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Paperwork. Endless paperwork. It was the only thing Jessie hated about owning a bookstore. She had spent what felt like hours working on it and now she was free to do what she liked. The brunette was hunched over the front counter scribbling in a simple marbled notebook.



Jessie startled when a voice spoke at basicly at her elbow. She slammed the book shut and shuffled random papers over it. She had been so lost in her writing she had missed Lucas sneaking up to her. “Oh. Hello… I'm sorry what did you ask?”

“Hey, Beautiful, how’s it going in here?” Lucas said, ticking off each word on his fingers as he spoke. “Did I interrupt something important?” He asked, looking at the desk, which to him looked like a complete mess. “Just wanted to let you know it’s about 8:45, and ask if you wanted to walk to dinner or if I needed to get us a cab?”

This was already shaping up to be an interesting night, it was time to see how this went. “Also, I guess I need to fill out more paperwork, huh? The direct deposit form, right?” He said with a small chuckle. “Not that I mind the hard checks but, supposedly it’s easier?”

“Oh… It's going just fine. And no, just doing stuff.” Jessie smiled in relief, her secret seemed pretty safe. “8:45?” She sat up a little straighter and realized she had been writing longer than she expected. “Damn… Should have gone through the store to let people know it's near closing.” She chuckled at his offer of a cab but since she rarely drove she knew most of the places pretty close by. “No there are a couple of decent places in walking distance. A cab isn't necessary. Excuse me just one moment.”

Jessie climbed up on the stool she had been standing on and shouted, “it's 8:45 and the store will be closed in 15 minutes. Please bring up any books you want to purchase.” She normally would have wandered the store and made the announcement personally but had no clue if anyone was even here she had been that wrapped up in her writing.

Her announcement complete she glanced down at Lucas and smiled. “Paperwork? Oh yes. The form. Let me just…” She climbed down from the chair, stumbling only slightly as her foot slipped on the final rung. Jessie caught herself by landing on the counter, sending papers and books everywhere. “I have that form around here... somewhere.” The brunette frowned at her mess and muttered some not nice words followed by, “Theses shoes are definitely getting tossed.”

Lucas laughed a bit before moving in and kissing Jessie on the cheek. “I don’t know, I like them, they seem to put you right about kissing level for me.” He said with a soft purr. Pulling back however he quickly started helping her sort things out. “We can always fill it out when we get back, it’s not like there is a rush or anything.”

He was glad though, that there were some decent places within walking distance, he still wasn’t used to this part of town and he didn’t know what all had changed since he’d just spent the last seven years or so locked up.

“They are a little higher than I'm use to. Besides you're still taller.” She muttered and fiddled with the shoe, barely realizing he had kissed her cheek. Flicking the heal on and off with just her toes. The cream pumps worked with her shirt but if she kept tripping because them they weren't worth keeping around. “Yeah, I think finding that paperwork might take a little bit.” She glanced up and smiled at Lucas as he started to pick up her mess. This wasn’t the first mess he had cleaned up after her so she really did owe him dinner at least since he was going above and beyond his job.

Her smile froze however when his hand landed on the old marble notebook. No one ever gets to see her writing. It was her secret. He can't open the book. He just can't. “No… No… Put it down.” She scrambled to reach the book before he did, but those damn heels, they were just not cooperating and rather than stopping right in front of him to snatch the book she slid right into him as her foot stepped on a fallen sheet of paper sending her tumbling.

Lucas had had no intention of looking through anything he picked up, he was just trying to get it tidied up for Jessie so that she could have an easier time finding anything she needed. So he was not at all expecting her statement, which caused him to look up. Nor was he expecting her to literally come charging at him and throw herself into him.

So of course he had to drop everything he was holding to catch her so she wouldn’t fall flat on her face. This of course caused him to take a step or two back to compensate, causing him to also slip on a piece of paper, sending them both to the floor - her atop him - with a fairly resounding crash as he kicked the chair over as he went.

Looking up at her he laughed a bit, shaking his head. “Well that’s the first time a woman’s actually thrown herself at me…” He murmured, before reaching up to pull her down for a fierce and heated kiss.

Jessie didn't expect them both to go down or to find herself on top of Lucas. She was chuckling along with him, it really was quite amusing, but the laughter faded as he pulled her close and started to kiss her again. Like all the other times before, her senses seemed to shut down leaving only Lucas. Nothing but Lucas.

A polite cough sounded above the two. The sound had Jessie starting and breaking away from the kiss but not the embrace. Glancing up, a blush filling her whole face, Jessie cleared her throat at the site of the old lady standing there with the aid of a cane. “Good evening Mrs. Robinson. Sorry about the delay. I just tripped, I'll get right up.” She wiggled a bit on Lucas before tapping his arm. “I need to get up.”

Mrs Robinson chuckled and winked at Jessie, “don't get up for me, my dear. Enjoy your boy, he seems to know what he is doing.” Her smile was wide and quite knowing. “Just wanted you to know it's after 9 and once I leave no one else will be left in the store.” She winked again and began to shuffle towards the door.

Lucas looked up as Jessie broke away, blinking up for a moment he smirked at the older woman. Okay, no, he liked this Mrs. Robinson. Giving her a wink back and a bit of a nod. He turned to look at Jessie. “I suppose that means we should lock up shop, hm?”

He had to admit, this was becoming far more interesting than he’d originally thought it was going to turn out. But he had no complaints. Especially with how quickly Jessie seemed to be molding herself to him each time they embraced.

Still, he had promised her a date, and he kept his promises. “I’ll help lock up and then we can head out? Since we should eat, yeah?”

Jessie glanced between Lucas and Mrs Robinson, confusion all over her face. “Yes…” She felt like there was more going on then she knew but shrugged it off. “The back door is already locked so it's just the front. And the papers.” She climbed off of Lucas and started to pick up the scattered papers, including her notebook which she hid at the bottom of the pile. With a smile she glanced over at her newest employee and smirked, “so now your a** has a bruise just like mine did the first time we met.”

Mrs Robinson laughed loudly as she caught Jessie's comment. “You two have fun on your date. Jessie I'll be back later in the week for my order. Come here young man, help me down the front steps.” She waited until Lucas was by her side before heading out the door. Once the door with its stained glass door featuring a dragon reading she said quietly. “You be kind to her. You hurt her and I will make you regret it.” She gave Lucas the stink eye and thumped her cane against the porch boards for emphasis. “And don't think I can't sonny.”

Lucas was more than willing to help the older lady outside, and he kind of knew where this was going to go. This was not the first time he’d gotten this speech from someone. Usually it was a father or a brother, but he was somewhat amused that Mrs. Robinson was the one delivering it today. Still, when they got outside he turned to her and smiled, even as she gave him “that look”.

“Mrs. Robinson,” He said, bowing his head low and keeping his smile broad. “I have no intentions of hurting Jessie. She is a very lovely woman and it seems to me that she was not made aware of this fact. If anything, it is my hope that she blossoms and becomes aware of her greatness. From there the choice is up to her, where I fit into things.” He said with a chuckle.

“But the woman needs some love in her life, I think, and I’ll give it to her.”

Mrs Robinson couldn't help but snort at the boy’s flowery words. “Let me give you a piece of advice sonny. Jessie in there is the kindest woman you will ever meet. Would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it, literally. But,” she held up a cautionary finger, “your right. She has no clue just how special she is.” Mrs Robinson shook her head sadly, “bright a** girl and yet not so much. Talk to her straight. Don't sugar coat it or use innuendo she won't get it.” She took his arm and used it to work her way down the three porch steps. “Once saw a guy hit on her. Asking for a map because he got lost in her eyes or some such nonsense. She went off on a tangent about maps, getting lost, using the stars to guide by, and even a bit on one’s eyes.” The old lady laughed loudly. “That man left looking more confused than a chameleon in a bag of skittles.”

Once safely down the steps she turned to Lucas. “I'm good now. You be good to her you hear? Now get back in there and feed that poor girl.” She smiled and winked before heading on her way.

“That would have been useful information a few months ago,” Lucas said with a small laugh. “But thank you, I had to figure that out the hard way. I think she’s fairly sure about my intentions now.” He gave Mrs. Robinson a little wink in return, before making sure she was safely down onto the sidewalk. “And I promise, ma’am, that I’ll take good care of her.”

Once she was on her way, Lucas turned around and walked back into the shop, eyes looking for Jessie as he did so. After all, they had a dinner date to get to.