24. Jackson
Jackson
“Oh my gosh! You two are so adorable together!” Sophia squeals as we walk inside the bakery.
“What are you talking about?” Harper stares at her like she’s gone off the deep end.
“Peck texted me and said you two were giving off couple vibes and I agree!” She claps her hands in excitement.
“Did she get impossibly happier since she started dating Peck too?” Harper asks me.
“Oh, yeah. The two of them are nauseatingly happy. It’s kind of weird. Totally makes people uncomfortable.” I scrunch up my nose like it bothers me, but I actually love it and am really jealous of their relationship.
They both knew what they wanted and they weren’t afraid to hold onto each other with both hands, even when things got tough.
“Shush! You don’t get to insult my marriage in my bakery.” She folds her arms across her chest and glares at me, but I know she isn’t mad.
“Sorry, sweetheart.” I chuckle and hold my arms open for a hug. She quickly rounds the counter and lets me wrap her in my embrace. “I'm completely jealous of your amazing marriage.”
“Everyone is,” she murmurs and I can hear the grin in her voice. “Now, what are you doing in my bakery?”
She steps back and stares up at me. Though I’ve known the Robinson family for a long time, it never ceases to amaze me how similar Charlie and Sophia look. They’re technically not sisters, but cousins, yet they could be twins if they weren’t seven years apart.
“Well, I need something sweet and Harper wanted to check in with you about that job offer.”
“Yes! I was hoping that’s what you were here for!” Sophia rushes behind the counter and pulls out a clipboard from under the counter. Her eyes move across the paper as she reads whatever it says. “How often do you want to work?”
“Oh, uh… how much work do you want to give me?”
“Listen, Harper, I could have you work here forty hours a week and still need more help. I’m more than willing to bring you on full time and give you benefits, but I need to know if that’s what you’re looking for. I don’t know what your plans are.”
“I don’t know either,” she whispers.
“She’s trying to decide if she wants to go to law school,” I add.
“Well, do you want to work full time until you decide? The Python and Pit Bull stadiums both just increased their order sizes. There are rumors the Pirates’ stadium wants to start ordering things, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet.
I have local restaurants and grocery stores asking about selling my things, too.
At this point I'm actually turning down work because I don’t have enough help. ”
“I’d love that. Thank you.”
“Girl, don’t thank me. I’m going to work you to the bone.” Sophia smirks. “The further along I get with this pregnancy, the more tired I get. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like when I'm about to pop… And then after the babies are born.” Her brows tug together, forming a deep V.
“Stop worrying,” Emma groans as she comes out of the kitchen with a large tray of cookies. “I told you, we’ll make it work. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
“But-”
“Nope! We’ve got it handled!” Bella adds. “Especially if Harper’s joining our team. We’ll figure it all out and hire more help if we need to.”
“You guys are the best. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Sophia watches her friends with so much thankfulness in her gaze.
“You’d eat too much cookie dough and drown in orders.” Bella giggles.
“You’d gain at least forty pounds… but not baby pounds. Those don’t count. They come out eventually.” Emma shrugs.
I glance at my watch. It took us a little longer than I anticipated to talk to Mason, Maddox, and Peck.
“I need to get going. We have a team dinner before the game and I have to be there for it. You’re invited to join us. Owen personally told me to bring you.”
“Oh, you should stay here! We can show you the ropes. Plus, we’re all going to the game tonight, so you can ride with us and Peck.” Emma folds her hands under her chin like she’s begging.
Harper slips her bottom lip between her teeth and peeks up at me. I can tell she really wants to stay with her friends and catch up, but she wants to come with me too.
“You can stay here, babe. I don’t mind either way and you’ll be safe here,” I murmur softly.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I want you to enjoy yourself. You might not enjoy a team dinner.” I grin.
As much as I’d love to have her by my side, I don’t blame her if she doesn’t want to go. These are her friends and she’s barely seen them over the past four years. While I think she’ll get along with the other wives and girlfriends, I’m sure she’d rather hang out with Sophia, Emma, and Bella.
The other wives and girlfriends.
The thought makes me smile. I want to make her part of that group as soon as possible. I just don’t know how to go from where we are now to changing our relationship to something more.
We’ve both told each other how we feel, yet nothing else has been done. Maybe I just need to take the risk and kiss her.
“Ok. I’d love to hang out here and figure out my job. It will make me feel better knowing what’s expected of me.”
“Sounds good. Do you want to sit in the box with Sophia and Peck, or do you want me to get you seats closer to the field?”
“Oh, she’s sitting with us.” Emma plants her hands on her hips, daring us to argue with her. “The box is so much better than the stadium seating.” She rolls her eyes.
“No, it’s not. I love the stadium seating. I want to be right there in the middle of the action! I hate having to sit in the box.” Sophia sticks her bottom lip out in a pout.
“Yeah, normal women would rather not have to deal with idiot fans and the potential of having beer spilled on them. Plus, having to stand up every time someone wants to get to their seat or leave their seat? No thank you.” Emma shakes her head.
“Whatever. I think it’s more fun.” Sophia shrugs. “We need to get those cookies in the oven if we want them done before the game.”
“Alright. We’re going! See you later, Jackson!” Bella waves as the girls disappear into the kitchen. She peeks her head back out a moment later. “Come back here when you’re done, Harper.”
“Ok.”
As soon as we’re alone, I tug Harper into my arms and rest my hands on her lower back. She instantly threads her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck and smiles.
“Why does it feel like we were never apart?” She whispers.
“Because even when we weren’t together, we’d think about each other. And lots of phone calls and texts.”
“True.”
“You were always on my mind, baby.”
“You too.”
I glance at her lips before returning my eyes to hers. Her chest rises and falls a little faster as she waits to see what I'm going to do.
“I never could stop thinking about kissing you for the first time,” I murmur.
“Yeah?”
“Nonstop.”
I lean in and press my lips against hers. She doesn’t hesitate even for a second. She moves her lips against mine and when I tilt my head to the side to deepen our kiss, she follows my lead.
She feels perfect in my arms. Like I was made to hold her. Like our lips were made for each other and no one else.
Kissing her is unlike kissing anyone else. It’s like my world just exploded in colors and I’ll never be able to go back to seeing black and white again. It just feels right. Perfect. Like a dream come true.
I pull back and rest my forehead against hers. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to go to work and play our game, I just want to take her home and cuddle on the couch. Anything to keep her in my arms.
“Wow,” Harper whispers.
“That was pretty amazing,” I chuckle.
“That’s an understatement. Now I don’t want you to leave without me. I think I’d rather be by your side so we can kiss again and again.”
“I don’t want to leave you here either, but you already told them you’re staying. So, I’ll give you one more kiss, then I’ll get out of here so you can hang out with them.”
I kiss her again, getting lost in our kiss. The world ceases to exist around me and I'm ok with that. Escaping for a little bit sounds heavenly.