57. FRANKIE #2
Well, thank you for telling him. Even though I told you not to tell him any of that. I suppose I can forgive you, considering the job opportunity I was just handed.
Gen
See you at work, boss
Me
Bold of you to assume I’m accepting.
Gen
Baby, I’m fucking a senior partner. I’m as bold as it gets.
I bend over the counter, resting my head on my forearms and dissolve into soft laughter. This woman. Love her to death.
Me
Gen
Love you too
The door banging shut echoes through the condo, and I spin around. And my heart soars.
Jackson halts just inside the entry. He’s travel-worn, donning a wrinkled BDE tee, hair tucked away beneath a backward cap. A smile pops onto his face the minute he sees me. He was due back after a seven-day road trip.
“Baby,” he says, those silver-blue eyes shining like they only do for me.
He drops his travel duffle, and in the next breath, I’m in his arms, his mouth on mine.
“Hey, loverboy.”
He kisses me like the overeager Newfoundland he is. I laugh as he nips at my jaw.
“I missed you,” he growls into my neck.
“You better have.”
He grunts, then raises his voice. “And I missed you, too, Jackson.”
I arch a brow. “I do not sound like that. You sounded like…I don’t know. Mickey Mouse.”
A lopsided smile greets me at that. “Impersonations are not my forte.”
I snatch his hat off his head and put it backwards on mine. Then I sink my hands into his hair and groan. “Okay, maybe I missed you.”
Our lips find each other again, and he settles me on the island. I wrap my legs around him, and he shifts me until our hips line up.
“Mmm. Someone missed me a lot,” I say.
He grinds into me. “Every part of me missed every part of you.” He takes my hand and slides it to cup his ass.
I grin against his mouth. “I’ve created a monster.”
He pulls back, and his smile softens. He grazes his knuckles down my jaw. “You look good in my hat,” he says huskily. He tugs on my shirt—his shirt. “In my clothes.”
“They smell like you,” I murmur, my gaze tracing over his features.
I already have them memorized, but I can’t stop studying them.
That angled jaw. Those pouty lips. The permanent creases between his brows from that broody scowl.
One that’s mysteriously absent in my presence. “It helps when I’m missing you.”
He gently pulls me off the island. His forefinger skates inside the band of my sweats and gives a playful tug. He bites his lip, a wicked glint in his blue eyes. But before we get into that…
“I have news.” I run my hands up his chest and shiver at the thick muscle underneath his thin athletic shirt. I swear to God, this man is filet mignon.
“News?” he hums.
He slips a hand inside my sweats and slides it around to my ass. His fingers play around as he determines what underwear I’m wearing today. I grin. His fingers keep searching, and now his brows are definitely pinched.
“Are you not…” He steps back and pulls my sweats tight against my hips. He groans. “You’re free balling.” A rough whimper comes from deep in his throat. “In my sweatpants.”
And while my boss was over. Yikes. Good thing these joggers are so huge Kieran probably couldn’t see anything.
Jackson shakes himself out of his dick stupor. “What’s your news?”
I wait for his attention to lift back to mine. Except it’s still locked on my dick. “Ahem.”
It snaps to mine, and I bite back a grin. Can’t help loving how much my boyfriend wants me.
“I had a visitor. Just before you got here, actually.”
“Yeah?”
“The head of the West Division for my old company.”
He stiffens. “Oh?”
I reach for him and start rubbing small circles on his waist. He softens slightly. “You know my friend, Gen?”
He nods. “The one who sometimes comes to my games with you.”
“She’s, ah, involved with this guy. She told him what happened. And he fired Nick.”
Jackson’s dark brows shoot skyward.
I chuckle. “Yeah.” I trace a path down the center of his abs and revel in the way his skin twitches under my touch. My gaze flicks back to his. “Kieran offered me Nick’s old position,” I whisper. “It’d be a huge promotion.”
“Holy shit, Frankie. That’s amazing! Are you going to take it? Are you happy about it? Is this what you want?”
I rest a hand over his heart. “Down, boy.”
He tucks his chin in and shoots me the bashful smile I love so much.
“He’s sending over the details sometime soon.”
My phone dings on the countertop. Our gazes laser to it. Then back to each other. Jackson’s eyebrows lift. Is that it?
I grab my phone. There’s a new email notification. “New email.” My voice shakes lightly. I tap it and start reading. I scan the details of the role, the compensation package—Oh my God.
I thrust my phone in Jackson’s face. His eyes dart back and forth as he reads. And then go owl-wide. “Holy fucking shit! That’s a lot of money.”
I made quite a bit of money as principal consultant, but this? “It’s no Major League ballplayer salary, but damn…” I say hoarsely.
Jackson makes a noise in his throat. “With your bonus target, it comes close.”
I shoot him a look.
“To half,” he amends. He presses a hard kiss to my lips. “So? Are you going to take it? Do you want to?”
I bite my lip and nod slowly. “Yeah, I think I really fucking do.”
He scoops me up and spins me around, giving out a celebratory hoot. Laughter shakes through my chest, and I smile down at him. He loosens his grip so I slowly slide down his frame. He gently runs his nose against mine. “My smart, successful, sassy boyfriend.”
“You forgot sexy,” I purr.
His lips dust over mine. “You’re so much more than that, Frankie.”
A gentle, happy hum fills me. Jackson appreciates all parts of me: the nerdy numbers part, the dedicated to my career part, the sassy and dramatic part. He loves all of me.
“I think this is a cause for celebration.” His voice has dropped to that deep, sexy register that drives me wild.
“What’d you have in mind?”
His eyes darken, and he tugs on the hem of my shirt. “Off.”
I remove his hat from my head and whip the shirt over my head. My hands go to my waistband, and he stops me.
“Hat back on.”
My lips quirk. I like it. I tuck it back on my head, and Jackson takes over on my sweats. He unties them, and then they fall to the floor with a whoosh.