Lead On (Complete)

~ Chapter 17 ~

She dressed herself, unable to look at him, although she could feel his eyes on her; but hell if she knew what to say. 'Sorry Jeff, it was dumb to fuck you, I was just too caught up in the emotion?' That just sounded way too harsh and dumb in her own head. And though she wanted to blame him, she couldn't. She would have to lay this one on her shoulders; at least she was smart enough to know that one.

She got so caught up in him, with all these thoughts and feelings, and okay, no one did what he did to her. And sure, in the moment, it felt amazing. But now, she felt like crap and was that brief amazing but fleeting feeling of passion worth it? She paused as she pulled her shirt down and thought hard. Okay, not the best question because, for her, it always had been with Jeff.

"You're already dressed?" he asked in that sleepy voice that she loved. That voice had always caused her problems because it always made her want to screw him again, no matter what the problem was or how pissed she was at him...

... "I can't believe you would do that to me," she yelled, banging on the truck window, causing him to jump in the truck cab. He opened the door and rubbed his eyes.

"Huh?"

"You told Bobby Jo that I would give up my spot for homecoming queen, why? What would give you that right, huh? That is not your call Jeff." He rubbed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and tried to pull her into the cab.

"Baby," that sleepy, raspy voice was there and she tried to steal herself against it. "I did it because they were planning on making me the king and by doing that Bobby Jo was going to make a fool out of you and..." She cut him off and jumped on him, causing his eyes to open wide but he held onto her. "Wait," he finally said and she groaned.

"Shut up Jeff and fuck me right now."

"But you hate when we fuck in the truck."

"I don't care. I need you right now." She flung both her shirt and her bra off, giving him no room to speak and he didn't. He did exactly what she wanted and that was to take her in the cab of his truck, no matter how pissed off she was...

...She bit her lip, fighting her dumb body's response to that sound. Back in the day he had never picked up on what that did to her and she was going to leave it that he never knew either.

"This was a mistake and you know it." He pulled his shirt on and raised a brow at her.

"I fail to see how darlin', we both wanted it and I didn't force you to do anything." She knew he was right, she wanted it, had probably wanted it from the day he walked into that diner but that didn't mean she was going to tell him that.

"Beside the point. We shouldn't have done it." She glanced back at him and his sly look and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I shouldn't have done it. We aren't anything anymore."

"Wait a moment here; you had one nighter's right?" She nodded her head at that, not that she was too happy to admit it. "And you felt like it was a mistake afterwards?" She wanted to turn beet red, because they were, but they were not like this at all.

"Look, those weren't good times. And this was that, a onetime thing that won't happen again." He slipped his pants up and nodded and God damn did she want to scream at him. He started up the truck and said nothing on the way to her place, but before she could get out, he grabbed her arm.

"I won't stop you from believing this was a onetime deal, however I know differently. I told you that I want to win you back Rose and I intend to do that, just like I intend to stick around. So don't think your prickly and thorny nature right now will stop me." She narrowed her eyes as she climbed out of the truck and went into the house to change.

-----

She walked into work, her mind past overwhelmed. She really couldn't get his last words out of her head. And she was thankful for days like today when she was able to work on auto pilot because she really needed to just do and not think. And no matter how many times she told herself to stop or how many times she tried to think of something else, she couldn't and she was losing her patience with herself over it

"Something on your mind?" Rose lifted her head and rolled her eyes at Jimmy.

"Oh God, do you have to gloat?" Jimmy laughed and shook his head.

"Not at all, I'm here to pick up an order the wife called in for her mom." She ducked her head in shame and grabbed the ticket. He paid the bill and waited for the food. "What did you think I would be gloating about anyway?"

"Yeah, like I'm going to believe you don't know when that man is your best friend?" Jimmy laughed and took his food but he paused before he left.

"I know what happened, yes, but I have nothing to gloat about. Rose, you love that man and there is nothing wrong with you two getting back together. Nor is there anything wrong with love and affection." He kissed her cheek and she couldn't help the smile that was forming. Yes, there was nothing wrong and hadn't he told her something like that before...

... "Are you going to stay mad at him?"

"Do you think I should forgive him Jimmy? I get why he told them I wouldn't do it and actually I wouldn't; he knows me well enough. But he shouldn't have said anything without talking to me. He knows things like that piss me of. And he's done it in the past so it's not like it's anything new to him."

"You can't blame the guy for looking out for his girl," Jimmy said as he nudged her with his arm. In truth, she didn't blame him, she never did. She loved that he looked out for her like that. But she hated that he assumed and never spoke to her; that he would make decisions on his own and not discuss them with her.

She looked over the dock that went out to the lake and sighed. They weren't little kids and he really should know better than that. And he probably thought all was forgiven because she went and slept with him. God damn him and that raspy voice that she loved and that drove her wild. Although she was going to assume that he was smart enough to know that she was upset and even though the sex was good, it didn't make her anger disappear.

"I don't blame him," she told him as she pushed her hair behind her ear to look at him. "I just want to be talked to and not bowled over."

"I love you lady, but that man is a hard headed man; I don't think you will ever get him to understand. But, you know, you can forgive him and never tell him so that he has to work even harder to win back your affections. Always remember that Rose, you hold more power than you think."...

...She smiled to herself as she slipped her jacked on once she punched out and walked to her car. Even then, Jimmy was giving her insight that would last throughout the years. She never had to make things easy for Jeff, after all, she still wasn't totally sure that he would stick around in this little ass town.

She started up her car, still grinning. She pulled out of the parking lot but rather than turning right to go home, she turned left. She didn't want to be at the house where memories would pop up. So, she thought a random drive through their town would be prefect to maybe clear her mind. And if not, it was a gorgeous evening and she knew many back roads that she could go down and get sort of lost on.

She pulled up to one of the two stop lights in town and glanced out the side window, seeing a corner lot being cleared out. It was too small to be a Wal-Mart like she was hoping. She frowned as she saw the banner of what was coming. She glanced around to make sure there was no traffic and no one saw her illegal move as she turned down the side street.

Roseparked the car and stared at the sign. "Fuck," she muttered. That wasthe last fucking think she expected to see. "Future site of 'Joey's Family Mechanics'; that was Jeff's business