What kind of lazy ass does that?
It had to be fairly early when I’d fallen asleep the night before. By my calculations, I’d gotten about thirteen hours of sleep. Jeez.
I headed to the bathroom and freshened up as best I could. I swished some water around in my mouth and rinsed my face, and then I put on some fresh make-up so I wouldn’t look like hell warmed over. I gave myself another little giddy hug, still enjoying being in Jesse’s clothes.
For the first time, I wondered what Richard thought about me not showing up the night before. A small part of me was worried he’d think I’d slept with someone else. I wouldn’t, couldn’t do that; but I knew the type of person Richard was, and if he thought he could place the blame of our divorce on me so he could get more out of the deal, I wouldn’t put it past him to do that.
After I made myself somewhat presentable, I headed out to the kitchen. Jesse wasn’t around, but there were muffins on a plate and a pot of coffee with a coffee cup next to it. As I walked closer, I saw some papers on the counter with a note from Jesse on top. His handwriting was familiar; I’d seen it plenty of times for numerous reasons at school, but this was different. This note was just for me. “Printed these for you as requested. Let me know if I can help. Help yourself to coffee and breakfast. Cream in the fridge. I’ll be in the garage.”
I picked up a muffin and took the top off and then proceeded to eat the bottom. I always saved the muffin top for last. It was banana walnut and quite possibly the most delicious muffin that I had ever eaten. As I munched on the bottom, I moved Jesse’s note to the side and looked at the rest of the papers under his note. The top of the page said, “Dissolution of Marriage.”
I felt pricks behind my eyes as I realized that he had printed all of the forms I needed to file for divorce.
This man was a fucking dream.
I wanted to run out to the garage and wrap my arms around him. He had easily done in one morning what I hadn’t been able to do in a year. I was so used to doing things for myself that I forgot what it was like to have someone take care of me, and my crush on Jesse inexplicably increased.
I took my time with my muffin, taking a deep breath as I managed to keep the tears at bay. This was really going to happen. Richard and I were really going to get a divorce, and I had Jesse to thank for helping me finally do what I’d been stupidly avoiding for so long.
I poured a cup of coffee and found cream in the refrigerator. He had a nice selection of flavored creamers to choose from, and I went with the Caramel Vanilla. I stirred it into the coffee, and then I took my mug and headed out to the garage.
I slipped out into the garage and saw him working on his end table at his workbench. At the sight of him, my breath caught in my throat just as I took a sip of my coffee, having the effect of making me choke and sputter and spit coffee everywhere. Lovely.
He was wearing pajama pants and nothing else. Sweat trickled down his back, showing how hard he was working on his project. I gazed at the muscular planes in his back as he worked. Even around my choking, I could still appreciate the fine male form standing in front of me. Music blared from some hidden speakers somewhere, and I recognized Sara Bareillis’s “Brave.” I noted the irony as she sang, “Honestly, I wanna see you be brave.”
Was she telling me to be brave and fill out those papers? Or was she telling me to be brave and mount that sexy man working with his wood right there on the garage floor? I was guessing the former, but suddenly I wanted the latter like I wanted to stop choking on my coffee.
He turned as he heard my choking, and I got to see the full effect of the intricate tattoo that ran the length of his right side. I stared at it as he turned. It was a phoenix about to take flight. One wing spanned around to his back, and the other wing spanned around to his torso. In its talons, the phoenix held a beautiful, intricate cross with a heart in the middle. A word was written in the heart, but I couldn’t quite make it out from where I stood. “Allison,” maybe? I’d never seen such an artful, beautiful tattoo, and on Jesse, it somehow gave his mysterious edge a bit of danger that I’d never noticed before.
I moved just a little closer, and it was confirmed. “Allison.”
Who the fuck was Allison?
“Good morning,” he grinned, and my eyes swept up to his. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on over his head, covering what was most definitely a washboard abdomen. Dammit. “You okay?” he asked over the music as I continued to cough around the coffee that lodged itself in my throat. He turned the volume down.
I nodded and held up a hand. One more big cough cleared it. I took another sip, this one going down the right way, and then I smiled. “Good morning,” I croaked. I cleared my throat. “Thanks for the papers.”