My Temptation

18

J A N E 

We've been on the road for a couple hours now and we just got into Michigan, and I've barley spoken to him. Miles is driving to the remote cabin and I've been sitting in the passenger seat, dead silent. I know it's hurting him but I can't bring myself to say anything to him, not yet. This sounds terrible but I want him to feel the same hurt I felt when he left. It's definitely going to be a challenge to ignore him since we'll be staying in a cabin alone together. It's going to be very tempting but I have to be strong, I can't give in to him so easily. 

Another thirty minutes pass before he speaks up again, breaking the awkward silence. "Are you hungry?" He asks without looking at me. And without looking at him, I nod my head, "Starving" I say. 

He gives a quick glance at the time and nods his head. "It just hit 11 am. They are open now." He says making a left at a stop sign.

"What's open?" I ask 

"This bar and grill called Sidetrack, it's about twenty minutes from here. It has some of the best burgers." He says giving me a small smile 

"How do you know I want a burger?" I ask and he scoffs 

"Because I know you Jane. Besides myself, you are the only person I know who could kill a burger at anytime of the day." He says. I try to hide my smile but I can't, I laugh softly and smack his arm jokingly. 

"Whatever. Let's go." I say smiling 

He rolls his eyes playfully and continues his way there. Once we get there, I get out of the passenger seat and follow him inside the bar. Before we could sit down, a man behind the bar waves over to us smiling. 

"Miles!" He says cheerfully. Miles gently takes my arm and pulls me to follow him. He pulls out a chair for me at the bar and I sit down. 

"Hey Tony!" Miles says doing a quick handshake with him. Miles sits down on the chair next to me. 

"It's been a while since I've seen you. How's everything been?" Tony asks Miles 

"Things could have been better but everything is okay. And you?" He asks and the guys shrugs his shoulders. "I could say the same." He says and they both laugh. 

Tony looks over at me then looks back at Miles, raising an eyebrow. 

"Tony, this is Jane... my friend. Jane this is Tony, he's the owner of this bar and one of my closest friends since high school." He says and Tony smiles at me, holding out his hand. I smile back and take his hand in mine, shaking it.

"Well nice to meet you Jane. Any friend of Miles, is a friend of mine. So order anything you guys want, it's on the house." He says sweetly. 

"Thank you Tony, and it's nice to meet you too. But I need to use the restroom, where is it?" I ask standing up. He points to where it is and I just nod then walk away, making my way to the bathroom. 

•••

M I L E S

Once Jane walks away, Tony looks over at me with both eyebrows raised. I just roll my eyes and shake my head. 

"Don't start." I say 

"Is she really just a friend? Or more?" Tony asks, I just stare at him for second before letting out a deep sigh. 

"As of now, she's just a friend. But I want her to be more." I say and he smirks, gently hitting my arm. 

"She's beautiful. But you said that you  want her to be more, how about her? Does she want to be more?" He asks 

"It's a long story Tony, but to sum it up - we both want each other. It's just a little complicated right now." I say 

"Complicated how?" He asks crossing his arms 

"Well... I am working for her and her father. I'm her bodyguard and you know how my job is." I say and that causes him to make a face.

"Damn, that is complicated." He says and I nod my head in agreement. "But don't worry about me Tony, everything will be fine." I say and he just looks at me, not believing it. I go silent because it's hard for me to even believe it.

Before he could say anything else, Jane comes back and sit down next to me. We order our food and sit there silently for a few minutes. I turn my body towards her, resting my chin on my fist. I can't stop looking at her, the bruises on her face are visible and I hate it. I hate seeing them, knowing I could have easily prevented it from happening.

No matter how many times I'm told that this wasn't my fault, I can't help but blame myself. If I didn't leave, Jane would have never agreed to go out with that guy and she would have never had to break up with him, because I would've still been there - she wouldn't have to move on from me. 

My thoughts continue to race through my head when I feel something touch my hand and I snap back into reality. I see Jane with her hand gently placed on my hand, looking worried.

"Are you okay? It's like you went into another dimension there for a second." She says 

"I'm okay, don't worry. I was just thinking about a few things." I say and she just nods, taking her hand away but keeping her eyes on me.

After another minute, the food is brought out to us and Jane's eyes widen in excitement.  

"Enjoy you two." Tony says and goes to help other customers. 

"You will never be able to think about another burger after tasting this one." I say and she laughs softly. "We'll see about that." She says picking up her burger and taking a bite. I stare at her as she chews and swallows it, she licks her lips then looks at me. 

"Well?" I ask 

"This is the best damn burger I've ever tasted." She says quickly taking another bite. I let out a loud chuckle and nod my head. "I told you." I say beginning to eat mine.

We continue to eat and have small conversations and it finally feels like everything is starting to fall back into place - like nothing bad ever happened. We finish eating and we order a slice of cheesecake to share. 

"I have some news." I say as we wait for our dessert. And she gives me a confused look, "Good or bad?" She asks crossing her arms and sitting back in her chair. 

"Very good news. I honestly didn't think I'd ever be able to tell you this because I didn't know if I'd ever come back to Chicago." I say 

"What is it?" She asks 

"When I was gone and living here is Michigan again, I went to visit my sister's grave. I was just sitting there, on the dirt, talking to my sister and crying when I heard this voice behind me. It was my mother." I say and Jane gasps, widening her eyes.

"Your mother?! She was there?" She asks and I nod my head, smiling while remembering that moment. "What happened?" She asks 

"Well I couldn't believe my eyes, I thought I would never see my mother again, but there she was. She told me everything that happened and why she couldn't come back for me. My heart broke for her. I thought that if  I were to ever see her again, I would be so angry at her and tell her off but it's like I was just a little boy again who finally saw his mom again." I say and notice Jane's eyes filling with tears. 

I pass her a napkin and she dries her eyes before speaking, "I'm so happy for you Miles. I'm so glad you were able to see your mother again and reconnect with her. She's better now?" She asks as the cheesecake comes out. I take the plate and push it towards her so she can have the first bite. 

"She's way better now. She's been clean for a while now." I say and she smiles 

"That's really good Miles. I'm so happy for you, you deserve it." She says taking a bite from the cheesecake then using her fork to get a piece for me. She holds her hand under the fork and puts the fork to my mouth. I stare at her for a second before taking the piece in my mouth. 

"Thank you." I say and she smiles softly. 

We finish the slice of cheesecake within minutes and gather our things to leave. Tony comes around from the to say goodbye to us.

"I hope to see you both again soon." He says pulling me into a hug then hugging Jane as well. 

We say our goodbyes then leave, making our way back to the car. I unlock the door and open the passenger side for her, before she gets in, she turns to me and looks up at me.

"Thank you for taking me here. It was delicious and I had a great time." She says and I smile widely.

"It was my pleasure Jane. I'll do anything to make sure you have a good time here." I say staring deeply into her eyes. She doesn't say anything in response, she just stares back at me and I swear it's like the world around us just disappears.

I hold our eye contact as I slowly lean her against the car. Her breathing begins to quicken and I can feel how nervous she is from her hands beginning to shake. She opens her mouth to say something but I stop her before she could. 

"I will do anything for you Jane. I want you to know that." I say in a hushed tone. She just stares at me and nods her head slowly. 

"Let's get back on the road Miles. We still have a little bit longer to get to the cabin." She says and I let out a barley audible sigh. "You're right. Let's go." I say pulling away from her. 

She quickly gets in the passenger seat and I shut the door, going to the drivers side and getting in. I turn the heat up and drive off, making our way to the cabin. The rest of the drive is dead silence once again. 

Forty five minutes later, we arrive to the cabin and I park the car on the side. We get out of the car and I pop open the trunk, she grabs her things and I grab mine. I walk up the small set of stairs and unlock the door opening it and letting her walk in first. 

"Thanks." She says quietly and walks inside, setting her things down. 

I shut the door, locking it and setting my things down next to hers. She stands there looking around. "This is absolutely beautiful.  I did not expect the cabin to look like this." She says beginning to walk around the room. 

"Yeah, this cabin is amazing. Let me show you around." I say and she nods. 

We walk together as I show her where everything is. And as we start walking up the stairs, I start getting nervous. I didn't really think how things would be once we got here, I didn't fully register the fact that we would be here alone the entire time. 

"There's three bedrooms and each room has their own bathroom. The master bedroom is down the hall over here, you can take the master." I say making our way to the master bedroom. She opens the door and gasps. 

"This is fucking huge! And there's a fire place in here too? I already love this place." She says excitedly walking in the room. She sits on the edge of the bed, letting out a deep sigh. "And this bed feels like a cloud. But are you sure I can stay in here?" She asks and I nod 

"I'll be staying in the room down the  hallway." I say pointing to the room directly down the hallway. 

"Thank you for giving me this room." She says smiling softly 

"It's not a problem. I want you to have the best experience here Jane." I say 

"Well, considering how beautiful and remote this cabin is, I can already tell that this will be an amazing time." She says and I smile.

"I'll go get your stuff from downstairs so you can get everything settled in." I say and walk away, going downstairs. 

I would do anything  to share that bedroom with her, to hold her every night in my arms as she falls asleep. To wake up next to her and for her voice to be the first thing I hear when I wake up.

I have to fix things during our time here.

I grab both of our things and make my way back upstairs, I set her things in her room and go to my room. I leave my things on the floor, flopping down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

This is going to be hard.