Time and Again

The Test of Time

Chapter 5

We were completely engrossed in each other, kissing, touching, pressed up against each other as close as we could get. Panting, and gasping when he moved his thumbs over my n*****s, I could feel my core getting wetter. I was lost in him.

“Mom!” I heard from the hallway.

“s**t!” I whispered yelled, pulling away from Jessie. I quickly pulled my shirt down in place, and Jessie adjusted himself, and straightened his shirt. I jumped down from the kitchen counter and walked into the living room.

“Hey bud, why are you out of bed?” I asked Will who was standing there in his batman pajamas, looking confused.

“I need to go potty.” He said sleepily.

“Okay, so go potty.” I told him with a small laugh. He looked at me for a minute, then padded down the hall to the bathroom. I turned back to the kitchen where Jessie was still standing, looking a little confused. “Sorry about that.” I said with a half grin and walking back towards him. He pressed his forehead to mine and sighed.

“No problem at all.” He whispered and kissed me lightly. We heard Will flush and leave the bathroom, then walk down to his room. I followed after to make sure he made it to his room, then went back to the kitchen. Jessie was standing there looking unsure of what to do.

“So…” I started, but didn’t finish.

“Yeah.” He replied. We both chuckled. I walked closer and put my hands on his waist. I leaned my head on his chest and breathed his scent. He draped his arms around my shoulders, and held me for a few minutes. The heated mood was broken, but replaced with a calm sense of closeness. I was unsure now about moving too quickly, and the conversation with Kaylyn played in my mind. As much as I wanted him to stay, I also wanted him to go. I needed some time to process this new development, not that I had regrets, but I really wanted to talk to him about my past more before we went further.

Jessie

I was so caught up in kissing her, I almost jumped when I heard; “Mom!” from the other room. Charlotte cussed, and we quickly pulled apart. I had to adjust my shaft in my pants as it had grown quite uncomfortable. I was nearly ready to take her right there in the kitchen, and was oddly glad for the interruption. I couldn’t get enough of her, but I also didn’t want to ruin things by rushing in to s*x with her. When she came back in the kitchen I leaned my forehead to hers, to let her know I wasn’t upset after she apologized. I didn’t want her to think I was only interested in one thing. I kissed her again, with less urgency, and more tenderness. We listened as Will made his way back to bed and she checked in on him. When she returned she seemed more reserved. So I just held her. Finally I said “ I better get going.” I don’t want to be too tired tomorrow. This gal I’m working for has big plans for me.” I winked at her.

“Well, I hear she’s a real slave driver, you better get your beauty sleep.” We both laughed. She walked me out to the porch and I turned to her.

“I had a really nice time tonight. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.” I said sincerely, looking in her eyes. She smiled up at me, “Me too. I’m sorry again about the interruption.”

“Don’t worry about it. That’s how it goes with kids.” I stated simply. I reached for her and wrapped my arms around her waist again, pulling her to me. I kissed her gently at first, then with a bit more passion, feeling the need to have her close again. When I pulled away we were both breathless and I gave her a soft peck before saying goodnight, and walking to my truck. She stood on the porch and waved as I drove away. From my mirror I saw her turn and go back inside. As I headed home, all I could think was “Wow".

I went to bed with a smile knowing I would see her the next day.

The next morning came quickly. Not that I was complaining. I rolled out of bed and headed for a quick shower. Mom brought Selena over shortly after I got out.

“How was the movie?” I asked kissing the top of her head and pulling her in to a hug.

“It was great dad! We saw SpongeBob, it was pretty funny.” She replied.

“Hello son.” Mom said giving me a quick hug. “How was your evening?”

“Pretty good actually, Ben and Sammie made Fajitas. I stayed later than normal, so I slept in a bit.” I explained.

“Hmmm, I wonder if that has anything to do with his daughter who just moved back to town that your daughter keeps talking about? She said with a sly grin and walked towards the kitchen. My mouth hung open a little. My mom and Ben had known each other for years, and she had been good friends with Ben’s first wife. Which now that I thought about it was probably Charlotte’s mom.

“Do you know her?” I asked furrowing my brows.

“I haven’t seen her since she was tiny. But I remember her as a baby. We moved away shortly after she was born though.”

“Oh.” I sighed. My dad was a military man, and we moved around a lot. But they had always loved this town and came back to retire here. Sadly, dad had a major heart attack shortly before Selena was born and died. Mom did surprisingly well with his passing, and I always felt there were many things she didn’t tell me.

Mom started the coffee pot, and grabbed some egg a from the fridge. “Hungry?” She asked.

“Yes actually, thanks. We have to leave in about an hour though.” I told her.

“Headed anywhere fun?” She raised her brows. I smiled and chuckled a little. Mom always had a sixth sense about things. It was scary sometimes.

“Well, I told Charlotte I’d help her do some painting. That old house she inherited needs a lot of work.” I replied.

Mom and I chatted easily while Selena played her video game in the living room. Breakfast was ready in no time, and I had a nice hot cup of coffee to go with it. We finished eating and Selena cleared the table, while I loaded the dishwasher. Mom left shortly after breakfast, and Selena and I hopped in the truck. I texted Charlotte quickly to let her know we were on the way just after I loaded the paint into the truck bed. We drove the winding road out to the country and blasted the music with the windows down, something Selena and I did whenever we could, and sang along as loud as we wanted to. I turned it down some just before we pulled up the drive.

We hopped down from the truck and knocked on the door. We were greeted by Grayson.

“Oh, hey Jessie! Mom said to tell you she’ll be right out. She slept late, and is getting dressed.” He told me with a crooked grin.

“Sounds good. This is my daughter Selena. I thought you guys might like to play today.” I said gesturing towards Selena.

“Hi there,” she said.

“Hey.” Grayson invited her to come back to his room and show her his Legos and computer that he played Minecraft on. And they were off. I heard Will talking to them as the went down the hall. I walked over to the couch and made myself at home. I looked around the room, at the sparse furnishings. I wondered if she was a minimalist, or if she just didn’t have much because of the move. My musings were interrupted when Charlotte walked in to the room.

“Good morning beautiful,” I said and walked over to her.

“Good morning. “ She reached up. and gave me a quick kiss.

“It is now.” I replied. We stood looking at each other for a moment when she finally asked if I needed any thing. I told her no and that we had just eaten a late breakfast, and then we set to work covering furniture and floors with plastic sheeting. We then went around and taped off all the edges so we could do the walls first. She had chosen a nice gray for the walls and a stark white for the trim. Ben had lent her a ladder so I could do the high spots. I climbed up and got to work with a brush along the ceiling, being careful to stay below it. I had just dipped my brush into the bucket and was about to keep painting when I heard “GAH! Jessie, what the heck?!” I looked down to see Charlotte with a drip of gray paint on her nose.

“Hahaha haha! Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” I laughed, as I climbed down the ladder.

“You think its funny huh?” She asked with a mischievous look on her face.

“Well, I ermmm, that is, no, um…” I stammered. Suddenly my nose was wet, and I realized she had tapped it with her paint brush. “What the… oh yeah!? I see how it is.” I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist and pushed her to the wall, then started tickling her. She laughed and dropped her brush on the plastic, then wiggled away from me and ran to the kitchen. I chased her and caught her again, only this time I kissed her. I held her against the counter and kissed her deeply for a few minutes. When I pulled away she had a huge smile on her face. I gave her another peck and let her go just as the kids came in.

“Mom, can we play outside?” Grayson asked.

“That’s fine with me if it’s fine with Jessie. “ she looked at me.

“Sure, just watch for snakes and fire ants.” I said as they ran out the door. “They seem to be getting along.” I said to Charlotte and kissed her again quickly. She grabbed a Big Red soda from the fridge, and gave me a glass of ice water, then we headed back to work. Charlotte decided to start in a different area so she wasn’t working directly under me. I chuckled a little when she informed me of her change in works space. We painted for several hours chatting some of the time and quiet some as well before taking a break to give the kids a snack. Charlotte also got some things out for dinner, but informed me I was not allowed to see yet.

We had finished the living room, and were working on the hall way when dinner time came along. Charlotte went to the kitchen to wash up and cook, while I finished the hall and the entryway. When supper was almost done I called the kids in to wash their hands. Lord only knows what they had gotten in to outside. We sat down at the table, Charlotte refusing any help, and waited. When she came out with a plate full of New York strip steaks, I swear I fell in love.

Charlotte

Jessie had been a lot of fun all day, we laughed and joked, talked and painted. We seemed to be able to just talk about whatever. There was silence at times, but it wasn’t awkward. I was excited to make steaks I had picked up at the store. It was the least I could do, since he was helping me for free. But the look on his face when I brought them out was priceless! His jaw dropped, and his eyes got really big. You would have thought it was Christmas morning and he just got the best gift. I smiled and placed the steaks on the table.

“This is the best steak ever!” Selena exclaimed, “How did you know its my favorite?”

“I didn’t actually. But we all love steak too, so I thought it would be a nice treat for us tonight.” I said with Grayson and Will nodded their heads in agreement.

“It’s a great treat, and you’re a great chef ma’am.” Jessie told me with a glint in his eyes. We finished eating and Jessie helped me with the dishes. I washed he dried. I splashed him with the sudsy water. It was all fun and games until we both ended up soaked.

“How about it I throw your shirt in the dryer?” I asked without thinking it through.

“Sure.” He replied and pulled his T-shirt over his head. I was caught off guard by the sight of him bare chested. He was well toned from working hard, with just enough chest hair to make him manly, but not too much. “You ok there Char?” he asked with a sly grin. I must have been staring.

“Yup.” I said popping the P and closing my jaw which was hanging open. Jessie laughed. I went to my room and changed my clothes then went to the laundry room and threw his shirt in the dryer. When I went back to the kitchen Jessie was finishing up the dishes, so I wiped the counters down. When I was done, I turned to find Jessie watching me with soap suds on his chest. I stepped closer to him and used my hand to slowly wipe the suds away. Jessie flinched slightly, but then stepped closer to me. He brushed a stray hair from my face and put his hands on my waist. He pulled me in until our bodies were touching. He leaned forward and I thought he would kiss me, but instead he leaned down and put his cheek against mine. I could feel his slight stubble, and he smelled so good. Not like cologne, but like man. My hands moved of their own accord up to his neck holding him there close to me. We stood like that for several minutes just listening to the sound of each other’s heart beats. When he whispered, “Charlotte, I really like you.” My breath hitched for a moment, unsure what to say. He kissed me lightly on the mouth, and pulled back to look at me. He reached up and took my hands in his, then kissed each one. “C'mon, lets go finish up the trim.” He breathed.

We went to the living room to finish up the trim, stopping only to put a movie on for the kids, so they could settle in. When we finished the trim, we uncovered the couch sitting in the middle of the room. I had pulled out two beers from the fridge, and we sat on the couch to drink them. We clinked the bottles together. “Cheers to team work,” I said gently. We sipped our beer and chatted lightly about the next days plans.

“Would it be okay if I took you to dinner this week sometime?” Jessie asked me.

“Sure, I’d like that.” I replied. “I’ll see how work goes on Monday, and let you know when would work after that.”

“Perfect. “ was all he said. He finished his beer and then decided it was time to take Selena home. “Thanks for letting us come over, and for dinner.”

“Oh, no. Thank YOU. You helped me so much. The painting is done in this area, so that’s a huge relief, I can finish unpacking now.” I said with a huge sigh.

“It was completely my pleasure. “ Jessie said while getting up from the couch. He kissed me good night and then went to get Selena from Grayson’s room where the movie was playing. She had fallen asleep, so he picked her up and carried her to the truck without waking her and waved goodbye again. As I watched them drive away, I sighed again. I was not only exhausted, but I was so smitten with this man it was ridiculous. I felt like a teenager, and I couldn’t wait to see him again.

I tucked the boys in to bed, and got myself ready. I was so tired, my head had barely hit the pillow and I was out.

I was standing in my bedroom, trying not to cry. I had turned to get the baby monitor off the dresser so I could take it downstairs with me to sleep on the couch. I heard the familiar click-click behind me “I said put it back b***h!” He yelled again. I turned to see the round end of the gun just a foot from my face. I wanted to run, what do I do? I stood frozen.