Chapter Twenty-Three

Thoughts About Love

Jack was different.

Melissa hated to keep using that word, but really, there was no other word. He was just different. Was the future effecting him? Did he hate going without adventure? Did he miss the sea? Melissa just wanted to know what was wrong!

He hadn't looked much at her since yesterday. He looked like he was really thinking about something. And she had gone so long without his kisses...

"Jack," she said gently, touching his cheek. She noticed it was a little rough...was it because of all the sun and saltwater?

His alert brown eyes looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Melissa asked.

"Nothin'," Jack replied, putting on one of his famous grins.

Jack's smile...it made her weak in the knees even though they were sitting down on the couch he slept on.

That one smile started a chain of events. It started Melissa's own smile. Her smile led to a kiss. That kiss lead to another one. The other kiss led to steamy make-out session.

Which led to Jack trying to take Melissa's top off.

Now, Melissa wasn't sure if she wanted to have sex. Well, not now, anyways. Yes, she wanted to. And quite possibly with Jack. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to make a big decision in the heat of the moment. Or on a couch that she could never look at the same way again.

"What are you doing?" she asked, breaking away from their kiss.

Wow. She noticed that their kiss had gotten a little more intense than she would have liked. She noticed that she was on top of Jack and...goodness...she should be asking herself this question! She had never done this with a man before! Who was she to start now?

"I do believe I should be askin' ya the same question, love, but your's will probably have same response," he said, kissing her again. "So how 'bout we just get it over with?"

"Get it over with?" She got off of Jack and stood up and buttoned her red plaid shirt up. "I beg your pardon?"

"You want somethin' that I want, and I have somethin' that you want. Why wait to make a trade as valuable as that?"

"There's nothing to trade," she said, tying her hair in a ponytail. "And if you're thinking I'm short on money, Jack, I'm not."

"You are short on somethin' else, are ya not?"

"I am not sex deprived!" Melissa said. "You are."

"No one said anythin' about sex deprivation."

"You implied it."

"I could have implied many different things, you just took it that I thought you were sex deprived, which, love, we both really are."

"I see. And how long have you been going without a whore?"

"That's none of your business, darlin'."

"Then please don't get into my business, Jack."

Silence between them challenged the other to speak, yet none of them dared to. Melissa was standing up, arms crossed over her chest, looking at Jack. Jack was looking blankly back at her.

And before she knew it, she was right where she had began, on the couch with Jack.

This is so wrong, Melissa thought. He's only in it to bed me.

She felt his lips against her's, his tongue exploring her mouth. His hand was on her back. It sent chills up her spine just at his touch.

I'm not going to do it. My clothes are going to stay on.

Jack's kiss left her mouth and traveled down her neck.

No! she thought. Please don't tell me no, Jack! You know I won't be able to.

His hand left her back and both began unbuttoning her shirt again. Her heart started racing.

"Please don't seduce me," she said suddenly, breaking away from the kiss.

Jack looked at her funny. "I was plannin' on doin' nothin' o' the sorts," he said innocently.

Melissa sat on one end of the couch, legs crossed. "At least you listened to me," she said.

It had been a good night for Kate. She had gotten to cuddle and talk with Will and even kiss him. And now, they were still together on the couch upstairs, with Will holding one of her hands.

She didn't want their time alone to end. Kate really loved spending time with Will. In fact, she loved him. Kate loved everything that there was to love about Will. She loved the way he held her, the look in his eyes when his met her's...

Their time alone...How could she forget? Her parents were coming home tomorrow from New York!

Kate sat up quickly. Will's arm that was around her lied awkwardly across the couch. "Kate? What's wrong?"

"How could I have forgot? Oh, my God! My parents are coming home tomorrow! What do I tell them? I mean, you're here, of course my dad is going to start freaking out that a guy is in the house – he's a dad! And my mom – who knows what she's going to think–"

"Kate–" Will said before he was interrupted.

"I'm so stupid! Do I not think anymore? Well, Jack's here, that's going to throw anyone off–"

"Katherine–"

"You've got to hide when they come home! No, maybe you can make up an alias–"

"Kate!" Will said. "Listen to yourself!"

Now that Kate was quiet, she realized that she did sound like a madman going on a wild rant. But really, how could she not have remembered? Was she too caught up in Will and Jack that she forgot all about her parents?

"Right," she said. "I'm sorry." She sighed. "My parents are going to come over and they're going to be, well, surprised when they find you here. We have to make up an excuse...How about you're one of my classmates? And your parents kicked you out right after graduation because they thought you needed a dose of the real world?"

Will looked quizzically.

"If you can think of a better one, you tell me it, then."

"Um...that's just fine," he said.

"Will, I can't use the truth. They're going to think I'm crazy!"

"And at the risk of not being called mad..."

"I will lie to them."

"And your mother and father...they're going to be fine with a man in their house alone with their daughter?"

Kate shrugged. "I guess we'll take that tomorrow. Don't defend me, though. I can handle this on my own."

Don't defend me.

What did Kate mean by that? Did she mean for him to keep quiet when he met her parents for the first time? Or did she mean just in general to not defend her?

Will was trying to adapt to a new woman in his life. She reminded him so much of Elizabeth...was that why he loved her? They both had the fieriness and independence, not to mention beauty.

Was Will even over Elizabeth? Of course he was! Elizabeth and Kate were two different people. That's why he loved Kate...or did he love Kate because of the similarities?

Will closed his eyes and tried to sleep in his bed. But whenever he closed his eyes, all he could think about was Kate. She could understand that sometimes she came off as a little hard to approach. Her beauty was intimidating, as well as her strong personality. But once someone was brave enough to approach her, they could see that she was a regular person.

What was Will doing loving a girl like Kate? She could have anyone that she wanted. If she had lived in the 1700s, she would have been married off to someone like Commodore Norrington or Lord Beckett already.

If Kate really could have anyone, then what was she doing, staying with him?

She must love me, he thought, a small smile creeping onto his face.
Melissa or Kate?

Kate or Melissa?

Love or lust?

Lust or love?

Those are the questions that swam through Jack's mind that night as he tried to sleep alone on Melissa's couch like the Kraken through the Carribean Sea. Lust was tempting – lust being Kate. Kate was a piece of meat being dangled in front of a starving man. And Jack, being the starving man, needed that piece of meat.

But Melissa was love. Well, Jack could never love a woman. He could love the sea, though. But that was not a woman. The sea was freedom. He loved freedom. Kate was freedom. He could have her anytime that he wanted, no strings attached.

Love was always meant for the long term. That's why love bored Jack. Love never had anything exciting. But lust...that was exciting and adventurous. Just like Kate. She longed for freedom...she longed for Jack as well.

But Melissa...yes, he longed for Jack, just not in the same way. She wanted love and a diamond ring and a dress. Well, not right away, obviously. It hadn't even been a week. And she had never been direct about her intentions with him, but she had said that she wouldn't dive into the sheets until some stiff man with a Bible pronounced them man and wife.

What if Jack had ended up at Kate's house? How would things have played out?

He wouldn't be sleeping alone on a couch, that's for sure.

Melissa's Blog Entry

No. I am not thinking dirty thoughts. I am a good girl. Good girls don't think about doing things like this with their boyfriends. Gosh, I'm horrible at lying even in a blog entry! Okay, you want to know the truth? Here it is! Maybe I did want Jack to take my shirt off. Maybe I did want to do something on that couch. Why did I say "Please don't seduce me"??? Because that is not what I wanted!

Love,

Melissa Rose

Kate's Blog Entry

I love Will. I really do. Contrary to what some people think, I really do. It's just that Jack is trying to tempt me...but I'm not going to give into temptation. And I really like cuddling with Will...I love the way he kisses me...Do you think he loves me, too?

XOXO,

Kate

I'm so sorry if this was a boring chapter! Next one is going to be funny -- I promise!