“You're going to make me regret wanting to be honorable,” he groaned.
“Waiting makes it better,” I promised. “And I'll make it worth the wait.”
Jacob looked up at me, his blue eyes full of dark desire. “I know you will.” He grinned, and continued to tease me as much as I was teasing him.
Chapter 7
I’d taken a shower and begun getting ready at four o’clock, a full two hours before Jacob was set to pick me up. I straightened my hair, painted my fingers and toes and even applied a thin layer of nude lipstick.
Wear something really nice, he’d said, the words playing over in my head in the exact tone that he’d spoken them. I bit my lip as I stared in the mirror. It wasn’t a concern over my dress that was making me anxious, it was the entire statement as a whole. The fact that he’d prefaced our date with an expectation of, ‘really nice.’
I certainly didn’t mind ‘really nice,’ in fact it was exciting, but that same excitement had been twirling in my stomach since breakfast and had now grown into a flurry of anxious anticipation. I had
no idea where or what we were doing. The nicest restaurant in town didn't really qualify as a “dressing up” kind of place, so that meant we had to be going to at least the next town over.
My belly felt empty yet somehow full, with weightless pulses of energy and giddy eagerness. I felt the same sensation in my fingers as I applied the finishing touches to my makeup. I had no idea what was going to happen next or where in the world we might end up.
Jacob had turned me into a little kid again. Between the Monster game and the persistent feeling of joyful jitters, there was no doubt about it. He’d introduced a new sort of spark that left me eager at the start of each day and cheerfully content in the evening. Even my mind pumped with a different chemistry than before, one of pleasant optimism and assurance. He was a beautiful substance, and I was hooked.
I checked my image in the mirror one more time. My hair fell fairly straight while still maintaining a light wave, a feat I was rarely able to achieve. Generally my hair was obnoxiously uncooperative, a programming glitch that induced a migraine when I tried to fix it. But today, luck was on my side, and I didn’t take it for granted. I added a thin and diagonal braid to help pull my bangs back.
I continued to watch the clock, even though I’d allowed myself plenty of time. Each and every minute marking another step closer to Jacob. It was just after five-thirty when Tommy knocked and then bounded through my door before I’d even answered.
“Hey, guess what?” he said, and I spun around again.
“What?” I asked, just grateful I had put clothes on. We were going to have to have a discussion about him knocking sometime soon. He wasn't a five year old little boy who didn't know better anymore.
He extended his hand holding his phone. “Look! Now there’s a Monster Stop at the end of our block, at the park.”
“Oh, wow,” I said, slightly surprised and a little excited. “When did that show up?”
“I just noticed it today,” he said. He sighed like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. “Finally we’ve got one close to our house.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I agreed. “It will be nice not to have to go so far all the time.”
“Seems like they finally listened to me.” He smiled smugly, as if he had been the reason the game had added the stop.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, if I was the one making the app I would have listened to you a long time ago,” I said. “I would’ve hooked you up.”
I winked at him and then turned around again.
“I know you would. It certainly took them long enough,” he said. “I wish you were working for them. Then stuff would actually get done.”
“They’re probably off somewhere counting their piles of money,” I said. “I’m not sure checking user recommendations is exactly at the top of their priority list.”
“Alicia, someone just pulled into the driveway,” my mom yelled up from the stairs not five minutes after Tommy left.
Jacob’s here, I answered her in my head. I couldn't have wiped the smile off my face with sandblaster. I couldn't wait for this evening to start.
My father was sitting in the corner of the couch with his feet propped up, reading a copy of The Wall Street Journal, his regular and favorite choice of post-work leisure. He was the first to speak as I came down the stairs, glancing up and above the top edge of his magazine cover.
“You look nice,” he said with a warm smile.
“Thanks, Daddy.” I grinned at him, pleased with the compliment.
His comment drew my mother from around the kitchen corner. “Oh sweetie, you look gorgeous,” she said with a smile that rivaled my father’s.
“You guys going somewhere nice?” My father peered over the top of his paper at me.