Bab 27: Flustered

Pearl woke up when her phone rang.

It was the hotel wake-up call she had requested. The lady on the other end had a cheerful voice, and her greeting and inquiry about breakfast helped Pearl become more alert.

Before getting out of bed, Pearl closed her eyes and just took stock of how she was feeling. It was something Jesse had encouraged her to do a couple of days ago. That way, he had reasoned, when he asked her how she was feeling, she would have something more to say than 'okay' or 'better'.

Today she felt calm, happy, and more than a little relieved. Her chest didn't hurt anymore. She felt rested and yesterday she'd made the walk down to one of the hotel restaurants without almost passing out.

Listening to Jesse's instructions had paid off. She had stayed inside for three days. He had let her exercise a little yesterday, and now she was feeling much better. That meant he might let her outside today.

A wide smile spread across her face at the prospect of getting out in the sun. Not that she'd been bored, stuck in her hotel room. When Jesse wasn't asking her about her work, he was telling her about his old job and opportunities that were open to him right now. Then they'd play games or watch a movie. Every afternoon he left her to go workout or swim and she would have a Skype chat with someone back home.

Pearl appreciated everything Jesse was doing. Now that she knew he'd practically been in the middle of a job interview, she was doing her best to ensure that he got the chance to go back as soon as possible.

She knew telling him she'd behave wasn't enough because she had tried that two days ago. Jesse had just looked at her with his arms crossed in front of his broad chest and shook his head with a slight smile.

"Unfortunately," he'd said softly, "you sound just like most of my old patients, right now. You would stay inside all of twenty minutes."

Remembering that, Pearl chuckled. He was probably right. She'd protested at the time, but had quieted when Jesse had looked like he was about to launch into an explanation about why trusting her at her word wasn't an option. His chest had risen and fallen once in relief when she relented, and he'd nodded.

Now Pearl blushed slightly, thinking about Jesse's chest. She had never noticed it much before yesterday. And that was probably only because she'd made the innocent mistake of falling asleep on it.

After breakfast, they had settled down to watch a movie. At some point she must have slumped to one side and fallen asleep on him because when she woke up, she was sleeping against something solid and warm.

Instead of laying her against the sofa, Jesse had just held onto her. And then he'd fallen asleep too! He had been reclining to one side, and her head was resting on his body.

She hadn't wanted to disturb him, suddenly feeling guilty for keeping him busy. So Pearl had stayed in Jesse's arms, listening to his powerful heart beat until she'd drifted off again.

The next time she'd woken up, it was because Jesse had made a sudden exclamation.

It turned out he hadn't meant to fall asleep with her, but the movie had been really slow and boring. After apologising, he'd looked at his watch and said they were going downstairs for lunch which had caused Pearl to clap her hands in delight. That in turn had made Jesse laugh outright and she felt it rumble through his chest.

A little caught off guard, she'd turned her attention to the place the sound had come from. And that was when she'd realised just how big Jesse was.

Remotely she recalled having seen it once before, the day she'd picked him up for camp. But she hadn't time or reason to dwell on his nakedness because-

With an exasperated noise Pearl got out of bed. What had begun as a self-awareness exercise had transformed into a reflection on Jesse's fitness and physique?

She needed to get out of the hotel before she went completely crazy.

So, she decided to shower so that when Jesse came down and checked on her, she'd be ready to utilise the anticipated green light.

After her shower, Pearl got dressed and headed out of her bedroom to wait for Jesse in the living room.

"Good morning, Pearl."

She jumped.

Turning her head, she saw him leaning against the French doors that led to the balcony overlooking the hotel gardens and pool area.

"Jesse! Good morning."

He chuckled. "Did I surprise you? I'm sorry."

"You did a little, but it's okay."

"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked walking over to her.

Soon he was so close that his chest was at eye level and she had to look up into his face. A faint blush was creeping into her face as she remembered how the self-assessment exercise had gone awry earlier in the morning.

Avoiding his eyes, Pearl shrugged. "I feel much better. My chest isn't hurting," which made her look towards his and she blushed some more.

She took a step back.

"You look a little warm, are you sure you're alright?"

She gave a slight laugh when she realised her efforts to hide her pink face weren't working. "I am okay, really."

Jesse looked down at Pearl with a frown on his face. He wasn't imagining the flushed colour of her skin. She looked okay and sounded fine, but her skin was pink. Reaching out, Jesse put a hand on Pearl's forehead.

"No-!" she interjected feebly, obviously not wanting him to check on her.

"Pearl, I just want to make sure you're not running a fever."

"I- I'm not," she insisted, her face getting even warmer. With a resigned sigh, Pearl raised her own hand to tug on Jesse's. "Jesse, wait."

He readily removed his hand from her face. With more than a little worry, he asked her, "What are you not telling me?"

Finally, looking up into his face, Pearl's eyes met Jesse's. "I'm feeling perfectly fine. I was," she said slowly, "just embarrassed."

"Embarrassed. Pearl," he sounded very confused, "why?"

"Well," she admitted with great reluctance, "one of the first things I thought of this morning was how I fell asleep on you yesterday." Pause. "Literally."

Pearl watched Jesse's eyes; they went from confused before they widened in surprise. And then they darkened.

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KIRIM HADIAH

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