Knowing You (The Jade Series #2) (11 page)

“He said he’s making me a gourmet meal but he won’t tell me what it is.” She stands in front of my mirror, pulling her hair back different ways, then letting it fall at her shoulders again. “I think tonight’s the night. I think I’m gonna have sex with him.”

“Harper, you said you weren’t going to rush things.”
 

She flops down on my bed, scooting back to put her feet up. “I know. But we’ve dated for weeks now. And he’s so damn hot. I can’t wait any longer.”

“Yeah, but you don’t want a repeat of what happened with Cole.”

“Sean’s not going to dump me after we have sex. He’d never do that. He’s too sweet.”

“Are you sure? You might just be blinded by his hotness.”

“No. He really
is
sweet. He does all these little things that Cole would never do. Like last week we were in my car and he noticed that my wipers were wearing out so he went and bought me new ones and put them on. He said it wasn’t safe to drive with bad wipers. Come on, Jade. You have to admit that’s sweet.”

Before I can answer, there’s a knock on the door. I open it to find a guy in a delivery uniform holding a garment bag and a shoebox. “Are you Jade?”

“Yes.”

“These are for you. Where would you like them?”

Harper’s now standing next to me at the door. “Ooh. Is this your dress for tomorrow night?” She takes the garment bag from the guy.

I take the shoebox. “Thanks,” I say to the guy. He waits for a moment, then walks off. I shut the door, wondering why he was acting so odd.
 

“Harper, was I supposed to give that guy a tip?”

She’s staring anxiously at the garment bag, which she hung in my closet. “What are you waiting for? Come see your dress.”

I join her at the closet and open the bag. Inside is a long evening gown in a deep purple color. It has three-quarter length sleeves, a rounded neckline, and an open back. Purple is my least favorite color, but I actually like this purple. It’s such a deep purple it almost looks black.
 

When we first met, Garret told me I should wear purple saying it would bring out the green in my eyes. I told him I’d never wear purple because one, I think it’s an old lady color and two, I can’t stand my green eyes and have no interest in drawing attention to them. Plus, I only wear black and white, at least when it comes to shirt colors.

Harper gasps as she runs her hand along the dress. “It’s gorgeous! And the fabric. . . I wonder what it is. He must have had this dress custom made for you. Don’t you love it? Try it on.”

I put the dress on while she checks out the shoes.
 

“These are like $3000 shoes,” she says as she holds up a pair of black heels.

“No pair of shoes is worth that much money. He better not have spent that much. If he did, I’ll make him take them back.”

“Jade, you’ve got to stop fighting with him about money. He’s not trying to buy your love or whatever you think he’s doing. It makes him happy to buy you things. And I’m sure it hurts his feelings when you yell at him every time he tries to do something nice like this.”

“Can you help me with the zipper?”

She races over and zips me up. The dress is a perfect fit. As if it really was custom made for me. It fits every part of my body perfectly. I don’t how that’s even possible. I just gave Garret my dress size, not my measurements.

“I totally love that dress,” Harper says. “And that color is so good on you. Here, try on the shoes.” She hands them to me.
 

For high heels, they’re actually pretty comfortable. Plus, I like the extra height they give me. Garret won’t have to bend down so far to kiss me.

Harper stands back and looks at me. “Wow. He did a great job with the shoes
and
the dress. I didn’t think Garret had it in him. And he pulled this together in less than a week? That’s impressive. So where are you getting your hair done tomorrow? Maybe I’ll come with you. I could use a manicure.”

“I’m doing my own hair. You know I don’t have money for a salon.”

She gives me a look that says I can’t be trusted to do my own hair. It’s true. I’m not very good with hair. Or makeup.

“Let me do your hair and makeup. I did it for your birthday dinner and you liked it, right?”

“Yeah. Okay. If you don’t mind. Can you help me get out of the dress?”

After she helps me, she hurries off to get herself ready for her date. I have no date tonight because Garret has swim practice. He wasn’t supposed to, but asshole Blake skipped one of the practices last week and now the whole team has to make it up on Friday night. Did I say how much I hate Blake?

Around 10, Garret stops by. He’s wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and navy athletic pants. How is it possible that he can look so damn sexy in any type of clothing? There’s a light layer of stubble on his face and his hair is still wet from showering off after practice. I love how his hair falls onto his forehead when it’s wet. It’s so hot.

As soon as he walks in the room, I shut the door and kiss him before we even say hello. A long, deep, passionate kiss. I can’t help myself.
 

“So I take it you liked the dress?” he asks when I finally let him go.

“Yes. Thank you. It’s beautiful. You did a really great job. And the shoes, too. But you shouldn’t have—” I stop myself before I mention money, remembering Harper’s comment.

“I’m glad you like them.” Garret’s eyes are sleepy. I can tell that he’s exhausted from all the swim practice, plus school, and getting the dress, and whatever else he’s got going on.

“You should get some sleep, Garret. You look worn out.”

“Not yet.” He leads me to the bed to sit down. “I’ve got something for you.” He reaches into the front pocket of his sweatshirt. He smiles as he pulls out a small box and hands it to me. “Here. Open it. It goes with the dress.”
 

I open the box to find small, teardrop-shaped diamond earrings. “Are these real?”

“Of course they’re real. Try them on.”

“I can’t take these.” I shut the box and hand it back to him.
 

He looks hurt. I guess Harper’s right. It really does make him happy to buy me stuff.
 

“You don’t like them, do you? I can get you something else. I went to all these different stores trying to find what I thought you might like. But I guess I should’ve just let you pick them out. I didn’t know what I was doing. I’ve never bought a girl jewelry before.” He seems embarrassed.
 

I feel horrible. I’m sure he got a lot of help with the dress and the shoes, but the earrings he picked out himself. And I rejected them.
 

“Garret, no. I love the earrings. I was just worried about the money. That’s all.” I take the box back and put on the earrings. “How do they look?”

“Well,
I
like them. But what do you think?”
 

I go over to the mirror. The earrings sparkle from every angle. And they’re just the right size. They’re exactly what I would’ve picked out.

“They’re perfect. Thank you.”
 

“You’re welcome.” His eyes are getting sleepier. Even his voice sounds tired.

“You need to sleep.” I pull on him until he stands up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I have practice at noon, but wake me up before that and we can have breakfast.”

“I think you need to sleep until noon. I’ll just see you when you pick me up to leave for the fundraiser.”
 

“Sounds good.” He slowly walks out like he’s already half asleep.

I close the door and return to the mirror to admire the earrings. I’ve never had anything so beautiful. Could it really be that Garret has never bought a girl jewelry? It can’t be true. Maybe he just forgot. Or maybe he really does like me more than the other girls he’s dated.

Even after the months we’ve spent together, part of me still can’t believe Garret could possibly like me as much as he says he does.
 

11

On Saturday morning, I go for a run on the track. It’s cold, but not as cold as it was earlier in the week. And the snow that fell has already melted.
 

I’m feeling anxious about tonight, like maybe I shouldn’t be going to this thing. People will be staring at me, wondering why someone like me is even there. Thinking about it makes me even more anxious and I have to do sprints to burn off the nervous energy.
 

“Jade.” Garret’s walking toward the track wearing sweats and carrying his duffle bag. He looks much more awake now.
 

I run over to him. “Hi. Going to practice?”
 

“Yeah, but I saw you here and had to make a detour.” He kisses me. “Sorry I was so out of it last night.”

“It’s okay. I know it’s been a busy week.”

“I slept in so I’m all rested up for tonight. I usually hate these things, but now that we’re going together I’m actually looking forward to it. I can’t wait to see you in that dress.”

“Kensington, get your ass to practice!” It’s Blake. I spot him walking with a group of guys toward the pool building.
 

Garret ignores him. “What are you doing out here? I told you not to be out by yourself.”

“It’s the middle of the day. There’s people everywhere. I’m fine.”

He glances around. “Well, don’t stay out here too long. I’ll see you tonight.”
 

In the afternoon, Harper helps me get ready. She does my makeup first, then works on my hair, saying I need to wear it up to show off the backless dress. She folds the sides of my hair in, then combines it with the back and somehow forms a loose knot and pins it in place at the base of my neck. It looks even better than if I’d gone to a salon. She’s really good at hair and makeup. Must be because she has two sisters. I didn’t have anyone to show me how to do that stuff.

“Jade, you look so pretty,” Harper says once I’m all put together with the dress, shoes, and earrings. She guides me to the mirror. “I love those earrings. That was so sweet of him to pick those out.”

“It almost sounds like you’re not mad at him anymore.”

“I like him better now that he finally stood up to his dad and isn’t hiding the fact that you two are dating.” I see her smiling at me in the mirror. “Plus, I see how happy he makes you, so I have to give him points for that.”

I turn back around. “Thanks for doing all this.”

She hugs me. “Anytime, Jade. You know I love doing this stuff. I better get out of here. You guys have to go soon. I want to hear all the details tomorrow.”

She leaves but I hear her talking to someone in the hall. I assume it’s Garret and open the door.
 

It’s him. Standing there redefining the word handsome.
 

He’s in his tux, which is a modern style tux that fits him perfectly. His crisp white shirt highlights the golden tan he still has from his time in Houston. His face is freshly shaved and he has on that great cologne I love so much.
 

“Hi,” I say, in a complete daze as I stare at him.

“Hi,” he says, looking the same way back at me.
 

Harper’s still standing there. “You two look great. Let me get a picture. Garret, give me your phone.” He reaches in his pocket, not taking his eyes off me, and hands Harper the phone. “Go stand next to her in her room.”

I step aside and let him in, getting another whiff of how good he smells.
 

Harper laughs. “Can you two stop staring at each other long enough for me to get a photo?”
 

Garret puts his arm around me as we turn to face her. She takes a couple photos and hands Garret the phone.
 

“Have fun tonight,” she says as she leaves.

“You, too,” I say back to her, but she’s already closed the door.

Garret takes a step back and looks me up and down. “Damn, you look incredible, Jade. I thought the dress would look good on you but not
that
good.”

“Thanks. You look good, too.”
 

He closes the gap between us, touching my bare back as he leans down to kiss me. The feel of his hands on my skin fires off sensations all up and down my body. I kiss him back, breathing him in as he draws me in even closer.
 

What was supposed to be a quick kiss before heading out the door soon becomes a deep, lingering kiss that I don’t want to end. I just want to keep doing this for the rest of night.

Garret must be thinking the same thing because he slowly breaks from the kiss and says, “Maybe we should skip the event.”
 

“And do what?” I bite my bottom lip as our gazes meet.
 

He hesitates, then comes back for another deep, devouring kiss that lasts a few minutes more.

 
“We should go,” he says, pulling away. “If we do this much longer, I really will skip the event. But when we get there, you’re not leaving my side. Not looking like that.”

“Hey, don’t be one of those possessive boyfriends.”