Bedroom Business.

Chapter 9B

Oh, oh...this looked bad. Really bad. Ryan, oblivious of the thick tension knelt above Jade and proceeded to tie her long red hair around her neck so that she looked like a milk maiden from the sixties. 

"Get. Off. Me." the rigid tone of her voice had Ryan scrambling off her, but nonetheless still proud of his work. 

From her position on the floor, still struggling to get up with as much dignity as she could muster in this situation, Jade saw Ryan rub his palms together like a mad scientist before offering Nick a handshake from where he stood. She hurriedly picked herself up, deciding to pretend as if she still looked her normal color and not a strange shade of orange. She swallowed, fixing her eyes somewhere above his chest and below his chin. 

"H...Hi Mr. Colby" she said, her voice sounded strange even to her ears. Her heart beat faster as she took him in. He looked too good for his own good. What was a man like him doing in her house?  He was dressed in clean worn faded jeans that rode low on his lean hips and clung to his muscular thighs and snow white T-shirt.  

Focus Jade. Focus.

Ryan stood near him now, unashamedly listening in.  

"Hi Jade" he replied his voice was clipped and sure in contrast. 

He advanced slowly. 

Jade swallowed again. 

"I got you a new pair of shoes to replace the ones you lost at the beach". 

Their eyes met and Jade knew he was also thinking about what happened at the beach. 

"Y..You didn't n..need to get me new shoes. It was entirely my fault for losing them" she argued.

"I insist" he stared. 

"No thanks" she stared. 

A muscle worked in his jaw.  

"Just take the damn shoes!"

She accepted the box of shoes from him decidedly for the sake of Ryan whose ears were perked. 

Nick cursed himself inwardly again. He knew from the start that this had not been a good idea.  Nonetheless, he was he'd gone ahead with his crazy plan of picking out a pair of shoes and then delivering it himself just because he wanted to see her.  

And it would have been completely worth it if he could just for a split second punch the chin off biggy here who thought lying on top of Jade was okay. Then he'd leave happily. He just stood and stared at the woman who had constantly made him take cold showers lately. He'd have contentedly stared at the little red head all day if her aunt hadn't come disturbing.

"Well if it isn't Nick Colby" she made her way into the room, breaking the silence, just as biggy huffed and shuffled out.  

"What brings you inside my house? You never come in. Instead you prefer being in the office" she boomed. Before he could get a word in, she was kissing him on both cheek and patting him on the back.

"Why don't you stay for lunch?" Nick saw the dismay on Jade's face. He'd better put her out of her misery and get going. 

"I would love to, but -" 

"Ah then it's settled. Jade, you go and inform Macy that we're having a guest for lunch" she looked pleased with herself as she led him to a couch.

"So tell me, how is Jade doing?" 

"Efficient and Uh... Wonderful" he said, banishing the first thoughts that came to his mind. Thoughts that would make Jade's aunt wash his heart out with soap and drag him to church. 

"Well I'm glad to hear that from you" she nodded. 

Jade was glad to escape for a moment. Even if it was to the kitchen. The lunch had been stressful. He sat directly opposite her and as if it wasn't enough, Julie sat beside her, constantly kicking her under the table whenever she noticed her staring at Nick which was pretty much the whole time. Needless to say, her knee was sore, she'd made a complete fool of her self and she still couldn't stop thinking about him. 

She looked out the kitchen window at the back garden where the lunch table was set. The atmosphere was almost great. Nick had charmed her aunt; Julie was staring at him with awe. She saw her aunt get up, most likely retiring to her room to nap. Which meant she didn't have to go back to the table again, she could just claim to do the dishes? Plus it'd save Macy some work. Perfect. 

She began to rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher. Until she heard the clink of plates outside the kitchen. Nick carried a pile of haphazardly piled plates. What was Julie doing, letting Nick clean up the table?  

"Thanks" she collected the dishes and put them on the table. When she turned, he'd rolled up his sleeves carelessly, revealing strong toned arms. He moved to stand by her. 

"What are you doing?" she asked. 

"I don't have anything better to do, so I thought I'd show my appreciation by helping with the dishes". 

"Oh, there's absolutely no need to". For a reply, he simply picked up a dish, rinsed and dried it, before setting it back in the cabinet. He really was strong headed. Jade couldn't help but admire the way his hands worked. At a point, she wouldn't have minded changing places with the plates he handled. 

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