When Hearts Collide (Complete)

~ Chapter 19 ~

                She cleared her throat and finally blinked, her body telling her it was drained and ready for bed.  When she came up to talk to him and thank him, something she still hadn’t done, she never thought that she would stay and talk to him.  Not that she minded, she really enjoyed this little inside scoop into his world and really hoped that they could talk like this again.  She swallowed hard and moved her hands to his forearms, slowly pulling on them to remove his hands.

                “He’s always told me negative things and that was one of the reasons I filed for divorce.  I thank you for your words and I think you for talking to Sam, you were amazing with her, I hope you know that.  But it’s late and I should probably get going before I fall asleep at the wheel.”  Bobby grabbed his phone and checked the time.  s**t, they had been talking for two hours; it sure didn’t feel that long.

                “It’s too late; I wouldn’t feel comfortable with you driving back.  I have a shirt you can wear and you can stay in my bed.”

                “Oh, no Bobby, I couldn’t do that, not kick you out of your bed!  I’ll stay, but I’ll take the couch.”

                “Fine.  Let me grab some stuff.”  She nodded and he quickly went into his room.  She couldn’t say if staying was the smartest thing but she also knew that she more than likely was going to fall asleep going home.  “Here you go,” Bobby said as he walked back into the living room and handed her a tee shirt.  “Feel free to change in my room while I make the couch up.”

                “Thank you.”  She took the shirt and placed her hand lightly on his arm before she walked back to the room, looking at the changes he had made.  She quickly changed and then sat on the bed, her thoughts rolling and tumbling over everything they had shared earlier.  She knew that her ex was a jerk and he had no room to talk.  But he was also the one in a steady relationship with a good looking woman while she had no one.  She groaned and flopped back onto the pillows.

-----

                After waiting for a good ten minutes wondering what in the world was keeping her, Bobby walked back to his room.  He knocked once and then again before calling out her name.  And when he got no response, he quietly pushed open the door, the night side lamp still on but Jackie was over the covers, passed out.  He couldn’t be more grateful that he didn’t allow her to drive back, not when she passed out that fast.

                “Jackie?” he called again.  Her only response was to roll over on her side.  Well, great, how was he going to get her under the covers now?  Although, it did seem like she was pretty much out cold.  But he still didn’t want to move her so he went back to the couch and grabbed the blanket he was going to use and gently placed it on her.  But the air hitting her face must have woken her up slightly.

                “Bobby?”

                “Yeah,” he said as he started walking around the bed to head out.

                “Will you stay with me?  Maybe even cuddle?”  Bobby just stared at the woman in his bed.  Cuddling was not in his vocabulary, it was not something he ever did.  A bed was made to f**k in or sleep solo in, but never cuddle in.  And as he slowly looked her over, he knew this would be his first time ever doing something like that.       

                “Yeah, sure,” he said as he walked around to the opened side, climbed in and wrapped his arm around her to pull her close.  Her head rested against his chest and he wasn’t sure if it was him or her who sighed.  But oddly enough, he would have to put his money on the fact that it was him who let out that sound.

                Around 11 in the morning, Bobby groaned as he heard his phone ding with a text.  He stretched but then froze at the body that was next to him.  He glanced down at the woman who was still fast asleep and he had to smile.  Oddly enough, having her curled up to him gave him one of the best damn nights of sleep he had had in ages.  Maybe there was something to this cuddling; not that he was planning on making this a habit for him.

                He carefully rolled over and out from under her and grabbed his phone, seeing a text from Troy.  It had been a couple days since they had talked and he was sure it was just a bull s**t text.  But when he read it over the notification rather than opening the full text, he frowned.  ‘The dude had been hauled off to jail and the sentence was being tossed around that he was looking at 15 years for drug dealing, which meant that you are free to come back home,’ the text read.  He glanced at the woman beside him and sat his phone back down, leaving the message unread.  He didn’t want to go back home, not anytime soon.

                Jackie started to stir and he shifted to his side to give her some room, smiling as her eyes opened and landed on his, a pink tinge coating her cheeks.  She stretched and returned his smile.

                “Morning,” she got out softly.

                “Morning.  Sleep well?”

                “I did.  I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you stay.  Did you sleep ok?”

                “I didn’t mind staying and yes I did.  Had one of the best night sleeps actually.”  Jackie blushed again, and again, he enjoyed it.

                “I got to go.  I have a few things to do before I have to be back here.”  She sat up and he did too.

                “Of course.”  He got up and let her be to change.

-----

                Jackie walked into the bar, pushing her curled hair back over her shoulder and looked around, making sure to start opening what she could and get everything ready.  She had no clue why but when she jumped in the shower to get ready for work earlier, she wanted to glam it up.  So she had done her hair, took extra care with her makeup and picked out an outfit that was sexy as hell on her.  And she refused to acknowledge the person she did it for.

                And as she unlocked the door to open for business, the first one to come through was the younger kid who had been trying to get her number.  He did a double take as he walked by and then paused.

                “God damn Jackie, you look great,” he told her, right as Bobby walked into the bar, his own eyes bugging out at the sight of Jackie.