257Chapter Three – The Spanish Inquisition
The door swung open and Jamie was immediately greeted with a bright smile that made his stomach knot. He wondered if he would ever get used to her smiles but at the same time, he hoped that she would always be able to give him pains in his gut.
She looked beautiful that night and he, once again, felt rather sloppy just by being in her presence. Her hair was tumbling down her back with the front locks pinned off of her face. He loved her hair. It reminded him of piles of hay laid out in the sunlight. It wasn't exactly the most poetic description but that was what he was reminded of whenever he saw her wavy locks. She wore a strapless yellow dress that fitted her body perfectly and floated down to her knees.
He was wearing his nicest pair of blue jeans and a buttoned down forest green dress shirt. He had gone to see his mother that afternoon and she had given him a haircut though his dark brown hair was still a bit on the shaggy side.
"Hi!" Violet said happily and surprised him when she kissed him on the cheek.
"Hey," Jamie smiled, trying to keep from staring and reminding himself that breathing was necessary. "You look... wow."
He almost slapped his hand to his forehead. What the hell was the matter with him? He surely could have come up with something better than that. He sounded like an absolute idiot!
Violet didn't seem to mind though and she continued to smile. "Thank you. That was exactly what I was going for," she said and he smiled. "And who is this?" She asked, crouching down in front of Selby, who sat obediently on the floor next to his owner, his tail wagging and his tongue lopping out of his mouth. "Hey, boy. You must be Selby."
The dog panted excitedly as she rubbed him behind his ears affectionately.
"Are you sure you're allowed dogs in your apartment?" Jamie asked, a little weary.
Most girls shied away from Selby just because of his size or because they found dogs to be absolutely disgusting creatures. But Jamie couldn't help but stare at Violet as she scratched the dog's head. If he wasn't sure before, he was damned sure right then. He was going to keep her in his life for a bit.
Any girl that could love his dog could easily find themselves in Jamie's heart as well.
"It's not a problem at all," Violet reassured him just as she had done over the phone earlier. "I'm glad you brought him over." She stood up and flashing him a smile, she stepped back and opened the door wider, motioning for him to come in. "Now," she said, closing the door behind him. "Who is Selby named for? Because I know it's not your typical dog name."
Jamie grinned, leaning down and unhooking Selby's leash. The dog instantly trotted away, sniffing at his new surroundings. He cast a glance at Violet but she didn't seem bothered in the least by the animal making himself at home.
"I named him for Hubert Selby, Jr. He wrote 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' and 'Requiem for a Dream'. He's one of my favorite authors and when I bought him, I couldn't bear to give him a name like Buddy."
Violet laughed. "I'm glad you didn't. Selby suits him perfectly."
The dog hopped up on the cushions of her window seat but Violet didn't seem to care. Instead, she turned and went into the kitchen to check on how dinner was progressing. Jamie followed and watched as she opened the oven door and with oven mitts, carefully slid the dish out covered in aluminum foil. He saw two more pots simmering on the stove and he wondered what she had prepared. He stood behind her and looked over her shoulder as she pulled back part of the foil. The most heavenly scent wafted into his nose and his stomach grumbled, making Violet laugh.
"Perfect," she teased and he grinned. "I hope you like lemon chicken."
Jamie nodded his head, still staring at the food. He had been hungry before but now, he was famished. She definitely knew how to deliver when she promised dinner. Violet covered the chicken again and slid it back into the oven, closing the door.
"About ten more minutes," she said in a much softer voice and Jamie realized how close they were standing.
His chest was to her back and he held his breath when she leaned against him. He slowly lifted his arms and circled them around her body making her turn her head so she could look at him. She smiled faintly and it only encouraged him further. He lowered his head to the crook of her neck and ever so lightly began dropping kisses on her skin. She smelled like roses. She seemed to be enjoying it for she rested her hands on his arms that were still securely around her.
"Jamie," she whispered. He didn't stop though or lift his head. His lips brushed across her shoulder and sucked gently on the delicate skin. "That feels good," she said and he smiled.
"That's all I want," he whispered heavily in her ear. "I just want to make you feel good."
"You might have to stop though. Dinner," she reminded him but he didn't want to let her go just yet. In response, he only tightened his arms around her and she gasped softly. "I take food very seriously and if you make me burn ours..."
He chuckled. "Okay," he sighed and fell back away from her.
She turned around to look at him and she gave him a faint smile. She was the one to approach him and she slid her arms around his waist. His body stiffened ever so slightly when her lips kissed his throat under his chin.
"I thought your main priority was dinner," he teased.
Her lips found their way to his ear and he couldn't believe how his body's reaction to her gentle kisses was immediate. She rubbed against him so his condition did not go unnoticed by her. He wanted so much more at the moment. He wanted her, all of her, and the fact that they weren't nearly close enough was driving him mad.
"You started it," Violet whispered, slowly making her way to his lips.
As much as it pained him, he put his arms on her arms, squeezing and causing her to stop. She looked at him quizzically and he closed his eyes before he pounced on her.
"I think we should slow down." He dared to look at her and she was still staring at him, her mouth slightly parted and he had to control every urge in him to not attack her and kiss the very breath from her. "I mean, you have no idea how much I want you but... I think we should take it slow."
Violet was silent for a few moments as she thought it over. "Okay," she finally said with a shrug. She turned and grabbed the over mitts again to check on the chicken.
Jamie's mouth hung open. "Okay? Just like that? Okay?" He demanded and she gave him an odd look. "I mean, I'm hurting right now and you don't even seem to care that I want to slow things down a bit."
Violet shrugged again and he could have killed her. She bit back a smile. "The bathroom is down the hall if you want to ease the pain," she teased and he gawked at her. "It was your suggestion to slow down."
"And what? You don't want to slow down?" He asked, clenching and unclenching his hands to keep from reaching out to touch her.
The instant he touched her, he would not be responsible for his actions. If he touched her for just a moment, he'd throw her down on the floor and take her right there. He almost groaned at the thought of being buried inside of her again.
"Now I do," she said, pulling the chicken out of the oven. "Dinner's ready."
She laughed when he practically let a growl out from the back of his throat and helped her take dinner to the table already set.
They sat down to eat and Selby immediately came to beg for some scraps that they didn't want and would generously bestow to him. Jamie tried to push him away but Violet only laughed and told him to stop.
"He's a spoiled brat," Jamie grumbled when she gave the dog a piece of her chicken.
She smiled and shrugged. "I never had a dog."
"Did you have any pets?"
"No," she said with a shake of her head. "My mom is allergic to everything so the most my brother and I had were goldfish but they saw the porcelain God more than they saw us." Jamie grinned at that and she smiled. "I always wanted a dog though."
Jamie nodded, pausing to chew a mouthful of wild rice. "I've always had dogs. I have three sisters and my parents felt that a dog would be a good playmate for me."
Violet smiled at that. "Three sisters? Younger or older?"
"I'm the baby so I had three older sisters that spoiled the shit out of me growing up," he laughed and she joined in. "Barb's the oldest and she has four kids. And then Theresa and her husband are expecting their first in the spring and then Lynn has two kids."
"Wow," Violet breathed. "Big family."
"Yeah," Jamie nodded in agreement. "Huge family but we're all really close."
"And then there's you," she smiled at him and it was as if someone punched him in the gut. He didn't know why her smiles had such effects on him. "The cool Uncle Jamie."
"The VERY cool Uncle Jamie," he corrected her, making her laugh. "Yeah. I'm not allowed to baby-sit Barb's kids anymore without having my own supervision because I let the kids eat anything they want and needless to say, there was far too much sugar." She laughed again and Jamie smiled as he watched her. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
He shrugged. "Anything at all. I want to know everything."
"Well," she paused to put down her fork and thought for a moment. "I only have one brother, Vic. He's two years older than us and he's a cook at some greasy spoon diner but he loves it."
"And I bet his sister, the dietician, loves it, too," Jamie joked.
"Oh, yeah," she smiled. "He actually makes a delicious mushroom and onion cheeseburger. Anyway, when I was born, I was supposed to be Victoria so my parents would have a Victor and a Victoria." Jamie laughed when she mock shuddered. "But then my dad saw my eyes."
"Violet."
"Exactly," she nodded with a sigh. "Violet Rose, the girl who forever would be surrounded by nothing but the most beautiful of flowers," she added quietly. "At least that's what my dad used to say."
"Used to?"
She picked her fork up again but she ate nothing. "He died last year. Car accident."
"I'm sorry." Jamie looked down at his plate for a moment before back up at her. She was feeding Selby another small piece of chicken. He couldn't help but smile a little. She had just made a friend for life in that dog. "I would have liked to meet him. He seemed like a really brilliant man."
"He does?" She asked curiously.
He nodded. "I mean, he, after all, was the one to give you your name and I have never heard of a name that fit any other person better." He picked up her hand and kissed the inside palm making her smile faintly. He gazed at her. "She walks in beauty, like the night, of cloudless climes and starry skies. And all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes."
She broke out in a blush and she couldn't help but laugh softly. "I'm afraid to ask."
"Lord Byron," Jamie said, still holding her hand. She didn't seem to mind for she didn't pull away. He shrugged. "It just popped into my head."
She laughed again. "Naturally. I mean, who else would pop into your head other than Lord Byron?"
He laughed as well and stared at her. When she laughed, it was as if a choir was singing and it soothed his body. "Take my breath away, if you wish. Take the air away, but do not take your laughter away from me." Her laughter ceased but she smiled at him still. He answered her unasked question. "Pablo Neruda."
"It's beautiful," she said softly. "But Jamie, am I ever going to hear you say something of your own?"
He paused for a moment though he knew exactly what he wanted to say. "You're beautiful when you laugh."
Something twinkled in her eyes and she squeezed his hand. "That's the best thing I've heard all night."
Jamie jolted awake suddenly though he didn't know why.
The apartment was completely silent and looking at the clock, he saw that it was almost four o'clock. It took him a minute to remember exactly where he was but then, after only a moment, it came rushing back to him.
After dinner, he and Violet had sat in her living room, talking more and watching a movie, though the ending he couldn't remember for he had been far too preoccupied with Violet to give another thought towards the plot or the outcome of the characters.
So much for taking things slow.
They had stumbled into her bedroom and made love two times before passing out from exhaustion, the first time with Jamie above her and the second with her on top, riding him into oblivion.
He turned and saw her sleeping beside him. He delicately lay back down and put his arms around her, holding her to him. Through her sleep, Violet laced her fingers with his.
"Jamie?" She said softly still more asleep than awake as she tugged on his hand. "Stay."
"I am," he promised, tightening his hold on her.
"Hold me while I sleep," she mumbled, already drifting off again.
Jamie though did just that and rested his forehead against the back of her neck and listened to her as she slept.
She still smelled of roses but now with a hint of sex mixed in. He smiled and his eyes drifted closed. There was something about her. He couldn't even begin to explain it to himself though as to what it was. Ben, a person who never had the problem of being rendered speechless, seemed equally at a loss to explain Violet in words when Jamie had asked his best friend what he had thought of her.
It was obvious to him that Ben was taken with her but that did not evoke jealousy. Jamie and Ben were as good as brothers and Jamie knew that Ben would never make a move on Violet, no matter how smitten he had become with her. Violet just seemed to have that effect on people.
Once someone met her, they could not soon forget her. Jamie was a victim of such powers she held.
It didn't mean though that he wasn't nervous. He was downright terrified. There he was, sharing a bed with a girl he still didn't know nearly enough about, and he was holding her as if he had done so for hundreds of nights before. Even Selby felt at home in her apartment, currently passed out on the floor at the foot of the bed as if he was accustomed to offering Violet protection and did not at all seemed confused by not going back to his own home that evening.
In her sleep, she tightened her hold on his hand and she nestled further down in his arms. He kissed the back of her shoulder lightly and she moaned so softly in her sleep, he almost convinced himself that he had imagined the sound.
He didn't know her but he wanted to. He wanted to know everything there was to know about her. He wanted to know what her favorite song was or what movie could make her break down into tears. He wanted to see her angry and see if uninhibited passion flared in her eyes when she was yelling as it did when they were making love.
He wanted to know if she preferred snow or rain and he wanted to see how she would act around his family with children running around everywhere and adults being loud and nosy. He wanted to take her to the park when he walked Selby and lay in the grass with her when he read. He wanted to be the one to make her dinner and hold her as they watched the sun set at the end of the day.
He sighed softly.
With Violet, he found himself wanting it all, no matter what "all" entailed. Whatever it was, whatever it was that she could offer, he would take any of it.
"Jamie," Violet said, her voice scratchy with sleep. "You're thinking too loud."
He snickered into her skin, nuzzling his nose in her hair. "Sorry. I'll try to be quiet."
She shook her head then yawning, managed to turn herself over in his arms so she was towards him. Their faces were so close, their noses bumped together. Neither moved though and Violet tucked her hands under her chin, staring at him. Jamie's arm remained draped over the dip of her hip and she smiled slightly when his fingertips danced across the bare skin of her back.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked, becoming more awake with each passing second. Her eyes were more alert as she continued to look at him.
He shrugged, closing his eyes for a moment when she brushed her nose against his again. Such a simple act made him ache. He feared the day when he woke up and she wasn't there.
None of this was normal. She had only been in his life for a little over three weeks. And for two of those, he was convinced he would never see her again. How indebted he was to Ben for tracking her down. To think that he was to give up on her because he was too thick-headed to think of any other possibility besides the one of her being disgusted by him.
Already, he grew wary of the day that Violet would tell him what he feared the most. She would look at him one day, maybe not so far into the future, and tell him what he had suspected deep inside all along. He was nothing more than someone to pass the time with and everything he thought that they had shared was nothing more than a figment of his very active imagination.
"You're not getting off that easily, James Cross," she teased him lightly and he smirked, looking into her eyes again. That was his undoing. Her eyes made him grow weak and the walls around him crumbled to nothing more than rubble. "Tell me," she urged much more gently and yet softly. "Please."
"What are we doing?" He asked barely above a whisper.
She couldn't help but smile faintly. "I believe it's called cuddling. Or are you one of those guys that don't cuddle?"
He also couldn't help but smirk a little. "I'll cuddle with you," he told her softly and she pressed her body to his and he wrapped his arm around her more securely. She rested one of her hands on his chest and the other on his cheek, her thumb running over his lips. "Violet," he spoke again. "What are we doing?"
"What do you want us to be doing?"
"I don't know," he admitted with a slight shake of his head. "Something. Just something that puts my mind at ease a little."
She stared at him then, still keeping her eyes locked with his, kissed him lightly on the lips. "I really wish that you would stop thinking that you're some kind of rebound for me. Why is it so hard to believe that I'm with you because right now, that's all I want?"
He shook his head. "Because you dated Mike for years. You were going to marry him. And then, two months later, you throw yourself right back into something. With me."
"Jamie," Violet interrupted. "Anything that I'm doing, I'm doing because I want to. I know exactly what it is that I'm doing. And I have no intention of hurting you." He looked doubtful at her words and she sighed softly, pressing her body into his. "Jamie, what do you want me to do?"
He stared at her, his fingers rubbing up and down her back again. "I want to have..." he hesitated for a moment. "I want to have something with you but that's only if you want to have something, really have something with me."
Violet smiled. Her hand slid from his cheek to the back of his head and guiding it closer to her, she captured his lips with hers in a tender kiss that managed to be passionate at the same time. She moaned into his mouth when he suddenly rolled her onto her back putting himself on top. Their kiss didn't end though and it only intensified more.
"Tell me something," she gasped as his lips trailed down to her neck. Her arms circled around his back and she hauled his body to lie completely down over hers.
"What?" He asked, his mouth on her shoulder now. She moaned when he bit gently then soothed it with a swipe of his tongue.
"Anything."
He didn't right away. He took complete control of her body with his mouth as he kissed every inch of her skin that he could reach. He loved the slight salty taste of her skin and he feared that he would never get enough. He also feared that one day, she would. He didn't know what he would do when that day came. Already, his stomach knotted with nerves at the thought of Violet not wanting him anymore.
He worried that he wouldn't be enough for her to stay. He wasn't like Ben. He didn't have money or the luxury to offer another person complete security for the rest of their life. He barely made rent each month with his measly pay check.
There was nothing that he could offer her. And she was the girl he wanted to promise everything to and give everything she could ever want. He couldn't do that though and yeah, he had tonight with her and maybe tomorrow night, but what about two months from then? Four months from then? A year?
She would tire of him. It was inevitable and Jamie didn't understand why he was setting himself up for the pain that was going to practically kill him.
"Jamie," she gasped his name, her fingers tangling in his hair and tugging gently.
That was why. He lifted his head and stared into those violet eyes of hers and he was lost. He was gone forever and at that moment, he didn't care if she broke his heart or not. She could do anything she wanted to him as long as she gave him that night. He would take the night and if she gave him the morning, he would gladly take that too.
She smiled, biting her lower lip. "Tell me something."
He crawled up her body and kissed her on the lips, covering her body with his again. They were already both so hot and they had barely done anything yet.
"Brace yourself," he whispered in her ear and then grinned when she laughed.
Mike Winthrop scowled up at his ex-fiancée's apartment window. He had been standing on the sidewalk, across the street, long enough to see the lights go out in the bedroom and to see that the guy that had gone up there never come back down.
He had been watching her for the past three weeks, on and off, and she always
seemed to be glowing, she looked so happy. He couldn't wrap his head around it though. She was supposed to be heartbroken. Not that he wanted to see her in such a state but he didn't want to see her smiling and looking so content with the world around her. He thought for a moment that perhaps she had met someone else but he quickly disregarded the thought.
Violet, his Violet, wouldn't just hook up with random guys. Her innocence and purity was what had drawn him to her in the first place. He had been hiding in the darkest corner of Humpy's the first night she went out and it was the night that that guy sat down across from her and made her smile and laugh. It was almost as if he was already a distant memory in her mind just from the arrival of the new stranger.
Mike recognized the guy from Humpy's as the guy who had gone into Violet's apartment and now, past four o'clock in the morning, it was clear that the guy had spent the night. Mike felt his body practically shake with anger.
So, he leaves her for a short amount of time and she proceeds to spread her legs for the lonely guys in the city who did nothing to her except throw her a smile.
Leaning against the wall behind him, Mike lit a cigarette, his eyes never leaving the window. He didn't do anything else except watch. He wanted to be ready when the guy finally left so he could have a few words with him. Violet was his and his alone. True, he did walk away two months before but he had his reasons and all he needed was the perfect opportunity to explain everything to Violet and she would take him back again with open arms.
They belonged together. They always had. Mike knew that the first time he saw her in the bar and his eyes drowned in her purple orbs. He told her that he could stare into her eyes forever and he had meant it.
But now things were not going as he had thought. She was supposed to wait for him. Violet loved him. She couldn't get over the love of her life in just a few months.
No. She was still waiting for him. This new one, this guy who was now sleeping where he should have been, was something Mike hadn't prepared for. But it was okay. He could deal with it. He wouldn't be too big of a problem. A stumble in the path to his and Violet's happiness but nothing more.
But as of right now, Mike had no choice but to just wait.
Violet clutched Jamie's hand tightly as they made their way from the car towards the park. He didn't seem to notice though as he tried to keep Selby under control but the dog was far too excited and becoming distracted by everything that was happening around him. He yanked on the dog's leash but Selby seemed to hardly take notice of his owner.
She couldn't help but smile despite her nervousness. They were to meet her friends in the park and it was the first official meeting between all of them. To help him be more at ease, Violet had also invited Ben though Jamie assured her that her friends did not scare him as much as they clearly scared her.
"Tell me about them again. Quick," Jamie said as they neared the meeting spot they had all agreed on for their afternoon spent together.
She squeezed his hand and smiled faintly. They stopped walking and faced one another which didn't suit Selby at all and the dog began pulling on his leash insistently. Jamie ignored him and concentrated on what she told him.
"Toby is the key," she said. "I've known him since we were in elementary school and we've done everything together. He hated Mike more than anything but he'll still be weary of you. He's like another brother and like Vic, he's very protective of me."
"Wonderful," Jamie muttered.
She smiled. "If Toby likes you, Harry will follow. The two of them were roommates our freshmen year of college and Harry's been around ever since. Just don't mention the whole Harry Potter thing unless you want to get into a fist fight with him."
"And then, there's Olivia," Jamie said though his voice was laced with uncertainty.
She nodded with encouragement. "She's like my sister. I tell her everything and she'll be hard to win over as well but don't worry. She's already convinced that she hates you."
He frowned. "Any particular reason?"
"Just that you've been keeping me occupied for the past few nights and I haven't been able to go out with her," Violet said with a casual shrug. She lifted her hands to his upper arms, his muscles twitching slightly underneath her fingertips. "You'll do just perfect."
"Yeah?" He asked, still unsure as he glanced in the direction they were to be heading in.
Violet lifted herself up on her toes and kissed him. "We can have Ben distract them all if you like. He seems to constantly demand the attention of those around him."
"So you think that Ben should fight my battles for me?" Jamie asked, still frowning.
She couldn't help but laugh. "Come on," she said anxiously.
She slipped her arm around his waist and pulled on him, leaving Jamie no choice but to drop his arm around her shoulders and walk with her.
Though when they reached the two picnic tables underneath the large Weeping Willow Tree, the designated meeting spot, Violet had a frown that matched Jamie's upon seeing the scene playing out in front of them both.
Olivia and Ben were standing toe-to-toe with one another, both with furious rages burning in their eyes.
"You're nothing but an arrogant, pig-headed vile Scottish brute!" Olivia screeched.
"Well, you're a frigid, self-righteous ice queen bitch!" Ben bellowed back at her.
As the two continued shouting insults back and forth to one another, Violet spotted Harry and Toby sitting at one of the picnic tables, already eating the lunch Olivia had brought with her for all of them to enjoy that afternoon. Both of them seemed unfazed with the heated words being said.
Tugging on Jamie, Violet stalked over to the table, stopping in front of them with her arms crossed over her chest and the sternest look she could muster splayed over her face.
Harry stared at her, pleasantly chewing on a fried chicken drumstick. "Don't look at us," he said through the food. "They were like that when we got here."
Toby nodded in agreement, too busy shoveling pasta salad into his mouth to respond right away to Violet's curiosity and concern. He simply shrugged. "We really didn't want to get in the middle of it."
"Who would?" Jamie asked, watching his best friend and Violet's best friend. He was thankful that neither seemed to be armed with any type of weapon at the moment. "That would be a death wish to intervene."
"Shouldn't we do something?" Violet asked to no one in particular.
She noticed people that passed turn their eyes to the screaming match. She wished Olivia and Ben would stop.
"Like what?" Toby challenged.
"I say we just let them tire themselves out and eventually, they'll run out of air and come eat as if nothing happened," Harry said as if it was the simplest thing in the world to do.
Violet shot Jamie a desperate look but he only shrugged and kneeled down on the ground to unhook Selby's leash and command the dog to stay close.
"If you so much as breathe the same air as me, so help me God, I will cut your entrails out!" Olivia exclaimed.
This was not going according to plan. The six of them were to sit down and enjoy a nice afternoon picnic together so they could get to know one another. Threatening one another's lives had not what Violet had envisioned when they would all get together. Violet didn't know Ben quite that well but she knew a look of absolute fury when she saw one. Ben was about to blow. If he was a tea kettle, steam would blow from his ears.
Her attention was suddenly pulled from the showdown though when Toby spoke.
"We're going to interrogate you now," he told Jamie without any other form of warning. He wiped his hands on his jeans, still chewing the last of his chicken breast.
"Okay," Jamie said.
If he was nervous, Violet thought he was doing an excellent job of hiding it from them. He sat down across from Toby and Harry and comfortably began fixing himself a plate of food. He looked at Violet and she gave him a slight smile before sitting down next to him, grabbing a handful of potato chips.
"Are you allowed to eat those?" He teased.
"Shut up," she smiled, elbowing him playfully in the side and munching away.
"Violet tells us that you're a nerd for a living," Harry said, grabbing another piece of chicken. He was eating as if he hadn't done so in a week.
"Pretty much, yeah," Jamie agreed.
"What was the first book you ever read?" Harry continued, he and Violet knowing that he was saving the more personal, and difficult, questions for Toby.
Jamie thought of it for a moment. "Probably the Bearenstein bears or something like that. I don't really remember. It was when I was three."
"I thought you were going to say 'War and Peace' or something like that," Harry said.
"No," Jamie shook his head. "I saved that for when I was twelve."
"So, you're a genius," Toby assumed.
"Well, he's not stupid," Violet said, filling a plate with the pasta salad.
"What was your SAT score?" Harry asked.
"Where'd you go to college?" Toby fired out at the same time.
"1540. And I went to Loyola University," Jamie answered, remaining completely at ease.
Violet couldn't help herself. She slid an arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek sweetly. He smiled at her. She pecked him on the lips, not caring that her friends were watching. He was so incredible, being there and dealing with her friends and answering their questions as if it was the Spanish Inquisition.
"You didn't go to Harvard or some place like that?" Toby asked, genuinely surprised.
Jamie shook his head. "My dad went to Loyola and none of those other places were giving me enough money. And I wanted to stay in Chicago anyway."
And so it went. Question after question and Jamie barely broke a sweat. He just answered and ate and Violet didn't leave his side the entire time. When Harry was satisfied, he had turned his attention to Selby and began seeing what kind of tricks the dog could do. Toby however needed to know everything single detail about him to admit that he wasn't such a bad guy.
"I didn't really picture you like this," Toby admitted. "When Violet said that you were a literary researcher or whatever the hell it is that you do, this is not how I picture people in that profession."
Jamie smirked. "Yeah, I know. But, believe it or not, not everyone who reads for a living wears glasses, bowties, and has horrible hair."
Toby almost laughed. "And you have tattoos, too. Never would have guessed." Jamie did in fact have two tattoos, a black cross on his left inner forearm, and something written on his right inner forearm. Toby looked at them. "What does that say?"
"I love long life better than figs," Jamie answered without looking down at it. "It's from Antony and Cleopatra. I remember reading the play when I was a kid and thinking 'Yeah. I do love a long life better than figs'. I thought it was the most deep, philosophical thing I had ever heard so when I turned sixteen, and I realized that I was stupid when I was younger, I got it as a joke."
"It's cool," Toby admitted grudgingly.
"Come on, Jamie," Violet said, standing up and taking his hand. "Let's go take a walk."
Jamie nodded his head then taking another beer from the cooler on the ground, stood up as well. Both saw Olivia sitting by the pond, watching a group of children feed the ducks, and Ben sat at the other picnic table, glaring at her from time to time as he ate his lunch. Violet shook her head slightly.
"That's so strange," she said softly as she and Jamie began walking down the path further into the park. "Olivia pretty much gets along with everyone."
He shrugged. "I guess Ben brings something out of her."
"Homicidal tendencies?" Violet smiled and he chuckled, draping his arm around her shoulders. He took a swig from the beer bottle then offered it to her but she shook her head. She sighed softly. "Thanks for doing this today."
"I wanted to do this."
"So you keep telling me," she said with a hint of amusement in her tone. "If it's any consolation, we did the exact same thing to Harry's wife when we first met her."
"Harry's married?" Jamie exclaimed in slight shock, not at all having expecting that.
Violet smiled, nodding her head and understanding his surprise. "Of all people, right?"
"Well..." he said carefully. "Yeah," he finally admitted and she laughed, nodding her head again.
"What's even weirder is that they've been married for almost five years now."
"Where is she?" Jamie asked, now very interested in meeting Harry's mysterious wife.
"Sleeping. She works nights so she sleeps most of the day. Sometimes, it sucks for them because then they hardly see one another but they manage." Violet paused for a moment and took his offer of a sip of his beer.
"When we graduated from college, Harry went a little crazy when it came to celebrating and he drank a little too much. Okay, way too much and he just managed to give himself alcohol poisoning. So, while we're in his hospital room and he's just starting to wake up, this nursing student, Anne, immediately starts telling him how stupid he is and how close he came to permanently damaging himself. And they get into an argument right there, at his hospital bed. Harry was kept in the hospital for a couple days for observation and then he did the craziest thing which for Harry, is pretty normal. He went to the hospital and proposed to Anne at the nurse's station and that week-end, they went to the courthouse and got married."
"Seriously?" Jamie asked.
Violet nodded her head, a smile playing at her lips. "We thought he was just suffering from the Florence Nightingale syndrome or something but they had their first kid a year later and now, Anne's pregnant again. Harry hasn't even looked at another woman since he married her. You'll meet her sometime. They really do love each other."
"That's the craziest thing I ever heard," Jamie said, more to himself.
"What? Harry marrying a girl he knew for only three days or Harry being a dad?"
"I'm not sure actually," he said and Violet laughed. She handed him back his beer and Jamie took a long swig. "Honestly, he's one of those guys you meet and just assume that he'll be a bachelor forever."
"That's Toby," Violet corrected him. "Is that Ben?"
Jamie shook his head. "No. Ben's just as big of a romantic as I am. He's just very picky when it comes to girls. Trust is a very big deal to him and he has to make sure of a girl before he even takes her out to dinner."
"At least we don't have to worry about something happening between him and Olivia," Violet joked. "I'm pretty sure Olivia trusts him as far as she can throw him."
He smiled then guided her over to a park bench on the other side of the pond. They could see their picnic area across the water. Jamie kept his arm around her shoulders and Violet rested her head on his shoulder. She smiled when he leaned his cheek on top of her head.
"You survived," she said softly and he chuckled. He downed the rest of his beer then took her hand and began playing with her fingers. "I remember when Mike had to go through all of this. He wasn't too pleased with any of it." She felt him stiffen as he usually did whenever she slipped her ex-fiancé into a conversation. She lifted her head and stared at him. "You're nothing like him you know," she told him. "You're much better."
Jamie stared at her, willing himself to ask the question he needed to know the answer to. "Then why were you with him? Why the hell were you going to marry him?"
"Because he was safe," Violet answered, not the least bit angry with his inquiry. He was in her life now and he had a right to know. "I had been with him so long, I almost forgot what it was like to not be with him. I was blind to the kind of guy he really was."
"And what kind of guy was he?" He dared to ask, his body dreading the answer.
Violet leaned towards him, leaving her lips a hairsbreadth from his. "Not THE guy."
..XX..
A/N: As always, thanks for reading.