I glance down at the objects of my desire and, as if I were connected by a cord, I move in toward them. The hand he has resting on my thigh tightens into a fist. His gaze drops to my mouth, and the flutter in my belly moves lower, throbbing like a heartbeat.
This time, I lean further toward the kiss. His head lowers. My heart skips a beat. The moment I can feel the heat from his breath near my lips, a knock comes to my door. Both he and I pull away from each other; you would think we’d just been caught with our pants down.
“Dad, are you in there?” I jump out of Mitch’s lap as if it caught fire. Standing in front of him with my heart racing and my hand covering my mouth, I stared into his eyes. What the hell were we about to do?
Those blue eyes watch me cautiously for a silent moment. I have no idea what he’s looking for, but when he shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, I assume he’s found it.
“Yeah, Jacob. I’m in here. I’ll be back in a minute. Go back home.” He says all of that without opening his eyes.
“Okay,” Jacobs shouts through the door. “Hey, Aunt Ella.”
His little voice makes my heart beat faster. What the hell was I thinking? I almost just kissed my husband's best friend, the godfather to my boys, my godson’s father. Are you insane, Ella?
“Heee...Hey, Jacob.” I have to start the sentence over when my voice cracks.
Mitch’s eyes pop open, and he stares at me. We both listen as Jacob’s little footfalls walk down my porch. Not one word is spoken between us, yet neither of us turns away.
Finally, when the silence has remained for so long, I speak.
“I’m sorry, that will—”
“Don’t worry—”
“—never happen again.” Our words are spoken on top of each other, but they are heard clearly.
I can’t help but think about the way he must feel. I put him in a completely uncomfortable situation, one I know he doesn’t want to be in.
Mitch climbs to his feet. I take a step back, not even sure I should be this close to the man. Now that he’s standing, I can’t look at him. I feel so embarrassed. I look at the wall, the floor, even the curtains behind him. Anywhere but at him.
“Good night, Ella. Lock up,” he says before turning and heading out the door.
I don’t wait as I rush to the door to lock it. Like always, he stands there until he hears the lock engage. Too ashamed to look out the window, I listened to his heavy footsteps walk down my stairs.
When he’s gone, I bump my forehead against the closed door.
“So stupid, Ella. So idiotic.” I scold myself out loud before turning and heading to the shower. I couldn’t wait to wash and leave this day behind me.
New Rules
Chapter Eleven
Ella
“That is awful, Ella. I can’t believe he turned out to be a complete weirdo,” Kyra says as she sits back up after grabbing the bottle Aria dropped on the floor.
Just like we planned, we all met up for brunch today to talk about my date. I had hoped to go over how great it was, but unfortunately, that’s not how the night ended.
“The sad thing is, his actions aren’t uncommon.” Pamela takes a sip of her mimosa before finishing her sentence. “I hear stories all the time about how men on those sites prey on who theythink are the ‘vulnerable’ women.” She uses air quotes when she mentions the word vulnerable.
“I know a girl at my job who says men often swipe on her because she’s a single mother. It’s like they think just because she has kids she has no morals.”
I shake my head at Destiny’s words. It's so disgusting that people think just because someone has had kids or divorced that they are desperate for any attention. Having children makes most people a lot pickier about who they allow into their lives.
The more I hear about this dating world, the more I think I may not be ready.
“Well, I’ve already contacted the app developers to warn about his scheme, and I reached out to G-Mobile to let them know what type of person they have working for them.” Jada says placing her phone down on the table.
“Dang, Jada. You did all that in thirty minutes?” Meagan teases.
