“You have to taste this.” She held up her cone for him to taste.
“I don’t think I like chocolate. Let me try it this way.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “Yup. I like Jessie chocolate better.”
“You’re a goof.”
He laughed. “Tell me about yourself, Jess. I know you like chocolate ice cream, you play the cello, you dislike technology—which I’ll change if I have my way—and you love your father. What don’t I know?”
“That’s a tough question, because I’m so used to focusing on my work that I’m sort of at a loss about the rest of myself. The only thing I know for sure that I don’t like—other than technology—is being twenty-seven and feeling like I’m living the life of a much older person. But here’s what I have discovered that I do like. I really like your friends, which made me realize how much I’ve missed all these years by not having close friends. And one day I might like to do something to help kids, although I have no idea what that might be. I love to read, and right now I have a love-hate relationship with my cello. Mostly love, really. I always wished I had siblings, and I live in Boston.” She finished her ice cream and then added, “And my favorite thing in the world as of this very moment is chocolate ice cream eaten while holding your hand.” She smiled up at him. “Your turn.”
“Well, let’s see. I’m kind of loving holding your hand and finishing my cone, too, but I think it has more to do with you than the ice cream.” He pulled her against his side as the tide rose and water crept toward them. “I never wished for siblings, because that would have meant sharing my grandmother, and I really treasured her. Still do. I live a pretty simple life, also in Boston, as you know.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a computer geek.”
“Oh no. Really? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything about not liking technology.”
A wave crashed against the shore and raced toward them. Jamie wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up and over the rushing water. She squealed and laughed as he ran up the beach toward the dunes with her in his arms. They tumbled onto the sand in a fit of laughter.
“You’re fast!” She was out of breath from laughing, and it felt so good that her cheeks hurt from smiling. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard. Her hair was whipping in the wind. She gathered it and twisted it into a knot at the base of her neck.
“Wow.” His eyes danced over her face. “You’re always beautiful, but now I can see your face better, and your neck, and…” He leaned closer and kissed her; then he pulled his knees up and casually rested his arms over them.
The air around them heated, and she knew he pulled back to cool the passion brewing between them in an effort to respect their new rules.
“Tell me…” She swallowed past the urge to kiss him again. “Tell me about your computer geekiness.”
He leaned his shoulder against hers and laughed. “My computer geekiness? Well, you know that search engine you hate so much, OneClick?”
“If you mean the evil search engine, yes, I know it too well for my liking,” she teased.
“I developed it.” He stared out at the ocean as if he’d just told her that his name was Jamie or his hair was black.
“Developed it? Like, created it?” She couldn’t fathom the amount of technical knowledge it would take to create such a thing.
He nodded. “Don’t hold my geekiness against me.”
“I won’t if you won’t hold my inability to master it against me.” She scooted closer so their sides were pressed against each other. “I’m stealing your warmth.”
He put his arm around her and kissed her temple. “I’ll happily share my warmth.”
“So what’s it like to do what you do?” She envisioned him sitting in front of a computer all day, but she had no idea what he’d actually do beyond that.
“It’s kind of like juggling about fifty balls at once. My company has twelve hundred employees in Boston and another fifteen hundred overseas. I just launched a new project last summer that integrates several arms of our search engines and brings results to users quicker and with more options using various algorithms—” He tightened his grip on her shoulder. “I’m rambling about something you have no idea about. Talk about boring. Sorry. Basically I do geeky stuff all day and go to a lot of meetings.” He dug his toes into the sand.
“Your eyes light up when you talk about it, so you must enjoy it.” She loved the smile that came with those happy eyes and the creases by his mouth that made her want to kiss him again.
“I wake up excited to get started, and when I finally go to bed at night, which is sometimes at two or three in the morning, because I do my best work at night, I hit the pillow feeling satisfied.”
“Sounds like you’re talking about a lover.” She wrapped her arm around his leg and cuddled in closer, soaking in the ocean breeze as it washed over them.
“Yeah, I guess. But a different type of satisfaction.” He stroked her back, warming her all over. “How about you? Tell me about prim and proper symphony mode.”
She turned and looked at him, expecting to see a taunt in his eyes, but they were dark and serious. “Do you really want to know?”
“I want to know everything you’re willing to share with me.”
Everything? That gave her pause. She’d never felt like her life was very interesting. “Okay, well, in a nutshell, I’ve been playing since I was a little girl. My mom says I always wanted to play, and I don’t remember a time I didn’t want to, so I have to believe her. But I think I also wanted to please her. She’s an incredible cellist, but she never made the cut for the more prestigious symphonies, and I wanted to do that for her. I think I did, anyway. I’m no longer sure about the whys of it all, but I can’t go backward. I can only keep moving toward the brass ring. This summer is my brass ring.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “When I see how your grandmother treats you, it drives home how much I missed with my mom. I long to have a mother who treats me like I’m special for reasons other than my musical abilities. Vera looks at you like she adores the person you are. My father does that, and it makes up for what my mother never did, but still.”
“Babe.” He stroked her back.
“It’s okay, really. I can’t feel bad for myself, because while my mother wasn’t warm when I was growing up, she taught me all the proper things I needed to know to succeed in my field, and I inherited her musical talents, so I should really thank her.”
He gathered her in his arms and held her tight. She closed her eyes and soaked him in. She’d never shared those worries aloud, and she hadn’t realized how deep they cut until that very second when she felt her throat swell and tears dampen her eyes.
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could choose our parents?” Jamie’s voice was solemn.
Jessica remembered that his parents had died. She lifted her head and saw compassion in his eyes. “Jamie. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Here I am complaining about my mother, and yours is…”