Unfortunately, vacation me lived in the Caribbean, not New York. Now I was New York me and I suspected New York me was pretty much the same as Iowa me. The cautious boring me that didn
’t know how to have a boyfriend. I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to be near him.
"You brought hamburgers!" He grinned as he opened up the lid.
"Yup. They are fancier than any burger I've ever seen. Look, they even have fancy catsup. Notice how it's spelled with a C?" I pointed to the glass bottle.
Jack laughed and opened the bottle, pouring the red sauce onto his burger. I quickly mimicked him and poured it on my burger as well.
I really liked Jack. I liked the way his smile was slightly crooked, but always genuine when he looked at me. I liked the way he smelled, the combination of cologne and man was intoxicating. I liked that he seemed to relax with me. His shoulders seemed to lower as I watched him poor sauce on his plate for the fries, like he was unwinding.
Jack sat down next to me, our knees barely inches from touching. A current of electricity ran between us and I knew if we touched, sparks would fly. A nervous giggle escaped and I tried to keep it under control. I wanted to be sophisticated and interesting, but I was pretty sure I was nervous and obviously attracted to him.
“Tell me about your day,” he said, lifting the lid to one of the entrees.
“You really want to know?” I asked, raising the lid to my own plate. It smelled divine. Jack nodded and took a bite of his dinner. “Well, Dean—my bodyguard—took me to the New York Museum of Art and gave me a tour.”
“Dean knows art?” Jack asked, his mouth full of burger. The normalcy of it made me smile.
“Yeah, a lot about art in fact. I’ve never really understood what makes one painting better than another, but having him explain the paintings to me actually made it interesting.” I took a bite of my own food before asking, “What about you? How was your day?”
“Insane. We had a board meeting today and practically everything is behind or delayed. I don’t want to bore you with the details, but this is honestly the best part of my day today. Tell me more about the museum. I haven’t gone in years and never with a guide.”
“Like I said, I know almost nothing about art, but I did discover I have a favorite artist. Monet. His paintings make me feel like summer. I don’t know if that makes sense, but I’m happy when I look at them.” I blushed, feeling like I had revealed something.
“Monet... he did the water lilies painting, right?” Jack asked, his brows scrunched together as he tried to remember the artist.
“That’s one of the most famous ones. They had one there called, “View of Vétheuil”. It reminds me of summers at home. Here I took a picture.” I pulled out my ancient flip phone and began navigating through the menus to show him some of the pictures from the museum.
“How old is that phone?” Jack asked, looking askance at the archaic device. I shrugged.
“I’m not really sure. I ‘inherited’ it when I got my phone plan and I haven’t had the money to upgrade it. My plan isn’t up for renewal for a while yet.” I shrugged sheepishly.
“You are getting a new one. Whatever the top of the line one is right now, I am getting you one,” he said, pulling out his own smart phone. He hit a button and held it up to his ear. “Rachel? Emma needs a new phone. All the bells and whistles. Yes. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” I said as he hung up. I was a little baffled. Despite all the shopping I had done with Rachel, the idea of spending money the way Jack spent money was still intimidating.
“You are most welcome. Let me see the picture.” He reached over and took my hand, pulling the phone screen to where he could see it. His hand was hot against mine and it sent sparks racing through my spine. I was a little sad when he let go. “It’s beautiful, like you. I can see why you like it.”
“Thank you.” I couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. I wondered if he was this charming to all the models he took to the social events from the tabloid pictures. I hoped it was only for me.
There was a long pause as neither of us knew what to say next. It had been so easy to talk to him on the beach, but now, I was tongue-tied and shy. I played with my food, trying desperately to think of something to say.
“So... , how are you liking New York?” Jack finally asked, breaking our awkward silence.
“It’s huge!” I blurted out. Jack laughed. “I mean, it is so much bigger than where I’m from. It’s been a little overwhelming.”
“Do you think you could get used to it?” There was more to the question than just the words and the implication made my heart speed up.
“If I keep getting to have dinners like this, then I think I could.” A smile flashed across Jack’s face. It reminded me of a time in high school when I said “Yes” to a boy who asked me for a date—excited and optimistic. It made my chest go tight and my knees loose.
“I’m glad then. I’m glad you’re here.” Jack set his empty plate on the table and reached over, placing his hand on my knee. A surge of heat splayed out from my belly at his touch. Even though my head wasn’t sure what Jack and I were doing, my body knew exactly what it wanted. He leaned forward and our lips hovered inches from one another. I could tell he wanted to kiss me, but something was stopping him. He pulled his mouth away from mine.
“Jack?”
He leaned back, keeping his hand mercifully on my leg. It made it hard to think, but I would have gone crazy if I couldn’t have him touching me. My body sang out for more while my head begged for caution.
“I think we should take things slow,” he said. His words were controlled and even, but the tightness in his jaw told me that this wasn’t easy for him to say. “With the public eye on us, we can’t afford any more mistakes.”