Love Realized (The Real Love Series)

chapter THIRTEEN

As Mike made the turn onto her street, the butterflies in her stomach that had been dormant for the latter part of the evening took flight. And boy-oh-boy did they make themselves known. Don’t puke. Don’t puke. Good God, whatever you do—do not puke! While chanting this mantra in her head, she hoped her nervousness didn’t show on her face. She needed a distraction. Oh, yeah right … what could possibly provide a distraction?

Mike let go of her hand that he had been holding for the drive home and reached to turn off the radio, which was on low, no more than background noise. She felt comfortable sitting without talking, which was a good sign, but didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t been on a first date in almost two full decades. Or the fact that she was sixteen at the time, and those dates were a little bit different than the full grown up date she just went on.

What was expected? Was she supposed to wait for him to open her door? Well, yes, she thought, because he had gotten her door at every stop during their evening, and he helped her climb out of the truck because it was so high, and she was in boots. That thought made her smile. He was certainly a gentleman, and he definitely did everything right so far.

They had had a great evening together. As far as first dates go, it was more than she would have expected. He had made reservations at a quaint French Bistro in the Hillcrest area of San Diego, which had a nice atmosphere, and her pork tenderloins were fantastic. The little fat girl inside her was ecstatic when they went to Extraordinary Desserts afterward. They then wrapped up the evening with a stroll over the bridge that led to Balboa Park. All in all, the company was great, the food divine, and the scenery was simple and perfect. She decided that if he asked to see her again, it was definitely a yes. Yes … he was definitely worth getting to know.

But it wasn’t until about five minutes ago when they got off the freeway that her nerves started to get the best of her as to what would happen next. Oh God, was he expecting to come in? Should I invite him in? Would that imply that more was being offered than just a drink or conversation? Oh gosh, why didn’t I do more research on this? Those damn butterflies were multiplying and appeared to be dive-bombing in her stomach now, getting everything all churned up. Ugh!

She broke the silence when she suddenly thought of something. “Keys! Oh no, I hope I have my keys … I am terrible at remembering them when I'm not the person driving.” She dove into her purse with a vengeance, thankful for the distraction. If she didn’t have her keys, he would have to leave her on her doorstep while she waited for someone to come with a spare, and then he couldn’t come in. That was good … it took that possibility off the table. She wasn’t sure if that was a relief or a disappointment. But being the gentleman that he was, he most likely wouldn’t just leave her sitting on her porch. Oh, she hoped her keys were just evading her in this bottomless pit of a purse.

She thought maybe Jonathan had come home tonight since he wasn’t really speaking to Logan. But no, they had talked with him about staying with Logan whether he liked it or not because it helped provide a good front for Dylan with regards to the divorce; even though Dylan seemed to be the only one of the three kids that was unaffected by it. Gillian just wished she could get Jonathan to talk to her … she knew that he would come around—she just had to be patient. Wow, that was a second distraction. Guess they weren’t in as short a supply as she thought.

Mike smiled over at her, gave a small chuckle and brought her back to the moment. “Well that would make sense, but I don’t think you have to worry about that. It looks like there might be a party going on at your place.”

“What?” She looked up from her diligent digging in her purse, which she really needed to clean out by the way, certain that Mike was looking at the wrong house and didn’t know what he was talking about. She quickly realized that he was right. Oh no … they didn’t! Of course they did! Just great—this was more than a distraction—this was a clusterf*ck!

Her driveway was full of trucks—at least eight—of varying sizes filled her driveway. With a quick glance on the street as they passed, she guessed there was at least six more vehicles that she recognized parked there, too. Looks like they called everyone for the event. Oh, Allie is so gonna pay for this one.

“Is it okay if I park in front of the driveway, blocking it? There doesn’t appear to be anywhere else for me to park,” Mike said, interrupting her thoughts of how exactly Allie was going to pay for it.

“Yes, of course,” she answered quickly, and he started to maneuver the truck around to be parked. She looked at the house to see it was fully lit up with the lights on in the backyard and everything … they were probably out in the game room just waiting for her to bring her date in.

Mike finished parking his truck, pulled the keys from the ignition and turned to get out of the truck. But Gillian wasn’t ready yet, so she reached over and grabbed his arm, keeping him in his seat. “Mike wait … not yet.” He looked over at her, and then closed his door, the light in the cab slowly dimming ‘til it turned off. He scooted a bit across the bench seat toward her and reached for her hand.

“Is everything okay, Gillian?” he asked as he took her hand in his.

She smiled at him as she turned her hand around in his palm so she could give it a gentle squeeze in return. He was just so sweet. She didn’t want her friends to scare him off yet … and that was exactly what they were trying to do. Well maybe not scare him off exactly, but it was certainly a test of theirs. She had forgotten all about said test and didn’t expect to ever have to subject anyone to it. Well, nobody except dates her daughter brought home.

All the guys had given Maddie a heads up that they would be doing this to her when she had her first date. At the time, Gillian thought it was funny and was looking forward to subjecting her daughter to such an event, especially since she could point the finger of blame toward Logan, Sean, and all the rest of the guys. That’s what she gets for laughing at her daughter’s expense; this was certainly a dose of karma if ever there was one. Gillian took a deep breath and gave Mike’s hand another squeeze … hopefully he would be able to handle this crew of misfits she loved so much.

With a small smile she said, “I had a great time tonight. I’m so glad you asked me out.”

“I'm happy to hear that, and hopefully it means we can see each other again. I really enjoyed your company, too,” he said as he reached his other hand up and gently moved a strand of hair from her forehead. It was a tender and intimate gesture that made her pulse increase and her skin tingle. How cool was that?

She let out a deep breath and sighed.

“Well, I hope you still feel that way in about five minutes.”

He raised an eyebrow and one side of his lips curved up in a smirk as he leaned a little closer and said, “And what’s going to happen in the next five minutes that would change my mind? Are you really a man or something? ‘Cause honestly, Gillian, that is about the only thing it would take to change my mind.”

That made her laugh. “No, I can say with complete confidence that I only possess girly parts.” He unleashed a full blown smile on her as he reached his hand back up to her face and caressed her cheek as he moved it into her hair at the back of her head … and leaned in …

“That is very good to hear, Gillian,” he whispered against her lips, just before he pressed his lips against hers. He stayed there for a few seconds and then slowly pulled away from her, but he didn’t go far. Oh, he smelled good … a slight bit of cologne or maybe his soap. But it was all man and completely yum.

She opened her eyes and met his stare directly. She felt that tingly sensation erupt all over at the thought of more contact like that. Whatever he was looking for in her stare, he must have found.

“Very good to hear,” he repeated and emphasized very, just before he pulled her closer and slanted his lips over hers for a deeper kiss.

She felt his tongue slowly make contact with her lips, seeking entrance. She placed her hand on his chest, felt the hardness of his body as she surrendered to him. Her lips parted on a sigh allowing him entrance, and she felt his tongue slip into her mouth. Her surrender didn’t go unnoticed by him, if the groan she felt rumble in his chest and the simultaneous tightening of his grip meant anything.

His taste burst into her mouth. The sweetness of the chocolate dessert they shared earlier still present, coupled with another one that could only be described as all man. Definitely a good flavor … what woman wouldn’t like a chocolate flavored man?

He let go of her hand and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her the rest of the way across the bench and tighter against him as he continued to kiss her.

Her breasts were now pressed up against his chest, and the sensation made her sigh again. He felt so good against her. It felt so nice to be touched by a man, to feel like a desired woman again. She felt the unwanted sorrow of what that meant creep into her mind, but shut the door on that quickly. There was no room in the cab of this truck for those kinds of emotions. She had moved on. Her inner confidence was empowering and invigorating.

Fully into the kiss now, she slowly slid her tongue against his and took her now free hand and brought it up to his jaw, feeling the slight roughness from the end of day stubble all men had. It was very sexy. She then slid it around his neck and up into the hair at the back of his head, dying to know what his hair felt like.

Running her hands through it—it was so soft and thick, just like she thought it would be. “Mmmmmm,” she moaned into his mouth. Was that her? Maybe it was the high of being a first kiss, but wow! She was beginning to feel dizzy, even a little drunk, as he continued his gentle, yet commanding, assault on her mouth. He was literally making her breathless. They needed to come up for air.

As if he heard her thoughts, or maybe he was feeling low on oxygen as well, he slowly pulled away. Gently pressing one more soft kiss to her lips, he leaned his forehead to hers while they both waited for their breathing to return to normal. She slowly opened her eyes and let them focus on his as she pulled back to see his face, and smiled at him. The look of lust in his eyes was unmistakable and completely arousing.

“Thank God for having girly parts ‘cause I wouldn’t have wanted to miss a kiss like that.” He chuckled at her comment.

“I think I'm going to avoid commenting on your girly parts for this evening. It would be ungentlemanly of me to do so.” That earned a laugh from her. “Now, do you want to tell me what might change my mind about wanting to see you again?”

She had completely forgotten that she was sitting in a truck, parked in front of her driveway, while making out with her date … just like a teenager. Gillian couldn’t contain her giggle at that thought. All she needed now was her father to flash the front porch light, signaling his awareness of her in the driveway. Or better yet, to glance at the front window and see the curtains drop back down to hide whoever was spying. Then she would really feel like a teenager.

Reflexively, she glanced over to the front of her house and saw her brother standing in the front window. Not secretly spying, no he was openly watching, showing them he had no qualms about being seen. Sean was standing tall with a scowl on his face and a beer in his hand. He was obviously trying to be intimidating. Well, at least he wasn’t wearing his police uniform, the stupid bully. Gotta love big brothers. And next to him was Allie, the one most likely responsible for this, with a big shit-eating grin on her face. Oh yeah, she was guilty as hell.

She turned back to Mike. “Okay, so what I was referring to was all these trucks in my driveway. Apparently, my best friend has decided that we are still in high school and felt it necessary to call the whole gang over to check out my date for the night.” She gave him a weak smile, hoping he wouldn’t run for the hills. “This was something they did in high school to us girls … all the big brothers and their friends would make sure they were at the house when our dates brought us home. Whether or not the new guy was allowed to take us out again was based on how he handled this group of guys. It’s not to say us girls listened to our brothers if they told us we couldn’t date the guy, but they sure made it difficult for any guy they didn’t approve of.”

Mike glanced at the house and smirked, “So this is a test I take it … to see if I am worthy to date you?”

She bit her lower lip and nodded at him, and he laughed out loud. Clearly, he had a sense of humor, which was certainly a point in his favor. He then moved closer to her, as if he was going to kiss her again, but leaned farther to whisper in her ear, “Do you want me to pass this test, Gillian?”

“Oh, yes, Mike, I do,” she replied, breathless. “But, it’s not my test … you’ve already aced mine.” She gave him what she hoped was a sultry smile and waited for his response.

“How ‘bout we get in there then and see if I can get straight As tonight. You wanna tell me who the big guy in the window is first, though?” She chuckled a little, knowing what he was seeing … all six-foot three-inches of her brother. He probably looked even bigger standing next to Allie, who came in somewhere around five-foot five-inches—in high heels.

“That would be my brother, Sean; he’s married and just recently had his third kid. If you want to win him over, you just need to say nice things about his kids; he turns into a marshmallow. I'm sure you can handle him, though … if not, just win over his wife, Morgan, and he will have no choice but to like you.”

Yep, that’s right, her brother, the big alpha male, would do anything for his adorable wife. He truly was a softy. She turned to get out of the truck, and he stilled her. “Now what would people think if they saw you getting out of the truck without my assistance? Don’t go sinking my ship before I even get out of the port, little lady.”

“My apologies, sir.” She smiled and watched as he turned to get out on his side, then made his way over to her door. He opened the door, and as she went to get out, he reached up and put his hands around her waist, pulled her into his body and eased her from the high truck, down to the ground. Gillian slid down his body as he lowered her. They stood there, her hands on his shoulders, and his still around her waist—bodies pressed firmly against each other.

“I know you’re fully capable of climbing down, but I’m sure that drop to the ground in boots could be slightly painful after doing it more than once tonight.”

“You have no idea, but it’s totally worth it.” Whoa, was that her voice? It sure sounded hoarse and raspy to her. She cleared her throat before continuing, “You ready for this?”

“Bring it on,” he said as he let a big smile spread across his face. Did he seriously just quote a cheer movie? She laughed out loud at that.

“You better contain your movie quotes in there to movies that aren’t about cheerleaders … or they will eat you alive.”

“What? I have a teenage daughter. I had to make sure those movies were appropriate for her to watch. I was just trying to be a good dad.”

“Sure you were, and I'm sure you read Playboy for the articles.”

She looked over at him as she said this, and his smile got impossibly larger and exclaimed. “Exactly! You have no idea how refreshing it is to meet a woman who understands that.”

Mike then reached out and held her hand, just as he had done earlier, as they walked to the door, laughing at how they were able to banter back and forth that way. It was relaxing, almost like they had been friends for a while.

“I have a feeling you will be able to hold your own in there just fine, Mr. Smart Ass.” And with that, she opened the front door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About thirty minutes later, after subjecting her first adult date to her group of friends, she quietly stood on her porch in front of Mike, a little unsure of what to do. They had kissed in the truck, and it was a great kiss, but now they sort of had an audience. She looked up at him and gave him a shy look to convey her uncertainty. Being a complete gentleman, he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before standing back up and smiling at her. “I would like to see you again, Gillian. Can I call you?”

“Yes,” she blurted out a little too enthusiastically, which only made him chuckle at her again. Apparently her inability to control her reactions was becoming a habit around him. Taking a second to compose herself, she said, “Yes, Mike, I would like that.”

Mike reached down and gripped her hand gently as he lifted it to his lips. Placing a sweet and simple kiss on her knuckles, he whispered, “’Til next time, Gillian … goodnight.” And then she watched as he slowly pulled away from her and backed down the steps of her porch. She was admiring the view as he climbed into his truck when she caught sight of Jake’s jeep parked in the middle of the chaos of trucks in her large driveway. Realizing that she hadn’t seen Jake inside, she wondered where he could be. She made her way back inside and found her brother waiting for her, with a diaper bag over one shoulder and an adorable baby cradled in the other. Walking over to him to retrieve her niece, she smiled at the mass of contradictions that was her brother at that moment.

“You know you don’t look as imposing with eight pounds of baby in your arms and a pink and brown diaper bag on your shoulder,” she chided him while taking the baby and cradling her like the pro she was. Of course, the slight longing that most women have when holding a new baby was there. Even though she knew she was done having babies, she couldn’t help but sometimes wish she wasn’t.

“It’s all part of my disguise. I can still kick some guy’s ass with one arm ‘cause they wouldn’t be expecting it while I was holding a baby. Besides, who would hit a guy if he was holding a baby?” her brother retorted. Gillian just snorted at her brother and shook her head.

“Tell me I did not just hear you say you’d punch some guy while holding our baby girl in your arms?” Morgan huffed at her husband as she came into the room with all her spunk and ire. Gillian loved to watch her brother around his wife. The big man visibly melted when she came near him, almost like he didn’t realize he missed her until he was near her again. Sean adored Morgan, and it was written all over his face. Gillian watched as her brother followed his wife’s path as she walked into the room; it made her smile as she watched him melt in front of her eyes.

“You know I would never do that, my love.”

Shaking her head, she put her arm around Gillian’s shoulders, she replied, “Yeah, you’re all talk, Sean Cooper.” Then she turned to look at her new daughter before she let out a big sigh and said, “What have we done Gillian … bringing daughters into this world, so that they have to put up with these big gorillas.”

Gillian laughed at that, because it was true. She never had to endure the torture of this ritual of theirs, where all the friends gathered at the girl’s house the night of her first date with a new guy, and she was thankful for it. She made a mental note not to let anyone know the next time she went on another first date again. “’Til tonight, I hadn’t realized how nerve wracking it would be to introduce a newcomer to this crew. But I think Mike handled himself well … what do you think big brother?”

Sean just smiled at his sister as he said, “I trust your judgment Sis; I just want you to be happy.” And with that she nodded her thanks, leaned down to kiss the beautiful bundle in her arms and then handed her back over to the big gorilla.

Morgan leaned in and kissed Gillian on the cheek and said, “I liked him. He seemed like he could fit in with this group.”

“Thanks for coming over guys. I'm going to find Allie and give her crap for doing this to me. And here I thought she only came down to help me with the fun stuff like getting ready, when she obviously only came down for the torture.” She hugged her brother and sister-in-law and made her way to the back of the house where she would find the guilty party planner.

As she walked into the poolroom, she noticed Allie and Jason talking in low tones off to one corner of the room, and a few other friends playing pool and just hanging out. “All right everyone, give me a show of hands … who got the order to be here tonight from Allie?” she questioned the room. Everyone’s hand went in the air with the exception of Allie’s. It was just as she had thought.

“You know you could’ve just asked me, and I would have taken full credit for it!” Allie yelled from across the room where she was still standing with Jason.

“Oh, I have no doubt that you would’ve. I just wanted to see that I wasn’t the only one who gets bossed around by you,” Gillian said with a smirk as she headed into the group of people to say goodnight, since the events of the evening were over. She was sure that a few of them had been here a while based on the empty pizza boxes piled up on the bar. “And just so you know, you’re the one that’s going to clean up the mess around here. Your gathering … your mess.”

Allie walked away from Jason to start her clean up, and Gillian laughed as she saw her order a few of the guys to take stuff to the trash and pick up. They, of course, jumped at the order. She wasn’t sure if it was because they were being gentlemanly, if it was because a few of them worked with Jason and Logan and didn’t want to be seen not doing it, or because Allie was tiny, but fierce, and it was likely a few of them had crushes on her. Either way, Gillian didn’t care; she just didn’t want to be the one doing it.

She watched as Jason grabbed himself another beer and sat down on a stool to watch, throwing a few irritated glances at Allie in the process. Looking at Jason reminded her that Jake was missing. It kind of bummed her out that he wasn’t here, and she wanted to know why, especially since his jeep was. A sudden thought that he might be sick had her worried. Making her way across the room to Jason, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before perching herself on the stool next to him.

“Hey handsome, where is the other Mr. Michaels? I see his car is in my driveway … but I don’t see him.” She gave him a questioning look as she waited for an answer. She caught that he glanced over at Allie before he looked back at her. Gillian turned and looked in time to see Allie glare back at Jason. Gillian wasn’t really sure what was going on, but was really curious now, and pressed Jason more. “Out with it, Jason, or I tell Allie over there that you told me everything.”

He just huffed and shook his head, obviously irritated. “He and Allie didn’t see eye to eye on something, so he left.”

He finished his statement by lifting his beer bottle toward his lips, but Gillian put her hand up and stopped him as she asked, “Without his jeep? Is he okay?” Jason’s shoulders, which had been bunched up with tension a few seconds ago, relaxed a bit, and his features softened as he gave her that big brother look.

“I’m sure he’s fine Gilly; just give him some time to cool off, and you can call him tomorrow.” Jason finished his beer and stood to leave, but not before looking down at Gillian with a pleading look and saying, “Please … make sure you call him tomorrow.”

A bit surprised by Jason’s insistence, she nodded. “Of course, I would check on him right now if you hadn’t just said to let him cool down.” Accepting her at her word, he nodded and made his way out, taking a few of the guys with him along the way.

After saying good night to everyone else and taking one last look outside at Jake’s jeep sitting in the driveway, she couldn’t help but be a little concerned about whatever had happened between Allie and him tonight. She knew it took a lot to get him mad, but she also knew if anyone could push a person’s buttons, it’d be Allie. Letting out a big sigh of exhaustion as her body started to come down off the rollercoaster of emotions she had been feeling all day long, she couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be than tucked under her blankets for the night.

As she went about her nightly routine, she thought about what Jason had said. Even though he felt she should give Jake some space—for whatever reason—Gillian wanted Jake to know she was thinking of him. So, as she climbed into bed, she decided to send him a text. Picking up her phone from its place on her nightstand, she ignored the text from a number she didn’t recognize and sent a quick one to Jake.

Gillian: I missed you tonight, call me when you get up and I will get your jeep over to you…

She waited for a few minutes, hoping for a response from him, which would let her know he was okay, but nothing came. A slight bit of uneasiness came over her as she lay down and tried to relax. Sleep eluded her for a little while, all thoughts of her date had fled and only Jake remained on her mind. Finally, though, her body succumbed to the exhaustion.