Chapter 22
Jackson
”You really don”t haveto get me a ring,” Zara says, shaking her head as we walk into Tiffany”s. Her eyes are almost pleading as she walks to the side of the store. “Especially not from a Fifth Avenue store.”
“What’s wrong with a store being on Fifth Avenue?” I frown in confusion.
“There’s a markup.” She gives me a look. “I bet any ring we get here we could get for much cheaper in Jersey City.”
“I thought all women loved Tiffany’s?” I look over to the side and all the cases filled with jewelry. “We even have an appointment to ensure you get what you want.”
“But I don’t really need a ring.” She sighs, and I can tell she is uncomfortable. “They are so expensive.”
”You do need a ring. You”re my fiance.”
”But I”m not really your fiance,” she says, her eyes wide as she gives me a knowing look. I’m already getting fed up with the conversation. It annoys me that she’s not just going with the flow like I was.
”Keep your voice down,” I glare at her. She glares back at me and shakes her head. I feel my heart skip a little beat as she gives me a knowing look. ”What are you thinking?” I ask her.
”I”m thinking that this is a really crazy and expensive way for you to get to sleep with me again.” I can’t tell if she’s joking or serious, but for some reason I find her comment hilarious and endearing.
”I think you know I”m doing this because of more than that.”
”So you admit it then. Part of the reason is because you want me to sleep with you again.”
”Zara,” I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward me. I run my fingers down her back and stare into her eyes.
”Yes, Jackson?”
”Do you really think that I think that I need to buy you a ring to get you to sleep with me again?” I chuckle as she lowers her lashes.
”Well, firstly,” she says, tilting her head to the side, her eyes sparkling as she looks up at me with a sexy glance. ”You never actually proposed to me. So there”s that. And two, who says I”m going to sleep with you ever again anyway?”
”Because I almost had you in the middle of a club last week,” I say softly, pressing my lips towards hers. I wrap my arms around her waist and bring her closer to me. ”And we both know that we have undeniable chemistry. We both know that we want each other, and so I think it”s a foregone conclusion that we will be intimate again sooner rather than later.”
”You wish Jackson Pruitt. I”ve actually decided that I”m not going to sleep with you again. So there.” She looks at me defiantly and I stare at her lips.
”You decided what? What does that mean?” I frown as I process her words. I’m not sure if she’s being serious, but if she is, I’m not going to be a happy man.
”You offered me a million dollars, right?”
”Yes. I told you on top of the letters of recommendation and the LSAT prep class and paying your tuition for law school and the scholarship fund for Luke and Charlotte, I will also give you a million dollars.”
”Yes, all of that is just too much. There”s no way I”m going to sleep with you if you”re giving me all of that.”
”What? Why not?” I feel my heart racing as I wonder if she’s going to try and get more out of me. Had I gotten her wrong, after all?
”Because I don”t want to feel like a prostitute. I don”t want to feel like you”re paying me for sex.”
I stare at her for a couple of seconds as what she’s saying sinks in. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. Most women would gladly have taken everything I’ve offered and been on their knees faster than I could say blowjob. ”Are you freaking kidding me right now?”
”No. It would make me feel really cheap.”
”Zara.”
”Yes.”
”I”m going to just pretend that you didn”t just say that,” I say, shaking my head in frustration. My hands move down and cup her ass and she gasps as I bring her up against me. I press my erection into her stomach and her eyes widen. I press my lips against hers and kiss her passionately. I feel her arms wrap around my neck and she”s moaning. I grin to myself as I pull back slightly. ”You can’t tell me that you”re going to be able to resist all of this.”
She bites down on her lip and shakes her head. ”Are we going to look at rings or what?” She says finally, her hand on the side of my face. “Just don’t offer to buy me anything else, please.”
”Let”s go and look at some rings,” I say as I grab her hand and we walk over to one of the shiny glass counters.
”I can”t believe we”re in Tiffany”s either,” she looks around, awe in her voice. ”The rings are really expensive here.”
”I”m rich. I can afford it.”
”So what”s my budget?”
”What”s your budget for what?”
”For the ring?”
”There”s no budget. You”re my fiance. Get the biggest diamond you want.”
”Yeah no. I don”t know if you”re going to be able to return it and I don’t want you-”
”Why would I return it?” I glance at her face and frown. We haven’t even gotten the ring yet and she’s already talking about giving it back.
”Because we”re not actually engaged, Jackson. This is fake. And when we eventually break up, you”re going to want to return it to get your money back.”
”No,” I shake my head. ”You”ll keep it.”
”I”ll keep it?” Her eyes dart back and forth, like she’s overwhelmed. ”No, that”s too much. You”re already giving me too much. I can”t have a diamond ring on top of that.”
”You”re doing me a favor.” This is a foreign feeling to me, having to convince someone to take something from me. I wasn’t used to it. Normally that’s all I did. Everyone I knew always came to me for something. They needed something. They wanted something. They saw me as a means to an end. My entire family. Every friend I had, aside from Ethan. And every woman I ever dated. Yet, Zara was standing here looking aghast by the fact that I wanted to give her an engagement ring?
”I know and I don”t even really understand why we’re doing this. Why do you have to pretend to have a fiance?”
”Because like I told you previously, my grandma is matchmaking me with every single rich debutante she knows, half of whom I can”t stand. And my father had a stroke recently. And I have a lot on my plate and I just need a reprieve while I figure out what is next in my life.”
”Oh, I”m sorry.” She grabs my arm. ”Is your dad okay?”
”He”s fine. Thank you for asking,” I nod. I note to myself that she truly did look surprised, so she definitely hadn”t heard anything about my dad, which was good. ”But I kind of promised my family that I would spend time with them this summer and Ethan wants to buy a house in the Hamptons and he”s got some work stuff going on there, so I agreed to spend a couple of weeks there.”
”Okay, good for you,” she says and I can tell from the look on her face that she’s wondering why I’m telling her that. “Have fun.”
”You”ll be coming with me.” I continue so that she knows I’m not just talking to fill time.
”What?” She blinks up at me slowly, shaking her head. ”I can”t go with you.” There’s an anxious expression on her face and it’s not the reaction I’d expected to see. I’d expected to see her excited and eager. What woman didn’t want an all-expenses paid trip to The Hamptons. It struck me yet again, that Zara Hathaway was different. She wasn’t looking to get everything she wanted out of me. In fact, she seemed hesitant to take anything. The thought hits me that if she weren’t in a desperate situation she may not have been willing to help me at me. I don’t know why a pang of sadness fills me at that reality. Or maybe I don’t want to know.
”You can and you will.” There’s no way on God’s green earth that she’s not coming with me to The Hamptons. I hate spending time there, but I’m a little excited to take her there with me. I want to see her in my bed, watch her take in all the glamor and glitz of my life. I wonder how she’ll feel. Maybe she’ll fade into the scene like she was meant to be there, or maybe she will be like me, observing from the sidelines that all that glitters is not gold.
”But it”s the Hamptons. I live in New York.”
”And so what? Zara, you will spend a couple of weeks with me in the Hamptons and play the part of my dutiful fiance and just so you know, we”ll be in the same room. So be prepared for that.”
Her jaw drops and she licks her lips nervously. ”I can”t stay in the same room with you in the Hamptons. That”s crazy.”
”Well, my family”s going to be there and they will definitely expect my fiance to stay in the same room as me.”
”Your family”s going to be there?” She shakes her head. ”In the same house?”
”Yes.”
”But I thought we”d have our own place. I thought we’d at least be in our own private place.”
”You didn”t think anything. You didn”t even know we were going to the Hamptons until about a minute ago.”
”But Jackson...” She groans.
“What? Scared you”re not going to be able to keep your hands off of me?”
”No, I”m scared you”re not going to be able to keep your hands off of me,” She says with a pointed look at my hands. Little does she know that I also doubt I will be able to keep my hands off of her.
”Well, you”re right here and I’ve been able to resist so far.” I wrap my arm around her waist and bring her into me again and kiss her on the lips softly. She tastes like strawberries. ”I find it very hard to keep my hands and my lips off of you.”
”What are we doing?” she says. ”This is crazy.”
”What”s crazy? That we’re here? Or that I want to make love to you again. Before you even knew who I was, you slept with me.”
”Yeah, because it had been a really crazy week and I was stressed out and-”
”You”re telling me you slept with me to relieve stress?”
”No,” she says, rolling her eyes. ”Obviously, I thought you were cute.”
”How cute?” I ask her.
”Kind of cute.”
”Just kind of cute?”
”Okay. I thought you were devastatingly handsome. Does that make you feel good?”
I grin and laugh. Her words make me feel warm inside, like a ray of sunshine has lit up my soul. ”Well, I”m glad to hear that because I thought you looked absolutely beautiful.”
”No, you didn”t. I didn”t look all that. I was wearing a shirt and jeans and-”
”You looked absolutely gorgeous to me,” I say truthfully. ”You may not have been in a tight dress, and you may not have had a face full of makeup, but as soon as I saw you, I was drawn to you.”
”You”re just saying that,” she says, but I can tell from the small smile and blush on her face that she”s happy by my words.
”I would never just say anything,” I say. ”Especially not something like that.” I rub my fingers together and grab my phone before holding it in front of me. She looks at me in confusion and I tickle her to get her to laugh. When the smile crosses her face, I take two photos.
“What are you doing?”
“I wanted a photo of this moment and day.” I open the camera app to look at the photos and show her. “I wanted a memento to look back at.” I stare at her wide happy smile on my phone. The way her brown eyes are crinkled at the corners, the way the dimples in her cheeks look so prominent. The way we look like we’re made for each other. “I want to look back at this moment in ten or twenty years and remember us as we are now.”
“You do?” She sounds uncertain as to the voracity of my comments, but I’ve never been more honest about anything in my life.
“I don’t have many documented moments. Not really. There are five photos of me as a baby. One at my high school graduation and then several from college and my MBA. But that’s when I met Ethan.”
“Your parents didn’t take photos?”
“Not of me.” I shrug nonchalantly. “I didn’t care much, but recently, I’ve wondered what it would be like to look back at images from the past.”
“That’s why you took the photo? To ensure you remember me?”
“I’ll never forget you, Zara Hathaway. I don’t need a photo for that.”
“So what? You’ll just look at it before you go to bed?” She teases me and my heart flutters because the very thought of that excites me.
“I’d rather have you in bed next to me? In the Hamptons. If you say yes.”
”Fine,” she says as she sighs and nods. ”So when are we going?”
”I think we”ll most probably leave this weekend if that”s okay.”
”I mean, I don”t know. I have Luke and Charlotte and-”
”When is your sister meant to be back?” There’s a hint of judgment in my tone and I hope she can’t tell. I don’t want her to think I’m judging her family as I know how sensitive things related to family can be. But I’m not impressed by what I’ve heard about her sister thus far. It seems to me that Elise is using Zara, but it’s not my place to say much as I suddenly don’t feel like I’ve treated her much better.
”I don”t know,” she shakes her head. ”Like I said, she met a guy at the play and they”re doing heaven knows what, heaven knows where.”
I stare at her for a couple of seconds. ”She”s your younger sister, right?”
”Yeah,” she nods.
”She sounds absolutely completely irresponsible and she doesn”t sound like a fit mother.” Her face pales at my words. ”I”m sorry. I hate to say it, but what sort of mother leaves her kids with her sister and just expects the sister to be okay with it?” So much for me keeping my big mouth shut.
”Because it”s me. She knows I love them.”
”Because you’re an awesome human being, but you have to pursue your dreams as well. You can”t put your life on hold because of your niece and your nephew.”
”My family always comes first.” She blinks at me. ”Always. The people in my life matter to me and I will always be there for them. I”ve made mistakes in the past.” She looks down and I can see that she”s about to cry. I’ve struck a nerve and I feel like absolute shit. I shift uncomfortably as her words hit me. Her family comes first with her. Such easy words to come out of her mouth, yet they feel so foreign.
My family feels like we are oceans apart. I’ve always known I never came first with my parents. Never. They certainly wouldn’t have given anything up to help me live my dreams. What she’s doing is extreme and ridiculous and yet, it’s touching. It showcases her soul more than anything ever could have. Zara Hathaway is a good person. And I’m damn lucky to have met her. She may single handedly restore my faith in humanity. The idea is unlikely, but I’d quite like to see if she could try. Not that I want anything more from her than what we currently have though.
I touch the side of her shoulder. ”Hey, are you okay?”
She blinks rapidly and nods. It looks like she is about to cry and for one moment I think about calling the whole thing off. I don’t want to be another person in her life using her for my own interests. ”Yeah, I”m fine. I”ve just learned in life that you don”t judge others. You don”t make decisions based upon bad decisions that you think they”ve made.” She stares at me. ”Life is about being there for the people that you love, no matter when or where.”
”I think that”s admirable but when people take advantage of you.”
”Please stop.” She shakes her head. ”Luke and Charlotte are my niece and my nephew and I will always be there for them. Elise is my sister and she makes me angrier than anyone has ever made me in my life. And I agree with you to some extent. She”s not a great mom, but she”s young and she”s irresponsible, and that”s partly my parents” fault for spoiling her. But I can”t kick her out. I can”t cast her aside because I don”t know what will happen to her. And I don”t know what would happen to my niece and nephew if I did.”
”Hey,” I say. ”I”m not judging you. I promise I”m not judging you.” I clear my throat. I’m going to call this whole thing off. “I think that maybe we should?—.”
“To be honest, I think that maybe this will be fun.” Her expression changes and a light enters her eyes. “I mean I’ve always wanted to go to the Hamptons and I’m about to get the most expensive ring in the store. What girl wouldn’t want that?”
“Are you sure about that? Or are you just saying that?” I wait for her response. “Because?—.”
“Don’t tell me you think my poor acting skills are going to let you down?” She teases me. “Are you trying to back out of our deal, Mr. Pruitt?”
“Only if you want me to.”
”No, I’m fine. Like I said, it will be a welcome change from my life. I hope.” She giggles. “But I am not sure if I can come this weekend,” she continues. ”I’m not sure if Elise will be back by then or not.”
”And what about your friend Lila? I can pay her to look after the kids if you want. You said she no longer has a job, right? The play was canceled?” I resist the opportunity to make a joke asking if Lila is another bad actress.
She nods slowly, a look of concern crosses her face. ”I feel so bad for Lila because she really thought this was going to be her big break, but the play sucked.” A loud giggle escapes her throat and I wait for her to explain what’s so funny. However, she shakes her head slightly and pressed her lips together before continuing. “Let”s just play it by ear and see. Is that okay?”
”That’s fine.” I say softly. I can tell she”s passionate about her family and friends and that strikes a chord in me because the only person I”ve really cared that much about is Ethan and maybe my grandparents. I take a deep breath. ”Shall we look at rings?”
”I mean, sure,” she grins wickedly. ”If you said, I”ve got no budget I’m going to get the ring my sister Elise would get.” She winks at me. “I hope your heart is strong and your bank account is large.”
“That’s what she said.” I wink back at her and wiggle my eyebrows and she hits me in the shoulder.
“You’re such a boy, Jackson.”
“A very large boy that wants you to spoil yourself. Why don”t you treat yourself to a necklace, earrings and a diamond bracelet as well?”
”What?” She looks at me like I’m crazy. ”No, that”s too much.”
”I want you to get whatever you want. Don’t tell me you’ve never wanted anything from Tiffany’s?”
”Well, there is one thing I”d like, but you don”t have to get it. I mean I can get it myself. Maybe not now, but-”
”What is it?”
”There is this silver bracelet with a heart and a lock and a key, and I”ve always kind of wanted one, but I”ve never really had the money.”
”Then we”ll get it,” I say softly. ”You”ve always dreamed about that, huh?”
”I”ve always had a lot of dreams,” she says shrugging.
”Like being a lawyer?” I ask her. She stares at me for a couple of seconds and the light leaves her eyes. She looks down again and I frown. ”You do want to become an attorney, right? You were going on and on about how you wanted to go to NYU or Columbia and take the LSAT and-”
”Yeah, it”s a good move,” she says. ”It will set me up to take care of-”
”Is that why you want to become an attorney? Because you”ll make money to cake care of your family?” Because you know you-”
”I don”t want to talk about this right now,” she says quickly. ”Let”s look at the rings.” She squeezes my hand and I decide to let it go. The more I learn about Zara, the more selfless I think she is. She’s not truly living. And as I process that, I realize that the same could be said for myself as well.
We walk over to the jewelry and I watch her eyes light up with excitement as she points out different rings and tries them on. It feels surreal being here. I”ve never bought jewelry for anyone before in my life. Certainly never been in a jewelry store. And even though this isn”t a real engagement and this isn”t a real engagement ring, I still feel a sense of excitement and happiness and I don”t know why. Maybe it”s because I”m excited to get her back into my bed. Maybe it”s because I”m counting down the hours until I can have her again. Maybe it”s because there”s something refreshing about spending time with Zara. She doesn”t force things on me. She doesn”t ask me uncomfortable or needling questions. She doesn”t hint for me to give her things or give her compliments. She”s honest, sweet and kind. She”s the sort of woman that makes me want to be a better man, that makes me want to care about other people. She”s the sort of person that makes me feel that there are human beings that actually care about others more than themselves. She is making me self-reflect.
However, self-reflection is making me annoyed at the both of us. I”m angry at her. I can see that she”s put her life and dreams on hold for her family and friends, and I don”t think that”s fair to her. I don”t think she should have to make herself a martyr to take care of them. I know if I ever meet her sister, I will let her know exactly what I think of her. Though I have a feeling if Zara heard me telling off her sister, she”d break up with me then and there. And even though this was a fake engagement, I didn”t need her to complicate my life even more. So maybe I’ll just keep it to myself for now.
”I like this one.” She holds up a ring to me and the large diamond sparkles beautifully. There are smaller sapphire stones around the large diamond and my heart races as I watch her place it on her finger. Her eyes are wide and excited. ”It”s a bit expensive,” she wrinkles her nose as she gazes at it in awe and I can tell that she loves it.
”It”s perfect,” I say, and then I kiss her, not because I want to shut her up but because the moment just feels right. Her eyes widen and she reaches up and touches the nape of my neck and presses herself into me. We kiss lightly and it feels like new life is being poured into me. It feels like the universe is singing and birds are chirping in unison. I step back and release her from my embrace and I wonder if that’s regret I see in her eyes. There’s a nervous yet speculative expression on her face and I know that she too felt how special that moment was.
”I just have to make her call,” I say, stepping back, feeling slightly uncomfortable, and she nods and looks away. ”I”ll be right back.”
”Sure, I”ll look around some more.”
”That’s fine.” I head towards the front of the store and step outside to take a couple of deep breaths. The air feels like it’s full of smoke, yet I inhale again as I need to get past that moment. I take another deep breath and then I look back through the window.
Zara”s standing there looking at the ring on her finger, a small smile on her face as if she can”t quite believe that she”s wearing it. She looks pretty today in her cornflower blue dress, and brown sandals. Her hair is hanging loose in curls down her back. She doesn”t know it and maybe she wouldn’t believe it, but she”s the most beautiful woman I”ve ever seen in my life. My stomach churns as the thought hits me that I”m feeling sappy. ”This isn”t real,” I remind myself. I take another deep breath and grab my phone as it begins to ring.
”Jackson Pruitt.”
”Jackson.” It’s my grandma and she sounds surprised.
”Hey Grandma,” I say. ”Sorry, I didn”t realize it was you.”
”Oh, I was about to say you never just answer the phone with your name.”
”I know. I”m sorry. I didn’t check to see who was calling before I answered it. I”m actually just with Zara at-” I pause. I can”t tell my grandma that I”m at Tiffany”s with Zara or she”ll wonder how I proposed to the love of my life without a ring. ”I”m just hanging out with Zara right now.” I correct my sentence.
”Oh, great. Put her on the phone. I”d love to talk to her.”
”I don”t know, Grandma. You”ll be meeting her soon enough and-”
”I”d like to speak to her and I”d like to know who her people are,” She says, and I try not to groan.
”She doesn”t have people, Grandma. She”s not a Vanderbilt or a Getty or a Kennedy. She”s just her.”
”What do you mean she doesn”t have people? Of course she has people. She wasn”t born from the Virgin Mary.”
”Grandma, her parents live in Florida. She”s not from money. Okay?”
”Oh no, when you say Florida, where exactly? Please don”t tell me she”s poor and from a crime family.”
”Grandma.”
”I mean, I”m glad you”re in love, but is she a gator eating, side of the road fishing, truck driving bride or the descendant of a Bronx crime family? Are you sure I can”t convince you to give Louisa Augusta a chance.”
”Grandma, I just happen to like my gator eater.” I have no idea if Zara eats gators, but I don’t care if she does. “Your comments are also extremely offensive.”
”Fine, fine, fine. May I say hello to her to at least hear what you like about her so much?”
”Fine. Hold on,” I say and place her on hold. I walk back into Tiffany”s and head over to Zara. She looks at me with a questioning expression on her face. I hold up the phone. ”My grandma would like to say hello.”
”Your grandma?” She stares at me. ”Aren”t I going to be meeting her soon?”
”Yes,” I nod slowly. ”But she would like to say hello on the phone.”
”What am I meant to say to her? What if she asks me something I can”t answer?”
”It”s fine,” I say. ”Look, this whole thing is not a lie.”
Her jaw opens and she frowns. ”What do you mean this whole thing is not a lie?”
”I mean, yes, this engagement is a lie.” I keep my voice down. ”But the story I”m telling them is not a lie. We met, it was love at first sight and we both knew immediately that we wanted to get married.”
She stares at me, blinking rapidly. ”You what? That”s the story you”re going with.”
”It”s the best way for us to not get caught up in lies that we don”t know the answer to. So if they ask us something about the other that we don”t know, we”ll just say, ”Oh, that”s a good question. I”ll have to find that out later.””
She shakes her head slowly. ”That does not sound like a good idea.”
”Zara, all we have to do is convince them that we”re in love.”
”But we”re not in love,” her lips tremble and I hope she’s not going to cry. I get that she’s emotional, but I hope that she’s not unstable.
”Yeah, but we have a lot of chemistry and I love making love to you.”
She raises a single eyebrow. ”Really Jackson?”
”What? It”s true. We do have amazing chemistry and I know you like making love to me as well, or you wouldn”t have told Lila I was the best lover you”ve ever had.”
”Are you ever going to let me forget that?”
”No,” I say, chuckling. ”Now, speak to my grandma, please.” I take the phone off mute and press the on speaker. ”Hey Grandma.”
”Jackson, I wondered if you”d hung up on me. You were gone for so long.”
”Sorry. I was just getting Zara.”
”Is she there?”
”Yes, she”s here.”
”Hi Mrs. Pruitt, it’s nice to meet uhm I mean talk or rather chat, well you know what I mean.” Zara says, stuttering and that’s when I realize that her lip was trembling due to nerves and not the fact that she was about to have a breakdown from lying.
”Does she have a speech impediment?” My grandma asks and I chuckle slightly at Zara’s taken aback expression.
”No, Grandma.”
Zara makes a face and tries to push the phone away from me and I give her a stern look. ”It”s very nice speaking to you, Mrs. Pruitt, I”m very much looking forward to meeting you.”
”I”m looking forward to meeting you as well. I”ve heard absolutely nothing about you other than the fact that you are poor and from that backwards state.”
”Grandma,” I say as Zara’s jaw drops.
”Yes Jackson? I just hope that you”re speaking to the attorneys about a prenup.”
I roll my eyes and Zara just stares at me in shock. ”I thought you said this was going to be easy,” she whispers and I press my fingers to her lips.
”What did you just say?” My grandma’s voice is sharp and I realize that this is going to be a lot harder that I’d initially thought.
”Nothing, but we”re just about to go and grab something to eat. We”ll see you this weekend, okay?”
”Okay. Well, I want you to let that young lady know that Maisy will be there and asking her a lot of questions, and Maisy will know if she”s a fraud because Maisy will see it in the cards.”
”Yes, Grandma,” I hang up quickly.
”Who the hell is Maisy?” Zara asks me, poking her hand into my chest. ”You said this was going to be easy, Jackson. I”m sorry, but your Grandma doesn”t sound that nice or that welcoming. She’s going to make this hard on me. And who is is Maisy? How is she going to know I”m a fraud?”
”Maisy”s her best friend. She thinks she”s a clairvoyant.” I roll my eyes. ”She”s not going to know shit. Just trust me. Okay?” Zara looks nervous, as she slowly shakes her head.
”I don”t know if this is a good decision, Jackson.”
”Think about the money.”
”That”s all I”m thinking about,” she says, and I laugh at her honesty. If she’d said it wasn’t about the money I would have thought she was lying.
”No, it”s not.”
”What do you mean?”
”You”re also thinking about making love to me again.” I move my hips back and forth and her lips twitch, which only serves to encourage me even more.
”Is that all you think about?” she asks.
”No. I think about business deals. I think about what I”m going to eat for dinner. I think about-”
”Okay, you don”t need to list everything you think about.”
”But I do also think about making love to you. Sweet, sweet love,” I sing in her ear and she groans.
”You are not a singer, by the way.”
”I never said that I was.”
”Are we really doing this, Jackson?” she asks. ”I feel weird knowing that I”m going to be going to meet your parents and your grandparents and now your grandma”s best friend, and I”m going to have to lie and pretend.”
”Please,” I say, staring at her. ”This is important to me. I know my grandma can be a lot, but I”ll be there every step of the way. I just need to get her off my back. There”s a lot going on in my life right now and-” I stare at her. ”I know I just told you that you”re too caring and that you put other people”s needs before your own, but I”m asking you for your help.”
She stares at me for a couple of seconds and nods slowly. ”I can”t believe I”m agreeing to this, but okay ,but there is just one thing.”
”Yes?” I ask, waiting for her to ask me for more money.
”Don”t expect me to make you breakfast.”
The breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding releases and a lightness fills me. ”You can’t ask me that.” I grab her face and kiss her passionately, delighting as she gasps and kisses me back.
”I guess we”re really doing this.”
”We are, and it”s going to be fantastic.” I say this because all I know is that I want to spend more time with her. And it has nothing to do with convincing my family to stop trying to hook me up.