When a Man ❤️s a Woman Chapter 1

At First Sight.

 

Asleep in the upper deck aboard the darkened 747, Jade could feel his eyes on her.   Opening her own, she saw him staring directly at her while drinking a mimosa at the upper deck bar.   He had that look of supreme confidence so many Americans had.   And his mouth.   She could not stop looking at his mouth.   Can a man have a beautiful mouth?  She wondered.   Breathing heavily, she placed a trembling hand to her heart.

  

 

My god, he takes my breath away, she thought.   His arms, shoulders, and chest strained the white cotton of his T-shirt.   And he was tall, the man talking to him at the bar had to look up to see his face.   What would it feel like to be held in those big arms against that broad chest?   She thought.   And his beard.   She loved a man with a beard, always had.

 

She caught her breath when he smiled at her and, without even knowing it, placed her hand to her heart again.   But she did not return his smile.   She only stared at him with a childlike, sleepy, unblinking gaze.   But her body was aflame, and she knew this stranger standing in semi-darkness at thirty thousand feet was responsible for this awakening in her.  

 

His knowing look gave her pause.   My god, he knows what I’m thinking!  She thought.   So, she lifted her head from her sleeping brother’s shoulder, turned to face the window, pulled the blanket over her shoulder, and closed her eyes.   When she looked again, the man was gone. 

 

The flight from Paris had been a long one and was now scheduled to land at O’Hare in approximately two hours.   And for those two remaining hours, she was consumed with thoughts that made her ache as she imagined the man’s hands and beautiful mouth on her body.   Flushing, she threw the blanket off.  

***

Michael Kane stood spellbound at the circular airplane bar.   The man standing next to him struck up a conversation, but he couldn’t hear a word the man said.    He was mesmerized by the sight of the sleeping young woman.   When she awoke and stared back at him, he thought, Her eyes are like emeralds.  

 

The soft sound she made when she caught her breath made his sex ache, and a soft moan escaped him.   With that unblinking, wide-eyed stare peculiar to children, he thought she looked like a three-year-old.   He laughed quietly and had an impulse to gather her up in his arms.   Her eyes were heavy-lidded.   Smokey.   Like she had just been fucked or wanted to be fucked.   Bedroom eyes.   I’m drowning, he thought.   And he saw himself gently mouthing her breasts.   Her hair was in sexy disarray.   And she had a beauty mark on the upper left corner of her mouth that he wanted to suck.   Erotic.   The hair, the eyes, the beauty mark.   Erotic.    He chuckled again when she turned her back to him.   That won’t keep me away, he thought.  

 

The last time he’d been this stirred was in ninth grade, when he first saw Soledad Channing, a senior.   Seventeen years later, he still played a role in Soledad’s life, infinitesimal though it was.   Something told him it would be the same with Bedroom Eyes.   But unlike Soledad, he had a feeling that Bedroom Eyes was The One. 

 

On landing, he stared when she went to retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment, and saw her stark naked in his mind’s eye.   Even the way she moves is sensual, sexy, he thought as he retrieved the bag for her.    He glanced at the man on whose shoulder she had slept.   He had a hunch the guy was a relative.   Their sleeping next to each other had a decided asexual look to it.   So, turning to the man, he extended his hand to introduce himself.   “Michael Kane, how are you?”

 

“I’m good.   I’m good.   I’m Jaiden Love, and this is my twin sister, Jade.” Michael did a double-take and, glancing quickly from one to the other, saw the unmistakable resemblance.   Brother and sister looked young, perhaps nineteen or twenty.   Where Jade had a beauty mark at the left corner of her mouth, Jaiden had one smack dab in the middle of his right cheek.   Jaiden was as tall as he was.   But Jade was only about five feet four, maybe five feet five.   The perfect size for a woman, as far as he was concerned.   Both were lean, fit, and glowing with the bloom of youth and health.   They each had dirty blonde, loosely curled hair and large, heavily lashed eyes.   “Are you guys headed into the city?”

 

“Yes, Hyde Park.”

“Can I offer you a ride?  I have a car waiting for me at the curb.”

“Thanks, if you’re sure.   It will save us from having to queue for a taxi.” Jade said nothing, only moving closer to her brother when Michael turned to gaze at her.   Michael saw her blush and thought, Those bedroom eyes.   I’ve got to hold her naked against me as soon as possible.   It was all he could do not to lick his lips.   But at thirty-one, he felt he was too old for her.   Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.   My god, I could come just looking at this girl, he thought.  

 

After clearing customs and collecting their bags, Michael saw a man holding a sign with his name on it.   His car service sent a limousine, and Michael sat opposite them, making small talk with Jaiden.   “So, what do you do?” He inquired.  

 

“Both Jade and I are students at Lake Shore University.   I’m majoring in Economics and Finance.”

“So that makes you guys, what, nineteen, twenty?”

“I’m twenty-one.  Jade is eighty-one.   She’s an old soul," laughed Jaiden.   Staring down at her phone, Jade smiled and poked him with her elbow.  Michael Kane was entranced.   Jade inched closer to her brother and continued looking down at her phone.  

“Jade, what’s your major?” Michael asked.

“Everything,” Jaiden said, rolling his eyes.   And the three of them laughed together.  

“Ignore Jaiden, I’m majoring in Italian Literature with a minor in Japanese.”

 “I have a brother who speaks fluent Japanese.” Said Michael.   Jade glanced up at him, and he saw she was intrigued.  

“How did he learn?”

“He lived in Japan for about eight years, married a Japanese girl, and came home speaking the language.”

“Does he live here in Chicago?”

“No, he lives out on the West Coast, in San Francisco.”

“California has the largest population of Japanese in America, so it’s a good place to live if you speak the language.” Michael heard the same faint French accent in Jade’s voice that he’d heard in Jaiden’s.

 “I hear an accent.   Where are you guys from originally?”

“We were born in France, but we’ve lived here for the last seven years,” answered Jaiden.   When Michael’s driver asked for addresses, Jaiden gave him one address.

 “So, you two live together?”

Jaiden Laughed.   “Listen, man, Jade is crazy, and there’s no way I’d live with her.” Jade’s head snapped up, she gasped, smiled, and gave her brother a little punch in his arm.   Jaiden laughed again.   Never having had a sister, Michael was charmed.   “We live in the same building, but I hate living above the fourth floor, and Jade won’t have it any other way.   She prefers to be far from the madding crowd.   So, I live on the second floor, and she floats around on the twenty-second.”

“Far from the madding crowd!  Jaiden, that’s not true.   I love living in the city, but I prefer a bird’s-eye view.”

When they arrived at the twins’ address, Jaiden invited Michael in for a beer.   Michael didn’t want a beer; he wanted Jade.   But he knew he had to proceed acceptably, so he took Jaiden up on the invitation.   He was disappointed when Jade did not join them.

***

When Michael introduced himself on the airplane, Jaiden knew immediately that it was about Jade.   He was used to guys approaching him about her.   But Jade rarely returned their interest.   This time, though, Jaiden knew she was attracted to Michael Kane.   Despite that, he was not about to let this American, whom he hardly knew, get any closer to his sister until he could be checked out.   

He offered Michael a Bud Light and beer nuts.   Looking him over, he saw the guy was extremely fit.   Works out.   Tall, ordinary looking, broad shoulders and chest, narrow waist, neat, closely cropped beard and mustache, thick dark brown hair, and grayish-blue eyes.   Dressed in black running pants with a jacket to match over a white T-shirt and black Nikes.   Nothing earth-shattering, he thought.   But Jaiden recognized an animal magnetism in the guy that women would find appealing.   His brother Josh had it too.   Josh had it in spades, especially with that mole on the left side of his mouth.   

Jaiden thought of the self-assuredness emanating from the guy as American arrogance, as did so many other Europeans.   Despite that, though, Jaiden liked him.   He couldn’t guess his age.   The guy could be anywhere from twenty-five to thirty-five.   An alpha male, he thought, used to being top dog.   “You look familiar.   What is it that you do?”

“Perhaps you’ve seen some of my movies.”

“So, you’re an actor?”

“I am, but these days not so much.   I own a production company called ELL, and I direct more now.   But I still occasionally perform.   I know a Josh Love.   He’s my investment banker.   Do you know him, by chance?”

“Yes, Josh is my brother.”

 “Really?” Michael asked, surprised.   The Josh Love I know is African American.   I think.   Or perhaps Arabic?”

“He’s Afro-French, and so are Jade and I.” When Michael looked confused, Jaiden laughed.   “We’re biracial.   Our father, whom we lost a few years ago, was African, but our mother is white.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

“I see the resemblance now.   And all of you guys have that beauty mark thing.”

“Right, but how do you feel about Jade’s ethnicity?  Does it make a difference to you?”

“Listen, man, I don’t care if your sister is Martian, I still like her.   Would it be all right if I stopped by her apartment?  I want to ask her out.” Jaiden thought it better if Jade came down.   But when he called her, she was in the bath and told Jaiden to give Michael her number.  

“Jade can’t come down right now, but she wants you to have her number,” Jaiden said as he wrote out Jade’s number.  

 Shaking Jaiden’s hand, Michael said, “Thanks, man.   It was a pleasure meeting both of you.   I’ll give Jade a call.   Later, Jaiden.” And he took his leave.  

***

Michael Kane had been in Paris on business, but during his free time there, he’d been completely occupied with a girl he’d met a year ago when they were filming a movie together.   Now in the limousine on his way home, he couldn’t recall the girl’s name to save his life.   There was one woman and one name running through his mind—Jade Love.  Is there really such a thing as love at first sight?   He wondered.   

Next Chapter:  Denied

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