Part 9
~~
Rory woke up at nine on Sunday morning and looked out her window.
"It's probably going to be 150 degrees today! Perfect time to volunteer." She grumbled.
She got out of bed, took a shower, and threw on the most "summery" clothes she had, then she ran upstairs to her mom's room and jumped on her bed.
"Come on! Get up! We gotta go, I can't be late!"
Lorelai swatted at her daughter, "Go away, it's too early!"
Rory disappeared out the door and came back a minute later with a glass of water, "You have five seconds before I drown you with this water."
Lorelai yawned, "You wouldn't dare."
Rory grinned evilly, "Five, four, three."
Lorelai rolled over.
"Two, one."
Lorelai didn't move, so Rory dumped the ice cold water on her mom's face. Lorelai shot up and screamed bloody murder. Rory took that as he cue and ran downstairs and out the front door before her mom could catch her. Ten minutes later, Lorelai came downstairs with the mother of all scowls on her face.
Rory gave her an innocent smile, "Morning mommy."
Lorelai shot daggers at Rory, "DO NOT fall asleep tonight. Get your ass in the car."
Rory didn't say a word, just jumped in the car and tried her best to hide her enormous grin.
~~
When they got to Chilton Lorelai had finally started to lighten up, "You are a foolish, foolish child, and you would do good to lock your door tonight when you go to sleep."
Rory could sense the playful tone in Lorelai's voice, "I'll definitely do that."
Lorelai smiled, "Have fun today. I'll see you at 3:30."
"Ok, bye mom." She gave Lorelai a hug and jumped out of the car.
When Rory got to the parking lot, Louise and Madeline were already giving the volunteers instructions on what to do. Rory quietly joined the crowd and listened to the girls. After everyone started working, Louise and Madeline went to Rory.
"Hi Rory." Madeline smiled.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late."
Louise smiled, "No biggy. Paris cancelled so we need someone to be in our group; interested?"
Rory smiled, "Sure, anything that'll help."
"Great, let's get started!" Louise grabbed Rory's hand and dragged her away.
Three hours later, Rory had washed 12 cars, been drenched 3 times, and been hit on by 5 guys. She threw down her sponge and went to take a break.
Across the parking lot Jess was watching her. He had been there for 20 minutes studying her every move, among other things. She was wearing jean shorts that were far too short, a black spaghetti strap tank top, and sandals.
Rory saw him watching her and went over to him, "What are you doing here?"
"You won't wear a bathing suit to do this, but you'll wear that?"
"What?" Rory asked defensively.
"A bathing suit would cover more."
"It's like 150 degrees out here, what did you expect me to wear, sweats?"
"Come on Rory, you're being gawked at." Jess pointed to a group of guys about 15 feet away eyeing her.
"So? They're jerks. They hit on me like three times today."
"Just imagine what they're thinking about you right now dressed like that."
Rory grinned, "Probably not much different than what you're thinking."
"Well, at least you know me." Jess didn't even try to deny it.
"Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"Luke forgot something yesterday when he was here, so he sent me back to get it."
"Ah. Well, I'm glad you're here. What ever happened to Vanessa?"
"What?"
"Well, I was so caught up in the events of yesterday; I forgot to ask, what happened to Vanessa?"
"She's history."
"Ooh, do tell."
"Not much to tell, she was just using me to make some guy jealous."
"Ouch."
"Yea well, I was maybe kinda using her."
"Ya don't say?" Rory had a smirk on her face, "Maybe to make me jealous?"
"Well, it worked didn't it?"
Rory didn't answer, she just glared at him.
One of the guys who had been gawking at her came over, "Hey baby, you plan on getting wet again any time soon?"
"Excuse me?"
"It's really fascinating to watch you flirting with your boyfriend here, but that's not what we came to watch." He had a cocky grin on his face.
Rory had an evil grin on her face, "That's right, he is my boyfriend."
Then without warning, Rory grabbed Jess and pulled him into a kiss. He knew exactly what she was doing, so he played along; he put his hands on her waist and slid them down until he was less than an inch from touching her butt, Even though he was tempted, he refrained form doing so, and instead moved his hands back to her waist. There was about a two inch gap between her shorts and shirt, so his hands came to rest on the exposed skin. Without realizing it, Rory moaned a little at the feel of his hands touching her skin, causing Jess to deepen the kiss. When they finally parted, Rory was out of breath and so was Jess.
"You have no idea what you're doing to me." He whispered to Rory, with his arms still wrapped around her.
She tried to catch her breath and turned around to face the guy who had been hitting on her, "My boyfriend, so get lost."
The guy glared at Jess, then went back to his friends.
Jess looked at Rory, "I repeat, you have no idea what you're doing to me."
"Sorry, but I wanted him to leave me alone, and it worked."
"Yea, but you could have thought of something that wouldn't cause me to want to take a cold shower." He grumbled.
Rory couldn't help but smile, "I'm sorry."
"When are you done with all this?"
"Three, I think."
"You want a ride home?"
"Naw, my mom's gonna pick me up, thanks though."
"Oh, yea, that's another reason why I'm here; there was an emergency at the Inn and your mom had to go to work."
"So she's not coming?"
"She came to the diner and asked if I could pick you up."
"That's why you're here."
"Yep."
"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
"I was distracted."
"By what?"
He looked at her outfit, then back at her.
Rory blushed, "Oh, well, in that case, you can give me a ride home."
"Can I really? Thanks." He said dryly.
"Well, it's gonna be a few more hours."
"That's ok, I can wait."
"What are you gonna do?"
"Watch you.wash cars that is." Jess smirked.
"Suit yourself; but if you get bored, meet me back here at 3:30."
"Watching you is hardly bored." He replied.
Rory blushed again, "Stop that."
"What?" He asked innocently.
"Saying stuff like that."
"Well, it's true."
"Ok, I'm leaving now."
"3:30."
"Yea."
"See ya then."
"Yea."
Rory went back to washing cars and Jess decided to explore the town.
~~
At 3:30, Jess went back to Chilton and saw Rory finishing up the last car. He started to walk over to her, but was stopped by the guy that had been hitting on her earlier.
"Tell me one thing, is she as good as she looks?"
Jess' hand curled into a fist, "Give it up man, she'll NEVER give you a chance."
The guy snickered, "Well, if I don't have a chance with her, you sure as hell don't."
"Are you TRYING to get your own ass kicked?"
"Just remember what I said; if I don't stand a chance, neither do you."
Just then Rory walked up to the boys, "Hi Jess, let's go."
She ignored the guy and took Jess' hand.
Jess sneered at the guy, "Are you sure about that?"
Then they walked off.
"What was that about?" Rory asked still holding Jess' hand.
"Nothing, he's just being an asshole."
"Whatever you say."
When they got to Luke's truck, Jess opened the door for Rory and helped her in, "M'lady." (However you spell that)
Rory smiled, "Thank you kind sir."
He smiled and closed the door.
During the ride home, there was an awkward silence between the two. No matter how much he tried to focus on the road, Jess' eyes kept drifting over to Rory's legs, then her stomach, and then stopped at her lips. She was driving him absolutely crazy and she didn't even know it. When they got back to Stars Hollow, they went straight to the diner.
"Ooh, you read my mind; I need coffee."
"What can I say, I know you well."
"I guess you do."
Rory tried to open the door, but the handle was stuck, "Uh, the truck won't let me out." She kept pulling on the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
"The damn handle keeps getting stuck. You'd think that Luke would actually buy a vehicle that was made AFTER 1944." Rory laughed and Jess reached over to open the door. The handle was still sticking, so he leaned over more so his other hand could reach the handle too. He pulled on the handle with one hand and slammed his other hand against the door and it popped open.
"All you have to do is." Jess stopped mid-sentence when he looked at Rory and saw that he was only inches away from her face. He couldn't help it; he leaned in and smelled her.
"How do you manage to smell so damn good all the time?"
"It's called soap." Rory managed to squeak out. She could feel his breath on her face. Every time he got that close, she couldn't think straight; he always seemed to send her hormones into overdrive.
He leaned closer and breathed in the air around her, "You are driving me crazy."
Rory tried to lighten the intense situation, "I could stop showering, that might help."
Jess leaned in even closer and whispered in her ear, "You'd smell good to me, no matter what."
His voice was deep and husky and Rory was losing all her self-control. She gently pushed him away and jumped out of the truck. He quickly slid over and jumped out the passenger side and caught her arm, pulling her closer to him.
"Wait, we have to talk about this."
"Talk about what?"
"This.us. You cannot deny the attraction, the chemistry, the extreme sexual tension that the whole damn town can feel every time we are within a mile of each other."
He slowly turned around and backed her up until she was pinned between him and the truck.
"Jess, please don't do this." Rory's voice was cracking.
"Do what?" He put his hands on her hips and moved them up until they were on her waist.
The direct finger-to-skin contact made Rory whimper and she closed her eyes, "Jess, I."
Before she could finish, he kissed her. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, then he moved his lips down her jaw, then over to her neck.
"Jess.." Rory moaned.
"Tell me to stop." He was gasping for breath
"Stop."
"You have to mean it."
"Lorelai."
That made Jess stop. He looked at Rory, "What?"
"My mom, she's in the diner, she might see us."
"So." He kissed her again.
"I don't..really want to..explain this to her...right now." She managed to say between kisses.
Jess finally stopped, "Good point."
Jess reluctantly took his hands off Rory's waist and a protesting-type sound escaped her lips. She looked directly into his eyes, 'We have to talk about this.later; when my mom and Luke aren't around."
Jess nodded, "Yea."
Rory walked a little ahead of Jess on the way to the diner, all the while, feeling him watching her. Without really realizing it, she smiled. When they got to the diner, Rory sat at the counter next to her mom, and Jess immediately went behind the counter.
Lorelai smiled, "Hey babe. Did you have fun?"
"Yea, it was ok; hotter than hell though."
Lorelai looked over her daughter, "You look at little flustered."
Rory caught a glimpse of Jess out of the corner of her eye and saw the smile that was creeping on his face while he was pouring her some coffee.
"Do I?" Was all she managed to get out.
Jess set the coffee in front of Rory and she smiled, taking the cup in her hands and savoring the taste.
"You know, you've been acting weird lately." Lorelai looked at Rory.
Rory deliberately changed the subject, "I'm gonna go home and change; this outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination if you know what I mean."
Jess couldn't resist, "Yes, but that's." "Jess." Lorelai, Luke, and Rory said in unison.
Jess could hear the warning tones in their voices, so he shut his mouth and grabbed an order for a table.
Rory gave her mom a hug, "I'll see ya at home."
"Ok." Lorelai grinned.
As Rory headed for the door, she saw Jess taking an order. When he looked up at her, she winked at him, then left, leaving a smirk on Jess' face.
As Rory started walking home, she let out a huge sigh, "What am I getting myself into?"
~~~
End of part 9.
~~
Rory woke up at nine on Sunday morning and looked out her window.
"It's probably going to be 150 degrees today! Perfect time to volunteer." She grumbled.
She got out of bed, took a shower, and threw on the most "summery" clothes she had, then she ran upstairs to her mom's room and jumped on her bed.
"Come on! Get up! We gotta go, I can't be late!"
Lorelai swatted at her daughter, "Go away, it's too early!"
Rory disappeared out the door and came back a minute later with a glass of water, "You have five seconds before I drown you with this water."
Lorelai yawned, "You wouldn't dare."
Rory grinned evilly, "Five, four, three."
Lorelai rolled over.
"Two, one."
Lorelai didn't move, so Rory dumped the ice cold water on her mom's face. Lorelai shot up and screamed bloody murder. Rory took that as he cue and ran downstairs and out the front door before her mom could catch her. Ten minutes later, Lorelai came downstairs with the mother of all scowls on her face.
Rory gave her an innocent smile, "Morning mommy."
Lorelai shot daggers at Rory, "DO NOT fall asleep tonight. Get your ass in the car."
Rory didn't say a word, just jumped in the car and tried her best to hide her enormous grin.
~~
When they got to Chilton Lorelai had finally started to lighten up, "You are a foolish, foolish child, and you would do good to lock your door tonight when you go to sleep."
Rory could sense the playful tone in Lorelai's voice, "I'll definitely do that."
Lorelai smiled, "Have fun today. I'll see you at 3:30."
"Ok, bye mom." She gave Lorelai a hug and jumped out of the car.
When Rory got to the parking lot, Louise and Madeline were already giving the volunteers instructions on what to do. Rory quietly joined the crowd and listened to the girls. After everyone started working, Louise and Madeline went to Rory.
"Hi Rory." Madeline smiled.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late."
Louise smiled, "No biggy. Paris cancelled so we need someone to be in our group; interested?"
Rory smiled, "Sure, anything that'll help."
"Great, let's get started!" Louise grabbed Rory's hand and dragged her away.
Three hours later, Rory had washed 12 cars, been drenched 3 times, and been hit on by 5 guys. She threw down her sponge and went to take a break.
Across the parking lot Jess was watching her. He had been there for 20 minutes studying her every move, among other things. She was wearing jean shorts that were far too short, a black spaghetti strap tank top, and sandals.
Rory saw him watching her and went over to him, "What are you doing here?"
"You won't wear a bathing suit to do this, but you'll wear that?"
"What?" Rory asked defensively.
"A bathing suit would cover more."
"It's like 150 degrees out here, what did you expect me to wear, sweats?"
"Come on Rory, you're being gawked at." Jess pointed to a group of guys about 15 feet away eyeing her.
"So? They're jerks. They hit on me like three times today."
"Just imagine what they're thinking about you right now dressed like that."
Rory grinned, "Probably not much different than what you're thinking."
"Well, at least you know me." Jess didn't even try to deny it.
"Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"Luke forgot something yesterday when he was here, so he sent me back to get it."
"Ah. Well, I'm glad you're here. What ever happened to Vanessa?"
"What?"
"Well, I was so caught up in the events of yesterday; I forgot to ask, what happened to Vanessa?"
"She's history."
"Ooh, do tell."
"Not much to tell, she was just using me to make some guy jealous."
"Ouch."
"Yea well, I was maybe kinda using her."
"Ya don't say?" Rory had a smirk on her face, "Maybe to make me jealous?"
"Well, it worked didn't it?"
Rory didn't answer, she just glared at him.
One of the guys who had been gawking at her came over, "Hey baby, you plan on getting wet again any time soon?"
"Excuse me?"
"It's really fascinating to watch you flirting with your boyfriend here, but that's not what we came to watch." He had a cocky grin on his face.
Rory had an evil grin on her face, "That's right, he is my boyfriend."
Then without warning, Rory grabbed Jess and pulled him into a kiss. He knew exactly what she was doing, so he played along; he put his hands on her waist and slid them down until he was less than an inch from touching her butt, Even though he was tempted, he refrained form doing so, and instead moved his hands back to her waist. There was about a two inch gap between her shorts and shirt, so his hands came to rest on the exposed skin. Without realizing it, Rory moaned a little at the feel of his hands touching her skin, causing Jess to deepen the kiss. When they finally parted, Rory was out of breath and so was Jess.
"You have no idea what you're doing to me." He whispered to Rory, with his arms still wrapped around her.
She tried to catch her breath and turned around to face the guy who had been hitting on her, "My boyfriend, so get lost."
The guy glared at Jess, then went back to his friends.
Jess looked at Rory, "I repeat, you have no idea what you're doing to me."
"Sorry, but I wanted him to leave me alone, and it worked."
"Yea, but you could have thought of something that wouldn't cause me to want to take a cold shower." He grumbled.
Rory couldn't help but smile, "I'm sorry."
"When are you done with all this?"
"Three, I think."
"You want a ride home?"
"Naw, my mom's gonna pick me up, thanks though."
"Oh, yea, that's another reason why I'm here; there was an emergency at the Inn and your mom had to go to work."
"So she's not coming?"
"She came to the diner and asked if I could pick you up."
"That's why you're here."
"Yep."
"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
"I was distracted."
"By what?"
He looked at her outfit, then back at her.
Rory blushed, "Oh, well, in that case, you can give me a ride home."
"Can I really? Thanks." He said dryly.
"Well, it's gonna be a few more hours."
"That's ok, I can wait."
"What are you gonna do?"
"Watch you.wash cars that is." Jess smirked.
"Suit yourself; but if you get bored, meet me back here at 3:30."
"Watching you is hardly bored." He replied.
Rory blushed again, "Stop that."
"What?" He asked innocently.
"Saying stuff like that."
"Well, it's true."
"Ok, I'm leaving now."
"3:30."
"Yea."
"See ya then."
"Yea."
Rory went back to washing cars and Jess decided to explore the town.
~~
At 3:30, Jess went back to Chilton and saw Rory finishing up the last car. He started to walk over to her, but was stopped by the guy that had been hitting on her earlier.
"Tell me one thing, is she as good as she looks?"
Jess' hand curled into a fist, "Give it up man, she'll NEVER give you a chance."
The guy snickered, "Well, if I don't have a chance with her, you sure as hell don't."
"Are you TRYING to get your own ass kicked?"
"Just remember what I said; if I don't stand a chance, neither do you."
Just then Rory walked up to the boys, "Hi Jess, let's go."
She ignored the guy and took Jess' hand.
Jess sneered at the guy, "Are you sure about that?"
Then they walked off.
"What was that about?" Rory asked still holding Jess' hand.
"Nothing, he's just being an asshole."
"Whatever you say."
When they got to Luke's truck, Jess opened the door for Rory and helped her in, "M'lady." (However you spell that)
Rory smiled, "Thank you kind sir."
He smiled and closed the door.
During the ride home, there was an awkward silence between the two. No matter how much he tried to focus on the road, Jess' eyes kept drifting over to Rory's legs, then her stomach, and then stopped at her lips. She was driving him absolutely crazy and she didn't even know it. When they got back to Stars Hollow, they went straight to the diner.
"Ooh, you read my mind; I need coffee."
"What can I say, I know you well."
"I guess you do."
Rory tried to open the door, but the handle was stuck, "Uh, the truck won't let me out." She kept pulling on the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
"The damn handle keeps getting stuck. You'd think that Luke would actually buy a vehicle that was made AFTER 1944." Rory laughed and Jess reached over to open the door. The handle was still sticking, so he leaned over more so his other hand could reach the handle too. He pulled on the handle with one hand and slammed his other hand against the door and it popped open.
"All you have to do is." Jess stopped mid-sentence when he looked at Rory and saw that he was only inches away from her face. He couldn't help it; he leaned in and smelled her.
"How do you manage to smell so damn good all the time?"
"It's called soap." Rory managed to squeak out. She could feel his breath on her face. Every time he got that close, she couldn't think straight; he always seemed to send her hormones into overdrive.
He leaned closer and breathed in the air around her, "You are driving me crazy."
Rory tried to lighten the intense situation, "I could stop showering, that might help."
Jess leaned in even closer and whispered in her ear, "You'd smell good to me, no matter what."
His voice was deep and husky and Rory was losing all her self-control. She gently pushed him away and jumped out of the truck. He quickly slid over and jumped out the passenger side and caught her arm, pulling her closer to him.
"Wait, we have to talk about this."
"Talk about what?"
"This.us. You cannot deny the attraction, the chemistry, the extreme sexual tension that the whole damn town can feel every time we are within a mile of each other."
He slowly turned around and backed her up until she was pinned between him and the truck.
"Jess, please don't do this." Rory's voice was cracking.
"Do what?" He put his hands on her hips and moved them up until they were on her waist.
The direct finger-to-skin contact made Rory whimper and she closed her eyes, "Jess, I."
Before she could finish, he kissed her. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, then he moved his lips down her jaw, then over to her neck.
"Jess.." Rory moaned.
"Tell me to stop." He was gasping for breath
"Stop."
"You have to mean it."
"Lorelai."
That made Jess stop. He looked at Rory, "What?"
"My mom, she's in the diner, she might see us."
"So." He kissed her again.
"I don't..really want to..explain this to her...right now." She managed to say between kisses.
Jess finally stopped, "Good point."
Jess reluctantly took his hands off Rory's waist and a protesting-type sound escaped her lips. She looked directly into his eyes, 'We have to talk about this.later; when my mom and Luke aren't around."
Jess nodded, "Yea."
Rory walked a little ahead of Jess on the way to the diner, all the while, feeling him watching her. Without really realizing it, she smiled. When they got to the diner, Rory sat at the counter next to her mom, and Jess immediately went behind the counter.
Lorelai smiled, "Hey babe. Did you have fun?"
"Yea, it was ok; hotter than hell though."
Lorelai looked over her daughter, "You look at little flustered."
Rory caught a glimpse of Jess out of the corner of her eye and saw the smile that was creeping on his face while he was pouring her some coffee.
"Do I?" Was all she managed to get out.
Jess set the coffee in front of Rory and she smiled, taking the cup in her hands and savoring the taste.
"You know, you've been acting weird lately." Lorelai looked at Rory.
Rory deliberately changed the subject, "I'm gonna go home and change; this outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination if you know what I mean."
Jess couldn't resist, "Yes, but that's." "Jess." Lorelai, Luke, and Rory said in unison.
Jess could hear the warning tones in their voices, so he shut his mouth and grabbed an order for a table.
Rory gave her mom a hug, "I'll see ya at home."
"Ok." Lorelai grinned.
As Rory headed for the door, she saw Jess taking an order. When he looked up at her, she winked at him, then left, leaving a smirk on Jess' face.
As Rory started walking home, she let out a huge sigh, "What am I getting myself into?"
~~~
End of part 9.