Chapter 27

I paced the confines of my room nervously as Samantha sat in the chair near the door. She watched as I twisted my hands together a few moments before shaking them out at my sides.

Rolling her eyes she said, “Relax Alex. We’re all just going to eat dinner, that’s all.”

“I know, I know. I just want this to be over with already.” I responded.

The much anticipated dinner meeting had arrived. After my phone call with Samantha that night, Jonathan and I had talked and I had decided to move back home. However, I had arranged to go back home at a time when I knew my mother would be there.

I’d walked into the living room, dropped my bags by the couch and stood in front of both my parents as I began to lay down the stipulations of my move back home.

I would continue going to school and work as usual. There would be no mention of me getting together with Mark or marrying him. I was going to the college of my choice when I graduated. There would be no telling me who I could be friends with or not. Most of all, there would be no arguments about my dating Jonathan.

My mother had agreed to every word I’d said, my father had remained sullen and silent beneath my mother’s glare. That was the way it had remained for most of the week that I’d been back home.

As my father continued to literally ignore me, I got constantly harassed by Kevin. Mom had warned Kevin to stay out of my business, but she couldn’t keep Kevin from choosing the friends he wanted to.

However, Mark was not allowed to come to our house as long as I lived there. Kevin had thrown a fit about that, saying that if I was allowed to have whoever I wanted over, why couldn’t he. We all knew he was talking about Jonathan.

While Kevin and I continued to exchange bitter words with each other, Samantha and I had spent more quality time together. When I wasn’t in school or working, I spent as much time with her as I could.

I had decided not to use the car my father had given to me anymore and relied on Sarah and Jonathan to get me where I needed to be. So, Sarah picked up Samantha and I in the mornings and we dropped her off first before going to our school. In the afternoons, Jonathan would pick up Samantha first then they’d come and pick me up since her school let out fifteen minutes before mine did. If I had to work, we dropped Samantha off at home then I’d go to Jonathan’s house to spend some time with him before going to work. If I was off, the three of us would hang out somewhere until Samantha and I had to be home for dinner.

I knew everyone wanted to meet Jonathan and he wanted to meet them, but I was still wary. So, I kept Jonathan as far from my house as possible. I knew he’d eventually have to go to the dinner mom was planning anyway.

So the dinner had been arranged for Saturday evening. I had already let everyone know that after the dinner, I would be going out with Jonathan and would possibly be staying out late.

I glanced at the alarm clock on my nightstand and frowned, “Geez, could time go any slower?”

Samantha laughed, “You just looked at the time about five minutes ago.”

I was about to say something else when we heard the doorbell ring. I grinned, “Jonathan is here!”

Just as Samantha opened my bedroom door, we heard our mother’s voice from downstairs. “Alex. Jonathan is here.”

Samantha giggled and held the door open for me to walk out before her. As we both made our way downstairs, we could hear Jonathan and my mother talking in the living room.

As I rounded the corner and caught my first sight of Jonathan, I came to a sudden halt which caused Samantha to run into me.

“Alex, what…” her voice trailed off as she too caught sight of Jonathan.

The man who was greeting my mother had the same smile, build, and voice as Jonathan, but everything else was different. The man standing there was wearing a crisp, navy blue Armani suit with a black shirt underneath and black loafers. He had a five o’clock shadow that simply accentuated his jaw line and that was even more pronounced by the slicked back short hair that only reached just below his ears.

Needless to say, I was standing there slack jawed at the newly, spiffed up Jonathan I was seeing.

My mother turned towards me and smiled, “Ah, there she is.”

When Jonathan turned towards me, I didn’t miss the sparkle in his eyes as he gave me a full blown smile. I suddenly wondered where those dimples had come from because I was sure I’d never seen them before. Then again, most of the time, Jonathan was giving me that trademark smirk, so it wasn’t any wonder those dimples never appeared. It seemed they only came out when he showed his pearly whites.

“Hi Alex, Sam.” He came over to me and kissed my cheek before he leaned in and hugged Samantha. I found myself stifling the giggle at the awed look on my sister’s face.

“Jonathan, I’m so glad you could make it tonight.” my mother cooed.

I resisted the urge to gag at the way my mother’s voice dripped with saccharine sweetness. Samantha on the other hand rolled her eyes in disgust.

Jonathan was ever the gentleman. “Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. McCain. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a while now.”

“Yes. I have been looking forward to this too. Come, why don’t you have a seat. Dinner should be ready in about fifteen more minutes.”

I sat down on the couch and Jonathan sat next to me.

Samantha sat on the other side of Jonathan as my mother asked, “Jonathan, would you like something to drink while you wait?”

“No thank you Mrs. McCain, I’m fine.”

She chuckled, “Please, let’s not be so formal. After all you are practically family. You can call me Laura or mom if you prefer.”

“Thank you, Laura.”

She nodded and said, “Well, I’m going to check on dinner. Daniel should be home from work soon. Alex, when Alishia and Danny get here could you let them in?”

I nodded and watched as she disappeared into the kitchen.

When she was gone I snapped my gaze back to Jonathan and spoke in a lowered voice, “Okay, want to tell me what you were thinking?”

He arched an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

I gave him a once over and he flashed that trademark smirk, “You like?” he asked.

Samantha giggled, “Oh, I can guarantee that she more than likes you.”

As Jonathan chuckled, I rolled my eyes, “Sam, we’re talking about the hair cut and the clothes, not him!”

Jonathan pouted, “So you don’t like me then?”

That sent Samantha into a fit of laughter and I gave Jonathan a friendly punch in the shoulder.

“Okay, okay.” He said, “I just thought I’d dress to impress.” He shrugged, “It was time to get a haircut anyway.”

“Yeah, but did you have to cut it all off?” I asked. When he gave me a questioning look, I added, “It’s just that I really loved your long hair.”

He winked as I slid my fingers through what was left of his hair, “Don’t worry, it’ll grow back.”

Soon after that, Alishia and Danny showed up. Mom was still in the kitchen, so I let them in and introduced Jonathan to my older brother for the first time ever, while Alishia stood there gawking at Jonathan’s new look.

Needless to say, Danny was highly impressed with Jonathan and his business knowledge. He was even more impressed when he realized Jonathan was the eldest son of David Parker and I’d managed to snag him as a boyfriend.

Mom came out soon and announced that dinner was ready, so we all moved to the dining room while Samantha went to tell Kevin to come out to dinner. Kevin came down wearing a scowl on his face and pointedly ignored Jonathan, who’d tried to be nice and said hello. When Kevin said nothing and sat down, Jonathan shrugged it off and sat down next to me. Mom began chastising Kevin for being impolite to our guest when she was certain she’d taught us all better than that.

We had begun passing the dishes around when my father showed up. “Sorry I’m late. I needed to make sure everything was running smoothly enough for Agnes to have an easy closing.”

He walked over to my mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek since that was all she’d let him reach. Then he walked to his seat, passing by Kevin, Alishia, and Danny who was seated to his left. I was seated to dad’s right with Jonathan next to me and Samantha next to him on my mother’s left.

My mother looked pointedly at him as he sat down and addressed Danny. “How’s business, Junior?”

Danny nodded, “It’s great dad. The senior partners are eager for me to take the bar already. They are certain I’m going to do well.”

“Really? You going to stay with the firm then?”

“Yes. They are giving me a really good deal to stay, so unless I get a better one, I’m not going anywhere.”

“I see, well let’s hope it works out then.”

“So, Jonathan, Alex tells me you are interested in business, just like she is?” asked my mom.

Jonathan nodded, “Yes, I took some business courses back in my senior year of high school and did really good. Don’t get me wrong, the courses weren’t that easy, but since I got good grades, I figured I could pursue that.”

“Oh, but you decided to wait before you went to college?” she asked.

I shook my head, “No, mom. Those courses Jonathan took were college courses.”

Danny nodded, “It’s a program that’s been in the schools for a few years now. If seniors have the credits they need to graduate, they can take college level courses and apply them to their degree once they graduate and go to the college that will accept those courses.”

I nodded in agreement, “It’s what I wanted to do this year, but dad wouldn’t let me sign up for the courses.”

“Oh, really?” my mother gave my father another one of her looks.

My father shrugged, “She was marrying Mark. What was the use of getting college credit if she wasn’t going to use it?”

“Who’s to say she wasn’t going to use it? Mark is planning on going to college, why would he have stopped her?”

“Since when do women finish college when they get married?”

“Since this is the twenty-first century, Daniel!”

“You didn’t.”

My mother narrowed her eyes, “Yes, and the more you open your mouth, the more I’m beginning to regret it!”

Kevin frowned, “What were you going to do? Major in ‘How to Properly Deal with Phone Company Customers’?”

“Kevin, don’t use that tone of voice with our mother,” chastised Danny.

Kevin went silent and poked at his food.

There was a moment of silence before Danny spoke up again, “Jonathan, what made you decide not to go to college right away?”

Jonathan shrugged, “It’s a long, complicated story. The gist of it is that my father was molding me into an image of him and I just followed blindly. When I realized that he was controlling my life and not allowing me to have my own, I decided to take a break. I wanted to go out and try to live life on my own, without my father’s influence.”

Danny grimaced, “I take it your father didn’t take it very well.”

Jonathan chuckled, “Yeah, he loved the fact that his protégé was rebelling. Needless to say, we didn’t see eye to eye after that.”

“Oh Jonathan, tell me you still talk to your father,” my mother interjected.

He nodded, “It’s better now. We are talking again and he’s come to understand that I just needed to grow up on my own without him holding my hand every step of the way.”

“So, are you going to take over the business or are you going to pursue something else?” asked Danny.

“My dad and I are still negotiating. I think I’m going to go back to work with him soon. So long as we are on the same page, I think I can do it.”

“Oh, so you won’t be going to college?” asked my mother.

“No, I don’t really need it anymore. I had just taken those courses back in high school to see what they were like, but I know my father’s company. I grew up there after all and my father spent as much time as possible grooming me to take over. Besides, when I go back to work with him, I’ll be working along side him for a while until he thinks I can do it all without him being there.”

“Well, that sounds like a plan.” my mother chuckled.

Alishia nodded, “Jonathan has always been smart when it comes to business. I remember when we used to model together and we’d go out with our group of friends. Well, when they found out about Jonathan’s ability to do business, they started going to him for advice especially on things like investments and consolidation. He was always good at those things.”

Danny chuckled, “Is that so?” At Alishia’s nod, he added, “Well, then, I guess we should invite him over for dinner one night and let him see the paperwork on those investments we want to make. Think you’d be able to give us some advice, Jonathan?”

“Sure, just let me know when you want to get together and I’ll be glad to look it over for you.”

“Is that what you are going to do too Alex?” asked my mom.

I shook my head, “I’m not going to deal with investments. I’m thinking more along the lines of keeping accurate counts whether it be financial or material. Jonathan’s strength is with long term things, while mine is with short term.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize there were different categories for business.”

Danny, Jonathan, and I all nodded and I said, “Yeah, nowadays business courses tend to be much more specific than they once were.”

“Well, whatever you do, I know you will do well, just like Danny did. Just like I know Samantha will do someday,” replied my mother as she turned to look at Samantha while giving her arm an affectionate squeeze.

Samantha just blushed and continued eating silently.

Jonathan chuckled, “Yeah, Sam will be great at whatever she does since she keeps Alex and I on our toes.”

The rest of us all added our verbal agreement, except Kevin and my father. It wasn’t hard to see that Kevin wished he was somewhere else, since he kept scowling at his plate and pushing the food around with his fork. My father pretended to be too interested in shoveling food into his mouth to participate in the conversation.

We continued to eat dinner and share stories with each other. Mom and Danny were extremely curious about Jonathan and wanted to know everything about him. We talked about his parents, his younger brother Darryl who was going to be a chef, and what Jonathan’s childhood had been like. Of course, Mom and Danny began to tell Jonathan all about my childhood and even Samantha began to contribute her own stories about growing up with me.

As we shared laughter over childhood stories, Mom had produced chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream for dessert. Kevin excused himself saying he didn’t want dessert. Mom tried to get him to finish his dinner, but he continued to ignore everyone at the table and left in a huff. The rest of us finished our dessert and moved into the living room to continue talking.

My father excused himself once we’d gone to the living room saying he needed to get some paperwork done before it got too late. I knew Mom was upset when he disappeared into his study because she wore a pinched expression on her face for a few moments before she came back to talking with the rest of us.

An hour later, Danny and Alishia took their leave with Danny promising to call Jonathan so that they could discuss a time for Jonathan to go over and help them with their investments. My mother saw them out while Jonathan and I lounged on the couch with Samantha who was watching television at that point.

I sat next to Jonathan giggling as he and Samantha debated whether or not the cartoon show she was watching was really as good as the cartoons back in the day. After a while, Samantha finally decided to call it a night and left us alone. I asked Jonathan if he was ready to leave and went to tell my mother that we were going out.

Leaving Jonathan in the living room, I made my way down the hall towards the kitchen where I figured my mom would be cleaning up. As I passed the study, I could hear her voice and my father’s.

“You didn’t even give him a chance, Daniel!”

“Oh please! Don’t you see it Laura! He’s suckering every one of you in! Does he really think that by cutting his hair and dressing all fancy that we are going to believe he’s good for Alex?”

“What has he done that’s so wrong? Even Danny thinks Jonathan has a good head on his shoulders! And Alishia has known him longer than all of us…”

My father scoffed, “Alishia? She was a model with him! A model Laura! What exactly is so smart and respectable about that?”

“That’s not the point. Daniel!”

“No, the point is that I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him! He’s up to something. I know he is. He probably made up all of that about him and his father mending their relationship too. After all, he’s still living in that one bedroom apartment instead of at the house his parents own.”

“God Daniel, didn’t you hear what he said! He needed to go out on his own! How was he going to know what it is like to depend on himself if he continued to live under his father’s roof?”

“It was a line…”

I didn’t want to hear anymore. Angry that my father refused to see that Jonathan was a good person, yet continued to think Mark could do no wrong, I pushed open the door and glared at him. “Mom, I came to tell you that Jonathan and I are going out now.”

My mother gave my father another one of her glacial stares before turning to me. She smiled as she walked out of the room with me, “Come on, let me see the two of you out.”

She walked Jonathan and I to the door and gave us both hugs. “Thank you for coming to dinner Jonathan. You know you are welcome here anytime.”

Jonathan nodded, “Thank you, Laura. Dinner was wonderful by the way.”

My mother chuckled, “Thank you, but it’s probably no where near as good as yours or your brothers. At least that’s what I get from what Alex has said about your cooking.”

Jonathan blushed, “Still, nothing beats a home cooked meal, especially when it’s made by a mother.”

I grinned, “Okay Jonathan, you can stop with the buttering her up, she likes you already.”

With a laugh, my mother agreed, “She’s right. I do like you. Now go on, enjoy the rest of the night together. I’ll see you tomorrow, Alex.”

I slid my hand into Jonathan’s as my mother winked at me and waved good bye to us. Together, we walked to Jonathan’s car and went to his place.

As we sat curled up together on his couch, we talked about dinner.

“Your mother was nice.”

I chuckled, “Yeah, well, she seemed a little out there at first, but when we sat down to dinner, she seemed more herself.”

“What do you mean ‘out there’?”

“She was trying too hard to be nice, it almost seemed fake. Even Sam thought so.”

“Maybe she was nervous?”

I laughed, “I don’t think so. I think she was trying to overcompensate for the way my dad was going to behave when he got there.”

Jonathan sighed, “Yeah, your dad doesn’t like me does he?”

I frowned as I remembered the argument I’d walked in on earlier. “He’s not even giving you that chance Jonathan. Mom thinks it’s unfair that he’s judging you by that one thing you did and nothing else.  Dad’s convinced you are just feeding us all the lines we want to hear.”

His eyes narrowed, “Isn’t that what Mark has been doing?”

“Yeah, but for some reason dad believes Mark is for real and you are the one faking it.”

I sighed and leaned back against the couch, “I don’t understand why dad can’t see the truth. I don’t understand why he won’t see that I am something more than just a mail order bride.”

“You’re not a mail order bride, Alex.”

“I know, but sometimes he just makes me feel like I’m this thing to be used, you know. To be used for some financial or social gain.”

Jonathan stared at me for a moment before he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. “You are so much more than that Alex. You know it. You’re smart and independent. And you speak your mind.” He pulled away and cupped my face in his hands, “I love the way you care about others Alex. The way you defend anyone you care about. Sarah, Sam, me.” His thumb caressed my cheek as he added in a low voice, “I love you Alex. You are so beautiful to me. Inside and out.”

I could feel the tears welling up as Jonathan finished his speech. All I could think was that I thought those very same things about him. He was beautiful to me. Inside and out.

Leaning in, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed him. I let the kiss show him just how much he meant to me. It was long and slow until both of us needed air. Then I slowly pulled away and placed my forehead against his.

“I love you too, Jonathan.” I whispered.

He smiled at that and we sat there for a few moments in silence, looking into each others eyes.

“Come here Alex,” he said a few moments later, as he got up and offered me his hand.

I slid my hand into his and let him lead me into the bedroom.

Jonathan stopped near the side of the bed and turned to me. As his lips brushed against mine, he said, “Let me show you just how beautiful you are to me.”

I nodded as his hands began to undress me. When I tried to help him, he shook his head, “Let me.”

I let my hands fall to my sides and allowed Jonathan to finish undressing me. Once he was done, he stepped back and began to take off his own clothes. I watched as more of his skin was exposed to my gaze. When he was done, he stood there for a few moments allowing me to drink my fill of him.

Once I looked into his eyes, he moved back to me and wrapped his arms around me. I moaned as he kissed me again and our bodies pressed against each others. I slid my hands up his chest and curled them around his shoulders into his short hair. Jonathan’s lips left mine to kiss and nibble his way down my neck and shoulders.

He tilted me back as his mouth wandered farther down to my breasts. I closed my eyes in bliss as he began to suckle and swirl his tongue around my areole. As my knees weakened, he held me up with his arms wrapped around my body. Soon, his mouth wandered over to the other breast and pleasured it the way he had the first.

As I felt the liquid pool between my legs, I groaned and tried to press myself closer to him. Jonathan shifted his weight and held me so I wouldn’t fall as he moved down my stomach. He slid a hand between my legs to help alleviate some of the ache there. I opened my eyes just as his fingers slid inside of me and gasped as I saw us in the mirrored wall.

Jonathan was kneeling now and all I saw of him was his back as he continued to pleasure me with his fingers. I slid one hand into his hair as he placed kisses and nibbles along my stomach and hips. My other hand wandered over his shoulders and down his back as my eyes followed its path in the mirror.

It was a heady feeling to watch Jonathan pleasuring me like that. To see the muscles moving in his back with every movement he made. I knew I was close when I felt the trembling in my legs begin.

“Jonathan…” I begged.

He stopped what he was doing and rose to his feet. Pulling me onto the bed, he positioned me on my knees facing the mirrored wall and knelt behind me. He leaned over me and kissed my shoulder before meeting my eyes in the mirror. As his hands moved from my hips up to cup my breasts he said, “Watch beautiful. Watch me make love to you.”

Then he leaned in and sucked my earlobe into his mouth. I moaned as his hands kneaded my breasts and his thumb nails grazed my nipples. My eyes started to flutter closed in pleasure, but he stopped again and waited until I opened them. He gave me a smile before he went back to nibbling on my neck and fondling my breasts.

As his hands shaped my body from my shoulders down to my hips, I resisted the urge to close my eyes again. His mouth and tongue wreaked havoc on my shoulders, neck, ears, and back. Soon, his hand wandered down between my legs and began to caress my clit.

I leaned back against him and opened my legs wider to give him better access, but I never took my eyes away from watching us in the mirror. As he slid his free hand back up to cup my breast, he slid into me from behind. I cried out as he filled me and began thrusting slowly in time to the way his fingers were caressing my clit and breast. It was the most erotic thing I had ever seen in my life, watching him doing that to me. And I was feeling everything I knew he wanted me to feel.

Unable to take his slow thrusts any longer, I began to push my hips back against him. He slid his hands to my hips to hold me in place and began to pick up the pace. I spread my legs wider, shifted slightly, and wrapped my fingers around his wrists as I continued to watch him in the mirror. With the angle we were at now, I could see him sliding in and out of me.

I heard him moan and looked up at him in the mirror to see that he was watching as he buried himself inside of me again and again. “God, beautiful,” he groaned.

I nodded, “Yes, Jonathan.” I tightened my hold on his wrists, “Harder, baby, please.”

He leaned closer to my back and thrust harder just the way I liked it. I threw my head back against his chest and continued to watch us in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around me to hold me close as he pounded into me. With each thrust, my breasts bounced and my body jerked with his.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, Jonathan slid out of me and moved to kneel in front of me. Pulling me into his arms, he lifted my left leg and wrapped it around his hip. As his lips met mine, he slid back inside of me. I moaned into his mouth then leaned back as he began thrusting hard again.

I tightened my leg around his hip and wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he held me close with one arm. He held my thigh high on his hip with his other hand. As he dipped his head to kiss and nibble on my collarbone and neck, I looked back into the mirror and nearly lost it when I saw us now. He was gorgeous with his dark hair against my chest and the muscles in his back straining to hold me to him. Then there were the muscles in his ass, clenching every time he thrust into me.

That was more than I could take. As I closed my eyes to allow myself to fall over the edge, Jonathan turned us around again and pressed me against the wall. He lifted my legs and I wrapped them tight around his hips as he began pounding into me again.

I leaned my head back against the mirror and began to shout, “Yes! Yes! Jonathan, I’m so close, baby!”

He panted against my neck, “Let go, beautiful. Let go for me.”

I screamed as I finally reached my peak and went tumbling over. Jonathan groaned as he felt me come and continued to thrust into me. Two thrusts later, he was shouting my name as he joined me in release. I held him close until he finally went limp and pressed me into the wall. We clung to each other breathing hard.

A few moments later I whispered, “You are beautiful to me too, Jonathan. Inside and out.”