“I have to go.”
“I’ll miss you, beautiful,” he said near my ear, his voice so smooth and masculine it sent shivers down my spine.
I spent the whole day shopping with Beth. After hours of debate, I finally decided to buy myself lingerie to wear for Jamie. I figured it was the best I could do for a billionaire who had everything he wanted. I got back to the apartment in the afternoon and went straight into my bedroom for a nap. Jamie made sure to strip me down and tuck me in first.
I woke about an hour later, threw on one of his T-shirts, and headed for the kitchen for a glass of water. He was sitting at my square table, shirtless, but he had his black baseball cap on backward. There were computer parts and tools all over the table and floor. He was typing frantically on my laptop. There was something childlike about the way he sat poised and eager as he typed. Jamie was in such a deep concentration that he didn’t even notice that I had walked into the room. For a few seconds I stood there and took in a sight I never thought I’d see: Jamie sitting at a computer. He avoided technology as much as possible, and although I knew he had it in him, I didn’t know if I would ever witness it, and truthfully I couldn’t picture it. He was a far cry from the pale, skinny computer geek he once was. Sitting on the very front edge of the chair, he had his legs spread wide and he was tapping his right bare heel on the ground. The backward baseball hat seemed like a teenage boy’s thinking cap. I looked around and noticed in the corner of the living room a small Christmas tree with one string of blinking colorful lights—nothing extravagant, just a little festive touch. I thought of Jamie putting the tree up by himself. He was a lot like me, used to doing things on his own.
When I cleared my throat, he practically jumped out of his seat. “Sorry I startled you.”
“It’s fine,” he said as he stood up and walked toward me.
“What are you doing with all that stuff?”
“Don’t worry, I backed up your work.”
“I’m not worried, I’m just wondering what you’re doing.”
He clapped his hands together once and smiled from ear to ear. “Well, I got kind of excited. I fixed both laptops to run your writing program, but I also wrote some code for a new program that will automatically back up whatever you have written to an online server. That way you won’t have to rely on the hardware as much. Don’t worry, it’s a totally secure server; I have a knack for that sort of thing.”
“You wrote code?” I said the last word like I was a kindergartener sounding it out.
He tapped his index finger to his temple. “It’s like riding a bike.”
“I hardly think so, and I thought you didn’t like doing that kind of stuff anymore.”
“I wanted to do this for you.” He pulled me to his chest. “I won’t lie, I kind of enjoyed it.”
“Well, thank you.” I leaned up on my toes to kiss him. “I never thought writing code could be so sexy.”
“Before I get distracted by you, you got a phone call while you were out. A man named Paul Sullivan. He was asking if you knew the whereabouts of Ann Corbin.”
When I heard her name, I gasped, my hand flying up to my heart. I was stunned into silence.
“That’s your mother, I assume?”
“Yes,” I said, struggling to breathe.
“Come here, baby.” He tightened his grip on me. “What is it?”
“I just haven’t heard her name spoken in so long. Did he leave a number?”
“He left his number. Do you want me to call him for you?”
“No, I want to talk to him. Most people who knew my mother were at her funeral.” I glanced at the clock. It was seven p.m. “I’ll call him tomorrow.”
After I collected myself, I begged Jamie to let me make dinner. He agreed to be my ass-grabbing sous chef while I prepared homemade lasagna. He grated the cheese and continually accosted me until I finally kicked him out. He went back to the table and finished what he had been doing with my computer. Every once in a while I’d catch him stealing glances at me. He’d smile serenely like he was imagining the rest of his life. Jamie was completely happy and content in my dinky, eight-hundred-square-foot apartment. His only complaint was that it wasn’t energy-efficient. Within the short time he had been there, he’d changed all of the lightbulbs and faucets and was working on a way to install solar panels on the roof.
We sat on the living room floor and ate our dinner on the coffee table and then moved to the couch, where we fell asleep while watching the entire second season of Breaking Bad on Netflix. I woke up several hours later. Jamie was still upright, but his head was resting on the back of the couch. He was sound asleep. My head was in his lap with his hands tangled in my hair. I didn’t want to move but I knew he would be uncomfortable like that all night. I sat up slowly, leaned in, and trailed light kisses up his neck. He stirred.