Gypsy Kiss: Micah Part 10

I sensed his smile. "That's all I ask."

I took a step back, because frankly I didn't know how far we'd go if we didn't break the physical contact and Alex was, after all, about two metres from us. It wasn't exactly a private exchange.

Once again, I immediately felt cold without his touch. I picked up the envelope and held it out to him. "I can't accept this. I might not have a lot, but it's important to me that what I do get, it comes from me. It's very important. I have money to do a little shopping and I am alright. You don't need to worry about me. But I absolutely cannot accept money from you. You understand, right?"

Reluctantly he nodded. "Yeah, I understand. But you understand that if you need anything...you can come to me. And if I think that you're not eating, or in any kind of trouble, I will intervene. I can't help it, I'm invested in this. You're too precious to me, far too precious. Tell me you understand."

I wasn't sure I did, but I found myself nodding anyway. "Understood."

He leaned in and kissed my forehead. "Since you're here..." he reached into the envelope and pulled out a twenty. "Pop to the cafe and get me and Alex a bacon sandwich and a coffee, there's a good girl."

I went to slap him and he ducked, laughing, as I was. He grabbed my wrist, holding on to it to stop my a.s.sault. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" he protested. I slapped him with my free hand, aiming for the back of his legs but hitting a little higher on his firm bottom. He let out a low s.e.xy growl in response.

"f.u.c.k, Jewls...you can't do that. Not here, anyway. Can I pop to yours after I finish here? Just for a chat."

I nodded, smiling. "Course. I'll even go and buy some milk."

He handed me another twenty. "Take this." Before I could protest, he held his hands up. "Can't have a coffee without some chocolate biscuits. For G.o.d's sake just...take it and get what you need."

I took it from him and slipped it in his pocket. "I have my own money."

He rolled his eyes, smiling. "You stubborn..." he slapped my b.u.m, sending s.h.i.+vers right through my body. "So...about those bacon sandwiches?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes and I saluted him playfully. "I'm on it."

"Ah," he grinned, "look at you, looking after your boyfriend..."

We had come out from the office and I walked off, calling back to him along the way. "You're not my boyfriend, buster. Not yet."

I grinned to myself as I heard him say to Alex, "She loves me. She just doesn't know it yet."

Micah A part of me wanted to ask her to just hang out with me for the day while I worked, at least until lunchtime, but I knew that wouldn't be fair on her day off. So when she returned with the bacon sandwiches and coffees for me and Alex I told her to go home and put her feet up, and I would come by after my s.h.i.+ft. I made a point of hugging her though, long and hard before I let her go.

Just to give her something to think about for the day.

It was the first time in nine years my head and my heart were not with my work; I was more than a little distracted. Alex took the strain, pretty much running the waltzer single-handedly while I sat about messing with my phone. Jewls and I had gotten into a sort of text flirting thing and I was oblivious to pretty much everything else.

I hope by now you're on your sofa in your pyjamas watching a movie and thinking of me. Work boring today. Missing you already x.x.xx M x.x.xx Watching Pretty Woman. In my onesie. Lol. Xx J xx Cookie Monster? :P No. Leopard print onesie today ;) xx Ooh purr....nice. You didn't answer my question. Are you?

Am I what?

Thinking of me? xx M xx I'm texting you. Ergo yes, thinking of you xx J xx Infuriating woman. Do you enjoy teasing me?

Yes. Don't you have work to do?

Yes. But I would rather talk to you.

You can talk to me later. Face to face. Four thirty. Back to work, buster. Those customers won't flirt with themselves ;) Ooh...do I detect a hint of jealously Miss Dempsey?

No Mr Machvaya. That's your ego at work. You know, like you should be. Xx J xx Ouch! Okay will leave you to it. For the record, Julia Roberts has got nothing on you. Enjoy your day sweetheart. See you at four thirty xx M xx TTFN. Xx J xx ~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~.

Jewls From four that afternoon, I found myself standing at my living room window, looking out down the street, nerves beginning to kick in. What if coffee was code for something else? What could he possibly want to talk about? Part of me wanted to text and cancel, but the other part frankly, a much larger part couldn't wait to see him, even though it had been less than seven hours and we had been texting on and off most of the day.

I was glad now I had the phone. I found it easier to say things via text than I did face to face and I had even found myself in a sort of flirting war with Micah today at least, I presumed it was flirting. It wasn't like I had ever had experience of it before him. Whatever our exchange was, it had been fun and I was feeling really good, in spite of being monumentally p.i.s.sed this morning over the money. I guess I just couldn't stay mad at the man for long.

I glanced back outside and there he was, standing directly below smiling up at me. I smiled back beyond my control at the very sight of him and then ran down the stairs to let him in, stopping at the very last minute to try and compose myself. Talk about looking eager, I had to get a grip of myself.

I let out a long, deep breath and opened the door.

"Hey..." I said, trying to sound breezy, probably failing miserably.

"Hi," he said with an answering smile.

I opened the door a little wider. "Come on up."

"Thanks," he said, and followed me up the stairs. I could feel his eyes on me the whole way.

We both sort of lingered awkwardly in the living room for a minute or two, in an uncomfortable silence. I gestured to the sofa. "Have a seat. Coffee?"

"Oh G.o.d, yes please." He said with another smile. He flopped on the sofa and kicked his shoes off, placing them neatly to the side.

"Milk, sugar?" I croaked.

"No, thanks. I like mine hot, strong and dark. What uh...what about you?"

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Smooth and sweet."

He actually chuckled at that and shook his head. "Good, good..."

I made the drinks and set them on the coffee table, hovering again for a moment before perching on the edge of the sofa. Micah simply watched me, amused. He sat back, making himself comfortable and held his arms open.

"Can I get a hug? You can tell yourself it's just a mate thing if it makes it easier?"

I narrowed my eyes, letting him know I was making a mental note of all his poking fun at me, and then sat further back on the sofa. He groaned and shook his head.

"Oh, h.e.l.l no, Miss Dempsey."

And with that, he grabbed me round my waist, lifted me as though I weighed nothing at all, and deposited me on his lap, wrapping both his arms around me in a gesture that said stay put.

"Micah!" I squealed.

"What?"

"I can't sit on your knee!"

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not a child! And because I'll crush you!"

He rolled his eyes at me. "You're not nearly as heavy as you think you are, you know. I'm comfy, are you?"

"That's not-"

"Are you comfy, Jewls?"

"Well, yeah...but-"

"Good, me too. Relax, Jewls. Please. Coffee wasn't code for something else, I'm not after anything. Just a coffee, a cuddle and a chat."

I had to admit, it felt good to have him hold me like that, but my heart was just hammering in my chest.

"What do you want to talk about?" I heard myself say.

He shrugged, smiling and tucked some of my hair behind my ear, brus.h.i.+ng the back of his hand over my cheek gently. The touch sent a ripple through me.

"Us. You. Me. how about...we each have three questions? How does that sound?"

"Uh...okay..." I said, though I was a little worried about what he might ask.

"Okay, I'll go first." He thought for a minute. "Jewls. How did you get your name?"

My smile broadened at that. "Oh well...when my dad proposed to my mum, he didn't have a lot of money and he couldn't afford a ring. He said to my mum...'one day I will give you jewels.' When I was born, and my dad held me for the first time, my mum said to him...'this is better than jewels.' And my dad said...'this is Jewls.' That's how I got my name."

He raised his eyebrows. "Wow. That's a lovely story. And your mum and dad, are they still married?"

My smile faded beyond my control and I felt the familiar ache deep inside. "My dad died suddenly, uh...seven years ago."

Micah's smile faded too. "Oh...I'm sorry."

I sighed and then shook it off, grinning. "My turn. And by the way...that counts as two questions."

He pouted at that, and it was the most endearing thing I had ever seen. "Oh, you play dirty. Okay...your first question?"

I grinned. "Dirty Dancing...why?"

He smiled back. "My mum...she loved the film, and the music. I would go as far as to say...she was obsessed. It's one of my main childhood memories involving her, since I wasn't very old when she died. Next question..." he said, and I correctly surmised that he wasn't entirely comfortable talking about her, that it was painful. I understood that. He s.h.i.+fted a little and tightened his grip on me.

I frowned. "Am I squas.h.i.+ng your leg?"

"No," he said, the ghost of a cheeky smile on his face. "Next question."

I leaned back to get a good look at him, raising both eyebrows in shock. "I don't believe you, that so didn't count!"

"Next question, Miss Dempsey." He said. We were both laughing now, and I let out a deep sigh.

I wanted my last question to be something that made him laugh, purely because I loved to hear him laugh, to see his face light up. But it occurred to me that I had a real opportunity here, and I shouldn't let it go to waste.

I hesitated for just a moment before continuing. I looked right into his eyes, making it clear that this was important, that I needed a real, serious answer.

"This...all of this, what you're telling me you want, and feel...is it for real? Are you for real?"

He met my gaze with a serious one of his own, all humour now gone from his expression and he nodded slowly.

"Yes...it is. What I feel, is real. Not a bet, not a game, not a set up or a trap. Real."

I felt the air leave my lungs and a single tear slip from my eye and roll down my cheek. He wiped it away with a gentle finger and sat forward a little, leaning in closer to me.

"Time for my last question, Jewls. Do you think...one day, you might agree to be my girlfriend?"

I smiled broadly, in spite of my overwhelming emotions and slowly nodded. "Yeah..." I said, just finding enough air in my lungs to speak. "Yeah, I do..." I grinned again and winked. "One day..."

He opened his mouth, probably to tell me I was cheeky, or teasing him, being mean, and then simply closed it again, instead just smiling as though he couldn't believe I had actually said yes. To be fair, neither could I.

But I was done with being afraid. What had been the point in running and trying to build a new life if I had no intention of actually living it?

I had literally risked my life leaving, and I had wasted eight years of my life already, I didn't want to waste any more time.

I believed he meant it. But I still couldn't understand why he was drawn to me, when he could literally have anyone, and I didn't know how I would ever hang on to him if he were mine.

I was going to have to work on continuing to mend myself if I was ever to have any hope of being happy with Micah. At that time moment my confidence was way below what it needed to be and my fear at an all-time high. But I believed he could help me, and maybe, just maybe, he was the key to my healing once and for all.

He swallowed and thought carefully for a minute. "Um...bonus question? One each?"

I grinned and nodded. "If I can go first?"

He nodded, clearly intrigued. "Go on..."

I thought for a minute. "Your name...it's as unusual, if not more so than mine. Where did you get it?"

"My mum gave it to me." He said with a cheeky wink. My eye rolling apparently made it clear his sarcasm was unappreciated and he sighed. "'Our surname Machvaya is eastern European. Since mum died and dad left, Nic has tried to distance me and my siblings from our uh...heritage. He worried it would hold us back. There's a stigma attached to it, you see."

"Stigma?" I said, frowning.

"Yeah. See, I was drawn to the fair, Nic says it's in my blood, like it or not. Gypsy's, Jewls. We're gypsies. Well...by name, anyway. Not by practice."

I nodded, surprised. "Oh...oh, right."

"Yeah. People think gypsies are all thieves and liars. Some of them are. But Nic raised us different. To challenge the stereotype."

I shrugged, indicating that it didn't bother me if he were a gypsy or not. I didn't care who he was or where he came from, I just liked him. I had never been a fan of stereotypes.

"Good on him," I said, "though you shouldn't have to hide who you are or where you're from. But I get it. I hate stereotypes." I smiled a little. "I know this is breaking the rules, but can I ask another question?"

He grinned. "Jewls, you have me wrapped around your little finger, you can ask me anything."

I considered that and decided to ask the question I was most curious about, something that had been bugging me from that first day we had met.