Cherish

Put Your Hands On Me (38)

"Put Your Hands On Me" --  Joss Stone

Can't stop my mind from thinking of you

How am I supposed to function

Got me feelin' for your lips on my kiss

Oh, I never want no other lover...

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"Mm, incredible. Simply incredible." Georgie licked her lips as she looked unabashedly at a plate so clean that the busboy could put it right back on the shelf. Satiated, she leaned back in the comfortable booth and smiled at her companion. "Great idea, J-Co. Is there a Mimi's Café in Los Angeles?"

Jaden nodded as she swallowed the remaining slice of tomato from her chopped Cobb salad. Finished with her main meal, she picked up the honey bran muffin that came with it and offered Georgie half. She declined the first time, yet when Jaden offered again, she accepted it. Chuckling, she bit into her share.

"What?" The blonde had already devoured half of her piece. She hadn't realized how large of an appetite she had worked up riding that morning. Although the fast paced bicycling burned a lot of calories, if her stomach remained this demanding during the week, she wouldn't have to worry about losing too much weight.

"I noticed you eyeing my muffin all through our lunch, G-Dog." Grinning, Jaden pulled iced tea through her straw. "Then you try to act coy when I offer you some."

Georgie blinked innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about, Jae." The rest of the muffin disappeared. Dang. If she could fit them into her fanny pack, Georgie might have ordered half a dozen of the delicious muffins to take with her. Taking her wallet out, she slid it across the checkered tablecloth where it rested beside Jaden's glass. "I need to go to the restroom for the twentieth time today. In case our waitress delivers our check while I'm gone, could I trust you to use my money to pay?"

"But I invited you--"

"Na ah." Georgie wagged an index finger at her. "I'm paying for lunch today. I know exactly what I have, so when I return some of it better be gone, okay?"

"No problem. I'll rob you blind."

Laughing, Georgie leaned across the table and kissed her cheek. "Also, take out enough for the tip. Twenty percent of our bill should do it."

The musician saluted her. "Yes ma'am. I will." Before Georgie could reach the restroom, their waitress had returned with the check, which she placed in front of Jaden. Opening Georgie's wallet, she removed enough cash to cover the bill along with a tip, which might leave their waitress happy. She was about to close the wallet until she took notice of a photograph of Georgie and Vanessa possibly on a beach dressed in bikinis with colorful drinks in hand as they grinned for the camera. Smiling, Jaden guessed that they had to be teenagers in the picture. Pulling the photo out, she checked the back for further description. She found one printed in purple ink.

Me and Van -- 2000 Spring Break in Baja

Hopefully those drinks didn't contain alcohol, Jaden thought, her smile remaining in place as she reinserted the photograph between its thin plastic casing. She proceeded to look at the other photographs as the waitress walked by to collect the money left on a small tray. Jaden thanked her and then returned her attention to the photo of a few years younger Jacob with his wife Nora. With a soft smile, Jaden observed the woman who looked like an older version of Vanessa despite being a redhead. Mother and daughter had the same buoyant smile and big adorable brown eyes. Although she never had an opportunity to meet Nora, Jaden knew that she had to have been a cordial and devoted woman considering her charming, sweet and so very lovable daughter.