That wasn’t a stamp of approval, but at least I didn’t have to hear him telling me all the things he doesn’t like about Jace. He doesn’t know him. Hell, I don’t really know him either. Not like I used to.
The feelings I had for Jace now might be clouded by the ones I used to have years ago. That made it hard to know what was real and what wasn’t. Add my raging hormones every time I’m near him, and that just tipped the scale even further. Add the mind-blowing sex we had, and forget it. It was more intoxicating than any cocktail. My mind spun in a million directions, and somehow, they all led back to Jace.
Although I didn’t have anything on my schedule for today, that didn’t mean I wanted to spend hours thinking about him. There had to be something more productive to do. Since my father had maids come and clean the house, that chore was off the list. Cooking, well, it wasn’t something I was any good at. Boiling water and making pasta and opening a jar of sauce was the extent of homemade to me.
Usually, I had such a full work schedule that I was too tired at the end of the day to even want to do anything. And now that I was stuck in this house, bored out of my skull and in need of a distraction, all I had was the television to keep me company. If I have to watch one more talk show, I will lose my freaking mind.
Plopping down on the couch, I closed my eyes. What I really wanted was to call Jace, hear his voice, and slip back into the bliss I was in earlier. That wasn’t a habit I wanted to get into. Once upon a time I allowed him to determine my happiness. It’s what allowed him to hurt me so badly. Never again would I ever love anyone so…. completely.
If I was going to get out of the funk my father had just put me in, I’d have to do it myself. The first thing that came to mind was a long, hot bubble bath with a good book. I wasn’t one who ever read a romance novel, mostly because I didn’t believe in “happily ever after.” Give me a good mystery and I was all in. But at this point, I’d try anything.
Dragging myself off the couch and toward the bathroom, I stripped off last night’s clothes and tossed them in the hamper. I turned the taps in the tub, chuckling over the state of Jace’s dress shirt this morning. Somewhere in the heat of the moment, most of the buttons seemed to have gone MIA. Although I’d been tempted to rip the thing off his body, it had all been his doing. Imagine what my father would’ve thought if my clothes had looked like that.
Thankfully, my T-shirt was more forgiving, and I returned looking the same as when I had left. Well, maybe a bit less…frustrated.
The tub was filled and the bubbles overflowing. It looked so inviting –just what I needed to unwind. But as soon as my toe hit the water, I heard my cell phone ringing in the bedroom. I wished it wasn’t so, but my heart yearned for it to be Jace. Still naked, I dashed across the floor and checked the caller ID.
I sighed and answered the call. “Good morning, Betsy. How are you?” Hopefully this would be quick, because I was already starting to feel a chill standing there in my birthday suit.
“Pulling my hair out.”
“Work that bad?” I asked, heading back to the bathroom. I could tell this wouldn’t be brief. No reason I can’t soak and listen at the same time. I put the phone on speaker and placed it nearby as I slowly slipped into the tub. “Ah, that feels good.”
“I’m not sure I want to know what you’re doing,” Betsy stated.
I laughed and said, “Not to make you jealous, but I’m enjoying a bubble bath right now. It’s…so…. soothing.”
“Nice. Rub it in that I’m stuck here with Mr. Grumpy Pants this morning.”
“Jace is --”
“Snapping at everyone, including me. Which you know doesn’t go over too well. I have a hard time holding my tongue,” she responded.
Who are you fooling, Betsy? You can’t hold it at all. That wasn’t totally true though. Somehow when it came to me and Jace, she failed to mention a lot of things. I have come to know that was intentional but her intent wasn’t malicious.
“Wish I could help, but I’m willing to listen if you want to vent,” I offered.
“Oh, you are going to do more than that. I mean, you owe me.”
“I’m sure I do. But what for this time?” I asked.
“We were supposed to go bowling last night and I let you and Mr. Grumpy Pants go instead. Yet not one phone call. Nothing. By the way he’s growling I assume you did something stupid like beat him at the game?”
I laughed. “Letting a man win isn’t my style.”
“And that’s why you’re single,” she responded.
Really? That’s why? I could think of so many other reasons. Betsy didn’t need to hear the long list of them, though. Instead I said, “We didn’t go.”
“You blew him off?” she exclaimed.
I was sure that if Betsy was in the office, the entire building had just heard her. Calmly I said, “No. We went out for ice cream instead.” Still played with balls, but not the ones you’re thinking about.
“Ice cream? That’s what you decided to do for a date? God, I thought he was boring. You’re no better. Do I need to plan everything?”
“I’m very capable of making my own arrangements,” I said sternly. The last thing I wanted was Betsy to push Jace into something he didn’t want. The thing I noticed that
