“Jasper, don’t,” I whispered, on the brink of tears.
He pulled me up and we were facing each other. I shrank as much as I could and looked up at him. What was he doing?
“You’re beautiful. I don’t get why you’re so shy, especially with me now.”
Because I care about you too much, and I care what you think of my body and me.
His eyes darkened as his hand rose, and rested down just above my breast. I stopped breathing as his fingers glided over my skin, leaving a burning path behind them. He held my gaze, trapping me in it as he touched my body all over. I shuddered as he brushed over my hips and down to my thighs.
“Don’t ever hide yourself from me. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”
I bit my tongue, desperately trying to prevent myself from crying. It was too intense and too intimate, but as much as I wanted to hide away I loved how he looked at me and how he made me feel wanted.
Feeling a rush of bravery, I reached out and placed my hands on his toned chest, exploring his six pack. He sucked his breath through his teeth and then smiled.
“See, I’m as on show as you are!”
“Yeah but your body is…” I replied, trailing off.
His hand cupped my neck.
“Your body is perfect,” he said and leant forwards, capturing my lips in a sweet, slow kiss that made my back arch into him.
Jasper and I made our way into work after he made love to me again. I felt like a woman. Everyone saw me as Brad’s shy little sister, but Jasper had given me something that I was sure would stay with me, even if he didn’t. I didn’t feel quite as afraid of showing a bit of skin off any more. If I wanted to wear a shorter skirt, then I would because I wasn’t the little girl that my friends and family thought I was. He’d given me the confidence to be me. For the first time, someone saw me as a woman.
I felt like going out and buying a whole new wardrobe of ‘grown up’ clothes and ditching my baggy tops, jeans and leggings. I wanted fitted clothes that made me look twenty. But that also might be because I was wearing my clothes from yesterday, minus the second layer top that I ditched in the hope that no one would notice I hadn’t changed.
Oakley was just pulling out of the car park as we arrived. She and Everleigh waved to us as we passed.
“Good, she’s already left. That’ll save the being late lecture,” Jasper said as he pulled into a space.
“Yeah but she’ll be back once she’s dropped Everleigh at your mum’s. This is only delaying the lecture.” My eyes widened. “What are we going to say to her? We didn’t think through the whole arriving together thing! What do we do?”
He grinned. “Act normal and tell her you had car trouble maybe?”
“Oh. Yes, we can just do that,” I said and opened the car before I slapped him for looking amused by silly Holly.
Every time Jasper had to come to the reception for something – which was more often than usual – he made sure to brush against me, usually with a big smirk on his face. We hadn’t spoken about not telling anyone about us, but it was obvious we had to. He wasn’t exactly being discreet.
He sat on the reception desk chatting to the ladies of the Over 50s Fit Club. They loved him. It was easy to see why. I tried to ignore their conversation and get on with work, but I could feel Jasper looking at me and it was very off-putting.
I was on my fourth coffee of the morning; I could barely keep my eyes open. With the stress of my final year starting in a couple of months and my sleepless night last night, I was exhausted. I rubbed my eyes and looked up. Jasper was alone; the Over 50s had gone to their fitness class. He was staring at me.
“What’re you doing tonight?” he asked.
“Dinner with an old friend from high school,” I replied, wishing I was meeting her another night because if I didn’t know any better I’d think he was going to suggest we did something together.
He nodded once, pursing his lips. “Sounds good. You not seen her in a while then?”
No, so I really can’t cancel.
“Not since New Year’s Eve.”
“Right. Be good to catch up then,” he said.
I nodded, getting lost in his eyes again.
“Jasper?” Oakley called from her office behind reception.
His head snapped towards the door and he hopped off the desk as if he’d just been woken from a daydream.
“Coming,” he replied and walked off.
I’d never been sure when a guy liked me, so when my exes said they did it was a surprise. It was fair to say I had little experience of reading the signs, but I was getting some pretty big mixed ones from Jasper.
“Amy,” I said, giving her a hug before sitting opposite her.
“Hey, sweetie, how’re you?” she asked.
I blushed, remembering being in Jasper’s arms, his bed, last night.
“I’m good, are you?”
She grabbed the cocktail menu.
“I’m fabulous.”
“Good. How’s Liam?”