Bright Smile & London Eye (Walker Brothers #2)

20. Chapter Twenty - Lexie

Lexie

Getting up from his arms must have been the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

When I first attempted to get up, he just hugged me tighter to him, mumbling something unintelligible as I softly peeled his arms off me and slid out of bed. I’m surprised he didn’t get up. He mentioned not sleeping well offhandedly so often but was out like a light as I’d sneaked out of my bedroom and got ready to go downstairs.

There are so many things I'd rather do today than work, and all of them involve the man who’s probably sleeping upstairs.

I never dared imagine being with him until our first kiss, but reality is so much better than I thought it would be.

And he definitely made good on his promise because my voice is incredibly rough today; I can barely get it above a whisper. Spending the whole day talking to customers and then screaming at night definitely took its toll.

Alan has the manners not to comment on it, although the grin on his face tells me he knows exactly what’s been going on. I guess Bailey filled him in after he left yesterday, but that’s alright. Judging by our last conversation, I’m sure he’s happy for us.

We work in silence, and Alan gruffly admits that it would be better for him to take over cashier duties today, considering I would probably have to spend the whole day piping the pumpkin patch cupcakes. When I peek outside, I can already see people waiting in front of the store.

“Are they fucking serious?” I whisper, and Alan shakes his head.

“Apparently so. If it gets to be too much, we’ll have to ask Bailey for backup.”

Speaking of, I see my best friend’s face pop around the doorframe to the kitchen.

“Did you have a good evening?” Suddenly, he’s right next to me, curiously looking over my shoulder as I pipe the pumpkin stems onto a tray of cupcakes.

“I did,” I admit in a whisper, and at the sound of my voice, he bursts into laughter.

“Damn.” He sounds impressed.

“Oh yeah.” I look over my shoulder and wiggle my eyebrows at him. Jackson sure knows what he’s doing.

“Speaking of the devil,” Bailey chuckles, and I turn around slowly, grinning when I see Jackson’s face.

“Can I come in?” he asks.

Bailey leaves the kitchen wordlessly, clapping Jackson on the shoulder playfully and whistling as he walks past.

“What was that about?” A grin plays on his lips as he walks closer, my own grin widening with every step.

“I have no idea what you mean,” I whisper, clearing my throat and silently laughing when a soft ‘oh shit’ escapes him at the sound of my voice.

Once he’s close enough to touch, I set down my piping bag and step back from the cupcakes, right into his arms, a satisfied hum making his chest vibrate as his arms close around me.

“Good morning,” he whispers, and I close my eyes.

“Morning,” I mumble back, squeezing him tightly. God, what I’d give to just take his hand and pull him upstairs with me for a repeat.

“Sorry about your voice,” he whispers, but I shake my head vehemently.

“Nothing to apologize for. I literally asked you to.”

If we were a step apart, he’d see the bright smile on my face as I remember how exactly he took my voice, but like this, he can only hear the amusement in my whisper.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?” he asks, his hands starting to draw slow circles on the small of my back.

“You,” I say, though it sounds like a question, and he bursts into laughter.

“I like that plan.” He loosens his hold on me, and I look up at him, our faces suddenly only a breath apart. “Can I kidnap you for a date?”

“A date?” I ask curiously, trying to find a clue in his face. “What kind of date?”

“It’s a surprise,” he teases, his hands on my hips, thumbs wandering under my shirt and moving in random directions on my back.

And let’s be real—I’d let him do whatever the fuck he wants as long as his hands keep doing what they’re doing. It’s such a small gesture, so gentle yet so possessive.

God, I could climb that man like a tree right here, right now, if it weren’t for the audience.

“Okay, then surprise me, Romeo.” I lift onto my tiptoes and press my lips against his. “Do you want a coffee?”

“Hell yes.” He grins into another kiss, then releases me. “Point me to the machine. I’m sure I can figure it out. Yours with milk, as always?”

Apparently, Bailey heard the part about him taking me on a date because he kept pestering me all day about where we were going. As if I’d tell him, even if I knew.

“Jackson’s got the kind of game I could only dream of,” he said at one point. “Whatever he has planned, it’s going to be impressive as fuck. And I’ve got a girlfriend to impress, too, you know what I mean?”

The fact that he was even more curious than me about what we were doing definitely managed to entertain me for the whole day, which was filled with a lot of cupcake piping, but at least I could do so in the back, in peace for the most part.

By the end of my workday, my hands are hurting from all the damn piping, and I definitely need a massage some time in the future, because my muscles are tense as fuck.

“God, if I never see pumpkins again, it’ll be too soon,” I complain to Jackson as we walk down the street hand in hand.

“Understandable. I mean, how many of them did you make today?” he asks, lifting my hand to his face and pressing a kiss to the back of it, and I giggle when his stubble tickles on my skin.

“Must’ve been like a thousand, but felt like a million at least,” I say with a sigh, leaning my head against his shoulder as we walk.

He quickly lets go of my hand and puts his arm around my shoulders instead, pulling me flush to him. I always thought walking with a man like this would be awkward—bumping in different directions, not finding a rhythm. But with him, it’s so easy, so natural.

“My driver’s parked around the corner,” he says and presses a kiss to the side of my head. “Once we’re driving, you can relax a bit.”

“Honestly, just sitting already sounds amazing,” I whisper and smile up at him. I’ve been drinking warm tea the whole day, but my voice is still gone, much to Bailey’s amusement.

Jackson opens the door to an inconspicuous black car with tinted windows, and I sigh in relief when I finally sit down. God, my feet hurt.

“Holy shit, this is great,” I groan and stretch out my legs.

“Hi, Max, everything good?” Jackson greets the driver as he climbs in after me, engaging in a bit of small talk. Then he hands him a piece of paper with an address on it. “Thank you.”

He buckles in and off we are.

“So what did you do all day?” I ask him with a grin. “Did you just hang out at my place and stare at a wall?”

“I mean, I did spend a lot of time at your place,” he admits with a smirk. After he got his coffee, I gave him my key so he could take another nap. “Saw an interesting stack of DVDs hidden in a corner.”

“Oh.” I giggle, my cheeks instantly flashing a bright red. “Yeah, Bailey and I had a little movie night.” He doesn’t need to know that watching him has become a nighttime routine for me.

“And did you like what you saw?” he wonders, lifting his hand to play with one of my curls, wrapping it around his finger.

When I glance up, he’s suddenly super close, pushing the curl behind my ear and releasing it, eyes on mine like he’s hanging on every single word leaving my lips.

“I really, really liked what I saw,” I admit, eyes darting to his lips. “The real thing is much better though.”

“That is the correct answer,” he whispers and captures my lips with his.

The kiss quickly turns heated, his hands wandering further and further up my thigh, making me squirm under his touch.

“Jackson,” I hiss and break the kiss when they reach dangerous territory, pointing to the driver up front. “We’re not alone here.”

He makes a dismissive sound and pushes a button somewhere on the door behind him. A grin spreads across his face as black-tinted glass slides up, separating us completely from the driver.

“I’m not sure it’s soundproof, though,” he says, a mischievous grin on his lips.

I shake my head at him, but he abruptly captures my chin and lifts my face to pull me into another heated kiss that makes me forget my name.

And I have no will left to object anymore. My hands burn with the need to touch him, to feel his smooth, warm skin under my fingertips. So, I do just that, hands sneaking under his shirt until he unbuckles me and pulls me into his lap without breaking the kiss, his fingers playing with the waistband of my jeans.

“Are we completely sure nobody can look in here?” I whisper against his lips, my heart beating so loudly I’m sure he can hear it.

A low chuckle escapes him as his fingers dip below the waistband, teasing my skin.

“Not a hundred percent,” he whispers back. “Still want to risk it?” I look at him with wide eyes, completely frozen. I’d do anything so he’ll keep touching me, but I don’t exactly need strangers to watch us.

“I’ve got an idea,” he says, his fingers dancing under my shirt, wandering higher, grazing my bra. Then they move lower, playing with the lace of my panties before disappearing into my now open pants.

“Can you be quiet, Beautiful?” I look at him, wondering what he has planned, but when his fingers graze my folds over the flimsy panty fabric, I get a good idea.

I press my face against the side of his throat. “I’ll try,” I whisper against his skin with a grin, feeling him shake with a low chuckle.

Thanks to his efforts yesterday, I can’t exactly shout anyway.

Bypassing my panties, his fingers dip inside me, finding me wet and ready for him, squirming when his thumb confidently finds my clit as his finger dips inside me.

I lift my butt and pull my jeans down a bit, desperate for him to touch me and press my lips to his skin, muffling my soundless groans as he adds another finger and picks up a fast pace, thrusting inside, touching my walls in an attempt to find my sweet spot.

He’s fucking me with his fingers, only a flimsy window separating us from the man driving the vehicle, and it’s easily the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced.

“Fuck,” I whisper and quickly cover my mouth with my hand.

I never knew this would be something I’d be into, but he’s teaching me all kinds of things about myself.

“Jackson,” I murmur against his throat, my fingers digging into his shoulder blade. “Almost there.”

“Come on, Beautiful. You’re perfection when you give in. Show me your pleasure.”

The last word has barely left his lips when I bite mine, my breath coming in heavy gasps as I start to tremble. Quivering around his fingers, I swallow down the shout of ecstasy threatening to break free.

“Fuck,” I press out, quickly covering my mouth with my hand again and biting into my palm.

“Fuck indeed,” he teases, his fingers continuing to push me through my orgasm. When I glance at him, his eyes are transfixed on my face, and I feel his hardness under me. But when he tries to keep going, I grab his wrist and shake my head.

“Later.” I give him a wink, then lean closer to his ear. “I really want to cum on your cock again.”

“Fuck, Lexie.” He grins at me and reaches under my butt to adjust himself. I let my hands follow, palming his arousal through his pants, but when I attempt to open them, he stops me.

“Let me look forward to you,” he says with a grin. “Because I can’t wait for you to ride me again.”

Now it’s my turn to grin at him. “Same here.”