Knocking at the door interrupted my reverie, and I got up from reading my book to grudgingly answer the door. Why is it people most wanted to visit or ring you just when you were up to a good part? It was a hateful habit I had noticed in the population. How would I cull it?

I opened the door just as the ‘knocker’ started up knocking again.

“What?” I said in annoyance before I took in who it was.

Jason.

“Sweetheart” was all he said before giving me a dark smouldering look, and taking my startled face in his elegant hands, and bending to kiss my surprised full lips.

*

Gasping, I startled myself awake.

Oh boy. What the hell were my dreams thinking? And why wasn’t it real?! Oh boy.

I must have fell asleep while reading my new book, Bryce Courtney’s “Jessica”. I had held off reading it ever since my cousin had told me how absolutely depressing it was. But after reading all his other books, I now only had this one to try.

Why was I thinking about this again? Oh yeah, I was distracting myself. Okay Bryce Courtney, where was I…

I jumped and squeaked aloud ever so slightly when I heard someone knock loudly at the front door. Okay it wasn’t so slightly. It woke Max up. Huh, he’d been asleep too, we slept in sync it seemed.

The knocking sounded again, louder. I put my book down and stood up. Nervous. That was the word for it.

Deep breaths Emerald.

But dreams don’t come true… Okay that sounded pessimistic. I wanted dreams to come true, just not on the literal dreaming sense, in the goal sense like owning a beautiful mansion one day…

Okay I wanted that dream to come true too.

What dream? My conscience asked me, no doubt trying to be irritating. Bloomin’ thing.

My bloody Jason dream, conscience! I yelled internally.

I took a step closer to the front door. No, it couldn’t be Jason, that would be just too ironic, or whatever the word was. Weird? No. Too simple. I’ll stick with ironic.

“No Max, I am not that unlucky.” I frowned. Actually, with all that had happened lately, maybe I was. Great. I finished my trek to the front door and stood there, nervously.

Here goes.

I opened the door.

Oh boy. I was that unlucky.

“Ha-Hi Jason. Umm, I”. I began, and took a nervous step back. Jason looked quizzically at me.

“I may have cooties.” I said, then blushed red. Why the hell had I said that?

“I thought that condition only afflicted primary school boys.” Jason said mock seriously before grinning at the blush creeping up my face.

“Sweetheart-“

I shrieked and tried to slam the door in his face. He grabbed it with his right hand before it could close, and grabbed my arm swiftly with his left hand, effectively stopping both the door and my flight.

“What the hell Emerald?” Jason said in confusion, pushing his way inside and closing the door heavily, still holding firmly onto my arm.

“Nothing?” I said hopefully, coming to my senses. “It’s the rabies. Just remember they are contagious.”

Jason shook his head at me, trying a different tack.

“What kept you, I was knocking there for hours.”

I raised an eyebrow, then abruptly lowered it. I was not going to assimilate his attributes! Dreaming about him was one thing, assimilating was quite another! Oh boy, close proximity to Jason was making me strange. Stranger than usual anyway. Okay maybe not, but it made me nervous. He was still holding me for Pete’s sake!

“Who is Pete?” I asked Jason.

He ignored me, waiting for the answer to his question.

I caved.

Well kind of.

“Truth?” I asked, then proceeded to lie through my teeth. “I was hoping you’d go away. But you already knew that. So you were probably looking for a really good fib. So here goes. I am far hearing, it’s kind of like far sighted, or is it short sighted? Where I can’t hear longish distances, only short ones? It’s been medically diagnosed, and I take little pink pills for it three times a day after every meal.” I was quite proud of myself with that response. It distracted me from Jason thoughts, and it amused me, and it appeared to both annoy and bemuse Jason.

Max was impressed.

Well he was. Just not with me. The toilet roll was his poison. He’d come into the hallway with it, nosing it about adorably. Jason and I both looked down at him. Me smiling, him frowning.

Unfortunately I wasn’t anybody’s poison. That was slightly depressing. Where was my penguin? My Prince Charming?

“Sweetheart-“ Jason began.

But it had me squealing again and trying to jump backwards. Talk about deja vu. Unfortunately the wall was behind me. And it is quite painful trying to jump a wall. Okay that came out wrong. Thankfully only I had heard it. And my conscience. Two people isn’t so bad, is it? Or is it bad for a different reason? Like, I had started talking to myself and believing a person lived inside my head? Well I didn’t believe that really… really. How could a person fit?

“Stop squealing!” Jason said in annoyance.

I nodded seriously.

The whole lack of penguin thing had ruined my good humour. Drat.

I bit my lip.

Jason grabbed my chin gently with his free hand and moved my head so I would look into his chestnut eyes.

“You didn’t know it was me.”

“What?” I asked in confusion, totally aware of how close our faces were. Was this another dream? Was he going to kiss me? A girl could dream… literally.

“Pinch me?”

Jason ignored me.

“You didn’t know it was me at the door so you couldn’t have been hoping I’d go away.” Jason explained quietly.

“I was napping.” I said. Then I blushed.

Jason looked perplexed before he suddenly grinned, it finally dawning on him what my dream must have entailed.

“Well, well, well.” He smirked.

I groaned.

“Sweetheart.” He murmured, dark eyes smouldering.

Oh boy. My dream was coming true.

Jason leant forward towards me slowly, eyes never leaving mine, elegant hands coming up to frame my face. And then it happened.

Jason kissed me. And I didn’t mind. At all. In fact I more than didn’t mind.

But then I suddenly pulled back.

“This isn’t a dream is it?” I asked quietly, frowning.

Jason grinned. “It had better bloody not be.” He growled. “Sorry Max.” He added, looking directly at me, probably remembering being upbraided by me for swearing in front of my innocent puppy before.

I smiled. Maybe he was my penguin and Prince Charming?

“Yes, princess, I am. And there is nothing your brothers can do about it.”

Oh boy had I said that aloud? I blushed.

“Red is your colour.” Jason grinned, still leaning into me against the hallway wall, hands now on either side of my head, flat against the wall.

He looked sexy, standing cockily like that. Dark tousled hair, playful smile, a shadow of dark stubble, dark denim jeans, boots, a fitted grey t-shirt, and a soft black leather jacket.

“You’re perving on me.” Jason observed.

“Fair’s fair Charming.” I said nervously, noticing he’d been doing quite a bit of staring at my upper torso.

He grinned in acknowledgement.

“So I was going to ask you and Max to the park for lunch.” Jason said after a while. Off track much? Maybe he had Chase like strategies. Disarming the enemy and all that. Well he’d already kissed me, so maybe I was just paranoid.

“Ah, okay. Why?”

“Because I want to get in your pants. Now go get your jacket and keys.”

I snorted out my nose rather loudly and started choking. Had he actually said that?! Oh boy.

My eyes started watering. Jason patted me on the back, snickering.

My coughing fit eventually abated, Jason grinning unrepentantly the whole while.

“Your master plan needs some work.” I finally managed.

“Yeah, I thought on the way you could give me some pointers.” He answered, stepping back and pulling me away from the wall.

“Ummm…”

“Chocolate?” Jason asked, brushing a lock of black hair back behind my ear.

“Too cliché.”

“Cure to rabies?” He tried again.

“If you chuck in cooties we may just have a deal.” I grinned. Then I grinned wider still. Cheshire cat style. Jason had made a move on me! I don’t think I had celebrated enough yet, if at all. And I wasn’t dreaming! I was somebody’s poison!

“Okay princess, you are starting to scare me.”

I giggled.

“You need a keeper.”

“What?” I asked confused. Was he trying to ruin the moment?

“You are slightly mad. You need a keeper. I’m applying for the job.”

“You are my penguin!” Awww, he was improving the moment! Who’d have thought?

Jason raised an eyebrow, and it didn’t annoy me. This must be love.

The ability to overcome all obstacles.

Even eyebrows.

Who knew?

THE END