I place the teacup in the drying rack as gently as my nerves will allow me and head to the door with even strides so it doesn’t sound like I’m running. It might not be him, anyway.
I get up on tiptoe to look through the peephole. My heart beats fast and feels skittish. I’ve never had a crush as strong as this one. Not even when I was a teenager and all my hormones were out of control. The guys in my high school had nothing on Jackson.
Jackson’s in the hall outside my apartment, waiting patiently, a bag of Chinese food raised in his hand. “Hey,” he calls out. “You hungry?”
JACKSON
I’m not hungry in the least. Even with the scent of Chinese food wafting from the coffee table. The TV plays some sitcom in the background but none of it means a thing.
Not when Aubree doesn’t move for the food either. Not when she keeps stealing glances at me and blushing every time our eyes meet.
My nerves work their way through me as I stare at Aubree, needing to tell her exactly how I feel. It’s now or never.
I told myself if there was even a hint that she didn’t regret last night, that she wanted to be something more, I was going to do it.
And now’s my chance.
It’s so quiet, my dry swallow is audible. My cheeks burn with the heat of embarrassment when she stares down at her plate, speechless.
“I loved last night. I’ve had feelings for you for years.” I can’t stop now. She has to know. I leave my hand on the coffee table, palm up and she notices. Her gaze moves to it and then back up to mine.
“I didn’t know I was that good in bed,” she jokes and I laugh, a genuine chuckle to match hers. But I don’t back down.
My anxiousness scatters. The relief of knowing she’s not running at the thought is all I needed.
Before I can say anything, she scoots closer on the sofa, her warmth immediately evident. “You were pretty good in bed too, if I might add,” she teases me, her long lashes fluttering.
My thumb rubs a soothing circle over her knuckles as I debate on the next step.
“Just tell me what to say.” I practically beg her like the desperate man I am.
“What?”
“I will say whatever I need to … to get you to say you’ll be mine right now,” I tell her in all honesty. The subtle shock, the awe that follows, lets me know that she hears me. And that she knows I’m serious.
“I want to be with you. More than friends. I can’t go back to being just friends.”
“Jackson …” Her hand leaves mine and she tucks it into her lap.
That slight panic of losing her comes back.
“I’ll be damned if I lose you, Aubree,” I confess, not hiding my desperation. “This isn’t some one-night fling. I don’t want that.”
She whispers the one fear I’ve had for years that kept me from kissing her, “What if it doesn’t work?”
“What if it does?” My answer is immediate and her gaze falls to my lips, then darts back up to me. “I want you. If you want me too, just say yes.”
A beat passes. And then another. Too many seconds go by, filling me with an anxiousness until she whispers, “Yes.”
That’s all I needed for relief to take over and to lean down and capture her lips with mine. I don’t even realize what I’m doing until this gentle kiss is over and a soft moan of satisfaction falls from her lips. With her eyes still closed, I take her in and this moment between us.
“I mean it, Aubree,” I tell her, then clear my throat and wait for her to peer back at me. My heart hammers but I don’t hold back anymore. “I could see you walking down the aisle … I can see all of what I want in the future, happening with you.”
Her chest rises with a slow, yet deep inhale at my admission.
“Jackson,” she says, merely whispering my name, her longing gaze never leaving mine. With her small hand she fists the fabric of my shirt, taking what’s hers as she pulls me down, devouring my lips with hers and letting her hunger take over.
Her soft body presses against mine and she climbs into my lap and all of last night comes back with a force. My cock is hard in an instant and I smile against her kiss as she pushes my shoulders back, easing me onto my back on her sofa.
As she sits up, straddling me and pulling her shirt over her head, I chuckle. “You are so damn good with your words, you know that?”
That sweet feminine laugh I know so well brightens up her face as she reaches behind her, unhooking her bra. It falls easily from her, revealing her supple breasts and rose petal nipples. I can’t help the tortured groan that escapes me.