Warning.- some, very little, explicit thing. But it had to be done this way. Mostly, I couldn't resist it.
Please, share with me your reading experience!
Chapter 12. Fascination Street.
When Woody arrived at Max's place, Jordan was waiting for him sitting on the entrance stairs. It was freezing, but it seemed that she hadn't noticed it.
Woody parked the car in front of the house and when he got out, he ran toward her. Jordan stood up. The street lights illuminated her figure; a long shadow had formed at her back, on the floor and on the house wall.
"Are you alright?" Woody inspected her carefully before he hugged her firmly. "What is it, Jordan? You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"I'll tell you back home, Woody… don't worry. Just hold me a little tighter for a moment, Ok?" Her voice was a whisper. She hid her face in his chest.
He did as she requested. They remained in that position for a long time, the hard embrace was comforting for both of them.
"Better now?" He asked as he lifted her face kindly with his hand to look at him. He explored her and noticed that her eyes were red and swollen. She had been crying. He felt a knot in his throat.
She nodded, gripping her lips one upon the other.
"Alright then, let's go home" He said as he placed a hand on the small of her back and lead her softly to the car. When they came along side the car, he kissed her temple. Then he opened the door for her. She climbed in silently.
Woody could sense the huge burden she was carrying in her soul. He looked at her through the car window, his own soul craving to lift some of her burden. He stepped to his side of the car, climbing in too, and pulled out of that place.
The car's confined space was overwhelming. The occasional light, coming from cars on the opposite lane, allowed him to recognize Jordan's sorrowful state of mind every time he glanced at her. She was still silent. She was fighting tears. Her weight of sadness couldn't be good for her, or for him…He felt the oppressive ambience and lowered his window, gasping for air… trying to breath.
He couldn't resist it anymore and pulled out of the road, parking on a side street. Jordan didn't notice it until they were perfectly still. Then she looked at him with questioning eyes.
"Jordan, please, talk to me. What is it, honey?" He pleaded, and rested a hand over Jordan's hands that were on her lap.
She didn't answer. She couldn't take her eyes off their hands.
"What did you have to do at Max's house, Jo?" He moved his hand from her lap and lifted her face to him.
She noticed the anguish on Woody's feature. If she voiced it out loud, as he was asking, everything would become real. Her nightmare. All that betraying, all that blood, all that insanity… all that death. She swallowed hard.
"I was searching for a dress."
Woody was stunned. It didn't make sense at all. "A dress?" He put his hand on her hands again.
Jordan bended over to his side of the car, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Yes… er… I had a dream. A dream about my mom. It was really nice and comforting. I recovered some good memories of her. But… I wanted it to be real, so… I went to search for the dress I was wearing in that dream… I didn't find it."
Her skin felt soft and warm, and her head over him felt amazingly good. She was opening up to him at last. "If that dress was in your dream, why were you expecting to find it Jo?"
"Because it was real! I remember it from my sixth birthday. I didn't make it up. I'm not out of my mind, Woody. I wanted to recover it, and I wanted it to remind me of the good things in my childhood. I wanted that girl back… I want to remember my mom as I saw her in that dream. Not sick, not promiscuous…"
He was beginning to understand where she was coming from. He knew that feeling perfectly well. He as well, had shared the same need to have a good memory of his own mother. He was so young when she died, that he could hardly remember her. Not even her eyes were in his memory anymore. He sighed and kissed her head's top.
They sat wordless, in that position, for ages. They could hear cars passing by, some honks and even a couple of kids on their bikes. The street lights were forming strange shadows inside the car.
A lot of time to think about what was on their minds.
"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" He uttered softly, breaking the spell. It was really bothering him, as he had some ideas that Ann had put in his head.
Without any second thought, she answered. "You were too busy with your case and with Ann… and I didn't want you to worry about me."
There it was, what he had suspected before. "Jo, I want to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth, Ok?"
He was too serious for her liking. She raised her eyebrows, expectant.
"Are you jealous of Ann?" There it was. He had said it. No more hiding, no more pretending. No more of whatever it was, that led him to seek refuge from another woman that was a little less complicated than her. He only wanted to be with Jordan.
"Why would I be? She's nothing but a good-looking, hot, clever profiler." She had wanted to make mock of it, but it had sounded plain lame.
Woody gripped her by her shoulders, and moved her, kindly but firmly, to face him. "I love you." He uttered slowly, wanting for her to learn the meaning of these words. He emphasized it with a strong kiss. He was yearning to dissolve any doubt. He was only hers.
Jordan got lost in that kiss. He tasted like home. He tasted like strong emotions and the future. It was exciting, and at the same time, reassuring.
When they came apart, he explored her face. "Do you understand? I love you."
The tears she was holding back, found their way out freely. "I know… I don't know what's happening to me…"
He hugged her again. "It's alright. We'll be alright." He kissed her forehead and cherished her proximity, smelling her hair through his embrace. It was like heaven.
Suddenly, a light dazzled them. Woody squinted his eyes to get a view through that light.
"Show me your license sir." A police officer was standing outside his window illuminating them with a torch.
"Why officer, we're not doing anything." He answered annoyed, as Jordan and he were innocently embracing each other. Any other forbidden street activity wasn't being performed. They weren't a pair of teens, they were a pair of grown up people. Why wasn't this rookie noticing that? It seemed as if he hadn't even gotten out of school. This stupid kid had disrupted the magic.
Woody flashed his badge at the uniformed policeman. His voice came out authoritative. "We're on surveillance, and you're putting our work at risk, officer. Please move."
"Sorry… detective, I wasn't informed…" The young cop apologized and stepped out. He was scratching his neck with his hand as he left, thinking how embarrassed he was to interfere with the stake out.
When the rookie was out of their sight, Jordan laughed. Her stance had changed completely. "Well, detective…" She whispered in his ear, " Does surveillance include this?" She seized his thigh, moving her hand dangerously close to another part of his body, that he was already feeling aroused.
"Stop it, Jordan." He stumbled with his words.
She wasn't about to give up yet. "What? Don't say that you never did it in a car, huh?" She was already gripping him.
He chocked. The air seemed not to get its way to his lungs. His heart was beating faster and faster. His hand was squeezing the car wheel. " Plea…Please, Jo… Jordan, we're not fif… fifteen."
She was having so much fun. But just to tease him a little more, she changed her hands abruptly from its target. She lifted them to his head and held him firmly. Her eyes had a wicked glint. "Sorry, you were asking for it." She laughed again, releasing him.
He captured her, holding her body against him and kissed her hungrily. Long and wet. At the end, Jordan couldn't open her eyes. She didn't remember where she was, or what she was doing there.
"Revenge!" He said amused.
She sighed and kissed his lips again, this time, sweet and softly. At the end, she said, watching him earnestly. "Remember you once told me that deep down, we know what we want. Not what we say we want, but what we really want?"
"Not my favorite memory, but I remember." He shook his head. Then he straightened on his seat, getting his look fade away on the horizon. Flashes of city lights were brightening his feature.
"Why?" She was puzzled. "Didn't you like it? I mean… I thought you enjoyed the ghost and the weird room. But mostly when we got snowed in on the second day…"
He turned to see Jordan, on the passenger seat of the car. His face showed some anxiety. The memory wasn't really warming his soul. "Of course I enjoyed it! And I meant what I said back then. I loved you already… but you were with the Aussie… sorry… J.D… I thought you were going to break it off with him, and when we came back you didn't… I thought that you didn't want to leave him."
She was reflecting on his words. They were echoing in her mind. "That's where the "rebound guy" thing came from, huh?"
He pretended to be distracted, inspecting the car wheel. His hand was messing his hair and he didn't even notice it. "Well, you know? You didn't seem too eager to leave him. And you didn't tell me that you wanted to be with me either, so…"
"You didn't tell me anything either… and why would I…?" She frowned. She wanted to understand.
He turned to look her again, and spat out "I offered you a ring, Jordan. Remember? Even if it was a friendship ring you knew what it meant."
"I don't know, Woody. We should start talking about all that stuff some day. You certainly had a funny way of saying that you loved me. Throwing me out of your hospital room? Not speaking to me for months? Cheating on me to get what you wanted?"
"Jordan, I… I was very confused… I felt as if life didn't mean anything. You didn't love me… I was going to die just the same stupid way my dad did, by a punk…I was furious… Could you ever forgive me?" He caressed her head with his hand. He wanted to make all the sorrow he had caused disappear. But how could he? It was history now. They had to focus on the future, and they certainly had to start getting all that out from their hearts. Start to speak. Trust each other.
She suddenly changed her bearing, getting excited. "Woody, how much money do you have?"
"What? Why?" He had no clue about what was in her mind.
"How much?" She repeated animatedly.
He dug for his wallet in his pant's pocket, and when he extracted it, he counted "Er… two hundred bucks"
"Not enough, credit card? Forget it, I got mine…what time is it?"
He didn't question her anymore. He grabbed his cell from his waist and found out. "Ten past nine."
"We could do it. Do you have anything important to do tomorrow? I mean, besides the Byrne's case and all that stuff?"
"We're still expecting DNA results for that, but they wouldn't be ready for tomorrow. For next week maybe. Nigel will find out about the source of that mail… I had a meeting with O'Brian's team this afternoon, well, mostly with Ann."
"So, nothing urgent, right?"
He gave her a 'look'. She was acting in a strange way. "Mmmh… What are you planning, Jordan?"
"Let's go to the airport, Woody… we need to grab a flight to Las Vegas."
"What?"
"You want to marry me, don't you?"
"Well, that's kind of what I meant with the ring I gave you."
"I know what I want. And I want it now… Alright, let's get married… tomorrow. We can fly tonight. Tomorrow morning, very early, we get the license and marry there. We can catch the flight back to Boston by noon, and you can meet your lovely profiler by seven, I mean, if it is still that urgent." Her eyes were gleaming. They flashed like a car's headlight.
"What about Garret? And your cases? What about the flight? Vegas is five hours from here, I don't think …" The sole idea of flying was disturbing, let alone the fact that it was an impetuous, and very sudden decision. But he had shared this very thought that morning… they were definitely synchronizing their minds.
"Don't worry about the morgue. I can handle it. About the flight…you can get drunk, I can watch you get drunk and hold you tight… anyway, I bet the minute I hit the pillow on the plane seat, I'll get sleepy."
"So, you're kidnapping me, huh?"
"That's right… So, what do you say?"
"Did you happen to have a white dress in your bag?" He threw her a mischievous glance.
She came nearer him and with a naughty and provocative demeanor, murmured against his lips. "Nope, but I got white underwear… will it do?
He grabbed her again between his arms, holding her firmly against his chest. He kissed her. He didn't seem to get enough of it. "Ok, let's do it."