Jackson took her chin in his palm and forced her to meet his gaze. “I want a relationship with you. I want to belong to you and I want you to belong to me. I won’t accept anything less.”
She placed her hand against his cheek, her expression one of concern. “I’m not sure it’s smart, but I think I’m falling for you.” He started to lay his own feelings on the line, but she placed two fingers against his lips, forestalling any declarations of love everlasting.
“You should know that I didn’t want to care about you. I tried really hard not to, in fact. You aren’t the type to settle down. I’ve seen you with other women. You don’t stay with a woman for more than a few months. I’m not interested in being dumped once the newness wears off. If you can’t offer me more than a short term sexfest, then we end things now and be glad for what we had.” She took a deep breath and went on. “After the car accident, when I was told I’d have a hard time bringing a baby to full term, I sort of convinced myself I didn’t have much to offer a man. I’m still uncertain. There are a lot of ifs involved there, but I do know that I’m tired of worrying about what may never be.”
Jackson took her head in the palms of his hands. “First of all, if we have kids, great. If not, that’s okay too. Giving birth doesn’t make you more of a woman in my estimation. Second, I’ve not had a serious relationship because the only woman who could ever fill that spot is standing in front of me. I’ve watched you for over a year. We’ve been driving each other crazy dancing around the issue, but the truth is, I don’t think either of us was ready. I love you, Gracie. You and only you. I’m too damned old for you, and you deserve someone who can be sweet and gentle, but I won’t give you up. This isn’t a sexfest. Although that does sound intriguing.” She elbowed him in the ribs, and he chuckled. “Seriously, baby, this is the real deal.”
Jackson was horrified when Grace’s soft blue eyes welled up. He’d rather lie on a bed of nails than watch Grace cry. “This is the real deal for me too,” she admitted shyly.
He swiped at a tear that trickled down her cheek and whispered, “Good. Now, let’s get this damned conference out of the way so we can get back here and play with that rope a little more.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “You want to bind me again?”
Jackson reached around and smacked her ass, causing her to yelp, before handing her blouse back to her. “There’s twenty-five feet of rope there, pet, I can do a lot of tying with that much.”
She went up on her toes and whispered, “You are so depraved.”
Their lips touched, and suddenly the conference was forgotten again.
Epilogue
Three weeks later…
“Merrick, I’m not turning in my expenses, and if you suggest it one more time, I’m going to blow a gasket. I didn’t do a lick of work the entire time I was in Vegas. It was more or less a vacation.”
Grace was getting good and tired of having this conversation. From the time they’d arrived back in Ohio, Merrick had been all questions. When she’d finally relented and told him that Jackson and she were now an item, he’d started threatening Jackson to within an inch of his life if he so much as made her sad. Now he wouldn’t let up about reimbursing her for the Vegas trip.
“You aren’t taking advantage of me if I want to pay for the damned trip, so turn in your expenses.”
“She won’t change her mind, trust me. I should know.”
Grace pivoted on her heel to find Jackson lounging against Merrick’s office door, a devilish grin on his handsome face. His tan pants and black polo shirt showed off his muscular body. Her mouth watered as she remembered how they’d started out the day. She’d woken in Jackson’s bed, his mouth between her thighs. She’d reciprocated, of course.
“Earth to Grace.”
She turned at the sound of her cousin’s annoyed voice. “What?”
Merrick waved her out of his office. “Go, it’s no use trying to talk to you when you have that glazed-over look in your eyes.”
Jackson stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Ready to go home?”
She nodded. “I just need to grab my purse. I’ll meet you by the elevators.” She started to move away, but he was faster. His head descended, their lips met. It was too brief, and Grace badly needed more. “Tease,” she muttered as she stalked from the office, his chuckle trailing after her.
As she approached her desk, one of the other female employees came up to her. Marty was it? No, Marly. She’d never cared much for the other woman. Her catty gossiping in the break room had grated on her nerves more than once.
“So, you and Jackson have been pretty hot and heavy for…what? Three weeks now?”
Grace
had no idea where this conversation was leading, but knowing Marly, it wasn’t going to make her happy. “Uh, yeah, I guess.” Grace took her purse off the back of her chair and turned toward the woman.
“So, that means you have about a week left before he boots you out of his bed.”
Ah, here it came. Envy, and it was never pretty. “You think?”
The woman looked down her nose at her. Grace had never actually seen someone physically do that, but Marly was quite capable, considering she was six-foot-three. “He never keeps a woman longer than a month,” she sneered. “Hope you didn’t give up your apartment. You’ll probably need it again soon, hun.”
Grace stepped forward and gave her anger free rein. “Be very careful what you say about Jackson. I don’t much care for people who trash my family.”