“What are you thinking about?” Jamie asks, seeming to scrutinize me from the passenger seat while I turn down the road I live on.
“Nothing.”
“You seem to be thinking pretty hard about something.”
“I’m thinking about what I’m going to do with my future free time since I’ll be working less.” Not true that I was thinking about it, but I will have more free time if I follow through on what I said earlier.
