Chapter 6
6
J ackson was waiting outside her house when Mia pulled into her driveway. He pushed off from where he leaned against his car and waited for her to put hers in park before walking over and opening her door.
“You’re here early,” she said as she got out of the car.
“I finished early, so I called it a day.” He closed the door behind her and followed her up to her house. “Are you up for heading to dinner right away?”
“That sounds good. I’m starving. Are we going out?”
“Yeah, I thought it might be fun.”
She gave him a weird look. They usually stayed in for dinner unless trivia was involved. But the two of them rarely went out to eat together otherwise. Being in a small town, the options were limited. “I thought you preferred to watch a movie while demolishing some wings.”
He shrugged. “I thought we’d switch it up.”
She deposited her bag in her kitchen before immediately walking back out the door with him again. They hopped into his truck and drove to the resort, where they went into the restaurant.
After placing their orders, Jackson smiled at Mia. “How’d your day go?”
“It went well. Busy. How about yours?”
“Good. I got through a lot of the planters today.”
“What do you plan to plant in them?”
“Flowers in the empty ones, I think. It’ll look nice.”
She nodded. “Put in a few rose bushes somewhere.”
He smiled. “You and your roses.”
“Can you blame me? They’re the flower of love.”
Her face heated at that admission, although she wasn’t sure why. Jackson knew they were her favorite flower. They always had been, but secretly, she knew it was because of their meaning. The idea of a man giving her a red rose would be incredibly romantic, in her opinion. Most men probably paid little attention to the meaning of flowers. But Jackson did.
“Are you going on a date with Jimmy?”
The question took her by surprise. He was rarely one to be so eager, and he had already asked her about it earlier that day.
Mia nodded. “Yes. He called me earlier. We’re going out tomorrow night.”
Their server approached at that moment with their food. Silence descended upon them as they each slowly ate their dinner. Comfortable silences were normal for them, but this wasn’t comfortable. A frown was fixed between Jackson’s eyebrows as he aggressively cut his steak.
“What did that cow do to you?” Mia said with amusement.
Jackson looked up. “What?”
She gestured at his plate. “You seem mad.”
“Oh, I’m not. It’s just really tough.”
Mia raised an eyebrow. If there’s one thing she knew about Miles, it was that he didn’t serve tough steaks.
“I see.”
They remained silent as they finished their food. Then the server came by to collect their plates.
“Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked.
“The double chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, please,” Jackson said.
Mia looked at him in surprise. “Oh, are we doing dessert tonight?”
“Of course. It’s your favorite and we haven’t gotten it in a while.”
It had been several months since they had eaten at the resort restaurant together. Mia tried to avoid it because, while it was delicious, she would get a slice every single time. She decided, secretly, that she would only ever get it when she was with Jackson and if he initiated the order.
She’d eat the whole damn cake if left to her own devices.
The server dropped off the dessert for them to share and Mia held her spoon in the air in anticipation. She took a scoop of cake, along with the ice cream, and put it in her mouth while her eyes were closed.
She moaned loudly, not caring who could hear it. This was the best damn cake she had ever had in her life, and everyone needed to know it.
“Oh my God. I love this so much. Where’s Miles? Maybe I should marry him,” she joked.
She took a few more bites before noticing that Jackson wasn’t eating any. She looked up. “You going to dig in or am I eating this entire thing myself?”
His eyebrows were merged as he watched her, and he shook his head as if ridding himself of a thought. “We both know you could eat this and several more slices in one sitting.”
“Sue me.”
He chuckled and relaxed his posture a bit as he stabbed the piece of cake and ice cream with his fork.
“You should use a spoon. It’s more efficient,” she said.
“I prefer forks for cake.”
“But it’s with ice cream. Therefore, a spoon is necessary.”
“You do you.”
They smiled at each other. It was the same conversation they had every time they ate this dessert.
When the server came back with the check, Mia grabbed for her purse, but Jackson held a hand up to stop her before paying with cash.
“What are you doing?” Mia asked.
Mia and Jackson had made an agreement back when they were teenagers that they wouldn’t pay for each other unless it was a special occasion. At the time, they both were working minimum wage jobs and that extra cash was precious. It became a habit, and they continued with it, despite them both having better jobs now and not needing to penny-pinch.
“Paying. Obviously.”
“Need I remind you of our agreement?”
He winked. “I asked you out to dinner tonight, so I’m going to pay. Just call it friendship day.”
“That’s in August.”
“What is?”
“Friendship Day.”
“Wait, that’s a real thing?”
Mia laughed. “So you’re just making shit up to get your way?”
“Of course I am.”
They stood and walked out of the restaurant, and Jackson draped his arm over Mia’s shoulders. There was nothing new about it. He often did it when they walked around. She blushed at the tingles that went through her body. Mia always reacted to his touch, but this time felt different. Stronger.
“Are we heading home?” she asked. It was still early, and she wasn’t quite ready to call it a night.
“Want to head to the Country Store and check out the books?”
She looked at him with wide eyes. “Do you even have to ask? Lillian Taylor’s new book just came out. I’m waiting for it to come into the library so I can binge read it.”
The night air was warm, so they walked from the resort down to the Country Store. People milled about. Several people were on the outdoor patio of the bar, and Mia and Jackson waved at the familiar faces as they passed by. They arrived at the store and Jackson held the door open for her.
Once inside, they both waved at Felicity, one owner of the store who stood behind the counter ringing up a customer. Then they beelined it toward the books. Mia immediately picked up Lillian Taylor’s newest release and flipped through it.
“Hey, I’m going to go talk to Felicity real quick,” Jackson said.
Mia nodded and continued to flip through the book before setting it back down and looking through the other books. Since she worked in a library, she tried to refrain from purchasing too many paperbacks. She spent a lot of her slow days in the library reading books there, so there wasn’t a need to fill her house when she had most books at her fingertips on a daily basis.
She kept a small collection in her house, but they were typically only books she planned to read a second time, special editions, or gifts.
Jackson came back over to her, carrying a bag. “Ready?”
She glanced at his bag before staring longingly at the book. It would be at the library soon. There was no need to purchase it, she reminded herself.
They waved at Felicity and stepped out of the door into the night air. “What did you get?”
Jackson shrugged. “I ordered something a while back, and it just came in today.”
“And what did you get?” she repeated.
“Curious little bugger, huh?”
Mia smirked. “Yes. Now tell me what you got. Unless you’re embarrassed.”
“If I was getting something to be embarrassed about, I would have gotten it in a neighboring town.”
“So, what is it?”
Jackson laughed. “Okay, come here.”
He took her hand and led her over to a bench and sat down. She sat down beside him and turned to face him expectantly.
“This is for you,” he said, handing her the bag.
“Me?” She turned it around in her hands.
“Yes. Open it.”
She opened the bag and peered inside. A special edition of Lillian Taylor’s newest book sat inside. Her breath caught as she gingerly took it out of the bag. The cover was foiled, and the edges were sprayed. When she flipped open the cover, it had been personalized to her and signed by Lillian herself.
“When did you do this?” she whispered.
He shrugged. “When the pre-orders started. I thought you might like to have it. It’s pretty cool looking, and I know how much you like her books.”
Mia closed the book and wrapped her arms around Jackson. The entire world quieted with that simple touch. It was just the two of them on this bench, and she wished it would never end.
“Thank you. Seriously. This was so thoughtful.”
When they pulled apart, he was smiling brightly at her. “It’s worth it to see that smile on your face.”