Ch. 47 One Time It's You, Two Times It's Me
He inhaled a deep breath of morning air as he felt himself waking up. He felt the stiffness of the floor underneath his back. On any other occasion that would normally make him groan and realize he would have an aching back for the rest of the day from sleeping on the floor. But that morning was different. Because as much as he felt that, the feeling of her in his arms was at least a hundred times stronger.
Her soft skin against his was a brilliant contrast to the hardwood floor. He felt the amazing warmth flowing from her touch as she cuddled up next to him in her slumber. He knew she had been awake briefly, he'd felt it. He had always been able to feel her when she woke next to him; like a sixth sense. Whether he would wake fully or not, he always knew. The even sound of her steady breathing was music to him as it signaled that she was sound asleep. He was glad that she was getting some peaceful moments in her sleep.
He knew she didn't have much peace in her life anymore; so he would be thankful for the time she was getting. Jason ran his hand up and down the bare skin of her arm that lay across his stomach. Adjusting her head for comfort, she mumbled something into his chest that he couldn't quite make out.
Unable to control himself, Jason felt the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile. He wished the moment would last forever. However he knew it was not possible. There was a lot they needed to face. He was confident, though, that they could get through this and anything else as long as they had each other. Kissing the top of her head, he heard the light moan that escaped her lips as she began to wake.
"Morning, beautiful." he whispered against her hair.
Courtney opened her eyes and lifted her head, looking up at him. For a moment she couldn't recall what had happened. But as she looked at Jason and their surroundings which had their various articles of clothing strewn about, the images of their actions quickly came to her. She suddenly became aware of the fact that both she and Jason were very naked under the blanket the blanket he'd found her with in the earliest hours of the day. The woman pulled the cover closer to her bare body as a shield.
He watched as the redness crept through her face while she covered herself with the fabric. She was embarrassed. He didn't like the idea of her feeling insecure about herself or her body, especially in his presence. It wasn't new to him, though. It was only briefly before their engagement that she seemed to finally be completely comfortable with the situation. It was , however, understandable to him. She'd explained quite a while ago that A.J. was her first and she still wasn't comfortable with being completely exposed in front of another person. Husband, fiancé or otherwise. That along with the fact that she had been blackmailed into stripping down in front of complete strangers could make a person self conscious. He decided that he would make sure she learned to be comfortable with herself again.
"Are you ok?" he asked, realizing she'd been silent for a few minutes. She looked him in the eyes, and his breath caught. He saw something that scared him. What he was afraid he would see if they'd given in to each other too soon. Doubt.
"Jason, about what happened-" she began and the words tore into him. The words he was dead scared to hear from her.
"It's ok." he interrupted. "I'm sorry. I-I knew it was soon and I should have stopped it."
"Do you really think that?" she asked, failing not to sound hurt by the words he was saying.
"Don't you?" he asked, to which she shook her head.
"I thought…never mind." she dismissed and stood up, taking the blanket that was still wrapped around her body. Jason realized that he had jumped to conclusions and involuntarily gave her the idea that he regretted what happened between them. Wanting to rectify his mistake, he speedily slipped into his jeans and hopped to his feet.
"Wait. I'm sorry I said that." he apologized. " I thought you were regretting it and-and I was just trying-I didn't mean that and I shouldn't have assumed anything. I'm sorry."
She couldn't help but crack a slight smile as he rambled on, trying to redeem himself from his previous statement. She was glad to hear that he did not regret what happened between them. But couldn't help but be disappointed that he had automatically assumed the worst from her before she could even finish what she wanted to say.
"So…" he cleared his throat." what were you going to say?"
"I just want…I need to know what it was about for you." she stated and took a deep breath before forcing herself to spit out the questions that was bothering her. "Was it about trying to make me feel better or was it something else?"
Jason shook his head at the notion. He couldn't believe she was asking him that question. At the moment he wasn't sure if he preferred her regretting what happened or doubting his sincerity.
"No it wasn't like that at all." he answered honestly. "I mean sure, I wanted to help you feel better. But it was so much more than that for me, Courtney."
"What was it?" she asked him, hating that she felt the need to be assured.
"It was about us." he answered. "What happened was about you and me. Nothing else."
"You don't regret it?" she asked. "Not at all?"
"Not at all." he repeated with a smile.
Smiling back, she allowed him to pull her closer to his half nude body. Feeling the warm, bare skin of his chest, Courtney felt the urge to be close to him again. He put his placed his hand against her cheek as they slowly began to lean closer to one another. This time, the kiss was a soft as opposed to the fiery one that initiated the previous event. The kiss grew as the lightning bolts surged throughout their bodies at the contact. He quickly forgot where he was and nearly forgot who he was all together. Nearly. He knew he was a man completely in love with the woman before him. He never wanted to let her go.
"Jase, I - Oh God!" The woman squealed as she entered the penthouse. The two immediately broke apart as Carly's voice cut through the silent air.
"Carly!" Jason hissed at her for disrupting them.
"I'm so sorry guys. I didn't know you were…well…" she explained, trying not to bust out laughing.
Jason decided he was going to have to usher her out of their home or she would never leave. Frustrated and slightly embarrassed that she had now walked in on an intimate moment between them twice, he quickly began to make his way towards her. In his hurry to get to her and get her out, he failed to realize that his foot was entangled in the section of the blanket that pooled around them. As he took a step towards Carly, Jason's foot caught and he ended up face first on the floor. Now he heard her burst out laughing, unable to suppress it anymore. Shaking off the idiocy he felt for his display, he quickly stood again and put his hand on the laughing woman's arm.
"I just can't seem to get my timing down right, huh?" she said, surprising herself that she was able to speak through the laughter.
"Goodbye Carly." he said basically shoving her out the door.
"Bye, guys." she said, in the doorway and turned to face him in the hall before he could close the door. "Make sure you put ice on that!"
Jason slammed the door in her smug face, muffling out her last words. He shook his head and turned to look back at Courtney. Sitting on the couch her face in her hands, he could see her shoulders shaking. At first he was afraid that she was crying but he soon realized that, she too, was laughing uncontrollably.
"Something funny?" he asked her, trying to sound serious.
"I was just…admiring your performance." she said, struggling through her laughter.
"Really?" he asked. "Hope you enjoyed it. It was a one time thing. No encores."
" I did." she answered, as he approached her and sat down also. She lightly placed her hand against the reddening area of his cheek that signaled where he'd hit the floor. "Oh, poor baby."
"It's fine." he answered with a smile. "My pride though, that's another story."
"Well, I don't know what I can do for your pride, but I can put some ice on this if you'd like." she offered.
"I don't need ice." he replied, leaning closer to her so their lips were barely touching. "I do need my medicine though."
"Medicine, hmm?" she said entwining her fingers in his hair and he nodded. " I think I can take care of that."
The door flew open and closed loudly, causing the dark haired man to come out of the kitchen. Pulling of his apron he approached his wife. He immediately noticed she had tears running down her face and he was quickly in front of her.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Sonny." she said laughing, telling him they weren't tears of sorrow or pain.
"What is it?" he asked, now curious as to what had caused her to laugh so hard.
"It happened again."
A/N: Thought i'd throw in some fun stuff before things get serious again:)