Blooming (25 page)

The two car loads
were packed up and due to leave, Todd was getting a ride to the airport from
Marsh, so he tracked her down to say goodbye; he found Jen trying to hide out
in the gym until the last possible minute.

“Not avoiding
me are you sweetheart?”        

“Yes,” she
answered honestly.

“Come here,”
he demanded dragging her away from her fake scrutiny of the equipment.

He wrapped
himself around her, her face pushed into his chest when she resisted meeting
his gaze; her voice came out muffled by his shirt. “Todd not to be weird, it’s
none of my business really but when did you know you were going to Chicago?”

“I got a call
yesterday while you were gone, it’s just something I have to sort out and it’s
an issue that really needs resolving face to face.”

His hand came
round and found her chin tilting her face up to him.

“I’ll be gone
a couple of days at most.”

Her eyes half
closed as he bent his face to her and his lips found hers. He began kissing her
softly coaxing her lips apart, his tongue insistently demanding entrance. She
sighed heavily and relaxed into his arms, he kept a tight grip on the back of
her neck as if he suspected she’d bolt, and just to make sure she couldn’t he
kissed her harder than he ever had before.

He angled his
head and plunged deep inside her mouth thrilled when she kissed him back
equally hard, beating his tongue at its own game. When she found herself
gasping for breath, he finally released her, stroking her back - soothing her,
“I’m sorry - you just scare me half to death, I feel the urge to brand you like
a sheep or something, prevent you from running off and escaping.”

“At least you
didn’t say steer I suppose.”

“Do they
brand sheep? I don’t even know, ah god you’d better go,” he said kissing her
again softly and sweetly, gentle plucking kisses alternating between her top
and bottom lip, little flicks of his tongue, giving her space to kiss him back.
God it was so unfair he felt so amazing; she didn’t stand a chance of resisting
him so she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in tight. She’d
even got used to his ever present erection and a hint of mischief crept into
her brain, she’d have to give him something to think about while he was gone.

She kissed
his lust inducing lips once more and said, “Bye Todd,” before he could respond
she squeezed him tighter around the waist, trapping him, while she dropped her
hand and gave his crotch a subtle but definite squeeze.  Then having seized the
initiative she walked away without a backwards glance leaving him turned on and
smirking in her wake.

Jen sensed him
follow her out to the car but Todd kept his distance, allowing her the little game.
Watching her confidence grow was sexy as all get out; feeling comfortable
enough to tease him sexually was definitely progress.

He watched as
his family kissed Jen goodbye and it pleased him more than he could say how
right it all felt. She got in the passenger seat alongside Ben and finally
turned to look at him as they drove away, the look that passed between them
could have melted the car window.

Ben grinned at
her, “Oh he’s got it bad girl.”

“Look who’s
talking,” she responded.

“We make the
perfect foursome for a double date,” he teased, “my girl’s not ready for sex
and his girl’s not ready for sex, ow,” he yelled when she reached over and gave
him a noogie.

“What the
hell was that,” he groaned rubbing his head.

“That my
friend - was all I learned in school,” she smiled.

****

After the uneventful and pleasant trip home Jen was
initially glad to be back in her own apartment. She got down to work and
returned some phone calls, managing much better than usual she mused to
herself.

She turned down an invite from Sean and Seb to dinner,
pleading fatigue and the need for a nice hot bath. She was getting very adept
at managing bathing with her cast on. Once she was nice and cosy wrapped in a
big fluffy towel her gaze was drawn to the wording on her arm, “Property of
Todd Baker,” and just like that she missed him, really really missed him.

A thought occurred to her and she wondered if she had the
guts to do it, just as she was thinking it through the phone rang.

“Hello Jennifer it’s me.”         

“Who’s that,” she teased feigning ignorance.

“Todd,” he replied sternly.

“Oh so that’s why you sound familiar, hi Todd did you have
a good flight?”

“Yeah it’s only a short one, over before you know it. What
are you up to?”

“Not a lot,
did some work, had a bath, started missing you an awful lot,” she said
honestly.

She almost
felt his smile come down the phone, “I like that you miss me, I like that very
much. I miss you too, that’s why I’m sorry the reason I’m calling is to say
I’ll more likely be here an extra day – maybe two.”

“Oh,” her
heart dropped, absolutely ridiculous she thought to herself, what was two or
three days? Not long really.

“Any
particular reason for the delay,” she prodded.

“No it’s just
I thought of something else I could get done while I was here and it might take
a day or so to arrange.”

“OK, well
should you tell me where you’re staying just in case I need to get in touch
with you?”

“I’m at the Hotel
Allegra Suite 7 but I’ll call you Jen, I’ll be in and out of the room - you
might miss me. Ah hang on a second I’m coming,” she heard a muffled knock in
the background.

“Room
service?” she asked

He brushed
off her question and said simply, “I’m sorry sweetheart I’ve got to go, I’ll
call you tomorrow,” and before she could answer, the phone had gone down.

She sat
stewing for a few minutes, it wasn’t like Todd not to be up front and the
secrecy was really bugging her, even though it was probably none of her
business. She truly was missing him and that made her mind up for her. She
could be a little bit brave – so she pulled up flights on her computer and
formed her plan.

****

The next
morning whizzed by in a blur, she dredged up the nerve to call the spa and they
squeezed her in for an appointment. She had her hair and make-up done and
pretended she was the kind of person who undertook these kind of adventures all
of the time.

From there
she went to the mall picking out a couple of items of clothes and pretty
lingerie in a department store and then she went to the pharmacist and spent
half an hour trying to decide what was the right kind of condom to buy. She had
to mentally steel herself to complete the purchase because the idea of those
gross little rubber rings inside really creeped her out.

She hoped
Todd would be flattered she’d gone for the XL size, his equipment certainly
looked XL to her; maybe if she didn’t have to look at the damn things they
wouldn’t even bother her so much.

Mother Nature
must be on her side too because so far her period hadn’t arrived, if she’d come
calling that would have forced her to forget the whole thing and just be
patient.

Jen had kept
her all her preparations secret from Sean and Seb. If she shared with them she
wasn’t sure she could go through with it. But she had begged a favour of Sean,
she’d asked him to shorten her white dress - the one Todd liked so much, and
now it hit her legs mid thigh.

So here she
was, she’d survived a beauty salon, a plane and a crowded airport and was about
to sneak past a hotel reception desk. It was a pretty swanky place and she
wasn’t sure if she was supposed to ask anybody if she could go up to Todd’s
room, but she didn’t want them to call ahead and alert him to her presence
either.

The lobby was
fairly quiet at that moment so she decided to wait until there were a few more
people about. Jen ordered a margarita from a passing waiter to try and steady
her nerves; she’d been riding on adrenaline for hours which had just about kept
her on her feet. As she sipped her drink in a cosy lounge chair she heard
Todd’s voice and looked for him, it was coming from the entrance to the hotel
restaurant, Jen couldn’t make out what he was saying but she could clearly see
who he was with.

The woman
he’d apparently been sharing dinner with was a tall vixen with a tight athletic
body. Jen dismally registered the long tanned legs, beautifully tailored
clothes and her hair a shiny naturally looking blond bob. More upsetting than
the big doe eyes gazing up at Todd was the hand he had at her back. Jen immediately
felt adrift and absolutely sick to her stomach, luckily they were so wrapped up
in their conversation that they sailed through the lobby without Todd even
casting a glance anywhere near her.

The idea of
having to sneak past reception completely fled her brain, she was purely on
auto pilot now. Jen knew from the hotel website that as a boutique hotel it
only had seven floors so she was guessing suite 7 was on the seventh floor
maybe.

God she was
going to have to motor to get up seven flights of stairs. Luckily the woman
stopped at a jewellery case in the lobby and directed Todd’s attention to it.
Jen was up and on her feet to the elevators and was in jabbing the button for
seven hoping they didn’t catch up to her before the doors shut. She was in luck
- she had the head start on them that she needed.

Jen’s fragile
heart was in freefall, her pulse was erratic and she thought she might pass out
before the doors opened again, she didn’t know what she was going to do if that
woman went into Todd’s suite with him.

The elevator
doors opened at a snail’s pace and Jen ran down the hall looking for Todd’s
door, when she found it she desperately looked around the hallway for a hiding
place. Fortunately there was a storage cupboard that was recessed into the wall,
and she could just about squeeze herself up against the door without being
spotted by anybody who wasn’t bothering to look too closely. She tensed,
waiting for the next elevator to come up, trying desperately to focus on
controlling her breathing.

A sharp ping
announced the car’s arrival. Todd swept out first and the woman followed close
behind him, her arm slipping casually through his in what Jen thought was a
very possessive manner. There was no hesitation at the door to the suite, they
both swept straight inside.

Jen’s legs
went from under her and she couldn’t care less anymore who saw her. That was Bravura
girl – looking a little older and a little thinner, which meant it was Todd’s
ex girlfriend.

 “Shit,” she
tried to drag some measure of composure up from her stomach, it might not mean
anything yet, the woman might only be in there five minutes, so she waited, and
then she waited some more.

An hour
passed by and Jen was on her way to becoming apoplectic, she didn’t know what
to do. She’d read a ton of romance novels in the last few years and had always
been completely annoyed by heroine’s who jumped ship at the first sign of
trouble, without giving the hero a chance to make his perfectly rational
explanation for another woman in his bed, or in his house. A marriage he’d
managed not to mention before etc, etc.  But here she was and she didn’t know
what to do, half of her wanted to run home to Bloomington, pack up and leave
before he had chance to spot her, and the other half wanted to confront him,
tear shreds off him, kill him in fact for doing this to her.

Exhaustion
was what really won through; she didn’t have the energy to move just yet, so she
rummaged in her bag and found a tiny compact. Jen studied her face; it looked
remarkably composed for a woman on the brink of despair. She forced herself to
touch up her make-up, because if she was going to stay here and be dumped she
was going to make sure she looked ok doing it. Her hair which the stylist had
pinned in place at the salon was escaping down her neck in curly tendrils but
who would really care anymore?

After a
little while longer she crept to the door to see if she could make out any
noises or conversation, but it seemed like this hotel had good soundproofing. She
crept back to near the cupboard and straightened her clothing, the cherry red
cashmere cardigan was warm and comforting over her white dress. She’d bought it
with the hopes that Todd would want to touch and stroke her, not be able to
keep his hands off her. Now she looked down at her figure and called herself an
idiot.

That thought
upped the anger factor, whatever Todd was up to in that room she wasn’t going
to allow him to strip her of every bit of progress she’d made over the last few
weeks. He’d opened her eyes to the idea of being loved. Sean, Seb, Lily, even
Ben had shown her she could cope with having friends. She would not allow
herself to go back to the way things were, one man had found her desirable for
a short time and maybe somebody else would too.

A plan began
to form in her mind, she had options she hadn’t considered, things she should
have handled better and now maybe she would.

Jen remained
on her feet and waited patiently, another hour passed before the door to the
suite opened, “I want to make it work,” that was Todd’s voice.

The Bravura
Girl - all grown up and looking like a society heiress stepped into the hall.
“Well don’t forget what I said, that’s not going to change, I’m still open to
try again,” her hand went up to Todd’s face and cupped his chin. Jen wanted to
fucking bite that hand off.

Todd waited
in his doorway as the woman got on the elevator. As soon as they slid shut he
made to close his door.

“Wait,” Jen
said. To her own ears the voice didn’t belong to her, Todd did a 180 and his
jaw literally dropped, he stood immobile.

“Jen,” he
said hoarsely.  

Todd looked
at her; she was so heart stoppingly pretty, in a cuddly red button up sweater
and his favourite white dress which for some reason now sat half way up her
thighs. She was a little rumpled and dishevelled and looked pissed as all holy
hell.