24. Chapter 24 Margot
Chapter twenty-four
Mom hands us all a glass of champagne, toasting the happy couple. “To Sloane and Ledger!” she exclaims as we all clink our glasses together with a cheer. “And to grandbabies!”
It didn’t take long at all to put up the decorations with five sets of hands helping, but I’m still amazed they were able to get rid of all those flowers from last night. Apparently, my brother is commissioning some kind of artwork to preserve them all.
Mom, Sloane, and I stand around the spread of food, talking about the wedding while Jack and Ledger go sit down.
“So, tell me everything,” Mom requests. “I will forgive you for not inviting me but you better not leave out a detail.”
Ledger chuckles from the table beside us.
“Oh, for the love, Ledger. Please leave out those details.”
After getting every drop of detail we can squeeze out, Mom turns her attention to me. “You better include me in your wedding plans, missy, or I will absolutely never forgive you.”
“Don’t worry, Mom, you’ve got plenty of time to prepare. I’ve made it through four years of undergrad and am almost through my master’s without any prospects, so I doubt there are any wedding bells in my near future.”
“All the more reason to spend some time abroad!” she exclaims.
“I know, I know. I have two internships lined up between New York and Paris. I just haven't decided yet,” I admit, glancing briefly at Jack to find him chewing on his lip and looking down at his plate.
“If I were a single twenty-three-year-old, I would try to find the sexiest Frenchman I could and climb him like a tree,” Mom says, fanning herself with her hand for dramatic effect.
Mortification floods my mind at the thought of Jack hearing that. “ Mother! ” I hiss.
Her only response is an eye roll. “Oh, you’re a boring bunch,” she sighs.
Ledger walks over to grab Sloane. “Trust me, nothing is boring over here,” he says, wrapping himself around his wife in an embrace I crave so desperately from the man still sitting at the table.
“Ledger!” Seriously gross. When did he decide I was old enough to start talking about his sex life around me?
Mom elbows me in the side. “Well, you give me a grandbaby, then!”
I lift my eyes to see Jack’s cheeks blush as he pops a cookie in his mouth.
Then I watch that slight blush darken as Ledger lays his threat.
“Oh no, you don’t. You’re not allowed to date until you’re thirty, remember?
Don’t think I won’t make good on my promise to beat any fucker who lays a hand on you. ”
I roll my eyes at my brother, hoping he doesn’t notice how I freeze up when Jack starts choking on the cookie. Thankfully, he doesn’t have too much time to think about it before Sloane saves our asses. “Speaking of grandchildren, let’s show your mom the room you had put in for the nursery.”
The moment they’re out of the kitchen, Jack towers over me from behind and cages me against the island with his arms. “The thought of you with another man makes me murderous,” he whispers in my ear.
Chills run across my body as I try to turn in his arms, but he pushes closer, trapping me in place.
He’s so close now I can feel his hard length against my back.
God, I want that inside me. I want him to know exactly what that does to me as well.
“Mmm,” I moan, laying my head back against his shoulder.
One arm wraps around my waist, his hand on my stomach, while the other brushes my hair to the side so he can pepper my neck with kisses.
As his mouth goes lower, so does the hand on my stomach, and Jesus Christ, I’m going to burn alive.
I feel like I’m about to combust when fingers dip into the band of my jeans, and his distraction finally allows me to turn around.
There’s definitely lust radiating from him, but he’s startled as well.
The moment that panic takes over his expression, I grab his face with both of my hands and kiss him.
His mouth opens for mine when our lips meet, he’s just as hungry as I am.
Jack cups my face, his giant hands wrapping around my entire head, as I lower mine to his chest. As gentle as his grip is, his kiss is the opposite.
The one we shared on Thanksgiving was sweet, but this is a tidal wave washing us both away with passion.
As the kiss deepens, I lose all sense, trying to pull his shirt off like a woman possessed because God, I need him to take me on this island, the rest of the family be damned .
He must feel it too, though, because he’s grabbing my ass with bruising force, and he backs me up against the counter, pressing his even harder erection into my stomach as he devours my mouth…
Sloane’s voice is the first we hear, reminding us that others are present tonight. I pull myself away from Jack, nearly losing my balance, and grab my champagne glass to hide my swollen lips.
“Alright,” Mom says when everyone makes their way back into the kitchen. “Let’s give these two newlyweds some privacy.”
They walk us out to Mom’s car, where we say our goodbyes.
I’d rather sit in the back, but Jack opens the passenger door for me and insists I sit up front.
We go back and forth a few times because dealing with my mom right now is the last thing I want before Jack discreetly motions toward the tent in his pants, and I concede.
I’m trying to ground myself so I don’t catch my mom’s attention, but when she rolls down her window to yell “Grandbabies!” at my brother and his new wife, Jack pulls a strand of my hair.
As predicted, Mom immediately notices how flushed I am. “Margot? Are you okay, dear?” I don’t miss her glance into the rearview mirror to look at Jack, but he’s looking out the window.
As good as I am at fooling people, I’ve never been able to get things past her, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. “Not really, actually. I think I drank way too much.”
To my surprise, she seems to buy it, placing a hand on my leg and giving me a little pat. “I’ll get you home as fast as I can, honey.”