Staring at the photos on the side table Jessica saw a fairly recent one of a marine, a very hot marine. Her eyes widened even as her stomach dipped. Rolling her eyes at the response her body gave she turned yelling toward her friend who happened to be in the kitchen. "Hey Marty, whose the 'walking wet dream' in dress blues?"
Marty burst out laughing even as someone cleared their throat directly behind her, a very male someone. "Most people just call me Gage."
Every ounce of color fled her face as she turned to see the mirror image of the guy in the photo. Followed quickly by a sudden rush of color as he reached out to shake her hand.
"Um I, I am foot in mouth, but most people call me Jesse."
His smile grew wide. "Pleased to meet you. So how do you know Marty?"
"We have friends in common."
"That's nice," he said quietly.
Marty came in the living room with a glass of tea for her, "Here I thought you might need this," she offered obviously laughing at Jesse's moment of candor. "Jesse this is my cousin Gage. Gage this is my friend Jesse."
"We've met," said Gage with a twinkle in his eye.
"So you have," Marty said smartly. "Is everyone hungry? Dinner is almost done."
"I'm starved," Gage said in a pathetic little voice.
Laughing she patted his back, "You're always starving. I'm going to take out a second mortgage just to pay the grocery bill."
He laughed good naturedly before heading toward the kitchen.
Marty grinned at Jess pointing to the corner of her mouth saying, "You have a bit of drool, right there, did you know," then turned her laughter floating back to Jesse?
Closing her eyes while groaning at the image she knew would be indelibly printed on her mind those of a six foot four dark haired, golden skinned God, with the palest blue eyes she'd ever seen. Jesse knew that she probably was drooling. Releasing a sigh she followed Marty.
They sat around the table talking until a timer went off, then Marty got up to take the enchiladas from the oven. On the table was chips and salsa that they had been nibbling on while waiting.
Jesse watched as Marty scurried around the kitchen. Marty was such a sweet person, she adored her. Everyone did really. Marty was charming, everything about her elegant even in jeans and a tee shirt. There was just something about her that drew others.
Jesse on the other hand was, well to be perfectly honest, not much to look at. She wasn't a dog or anything, but she didn't stand out either. You could say she was ordinary, but in a comfortable sense. She put everyone at ease and the minute she smiled your heart melted. She didn't make friends easily but when she did she kept them, which is why she and Marty clicked so well. Marty was a beautiful person, but had in the past been burned by shallow people. She learned to be cautious and keep others at arm's length until she got to know their character. Once she did however she became the most wonderful friend anyone could want. It didn't hurt that she was an amazing cook and liked to test dishes on those friends. Today Jesse was her taste tester for this new enchilada casserole and loving every minute of it.
Grinning Jesse looked over at Gage while taking a drink of tea. "With Marty as family I'm surprised you're not fat."
He chuckled giving her a mega watt smile. "I'm very careful around her cooking. My sergeant would ream me a new one if I didn't make the cut."
Jesse nodded eventually she got up to help her friend. Sitting there flirting with someone out of her league seemed foolish. She was fully aware that she wasn't the kind of girl that would capture his interest. She was tall, but not willowy, decent to look at, but not beautiful, her skin wasn't porcelain nor was it tan in short she was what she considered, 'almost'. Although she came close to being many things she never quite achieved the bar that was set.
