Five Ways 'Til Sunday (7 page)

“Maybe we should just go back to our place.”

Jackson gave one of his sexy man-grunts. “It’s not midnight yet.”

Her lips curved. “Nothing’s turning into a pumpkin here. And just think, I’ll give it to you any way you want.”

Jackson smiled back. “Really? Will you bend over and grab your ankles while I fuck you?”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’d like that?”

“Maybe not. How about I do you on the balcony?”

“We’ve already done that. Ms. Dickerson enjoyed the show so much she asked when we’d be busy again. I think she wants to put us on YouTube.”

Jackson chuckled. “Can’t have that. Don’t want the entire world to hear your bleats. They’re mine.”

Marti scrunched her nose, then let her glance fall. “I’d let you fuck my ass,” she said softly.

Jackson tipped up her chin to meet his narrowed gaze. “Really? That wasn’t on your list.”

“Doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it. The way you touched it before got me thinking it might not be so bad.”

Jackson gripped her ass and rocked her forward and back on his cock. “Sure you don’t want to finish it here?”

“This is nice, but really, the smell is a bit overwhelming.” She exaggerated. By his arched brow, he knew it too.

Still, he gave her one last hug then helped her off his lap.

Marti slid onto the seat beside him and reached for her clothes, dressing, but not looking his way. The thing she hadn’t been able to admit aloud was that she felt ashamed of herself. Not for what they’d just been doing or even for what they’d done last night, but because she’d written The List in the first place.

Was she forcing him to jump through hoops because she needed reassurance of how much he loved her?

For his part, she knew what he was up to.

Jackson being Jackson, he’d taken her at her word and decided that if this was what it took for her to say yes, he’d blast through every last dirty little fantasy she’d described.

If she were a stronger woman, she’d tell him The List was a bluff. Even if he did go through with every scenario, she couldn’t say yes. And lord, acting like a whore, blowing another man while he watched and doing it in a squad car were tame in comparison to the last couple of items on her list.

Jackson finished putting his clothes to rights. She pushed her skirt down and balled her undies in her hand. “Jackson…”

“Uh uh. No apologies.” He drew her across his lap and tucked her head against the corner of his neck.

“It still counted,” she said, snuggling into his warmth.

His cheek rubbed against her hair. “Even if we didn’t finish?”

“It was the thought.”

“I love you, Marti.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she hooked an arm around his neck to hug him. The more he said it, the more she believed he really did. “I love you too.”

“Got any plans for Sunday?”

“I have inventory with Grady in the morning, but after that I’m free, I guess. Why?”

“My mom’s having a barbeque…”

She wiped her eyes with her hand then leaned back to look into his face. “You want me to meet your family?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Sure that’s smart?”

Jackson gave her a quick smacking kiss. “They are going to love you. You don’t have a thing to worry about. Just be yourself.”

“Why now?”

“You know why.”

She glanced away. “It’s getting late.”

He reached beside him and tapped the window.

Craig walked out of the shadows and opened the door. She slid off Jackson’s lap, standing with help from Craig, who gripped her elbow.

“That was quick. You two okay?” he asked, glancing from her face to Jackson’s.

Jackson shook his head as though warning him to drop the line of conversation. “We’re headin’ home.”

“Take your time,” Craig said slowly, his gaze locking with Jackson’s.

She thought it an odd thing to say given that their apartment was only four blocks away.

Jackson took her hand and pulled her behind him as he started to move away. “We’re gonna walk back.”

“Your car?” Craig called after them.

Without turning, Jackson waved his free hand. “Will be fine until morning. We could use some fresh air.”

The reminder of the overpowering scents in the car made her smile. She wrinkled her nose. “Good idea.”

Jackson brought her close to his side.

Marti leaned against him as they walked away from the parking lot and onto the sidewalk beside the street.

A carriage, lit by colorful strings of Christmas lights, drew alongside them. “Can I interest you in a ride? Last one for the night…” the driver said, smiling amiably. He was dressed in German lederhosen, which exposed a pair of knobby knees. His long white hair was pulled back into a pony tail. His eyes, even in the dim light, sparkled.

She thought he’d make a perfect Santa Claus and wondered if he put reindeer ears on his horse in winter.

Jackson glanced down. “What do you say, baby? Tonight doesn’t have to be a complete bust.”

“I don’t know. I was looking forward to a warm bath.”

“Come on,” he said, pulling her toward the curb. “I promise I’ll scrub your back later.”

He seemed so eager she thought maybe he was the one excited by the idea. Maybe he was too manly to admit a carriage ride in a “princess” carriage was enticing. “You know, as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve never taken a ride in one of these.”

Jackson grinned and fished in his pocket for a couple twenties, handing them to the driver. “Take us by the river?”

“Scrape the dirt off your shoes before you step up,” the driver said, his voice brisk now.

With few cars still on the street, the ride was quiet except for the steady plod of the horse’s hooves.

Marti sighed and snuggled close. “This is nice.” She yawned.

“Don’t you dare go to sleep on me,” he growled.

“Got plans?”

“You know I do.”

She glanced at the driver’s back, then whispered. “Plans that require…complicated choreography?”

Jackson laughed, lifted her hand and placed it squarely on his crotch. “Maybe.”

“None of that now,” the driver groused. “This here’s a fam’ly-orientated buggy ride.”

Her eyes widened. His back was still turned. How’d he know she was feeling her man up?

Jackson pressed her hand harder against himself, molding her fingers around the impressive bulge beneath his fly.

But she slipped her hand away, jerking her chin toward the driver. “Behave yourself,” she whispered.

“Fine.” However, he picked up her hand again and kept it inside his.

They settled back against the padded seat.

“You don’t have to finish it, you know. That list—”

Jackson’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “Was a crock, right?”

“Right,” she thoughtfully, eyeing his expression because it was growing more devilish by the moment. “How’d you know?”

“You’re adventurous, but the things you wrote… Well, they weren’t you.”

Unable to hold his steady stare, she glanced away, noting they’d turned onto Jefferson, heading toward the road that flanked the Mississippi. “I’m sorry if I pushed you too far.”

Jackson squeezed her hand. “I’m not,” he said quietly. “We got to play a bit. And maybe you got to see I’m not such a stick in the mud.”

“I never thought that. In fact, you’re so far from dull… Jackson?”

“Baby, just snuggle up. We don’t have to talk. We can have the driver drop us near our place when we’re done.”

“You’re not still mad at me, are you?”

“Not even a little bit. I’ve enjoyed givin’ you your little fantasies too.”

Marti didn’t know what she felt. Relieved the lie was over? Or disappointed because some of the things on that list had come from a part of her she hadn’t known existed and she still might like to give them a try?

Still, he wasn’t angry and didn’t seem disappointed in her. But he hadn’t asked her that question again either. Had he changed his mind?

Jackson tucked a finger under her chin and turned her face toward him. “You okay?”

When had she become such a crybaby? Marti blinked, hoping the darkness hid the wetness welling in her eyes. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

“Then it’s a damn good thing I didn’t make you walk. You’re gonna need everything you have left.”

Marti gave him a crooked smile. “Am I ever too tired for that?”

“No funny stuff back there,” the driver muttered.

Jackson laughed and settled back in his seat, wrapping his arm around Marti’s shoulders. She laid her head on his arm and watched as they turned onto Riverside Drive and clomped toward the park nestled at the edge of the Mississippi. Streetlamps stretched down the drive, and if she blurred her eyes, they looked like shiny crystals strung together. Sitting beside Jackson, enjoying the silence and the feel of the solid body beside her, she began to dream of what a lifetime of such silences might be like.

For once, the thought didn’t leave her feeling like an indigestible meal sat at the bottom of her stomach. Her body relaxed, her chest filled with an aching warmth. Jackson would be a good husband and father. What more could she ask for? He’d already proven he could put up with her crazy shit.

“My dad used to take us on carriage rides,” Jackson said. “Not often, ’cause we only had his cop’s salary, but he knew folks—some of the drivers—and they’d cut him a break. I acted like I didn’t appreciate it. My sister was all about bein’ a princess, and me and my brothers would make fun of her until dad would give us the look.”

“The look?”

Jackson smiled with faraway look in his eyes. “Yeah, I never quite knew what it meant, I just knew it scared the shit out of me. Then we’d behave and let sis enjoy it.”

“Think he knew you liked it too?”

“Yeah, he’d wink after a while. He knew we were boys. We had to make some noise about it first. I mean, ridin’ in a princess carriage with glittery lights?”

His grunt made her smile and think about a young Jackson entranced by the ride, but hiding it behind a boyish gruffness.

He kissed her forehead. “What about you? You rarely talk about your childhood.”

“I was an Army brat. We moved a lot. Not much to tell.”

“You keep any friends?”

“Nah. We’d always lose touch. You learned to make new friends everywhere you go. That’s easier.”

“That’s no way to bring up a kid.”

Marti shrugged. “It wasn’t a bad life. I got to see things. Travel.”

“But you never learned how to stay put. You never got to sink deep roots. Didn’t you ever miss that?”

“Sure. I’d think about it whenever dad got new orders, but then we’d get busy, throwing out things, skinnying down the household. When mom was alive, she’d make it feel like this great big adventure. Like the journey to dad’s next duty station was a long safari.”

“And when she passed?”

Marti sighed. “Then it was just Dad and me. And I was in charge of organizing things.”

“Do you miss him?”

“Sure, but he’s got his buddies. They play golf, go fishing. He’s got a full life.”

“Did he cut you adrift?”

“It wasn’t like that. I went to college. After that I took a job teaching English in China.”

“He let you go, just like that?”

Again, she shrugged, trying to pretend she really didn’t mind that her father had let her go so easily. “Why wouldn’t he?”

Jackson pulled her closer. A kiss landed on her cheek. “I wouldn’t let my little girl go without a layin’ a lot of guilt on her, big-time. And she’d be seein’ me holidays, birthdays. I’d wear her down until she came back. I’d never let her doubt how much I love her.”

Marti glanced up. “How’d you know?”

“That he doesn’t tell you he loves you?”

She cleared her throat. “Yeah.”

“Because he never taught you how to love, baby.”

Marti glanced away, stricken. “How can you say that? What is it we’ve been doing?”

“A lot of fuckin’.”

“Didn’t need to hear that. La-la-la-la,” the carriage driver chimed in.

Marti wrinkled her nose at the driver’s back. “See why this won’t work?” she whispered harshly.

“I’m a good teacher, Marti. I learned from the best.”

“Your mom?”

“Yes.”

“My mom was loving too,” Marti said, her voice tight. “She was the glue that held our family together.

“But you felt abandoned when she died.”

“Dad was there.”

“But he was busy. And likely grief stricken. He didn’t know what to do with a little girl. Didn’t understand how to make you feel secure.”

Marti’s gaze locked with his. There was no judgment, no pity in his expression. Just that quietly intense stare of his. He was there for her. All she had to do was ask for his support, his loving.

“How’d you get so smart?” she asked gruffly.

“I’m not. I’ve just had a lot of time to think about us. About what’s wrong with us. I’m gonna finish your education. Show you what lovin’s all about.”

She gave him a sideways glance. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Does this lesson have anything to do with why we’ve taken the slow route home?”

“Maybe.”

“Do you have another surprise for me waiting there?”

“The boys have been workin’ on it as we speak.”

Marti shook her head, excitement giving her butterflies in her belly. “The List again?” At his nod, she shrugged, trying to pretend a little nonchalance. “But I just told you it’s bogus.”

Jackson bent toward her ear. “It may have started as a way for you to erect a barrier between us, but I think it serves another purpose now.
Mine.
I’m gonna show you how much I love you. How willin’ I am to walk through fire for you, baby.”

The low growling texture of his voice made her wet. She squirmed on the seat beside him, then gave him a glance from under the fringe of her eyelashes. “Has it been that bad?” she cooed.

His expression tightened. “Like havin’ toothpicks crammed under my fingernails.”

Marti sighed. “I’m sorry I ever started this. I don’t want to cause you any pain.”

“Don’t. You don’t have a thing to apologize for, and if you haven’t figured it out, my buddies are part of my extended family. We love and trust one another. This game we’re playin’ is makin’ you a part of us. You’ve got family now, Marti.”