Free Dusted by Holly Jacobs Page B

as I see it you have two choices. Keep scolding me like I was some misbehaving child, in which case I’m going to ask you to leave, or shut up and kiss me.”
    He looked as if he were going to explode. Apoplectic is the word I’d use to describe him.
    Man, I loved that word.
    Finally he pulled me into his arms and kissed me until I couldn’t see straight…until the world seemed to tilt on its axis…until my knees very literally were weak.
    He pulled back and looked me in the eye. “Let me say two last things. Don’t get yourself killed. I’ll be pissed. And if you run into trouble, don’t let your pride keep you from calling me. You’re important to me, Quincy. Very important.”
    All my annoyance faced away with that last sentence.
    “You’re very important to me, too, Cal. But I’m not someone who can simply sit back and trust that everything will work out.”
    “And as much as it aggravates me, it’s one of the things I love about you.”
    He froze at that word… love .
    It was a deer in the headlights sort of freeze.
    He hadn’t said he loved me, I assured myself. He’d simply said he loved something about me.
    Phew. That was good. I wasn’t sure where this new relationship was going, but I was enjoying it. I didn’t want to spoil it with serious talk too soon.
    That’s what happened with Jerome. I met him after I’d broken up with the most immature man I’d ever dated. I fell head over heels, married him, gave up my non-existent, but potential career and had his three sons…then he divorced me and moved on to the next younger woman.
    Here’s the thing, I don’t regret my time with Jerome. We’d turned into good parenting partners. Good parents, I thought. He’d given me the boys…who were my greatest achievement.
    But no way did I want to lose myself in another man that fast.
    I didn’t want to lose myself at all.
    So, I ignored the word and kissed Cal again.
    After a second, he ignored the word as well and kissed me back.
    It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it obviously worked for both of us because it was a great kiss.
     
    The night of the play, I sat with Cal on one side and my mother on the other. My father had arrived and sat next to her. Tiny and Sal were there. My ex and Peri were there, too. Their names struck me again. Jerry and Peri. When I was growing up my grandmother’s best friend, Jean married a man named Gene. To avoid confusion we referred to them as Mrs. Jean and Mr. Gene.
    I hadn’t thought of them in years. I smiled at the memory.
    “What?” Cal whispered.
    “You’re cute,” I said because it was true and because it was quicker than explaining about Mr. and Mrs. Gene/Jean.
    The house lights dimmed, and the curtain went up.
    There was Eli, front and center. I knew that somewhere, lurking behind the curtains, Miles was probably pacing, anxious hoping that the play would be a success.
    He needn’t have worried…it was.
    The cast all took their bows, then called for Miles to come out. He humbly bowed as well, accepting the audience’s adulation as if he’d expected it.
    After the curtains came down and the house lights came up, we all started talking about how terribly talented my kids were. Peri was crying. Seriously, she dabbed at tears. I shot Jerome a look and he smiled indulgently at her, then shrugged at me still grinning. She was good for him.
    I remembered Hunter’s worries, but I didn’t see any evidence of Jerome growing tired of Peri…at least not tonight.
    A few minutes later the cast came out into the audience, everyone looking for their family and friends.
    Miles and Eli came out together and headed toward our crowd. I looked at our family. It was an eclectic collection of people. A tall, coco-colored maid with her short, pudgy lawyer fiancé, two very proper physicians, another maid who was desperately sucking in her baby-pooch, a ruggedly handsome cop, a producer and Peri, who was closer to the boys’ ages than the rest of ours.
    I watched my