“Thank you for the laugh Derek, I’m feeling so much better now,” she said and then on complete impulse threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. She hadn’t initiated contact with him once since they’d reunited. He stiffened for a moment in shock and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tightly.
She needed the comfort and couldn’t pull back. Derek rubbed along her back and even though he was the reason her life was changing so drastically his comforting hands were making her feel better. She’d later think about the irony of the situation. It was kind of amusing.
His rubbing stopped being comforting and he started pulling her closer to him as his hand roamed lower with each pass. Her breathing deepened, as his touch started to send fire down her body. He brought one hand up to her chin, lifting her face up. Before she had time to blink, he brought his lips down to hers in a gentle kiss. If he’d been urgent, like he normally was, she may have been able to resist him but with this gentle side of him, she had no chance.
She threw her arms around his neck and leaned closer to him as he deepened the kiss, making her stomach quiver with need. She wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the feel of being held and the taste of his mouth, as he slipped inside. She couldn’t seem to get close enough.
“I didn’t know you were leaving,” a voice said, bringing her back to reality. Jasmine pulled back from Derek, who looked a little shaken up and turned towards the sound, to find her elderly neighbor standing a few feet from her. Either the woman was oblivious to the embrace she was just in, or didn’t care but she seemed unconcerned she’d interrupted the two of them.
“Yes Mary, it’s all happened so fast that I haven’t spoken to anyone about it,” Jasmine told her neighbor, feeling a little guilty about moving without saying goodbye.
“Well, we’ll sure miss you and precious little Jacob,” the woman murmured.
“I will miss you too and your wonderful peanut butter cookies,” Jasmine said with a little hitch in her voice. She walked over and gave her neighbor a hug and then said her goodbyes.
“You can follow me,” Derek said, as he climbed into his vehicle. She climbed in her own reliable van, which sadly didn’t hold any appeal to her anymore after driving his luxury SUV and followed him out of the driveway. She looked into her rearview mirror until her home fell out of view. She let out a deep sigh and knew her life would be forever changed.
They pulled up to the new house and Derek entered the code for the gate to open. She drove the long driveway behind him, taking in everything. She’d only been there the one time and so she looked at the place with new eyes, trying to drink it all in.
The home was certainly a show piece, with its immaculately manicured lawns. There was a surprising lack of flowers and she vowed to change that as soon as possible but the fountain in the center of the driveway added a nice showpiece, which was both comforting and homey at the same time. She could grow to love the home, that is, if she could figure out how to get from one end to the other.
She had to park in the driveway, as there were two huge moving vans backed up to the massive garage. There were several men hauling things from the back of the trucks and trudging into the house. Derek and her walked in and the place looked different with the walls all barren and the furniture gone. There were a few pieces of his furniture from the condo but his old place had been much smaller and they were going to have to buy more pieces to fill the place up.
The house looked better to her though, with all the previous owners’ things out. She could now picture her own belongings filling up the spaces. The more she walked around the empty home, the better she was beginning to feel. She was actually excited to use the swimming pool. It wouldn’t be available for use until the next day, because Derek had brought people in to perform a special cleaning on it, though it had looked spotless to her before. He’d said he wanted to make sure, since his son would be swimming in it. She couldn’t argue with him.
It only took the movers a few hours to get the trucks unloaded and then they were in the huge place, alone for the first time. She headed straight for the kitchen, excited more for that room, than any other and started to unpack boxes.
Derek had tried to convince her to let the movers unpack but part of the excitement of moving was to find her treasures and place them where she wanted. She didn’t want the strangers to do it, besides she’d never be able to find anything.
“I’m going to pick up Jacob, we’ll be back soon,” he told her and she glanced at the clock. She had no idea it had gotten so late.
“I can go with you,” she offered reluctantly. She really didn’t want to stop what she was doing. By the smile on his face, he could tell.
“Go ahead and continue what you’re doing. It looks like you’re enjoying yourself,” he said and turned to head out.
“Oh look, there are Lazy Susan’s in all the corner cabinets,” she suddenly exclaimed. “They’re made of really nice wood, too,” she added like a child who’d just discovered a brand new toy.
Derek looked at her like she’d lost her mind. The woman wasn’t impressed with the ten million dollar mansion itself but was giddy when she discovered little turning shelves. He just couldn’t understand her. He walked out the door, as she continued to explore all the crevices of the kitchen. He was actually warmed by her love of the smaller things and was trying to fight the tugging on his heart.
He’d fallen so hard for her when he was a teenager, because even though she was the wealthiest kid in town, she’d never lorded it over anyone, unlike her father. She’d always preferred a pair of worn in jeans and a t-shirt over the latest styles. She’d seemed far more like him than the other snobby kids.
It seemed not much had changed, if he looked at her home, vehicle and possessions. She owned nice things but nothing screamed extravagance. As a matter of fact, her son had far more items in his small space than she did. It was very obvious she loved and spoiled Jacob. He knew how much salary she made as well and it was ridiculously low for what she did. Her own father hadn’t given her a raise the entire time she’d been there. He’d assumed that was all just on the books and her dad was supplementing her on the side but from the way she lived, he no longer believed that.
Maybe she wasn’t the cold person he’d thought her to be when she sent her dad to say her goodbyes. Maybe there was another reason the whole thing had happened. He was determined to find out what those reasons were, even if it broke the semi-truce they’d started to share together.