I stopped reading realizing I lost myself in my words. I looked at Gail for the first time since I started reading an hour and a half ago. I hadn’t noticed her reaction until this point. There were tears in her eyes.
“Oh my! Poor Abby. What does she do? Where is the boyfriend? What’s going to happen?”
I smiled at her.
“You’ll have to wait and see. It’s getting late and I really have to run.”
Gail protested, but I laughed and told her I’d have more tomorrow for her. Gail grumbled, but she understood. As I was ready to walk out the door, Gail called to me.
“Lacie.”
I stopped to look at the woman.
“Thank you for sharing. You are a very good writer.”
I said thank you then headed out of the room. I needed to hurry. I’d lost track of time and I really wanted to grab a shower before Jackson picked me up. I practically ran out of the nursing home and to my car. I drove quickly to my apartment. I threw my bag down on the chair, stripped off my scrubs and threw them on the bed, then jumped into the shower.
I pulled my dress on, put on a little makeup and was drying my hair five minutes before Jackson was supposed to be there. I finished drying my hair. It was still a little damp but close enough. I sprayed some of my favorite body spray just as he knocked on the door.
I moved to the door, looking around the apartment. I put the clothes from earlier in my laundry bag. I put the bag with my story on the counter in the kitchen area. I was satisfied that things were in order before opening the door.
When I opened the door, my breath caught in my throat. He looked incredible. He was standing before me with a bouquet of vibrant almost florescent colored flowers. He held them up to me. Before taking them, I leaned in to smell them.
“They’re beautiful, Jackson. Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re beautiful.”
I felt my face heat and a blush ran across my cheeks. I cursed under my breath for not being able to control it.
“Let me put these in some water then we can leave. Come in.”
Jackson entered the one-room apartment. The only door was to my bathroom. I had a chair, love seat and a bed. Basically, that was all that would fit in the place.
“I told you it wasn’t what you would be used to.”
Jackson shook his head.
“I’m not a snob, Lacie.”
I watched as his eyes moved around the apartment then found mine.
“It suits you. It’s clean and there are plenty of hints as to who you are.”
Laughing, I said, “Really? Well, what do you see? Who am I?”
Jackson took a few steps closer to me.
“It’s clean. You don’t have any clutter. There is a bookshelf holding a treasure of books, I’m sure. There is a softness in the colors. The grays in the furniture are soft and calming. The room is small, but it’s you. You don’t need a big open space. You find it to be wasteful and you don’t like to waste anything. There is a sweet smell throughout the apartment that is light, carefree and you. It’s the smell I think of when I think of you. It’s you.”
My jaw nearly dropped open, but I caught myself.
“Alright, so you do sort of know me.”
Jackson laughed, holding his hands up. “No, I’m not saying that at all. But I would really love to get to know you. The real you. What makes you tick, Lacie? What makes you who you are?”
I stared at him, then I busied myself with arranging the flowers. I put them on the table between the loveseat and chair, then turned to Jackson.
“I think we’d better go.”
I moved toward him to grab my purse and keys. He reached out his hand to grab my arm. He pulled me to him in one quick move and pressed his lips to mine.
The kiss was soft. Jackson opened his mouth slightly, tracing the line of my closed lips, asking me to open for him, only I didn’t. I pulled myself away from him and said, “We really should go.”
Jackson put his hand on my cheek and smiled. “Okay. Let’s go.”
I grabbed my purse and keys but forgot my sweater. I realized it as I was getting into his car. Oh well, would I really need it? We were probably going to have dinner somewhere then he’d bring me home.
Once Jackson slid into the driver seat, I asked where we were going.
Jackson grinned. “It’s a surprise.”
Laughing, I said, “Really? I’m not one for surprises.”
Jackson grinned. “Get over it, because I happen to love delivering surprises.”
I laughed. We talked briefly, asking each other how our day was.
I listened to him talk but the entire time warning bells were going off in my head. He was too much. He was too attentive. He was too dangerous for me. I shouldn’t be here. I should have never agreed to this date. I was scared, and I didn’t like it.
But when he looked at me, I could barely contain the shiver that ran through me. I wanted to just lose myself in the moment, but that wasn’t me. I needed to stay on guard. I needed to make him move on. I wasn’t going to give him the time he deserved. I needed to close myself off, shut down, and then he’d move on.
Jackson maneuvered the car easily through the streets. I watched the streets go by. We didn’t seem to be going into the city but headed more residentially.
“Jackson, where are we going?”
When I turned and looked at him, he grinned and said, “It’s still a surprise, Lacie. Relax. I promise if you don’t like it, I’ll take you home.”
I eased back into the seat and we finished the drive in silence. He pulled into a driveway, shut the car off, got out of the car and walked around it to open my door.
“Jackson, where are we?”
He reached out a hand to help me out of the car.
Jackson grinned.
“We’re at my place.”
I was shocked. The house was gorgeous, and that was just the outside. It was huge. He seemed to not have any really close neighbors.
“Jackson, if you brought me here to have sex, I swear I’m calling a cab.”
Jackson grinned. “That wasn’t my intent, Lacie, but if it happens, I can’t say that I’d be disappointed. Trust me, Lacie. I promise it will be okay.”
I let him lead me to the side of the house and around the back. As we were headed that way, I could see a glow coming from the back part of the house. When I rounded the corner of the house, my hand came up to my mouth to cover the gasp I let out.
Jackson just smiled as he watched.
“Jackson, oh my God, this is beautiful. How did you do this? I mean, you didn’t leave these lit while you came to get me? Please tell me you didn’t?”
Jackson grinned at me. “No, Lacie. I had someone wait to light them for me while we were on our way back. They left as we pulled up and headed back here.”
Jackson pulled my back up against him. “But I would risk starting a forest fire to see that look on your face, day after day.”
He pressed his head into my neck and inhaled my scent, then kissed me gently on the bare flesh between my neck and shoulder.
“Wow, Jackson. This isn’t at all what I expected.”
I turned to look into his eyes.
“This is so beautiful. I can’t believe you did this for me. No one has ever gone to this kind of trouble for me.”
Jackson brought his hand up to cup my cheek before running his fingers into my hair.
“You are beautiful, Lacie. Someone should have done this for you a long time ago. But I’m glad I am able to do this for you. I’m glad it was me that got the chance to show you how beautiful you are and how much you deserve this.”
I looked up into his eyes and moved closer to kiss his lips. Once I was close, I put my hand around the back of his neck and pulled him to me.
Jackson let me pull him into the kiss. He met my lips, but he was surprised when I reached my tongue out to lick his lips open. Of course, Jackson was more than happy to let me inside. When he deepened the kiss, I let a moan escape which triggered his.
I fell into the kiss. I let Jackson take control of it. I gave in to what I felt when he touched me and kissed me. My body shook and my knees were weak. The kiss made me soar. It made me feel like I was flying high in the sky, but I needed it to stop. It was taking me to places I didn’t want to be, places where I would get hurt again.
I pulled back, slowly ending the kiss.
Jackson let me end the kiss but not the contact between us. He held on to me for a moments, his arm around my waist and his hand cradling my neck. He looked into my eyes and smiled.
“That was amazing.”
I could only nod and try to pull away.
Jackson still held on to me.
“Why are you pulling away?”
“Jackson, I’ve only just met you. You pull this romantic date on me and expect what? I mean, yes that kiss I started it, and it was amazing, but what do you want from me? I can’t, this is, I don’t…”
Jackson put his finger on my lips to stop my rambling.
“Lacie, just stop. It’s okay. I don’t want anything from you except your time and to get to know you.”
He moved from my body and took my hand to take me further into the yard and the scene that was set for tonight.
“Come in and relax. I’m going to go into the house and get some things. I’ll be right back.”
I watched him disappear and took a deep breath. I needed to get a hold of myself. I walked around the yard. I looked at the patio and the torches that flickered in the breeze. I watched Jackson from outside. The back part of his house, what seemed to be the kitchen, was open with all glass. The doors slid open when he went through them and he left the door open while he went inside. The house looked beautiful on the inside. The kitchen was something I’d only ever dreamed of having and cooking in. I imagined his shelves were stocked full, as well as his refrigerator. Our lives were nothing alike. There was nothing here that was known to me. My life was simple. That kiss moved something inside of me though and I needed it to stop.