A Painted Smile Read online

  I thought about the winter that Simon proposed.

  I’d known all along that he was going to do it. And it wasn’t just because Zara had accidently opened her big mouth.

  I could tell. I could feel it.

  I just didn’t know when or how but I had my eyes open. Funny thing was that he’d still managed to catch me by surprise.

  He’d sent me on a dummy mission for hot chocolate at the small corner store the next block over at the time. A tall glass of hot chocolate, to me, was almost better than sex so he’d known that I wouldn’t decline the store run. But surprisingly, when I got to the small mini-mart there wasn’t a single box on the shelves.

  I approached the clerk to ask if by chance they had a few boxes of hot chocolate in the back of the store. She disappeared for a while and soon returned with a smile and a box of hot chocolate in her hands.

  I grabbed it from her and then followed her back to the counter. Being that I came to the store often, I took the exact change from my purse and reached to her.

  “It’s free.”

  “What?” I asked her.

  She continued smiling and glanced down at the box.

  Across the top of it, in black marker it said:

  Marry Me.

  I laughed aloud and then I looked at the clerk confused. She nodded her head, and this time she glanced behind me.

  I turned around to see Simon on his knees.

  I smiled as he confessed his love for me and asked me to be his wife.

  That day was one of the happiest moments of my life, even though we didn’t exactly get the happy ending.

  Days like that reminded me that true love, genuine and real love was out there, and hopefully, recently, I was back on the right track.

  After paying a few bills and buying things that I needed for the house, I decided that I was long overdue for a little personal maintenance.

  I decided to stop at Ninny’s Hair and Nails, so that I could kill two birds with one stone.

  I wore a short haircut, out of preference, so that I didn’t exactly have to keep up with the whole every two weeks hair appointment thing. Short hair was easier to maintain and let’s be real, after chasing babies and toddlers all week long, my weekends belonged to me and I didn’t have hours to waste at a salon every other Saturday.

  Besides, I was told that short hair really brought out the features of my face.

  I agreed.

  I was beautiful in my own way. My skin complexion was smack dab in the middle, being a smooth, toasty brown. I was short, barely an inch over five feet, and a little on the petite side.

  I had enough weight where it matters the most, and I always dressed in clothing that complimented my figure.

  My striking brown eyes and big beautiful smile were the two things that I’d stolen from Mama. Everything else was identical to Daddy.

  I was more of a natural beauty. Little to no make-up and I hardly ever wore weave. Over all, I was indeed, beautifully and wonderfully me.

  After about an hour and a half on my hair and another hour or so on my hands and feet, I stood to my feet and wobbled to the front desk to pay the women for their services.

  “No, it’s on me,” Jasper said and handed the lady his credit card.

  “I’m convinced that you do have a stalking problem. And if I’m not mistaken, stalking is against the law. Am I right about that officer?” I smiled to him.

  He got his receipt and held out his hand for me to grab it.

  “Yes, we take stalking very serious. But in this case, I wasn’t stalking you. I just happened to be riding by, spotted a car, and license plate that was similar to yours, and something told me that you were in here getting all dolled up for me. So, after watching you for a few minutes from the window, I decided to step in and take care of the bill. Are you okay with that?” Jasper said.

  Despite the fact that his entire statement was indeed a little bit stalkerish; I decided to go with the flow.

  “Okay.”

  “You look beautiful by the way.”

  “Thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself. It’s just something about a man in uniform,” I teased him.

  Jasper smiled and then responded to the voice on his walkie-talkie.

  “Dinner and a movie later?”

  “Out? In? My place or yours?”

  “Your choice just let me know and call me in a few. I gotta’ go,” Jasper said and kissed my cheek.

  I’d only been to Jasper’s place once.

  He and Zara’s date that night, Todd, were actually roommates.

  It was definitely a bachelor pad and with neither of them having any children or big responsibilities, I guess their living arrangement worked for them.

  Apparently, they had been friends for about fifteen years and were as close as brothers.

  Todd was kind of weird in my opinion. He was rather clingy and possessive but at the end of the day he was Jasper’s friend, not mine.

  But speaking of Todd, he and Zara hadn’t exactly gone any further than that night after dinner. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten the main rule of dating and that was to keep her vagina to herself, at least until date number two, but her horny behind dropped the drawers all too soon and in the end, she’d found herself highly disappointed.

  From what she’d told me, she’d discovered that Todd had a fun-size penis. She’d frowned as she’d explained and compared it to the size of a mini-sized Snickers bar. And she said that he actually couldn’t understand why she didn’t want another date. She said that he acted oblivious to the fact that his penis wasn’t over three inches long.

  Since she hadn’t had anything even close to sex in two years, Zara was pissed that she’d actually wasted her time. I, on the other hand, found it all hilarious!

  Nevertheless, they hadn’t worked out but from the looks of it, Jasper and I were on to something.

  I headed home, in silence, with Jasper on my mind.

  I was starting to really feel something for him and I could even see him as a potential husband.

  Mama would surely like the sound of that.

  But I had to admit, so did I.

  Jasper most of the time left me speechless.

  I liked the fact that he was a cop and had to be this tough guy, but when the uniform was off, he was as soft and sweet as a bowl full of honey.

  Actually, he reminded me of a lollipop; tough, and hard on the outside, but soft and flexible on the inside.

  He always said the right things. He always did the right things and if what I was feeling for him was wrong then screw being right!

  He cooked breakfast in bed, bought me flowers just because. He rubbed my feet and washed my hair. He was just the best.

  Arriving home, I decided that dinner and a movie would play out a lot better if it was at my place.

  I had more space, it was more comfortable, and we didn’t have to worry about anybody busting in on us or interrupting our quality time together.

  I informed Jasper of the plans and headed to clean up and prepare dinner.

  Now, I wasn’t the best cook in the world, but I could manage.

  Mama always kept me in the kitchen but I just wasn’t as interested in learning to cook as I should have been and now as an adult woman I see its value. According to Mama, real men didn’t like a woman who couldn’t cook and leave it to her, it was another reason why I was still unmarried, but as I said I could manage.

  Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread was on the menu.

  After the food was all done and the house was clean, expecting Jasper any minute, I headed to freshen up and get myself together.

  Just as I stepped out of the shower, my phone began to ring. I smiled at the sight of the name and photo on the front of the screen.

  “Hey you, how are you?”

  “I’m fine. Just haven’t heard from you since that night and I just wanted make sure that you were okay. I wanted to make sure that we’re okay.”

  I grinned as I listened to Simo
n’s voice.

  No matter what we went through, our friendship was irreplaceable and he made sure that he always stayed around.

  “Yes, we’re fine. I’m sorry if that night was a little too much but you are the only one that I trusted to do it,” I said to him referring to the painting.

  The painting of my naked frame was beautiful and was hanging above the bath tub in my personal bathroom. Simon had done an amazing job.

  Jasper had questioned about the artist of the painting but I hadn’t revealed to him that it was Simon. He knew that we had a lengthy friendship but he didn’t exactly know how close, or that Simon was the ex-fiancé turned friend again that I’d told him about. Luckily, Jasper wasn’t the type to press an issue or constantly ask questions.

  “So, who is he?” Simon asked sounding like my Mama.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You only get missing in action when you start dating again. Who is he?”

  I laughed aloud but proceeded to fill him in.

  I loved the fact that Simon and I could still talk about almost anything and not get uncomfortable.

  I’ll be the first to admit that maybe we were a little too close for comfort but we both knew that we could never be anything more than just friends again.

  He now had a beautiful wife and he was happy. And from the looks of it I was on my way.

  Simon and I chatted for a while and then I noticed that almost an hour had gone by and Jasper still hadn’t arrived, so I said my goodbyes to Simon and gave Jasper a call.

  “Hi, are you almost here?”

  “I was just about to call you to let you know that I’m not going to be able to make it. I’m needed to pull a few extra hours tonight. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

  I frowned.

  Pretending that things were okay, I hung up the phone and headed to the kitchen.

  I eyed the stove, staring at the spaghetti that I’d barely been able to prepare.

  Blowing out the candles on the table, I fixed myself a plate, grabbed the unopened bottle of wine and headed for the living room.

  I semi-undressed before taking a seat on the couch, and then I turned on the T.V.

  Luckily for him, I didn’t mind spending time alone, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed.

  But I guess there were going to be plenty of canceled dates considering his profession, so I might as well get used to it.

  I ate my dinner alone, and finished the entire bottle of wine.

  It wasn’t long after that, before I was dreaming sweet dreams about Jasper and I.

  I opened my eyes and jumped up from the couch in a panic from the sound of pounding on the front door.

  I scurried to the door and opened it.

  “So, do you always open the door like this early in the mornings? Not that I’m complaining or anything,” Jasper smiled.

  I immediately blushed.

  I’d completely forgotten that I was only in my bra and panties. I attempted to cover myself and I backed away from the door as he stepped in.

  “I wanted to make up for last night. I brought breakfast,” he smiled, still eyeing my body.

  I wasn’t at all self-conscious about the way that I looked. I loved the skin that I was in but I guess I didn’t want to start anything unless he planned to finish it.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, finally making it to my dress that I’d been wearing the night before.

  “No need to apologize. I’m the one who should be sorry. I should have called first.”

  “You know, showing up a people’s house, unannounced, show’s a lack of respect,” I stated to him, wittily.

  Jasper didn’t comment, instead he took out his phone.

  Seconds later, mine began to chime and I answered it hesitantly with a smirk on my face.

  “Good morning beautiful. Can I come over? I got breakfast,” Jasper said in my ear just before hanging up. I approached him, smiling as though I’d won the lottery.

  I kissed his lips and he kissed me back.

  It was something about the way that he kissed me. Or maybe it was the way that he touched me while he kissed me.

  It was cautious, maybe even somewhat timid. As if he was afraid to go too far. As if he was afraid of me and maybe scared of love and all of its sacrifices and consequences. But on the flip side, his kisses were also filled with passion and sincerity.

  “So, I took the whole day off. And I was wondering if I could spend the entire day making up for canceling on you yesterday, ” Jasper said, finally coming up for air.

  I nodded but didn’t say a word.

  Somehow I knew that things from that moment on were going to change for the better and I couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for Jasper and I.

  ***

  “So, how was it?” Zara asked with a sly grin on her face.

  “We still haven’t gone there yet and I wouldn’t tell you even if we had,” I giggled.

  “What? It’s been what, three months now and you guys still haven’t had sex? Is he gay?”

  “Funny, I was starting to wonder the same thing,” I joked with her.

  In all honesty, I knew that Jasper wasn’t gay.

  If he was, he’d forgotten to mention it to his penis. But I was clueless as to why he hadn’t pressured for or even mentioned sex.

  I guess I had no reason to complain, but as Zara mentioned, we’d been seeing each other now for months, and in my book, that was more than enough time to get to know a person.

  It was time to get naked!

  Okay, so maybe I was sounding a little like a guy, and the average woman would be ecstatic that a man enjoyed being with her and didn’t just want sex from her, but I was more than ready.

  It had been months since I’d had a piece of wood and even longer than that if you want to talk about good sex.

  Of course I had a few buddies that I could call if I wanted to get an orgasm, but I didn’t want it from them. I wanted it from Jasper.

  But I dared not show my impatience.

  I assumed that he had to have a reason for taking things extra slow so as far as he was concerned, he thought that everything was fine and that I was somewhere high on cloud nine.

  Later on that evening, I waited patiently for Jasper to arrive.

  We weren’t exactly living together, yet, but he was there on most of his days off and he had a key. As far as I knew, we were exclusive. At least, we had better been.

  “How was your day?”

  “It was okay, but the best part of my day is when I get here and see you,” Jasper said as he kissed my lips.

  This man surely didn’t mind laying it on thick.

  As the butterflies continued to flutter in the pit of my belly, I decided that I needed a little clarification.

  “So, we never really made this official and…”

  “Yes we did. The first time I told you that I loved you, it was made official.”

  “So we are in a relationship?”

  “We better be,” Jasper said and I giggled.

  Jasper touched the side of my face and his touch made my insides melt. It was just something about him. I couldn’t quite explain the way that he made me feel and I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to try. I just wanted him.

  All of him.

  “Jasper?”

  His eye contact made me nervous.

  “Make love to me,” I said softly.

  Jasper looked at me as though I’d asked him for a million bucks. It wasn’t the expression that I’d expected.

  “Don’t you want me?” I asked him disappointed.

  “Hell yeah, what kind of question is that? I’m just old school and there are some of us men that still believe in courting a lady first, you know. But now that the invitation is on the table,” Jasper laughed and his chuckle was cut short by the sloppy, wet kiss that he placed on my lips.

  He pulled away for only a second to give me eye contact. I could see how much he lov
ed me and I waited for him to say the words.

  “I love you,” Jasper whispered in my ear and I quickly recited the words back to him.

  Jasper’s hands roamed frantically over my body and soon he pulled my shirt up and over my head. My insides quickly started to heat up and I was eager to feel him inside of me.

  Jasper stood to his feet and removed his clothes and I finished undressing. I was eager to see what making love to him was going to be like. Our relationship was pretty much perfect and perfect sex would be the icing on the cake.

  But I guess that was asking for a bit much.

  I knew as soon as the four-play began that he wasn’t as experienced as I thought he would have been.

  “You’re not a virgin are you?” I asked in between kisses, which made Jasper come to a pause.

  “Why did you ask that?”

  Immediately I felt as though things were about to turn sour so I tried to sweeten the blow.

  “I was just asking. You seem a little uncomfortable.”

  Jasper stared at me.

  I was almost thirty and he was thirty-two. I wasn’t an expert or anything but surely he had to have way more experience than I had.

  Jasper never responded but the kisses and touches that followed were more aggressive, and full of a lot more passion. It was as if previously he’d been holding back, but things got better from that point on.

  If I had to rate the love making with Jasper that night, it was maybe a 3.5. It wasn’t the best but it had potential. I just had to show him the way that I liked it. And he was just going to have to leave his ego at the front door, or at least on the other side of my bedroom door.

  ***

  Six months in and I was already getting that itch.

  I was so happy that I could scream!

  My life was nothing less than amazing!

  I was only a few months away from opening up my very own daycare and things with Jasper couldn’t have been any better. I knew that he was the one and I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

  Every day with him was like a fairytale.

  He was everything that I ever wanted and even those things that I didn’t know that I wanted until I met him.

  And after a month of training him, he was now able to sex me speechless. I was addicted to our love making and I was even more addicted to his presence.