Page 74 of Candy Hearts, Vol. 2

CHAPTER 10

JAKE

Spencer worked for hours. Whatever needed to be done, he was more than happy to help. I never in my life thought I would find something like that as attractive as I did. Ruby kept giving me the look that said she knew exactly what had happened last night, but this time I couldn’t find it in me to care. He was hot, smart, and didn’t have an unmotivated bone in his body. He was literally my perfect man.

“Spencer, you can go if you want. We can take care of putting everything back where it was,” Ruby said, and glanced at me knowing full well I didn’t want him to leave. “Oh, and, Jake, you’ll have the house to yourself tonight.” She winked at me before looking back at Spencer.

“No, it’s fine. I told Jake I’d help, and I want to see it through. I could go for something to eat though. Should I order some pizza?” he asked.

“You brought me breakfast, I’ll get lunch,” I said and ordered on my phone. While he protested.

“It wasn’t really anything, just a box of donuts I picked up on the way.”

“Well, the sugar got us going so that’s all that matters,” I said, and shoved my phone into my pocket. “They’ll be here in less than an hour.” We’d already wiped everything down and made sure it was as clean as it was before the pipe had broken. “I’ve never been so happy to be organized.”

“Organized? More like stringently inflexible,” Ruby said from across the room. “He’s always been very careful about how he organizes his kitchen. It really did save us today.”

“I can say from experience, it’s better to be too organized than have a huge mess when something like this happens,” Ed said where he was just finishing up.

“Hear that, Ruby?” I said to another eye roll. Spencer mopped one more time where Ed had been working while I waited to pay him. “Thanks again for coming out today. I really appreciate it.” I wasn’t kidding about Ed. He’d been there for me every time I’d called no matter when it was.

“No problem,” he said as he handed me his invoice, and waited for me to write out a check.

“When are you going to start taking paperless payments?” Ruby asked Ed, making him laugh.

“I still like to do things the old-fashioned way,” he said and this time it was his son rolling his eyes.

“Pizza delivery,” someone said from just outside the door.

“In here,” I said, and a woman walked in carrying two insulated containers. “Go ahead and put them on the table. Thank you. Ed, eat some pizza before you go.” She slid the pizzas out and after I tipped her, she thanked me and walked out the door.

Ruby put out plates and napkins and everyone including Ed and his son took a few slices. Spencer stood next to me where I leaned against a table and took a big bite. “This is good, thanks,” he said.

“Thank you.” He didn’t have to spend his day this way, but I was so glad he had.

“What are you doing when you’re done here?” Spencer asked while everyone else chatted amongst themselves.

“Going home and relaxing. You should come by.” I was ready for him to decline when he surprised me and with a shrug of his shoulder agreed.

“I could go for relaxing,” he said.

“Cool,” I said and tried to control the smile on my face that made it hard for me to take another bite of pizza and that there was no way I could hide from Ruby. Then I realized I didn’t care. Spencer was a great guy, and it didn’t matter if we’d only just met. I wanted to know him better, and if I had to guess, he felt the same way.

A few hours later we were relaxing on my couch. Both of us in my sweatpants watching Christmas movies because neither of us had enough time off during December to do it.

“Thanks again for helping today,” I said from where I had my head on his lap.

“It was fun, and I got to meet your sister,” he said, and I had to turn to look at him to make sure he was serious.

“I did warn you she was bossy,” I said, making him laugh.

“Can I admit something to you?” he asked.

“After all we’ve been through, you can say anything.” I tried not to act worried about what he was about to say, but I still wanted more time with him. Which was something completely new for me. He pushed my shoulder to get me to sit before turning to speak to me.

“The last twenty-four hours have been the best I’ve had in—I don’t even know how long. I don’t want it to end, and I know both of us are workaholics that don’t know anything about starting a relationship or keeping it going once it’s started. I really want more time with you, but I think we’re going to maybe need to learn a new way to do that.”

“Okay,” I said but I still wasn’t sure what he was saying. “What are you suggesting?”

“What do you think about scheduling a weekly date? Then even if we’re busy during the week, we’ll know that we have time together coming up. I don’t want you to think you won’t be a priority because you will be—you are. Already you are. I can’t explain it, but I don’t want to lose what I think we could have together. You and me.”

“You and me,” I whispered. “And yes, whatever way we can make it work I want to try. I know we only just met, but I think you’re right. We could have something.”

“What day is best for you?” he asked, and I had to force myself not to just say whatever day was good for him.

“Monday the restaurant is closed,” I said. We didn’t used to do that, but it works out better for everyone. “We usually prep that day, but Ruby can handle that,” I said, and his eyes took in my face while I spoke.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Monday would be great.”

“Done. I can work remotely that day and take half a day off. How about if you go and do whatever prep you need to do early and then we can have the afternoon and evening together. We can do this,” he said.

“We can,” I said, and hoped we really could.