Here's another chapter! Thanks so much for all the positive reviews.
Eliza woke up early the next morning, a smile on her face. The night before had been amazing. It had taken lots of self control not to let it go past kissing, but she had managed. She hadn't had sex in almost five years, and when he kissed her all of her reasons for taking it slow had gone right out the window. The only thing that stopped her was the thought of Alice sleeping just inside. She didn't want her to wake up to that, so she had found a way to pull away from that amazing kiss and go inside. She groaned at the sound of her phone beeping, who could possibly need to talk to her at half past seven in the morning? She grabbed her phone off the bedside table, opening up the text message. I had a lot of fun last night. Can we plan a repeat?" Eliza smiled wider as she read Josh's text and couldn't help but let out a girly squeal. She quickly texted him back, Let me talk to Laci. Maybe she'll watch Alice and we can do dinner. Then she dialed Laci's number, knowing she was up already.
"What's wrong?" Laci's worried voice filled Eliza's quiet bedroom.
"Nothing. Why would something be wrong?" Eliza replied cheerfully. "Everything is just perfect."
"Okay, what happened with Josh? He kissed you didn't he?"
"If by kissed you mean we totally made out beside my car and I had to physically prevent myself from jumping his bones, then yes." Eliza sighed and leaned back against her pillows.
"Seriously? What did I tell you? I KNEW you two would be making out sooner rather than later." Laci's tone was smug. "Oh, by the way, just thought you should know that Josh isn't the only one that wants a piece of Liza."
"Excuse me what?" Eliza sat up straighter in bed, crossing her legs and settling in for an interesting conversation.
"Oh yea, John was asking Mike all kinds of questions about you. He's definitely interested. And Jake A thinks you're hot!"
"Um, Jake A was the one with the really blue eyes that is on the Northwestern, right?" Eliza said, trying to place faces and names from the night before. "As for John, I did the bad boy thing with James, and we know how that turned out."
"Yea, Jake A's on the Northwestern, they call him Junior. And John is nothing like James. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a total player, but he would never marry someone and then cheat on them. But he would be fun. I'd love to get my hands on some of that. Just don't tell Mike I said that."
"Regardless, I'm really interested in Josh. I went from no men in my life at all, to apparently 3 interested parties. I really like Josh, and he loves Alice. But John is just so damn sexy. I don't know enough about Jake to form an opinion yet." Eliza rambled on. "Jesus Christ, what do I do?"
"If it were me in your situation, I'd say go for Josh. Like you said, he loves Alice which is a big plus. I think that John would be fun, but I'm not sure you want to deal with his lifestyle. He'd be a great friend though! But, Josh is definitely the best choice if you're looking for a long term relationship."
"Thanks Laci, I really appreciate the girl talk. Now for the reason I called. Josh asked me out on a date. Can you watch Alice tonight so we can go out for dinner?" Eliza asked, suddenly nervous that her friend would say no.
"Of course I can! Mike is going out with the Time Bandit boys tonight anyways, so I can just come over there and stay with her. Feel free to stay at Josh's if the mood strikes you." Laci giggled. "Actually, I kind of hope you do. I know it's been a long time!"
"Laci Fourtner! Shame on you!" Eliza exclaimed in mock horror. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"
"One that is going to have a hot ass fisherman to herself tonight. Take advantage girl. I gotta go, but I'll be by your house around 5 so you can get ready."
"Bye, love you. Thanks again!" Eliza hung up and opened her text messages back up. She had 2, one from Josh and another from an unknown number. She opened the unknown number first. Hey, this is Edgar. I got your number from Mike, hope you don't mind. The kids really enjoyed playing with Alice. If you want to come over, we have a pool. Bring Loverboy if you want. It would be good for Alice to have some friends to play with. She decided to call Josh, instead of texting him. She had a lot to tell him.
"Hey babe. Good morning." His voice came across the line.
"Hey." Eliza responded quietly, suddenly very shy. "I talked to Laci, she's gonna come stay at my place and watch Alice. She'll be here at five."
"Great, then I can take you out to get some dinner. What time do you want me to pick you up?"
"Well, I also wanted to ask you about something else. Edgar's kids want to play with Alice and he invited us to come over to use their pool and let the kids play. He said you could come along too." Eliza bit her lip, hoping he'd want to come with them.
"Um, yea. I can come with you. I can pick you and Alice up in about 2 and a half hours if you're ok with that. I still have to go to the gym and take care of a few things. Let Edgar know we'll be there around 11."
"Sounds great. I'll see you then." Eliza said, giddy that she was hanging out with him yet again.
"Bye babe." Josh said, hanging up.
Eliza sat there holding her phone for a minute before sending Edgar a text letting him know when they would be there. She added his number into her phone and decided to get out of bed. After making her and Alice some pancakes, she woke her daughter. They ate breakfast, the whole time Alice talking about Edgar's kids, which she had now learned were named Logan and . She had Alice dress in her swimsuit and then put some clothes on over it. Eliza did the same, suddenly nervous that Josh would be seeing her in her bikini. She was pulling her hair into a long braid, when she heard the doorbell ring. She rushed out to the foyer and swung open the door. There stood Josh, in his swim trunks and a Cornelia Marie t-shirt.
He greeted her with a quick kiss and asked, "You all ready?" Eliza turned around to make sure she had her keys and to call Alice out of her room when she heard from behind her, "Looks like you've got a pretty big back piece going on there."
In her racerback tank top, Eliza realized her full back tattoo could be seen. "Oh yea, it's pretty big. I'll show you when we get there. I've got a big one up my left ribcage too."
She called for Alice, and turned back to face Josh. He gently lifted up the bottom of her tank top and brushed a finger across Eliza's right hip. "What's this one of? I noticed something yesterday morning when you were pulling your shirt down."
The feel of his calloused fingers against her bare flesh sent shivers up her spine. She pulled the waistband of her shorts down a bit to fully reveal it. "It's a Celtic cross. My dad had the same one. I got it a few months after he passed away, brought in a picture of my dad and the replicated it."
"I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I lost mine just two years ago." He said softly, tracing the tattoo with his fingers lightly. They were interrupted by Alice walking into the room and the pair stepped away from each other guiltily.
"Ready to go kiddo?" Eliza asked her daughter, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"Yep." Alice nodded her head vigorously. "Hi Josh!" she exclaimed, realizing who was there. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. "You didn't say bye last night."
"I did, but you were sleeping." Josh told her with a wink. "Let's go, the faster we get there, the faster you can play."
They arrived at Edgar's a few short minutes later, and Alice was greeted by both of Edgar's children. The three of them ran off to play in the backyard and Eliza followed Josh to the pool area. She tested the water with her toe, only to be pushed into the pool. She came up for air, sputtering a bit, and angry. Edgar was at the edge of the pool, a huge smirk on his face, obviously proud of his accomplishment.
"That was so wrong!" Eliza complained, pulling herself out of the water and quickly removing her wet clothes. She had a green bikini on underneath it that left little to the imagination.
"Damn girl, you've got some ink." Edgar said with a low whistle. "And you're super hot of course."
Josh shot a glare in Edgar's direction, before stepping closer to Eliza to examine her tattoos. He'd already seen the cross, but he could now see the pirate ship that went all the way up her left ribcage in full color. He also could now see that her back was covered in a Alice in Wonderland back piece. It was full of bright colors and was very well done.
"These are amazing." Josh said, in complete awe. "Did you name Alice after the story?"
"Actually, not really. Alice was my grandmother's name and I named her after her. However, I have always liked Alice in Wonderland and I decided to do this when I was think of a tattoo to commemorate Alice's birth. It just kind of took off from there."
Eliza was getting a little uncomfortable by all of the attention from the two men, and decided to jump back in the pool. In a few seconds, she was joined by Josh, Edgar saying he was going to check on the kids.
"I already thought you were hot, but your tattoos make you even sexier." Josh swam over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He pulled her close to him and softly kissed her. Without further thought, the two of them were making out in Edgar's pool, with complete disregard to what was going on around them. Eliza had just wrapped her legs around Josh's waist, when she heard Edgar.
"Good lord, you two. There are children outside ya know." Edgar's nose was scrunched up, his hands on his hips in mock distain. Josh flipped him off, lazily swimming over to the side of the pool, leaving Eliza in the center of the pool by herself. "Don't make me kick you out of this pool." He pretended to threaten, walking away again.
Shortly after, they were joined by the three children and Edgar and they played in the pool for a few hours. Josh, Eliza, and Alice left Edgar's about 3 o clock and headed back to her place. Josh left without coming inside, saying he was going to go home and take a shower and that he'd be back around 5:30. He did however, wait until Alice went inside, stealing a quick kiss from Eliza.
The next chapter is the date. I'm hoping to have it up tomorrow. We'll see how my kiddos behave.