Gypsy Kiss: Micah Part 6

I winced and smiled feebly. "Don't tell the others, they'll have a field day."

"Between me and you, I promise. So you and Jewls, are you friends? I mean, she likes you as a friend, right?"

"Yeah. And I'm ninety nine percent sure she likes me like I like her, she's just holding back."

"Why don't you invite her to the barbeque?"

"What barbeque?" I asked.

"The family barbeque your sister is putting together for your birthday in four weeks. Just...lay the groundwork, see if you can persuade her to come as a friend if needs be. She can come here, see that we're a decent family, that you're a decent lad and she might change her mind about you."

"Yeah, 'cause I can really trust the others to behave themselves can't I?"

He waved a hand at me dismissively. "I'll talk to them." He stood up and stretched. "I'm off to bed, and you should do the same. You look beat."

I smirked a little. "Back at you brother. Night."

He nodded vaguely as he disappeared up the stairs and I stood for a minute or two in the silence of the living room.

As usual, a quick chat with my big brother had sorted me out. He had a way of breaking down any problem and making the solution seem simple, and I had newfound resolve.

Micah The following day Jewls was back working with me on the waltzer and I was over the moon when I discovered that. Alex might have been my friend, but I didn't trust him around her in the slightest.

From the minute she arrived for work it was obvious that something had changed between us. I'm sure she sensed that too. She seemed a lot more comfortable around me, a lot more relaxed. She had also begun to make subtle changes to herself that I probably wasn't meant to notice. Just little things. Her hair was down, and she never wore it down. It sat over her shoulders perfectly. She was wearing skinny jeans that looked like she had been squeezed into them, and they were a major improvement on her usual trademark jogging bottoms. The way her backside looked packed into the denim...G.o.d it was b.l.o.o.d.y deliciously distracting.

She smiled a lot more and seemed to genuinely enjoy my company. We laughed a lot. I even caught her half dancing on a couple of occasions. I could tell she really wanted to just let go and dance as though no one was watching, but as usual she was guarded.

I made no secret of how in to her I was. Every time she looked my way I winked, or smiled and I missed no opportunity to brush against her when we got close, feeling her breath hitch every d.a.m.n time.

I wanted her to know I was well and truly into her, but I also wanted to make sure she was in to me too. And there was one song that always got me moving, and always got a good response from the girls. It was probably the last song in the world you would expect from someone like me, but hey...when something works, it works.

So after playing chart music all afternoon I finally switched it to Do You Love Me? by The Contours. My mother had been a diehard Dirty Dancing fan and what can I say? It rubbed off on me, the soundtrack at least. Certainly didn't hurt with the ladies. It was met with whistles and cheers from people who came here a lot and knew what was coming. A glance over the yard and I saw Alex and Laura watching me, Alex laughing, Laura shaking her head and grinning. I grinned back and raised my hands in a what? gesture. And as the song kicked in, I began to strut my stuff.

So there I was, b.u.mping and grinding to the music, riding the waltzer and I glanced over to find Jewls standing to the side, staring at me, her mouth hanging open. And I had my answer. She was attracted to me alright; I knew that for sure now. She was looking at me like a bride to be looks at a stripper on her hen night. Like she was mentally undressing me. Her blue eyes shone in the flas.h.i.+ng lights, as wide as saucers, and as I watched her, she swallowed really hard. She knew I had caught her staring, but unlike how she normally looked away hastily, this time it was like she absolutely couldn't tear her eyes away.

The girls in the queue and on the waltzer cheered me on, clapping along to the beat and wolf-whistling at me, but I saw none of them, I only saw her. When the song was finished I was met with rapturous applause and I laughed and took a bow, glancing over at Jewls again. She was grinning and clapping too, shaking her head at me. The song switched to Otis Redding's Love Man oh yes, it was Dirty Dancing soundtrack night for sure and I raised my hands up high above my head, letting out a woo! and resumed dancing. She threw her head back and full on belly laughed. As was always the case when I worked the waltzer, I was in my element, having the time of my life no pun intended but that night was the best one in all my nine years there, up to that point at least, because she was having the time of her life too, and because I now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she felt exactly what I felt. And knowing that, I realised it was just a matter of time.

Micah We were both on until ten again that night and then Alex came over to relieve us. Jewls had this huge smile on her face and she looked totally chilled and happy. She almost seemed drunk, as though she had finally decided to drop her inhibitions and just enjoy herself. If that was it, it was long overdue. I was really happy to have managed to put that smile there, she was glowing and she looked stunning. I was also glad that the f.u.c.k up of the day before seemed to be forgotten. I think in that moment if I had asked her to come for a drink with me, she would possibly have said yes, but I had promised myself I was going to take this slow. Plant the seed, and watch it grow slowly. There was no rush, I wanted her to make the choice for herself, I wasn't going to push her in any way whatsoever. I was just going to make my intentions plain and clear and see what she did with the information.

"Had a good s.h.i.+ft?" Alex asked her, grinning and she put a hand over her heart, pretending to swoon and giggled.

"Oh...I've had the time of my life..."

She glanced at me and we both fell about laughing again. I don't know about her, but my jaw was sore from all the laughing. I wasn't ready for us to go home, for this to end.

"But," she continued, "I'm beat, so home time it is..."

She moved to walk away and I grabbed her hand, pulling her back to my side. "Wait, Jewls?"

"What's up?" she said, smiling sweetly at me. Trouble was, I hadn't thought what to say. I looked around me searching for inspiration and then it came to me.

Jewls He held out a hand, grinning and I frowned. "What?"

"Come on the waltzer with me. Let's have a quick ride before we go home, huh?"

I shook my head erratically. "Oh no...no, I don't do rides."

"Come on...it's perfectly safe."

I scoffed. Sure...once upon a time someone had said the t.i.tanic was unsinkable too. People said things like it's perfectly safe right before imminent disaster. Life was dangerous enough to survive sometimes, why go looking for danger?

"I don't doubt it. Well, I do, but..." he smirked at that, and for just a split second, that smirk alone almost had me ready to agree to anything. "...me and rides, we don't get along. I do not do rides. I've seen Final Destination; I know how it could go." He actually laughed out loud at that as I continued, "I do...projectile vomiting, screaming...hysterical, raw fear..."

"I will hold you...the entire time. A little fear is no bad thing. You won't be sick because apparently you hardly eat, at least not that I've seen. I will, as is my duty, keep you safe at all times. I won't let go of you, not even for a split second. Come on...live a little. With me. Please?"

If I had any resolve left at that point, it vanished when he did it again, that thing that was fast becoming his trademark. I swear he knew what it did to me. He stuck his bottom lip out, his palms pressed together pleading with me. Who in the h.e.l.l could resist those puppy dog big brown eyes? Apparently not me. I groaned and accepted his hand.

"Fine," and even I couldn't believe I had said that, "but if I throw up on you-"

"It will be an awesome story to tell our grandkids one day. And yes...I've thought that far ahead. One day you will give up fighting me, you will believe how insanely beautiful I think you are, and you will agree to be my girlfriend. And we'll grow old and wrinkly together, you just watch." Those words hung in the air for what felt like the longest time. I had no idea how to react because for a moment there, I truly believed him. "In the meantime..." he said, breaking the moment, "climb aboard, Ms Dempsey."

The five minutes which, incidentally, felt more like five hours to me went by in a haze of something that was half fear, and half adrenalin, leaving me with a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic urge to go and do it all again, over and over.

He settled in the seat beside me and pulled the bar down locking us in, and then he put an arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his embrace. He held me tight the whole time the ride spun us round and round until I couldn't see straight and my senses were a scrambled mess on the floor. Every time I screamed and I screamed a lot he squeezed me tighter to him, and I used it as an excuse to bury my face into his warm, solid chest and breathe in his scent, drink him in.

Micah's arms were my new favourite place to be, and despite my abject terror, a part of me didn't want the ride to end, because I didn't want to let go of him, and I didn't want him to let go of me. Ever. He had me literally and emotionally in a spin.

As the ride began to slow, signalling the end of the pure h.e.l.l and heaven combination I was in, he kissed the top of my head, right out of nowhere and whispered in my ear, "You're safe with me...always safe..."

And although they might not seem like significant words generally speaking, they were to me. Because I actually felt safe. And I hadn't felt that in a long time.

Chapter Five.

Jewls I could barely stand as Micah helped me off the ride and back on to solid ground. My heart was in my mouth, I was visibly shaking and adrenalin was just coursing through my veins. I was all too aware that it wasn't just the ride causing it. Being so close to Micah, snuggled into his chest had me in a complete tailspin, and I am pretty sure he knew it too.

Sensing my instability, for want of a better word, Micah apparently decided that the right thing to do was to slide his arm around my waist, practically holding me up. What he didn't seem to realise, was that just his touch had my heart fluttering again. It was becoming near impossible to deny the feelings he ignited in me, and, I feared, harder for me to conceal it from him. What had me confused was that he seemed to be trying to provoke such a reaction. Although I had accepted his apology, I still couldn't decide whether I fully trusted him. There were, as I could see it, two possible reasons for the way he was behaving with me. One, he truly liked me, and he was trying to make me believe it, or two...this was all, still, part of some sort of elaborate practical joke, and he simply wanted me to believe he meant it. Me being me, my heart wanted to believe the former, my head was more inclined towards the latter.

What I never made allowances for back then, was Micah's absolute resolve in getting me to believe he was genuine. He was absolutely determined in his quest to not just have my heart, but also my trust and my faith in him. It was never enough for him to have feelings for me, if he knew I didn't fully believe they were real. He wanted me to know it was real, and he wasn't going to rest until I got that message loud and clear.

I thank G.o.d every day that one of us had the strength to relentlessly pursue and push the issue, because I certainly didn't. But he never let up, and I didn't make it easy on him, not by any stretch of the imagination. However hard I pushed him away, he kept on coming back, and he didn't care what it took. He was a man on a mission.

Once again he walked me home, this time not asking me, just walking with me. He took my hand in his without asking and we walked in silence all the way. I didn't dare look at him, because I could feel his eyes on me, and the weight of his stare burning into me. I was afraid if I looked at him, I would literally burst into flames.

When we reached my front door I let out a sigh that was half relief and half simply an exhale, it felt like I had been holding my breath the whole walk back here.

I smiled half-heartedly at him, still not quite looking at him and made to unlock my door.

"Well, I'd better-"

He didn't let go of my hand; instead, he tugged sharply on it, sending me spinning back into his arms. My hands landed in the middle of his chest, his hands sort of lingered on my hips, pinning me to him.

"Don't say anything..." he said suddenly, and something in his tone shut me right up, sucking any words I might have felt the need to say right from my mind. All I could do was look up at him, stare into those deep pools of chocolate brown. His lips were parted slightly, and if I had thought it possible, I would have sworn he was aroused. h.e.l.l, I know I was. He was so close I could smell him, a heady mix of cigarettes and that indiscernible smell of the fairground, as though the place literally ran through his veins, a part of him. Aftershave, I didn't know what kind but the scent was just...urgh...and just...Micah. He oozed masculinity, strength and confidence.

"I know you feel it, Jewls." He murmured, his voice low and beyond s.e.xy. "I know you do. I know that your heart rate increases whenever you are close to me like this." He placed one palm on my chest, close to my heart. "I can feel it. You know what that is? It's l.u.s.t...and it's attraction, and it's your soul...straining to get to my soul, because they belong together, Jewls."

Oh, he did not just say that. He could not go around saying things like that, because every word was breaking down my walls, my emotional barriers crumbling, and although those words spread warmth right through my body, that warmth was laced with raw fear, so potent it had the potential to choke me. I realised that for all the ways and times Andrew had hurt me, Micah had the ability to hurt me a thousand times worse.

I gulped at that, intending to speak but my mouth had dried right up. Nothing came out of my mouth, nothing at all.

"You know how I know all that, Jewls?" I was able to shake my head, I had no idea how he had come to such a conclusion. He grabbed one of my wrists and placed my hand on his chest, right over his heart. He was every bit as solid as I remembered, a wall of muscle, but even under his sweater and solid muscle he radiated sheer heat, and I could feel his heart hammering along as mine was. "Because mine does exactly the same. I know you don't believe me, but I'm going to convince you. I'm not giving up, because I want you, and I know you want me. Deny it for as long as you want, tell yourself I can't possibly mean it, it must be a joke, or another bet...tell yourself anything you like, I know how I feel. And I know how you feel, so it's just a matter of time. I'm not gonna stop, Jewls. Until you're mine. Are we clear on that?"

Again, I was completely unable to find my voice, and I just nodded, dumbstruck. He smirked a little and released me from his hold. I immediately felt cold and lost without his touch. He reached into his bag and handed me a plain brown cardboard box, smiling.

"I have something for you. A little present. I want you to open it when I've gone, because...well, you're gonna be p.i.s.sed at me. But you must accept it. I'm not taking it back. I'm giving it to you with only the best of intentions, and not to offend you. You understand?"

I nodded I did, but in truth I had no idea what the h.e.l.l he was talking about. My brain had shut down.

He nodded, satisfied and walked away, leaving me a hopeless pile of goo on my front step.

Jewls I let myself in to my flat and ran up the stairs, sitting down on my little sofa, and before I had even bothered to take my jacket off, I opened the box. Inside was a white plastic bag, with a post-it note stuck to it. I pulled it off to see it simply said Don't get mad, okay?

I smiled and looked in the bag to find another bag, with another post-it message Seriously Jewls, I've felt your wrath and your right hook is lethal...

This time I smirked and flung that on the floor too.

What I then had in my hands took my breath away. I didn't know if it was just me overreacting, but as far as a little present for a friend went, this was way over the top.

Micah's idea of a little present was a brand new iPhone.

I actually scoffed out loud, stunned and incredulous. What the h.e.l.l? The phone I had been forced to ditch had been an old ancient, actually Nokia. I had never had a decent phone, certainly never one like this. I could see why he had insisted I wait until he was gone, because he was right. Although part of me, I must admit, was super excited to have a phone again, and such a nice one, part of me was, as he had predicted, a little mad. Because this was too much, and I wasn't a charity case. What sort of man buys a woman he's known a couple of weeks something this expensive? And more to the point...why? What did he want in return?

I turned it over in my hands a couple of times and groaned to myself. I supposed it wouldn't hurt to at least switch it on, and see what it was like.

After a little search I found and pressed the power b.u.t.ton and it came to life. As the home screen came on I had to laugh as I realised Micah had already had a play around with it before he gave it to me. The home screen picture was one I remembered Alex taking just the day before, of me and Micah on the steps of the waltzer, in what at the time seemed like an innocent picture of two work colleagues. We both had our thumbs up, cheesy smiles on our faces. Micah had done a little editing I could see, and love hearts were dotted about above our heads.

I was still laughing, but I quickly realised I had tears rolling down my cheeks, and I couldn't tell myself whether they were happy or sad tears.

People who are just messing don't go to these lengths...do they? You don't buy someone a five hundred pound phone as part of some sort of set up...right?

I was so confused. As I sat looking at the picture, running my thumb over Micah affectionately, the phone burst into life, vibrating and Eric Carman's Hungry Eyes filled the room. The screen said Micah, calling...

Micah the Dirty Dancing fan, who would have thought? I sat listening to the words of the song, wondering if they were deliberate or not. Of course they were, everything Micah said and did had a reason, I had learned that much about him 'I look at you and I...fantasise...

You're mine tonight...

Now I've got you in my sights...

With these...hungry eyes...'

I snapped out of it when I finally realised I should be answering it. I pressed what I a.s.sumed was the right b.u.t.ton and before I could even say h.e.l.lo, he began to speak.

"To busy listening to my ring tone to answer, huh? I knew I'd be gone all of thirty seconds before you were tearing into that box." I sensed the humour in that tone and bit back a smile. He would sense it, and I needed this to be a serious conversation.

"Micah-" I started, finally finding my voice.

"Before you start shouting, or telling me you can't accept it, hear me out...okay?" I didn't say anything, a.s.suming no response was required until he repeated, "okay, Jewls?"

"O-okay..." I stuttered.

"You're new to the area. You live in a flat above a chippy in the town centre, alone, and you frequently finish work at ten, twelve o'clock at night. You live away from your family, who are probably wondering what on earth has happened to you. You need a phone, Jewls."

I winced to myself. I had been calling my mum once a week from the payphone across the road, just checking in, and letting her know I was alive and well but I could sense her worry at not being able to contact me whenever she felt like it.

I let out a sigh, choosing my words carefully. "You're right, I do need a phone. And I was gonna get one. But not an expensive iPhone like this. I only need a basic phone, and it certainly isn't your responsibility to get one for me anyway-"

"Yes, it is..." he countered immediately.

"How do you work that out?" I asked, knowing fine well that he had prepared for this conversation and that no matter what I said; he would have an answer for it.

"Because I care about you. Not as a friend. It's more than that. I'm invested in you, drawn to you, body and soul and so my natural instinct is to want you to be safe, and for you to feel safe. You need a phone, Jewls. In any case, it's not brand new; I bought it off a mate. So just...accept it, please."

I hesitated and groaned. "I can't accept it as a gift. But...I'll buy it off you. Give you so much a month. How does that sound?"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "We'll talk about it. But you're keeping the phone?"

I smiled to myself. "I'm keeping the phone."

"Great! Well...I best be off. Go get yourself a nice hot bath and get some sleep. I'll see you soon, Jewls."

"Yeah..." I said, in a daze. "And Micah?"

"Yup?"