One More Day (25 page)

There was a knock on the door just as she was soaping her face. “Just a minute,” she called out.

She hurriedly rinsed and then dried her face with a hand towel. When she left the bathroom, Jackson was sitting on the bed.
 

“Hey. I thought you were going to bed.”

“I was but I’m not tired. Not even slightly.” He looked up at her and Ridley shivered at the pain in his eyes. “I can’t go to sleep with you thinking that I won’t talk about it because I don’t trust you. Especially when nothing could be further from the truth.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything.” She was suddenly exhausted. Tired of trying to figure out where she stood with him and tired of wondering if he felt anything for her beyond lust. “I just want to go to bed.”

He didn’t move, just sat staring at his hands. She was just about to tell him to get out when he finally spoke.
 

“My obsession with my music is the reason my wife is dead.”

Ridley gulped, suddenly sure that whatever he was going to tell her, she didn’t want to hear. “Jackson, don’t—”

“Cynthia was upset that night. I’d been spending so much time holed up in the little closet I used for recording back then. We’d just had Jase and all she wanted was a little time to herself. But I couldn’t understand that.” He looked up at her. “I accused her of wanting to go out with her friends so she could cheat on me.”

“How old were you?”

“I was twenty-two. We were so young. We should have had our whole lives ahead of us. But instead, I picked a fight with her. Said horrible things. It was raining that night, but I didn’t care. I told her to go out with her friends if she wanted to so badly. To just leave and not come back. And that’s
exactly
how it turned out.”

The raw pain in his voice pulled her to his side. She sat on the bed next to him and held his hand. He didn’t look at her.
 

“You were only twenty-two. I had just finished college at that age. I had no responsibility at all. I can’t even imagine the things you both had to deal with. You made mistakes, I’m sure but her accident wasn’t your fault.”

“I’ve had all the counseling and therapy that money can buy. I know the accident wasn’t my fault. But none of it can change the fact that I was a shitty husband. If I had been thinking of anything besides myself she wouldn’t have been out in the rain driving that night. That
was
my fault. My golden voice didn’t make my wife very happy, did it?”

She was stunned by the bitterness in his voice.

“I just wanted you to know why I hate talking about it. It’s because it reminds me that I failed at one of the most important things in my life.”

She pulled him into her arms and didn’t let go, even when he tried to pull back. Finally he stopped fighting her and grabbed her tightly. She allowed him to pull her into his lap.
 

“I want you to listen to me,” she whispered. “I’m sure your wife loved you very much, even when you guys were fighting. She wouldn’t want you to punish yourself for the rest of your life.”

“I know. That was the last thing she asked me to do. To live my life. To love. To be happy.” He blinked quickly and wouldn’t look at her.

Ridley nodded and held his face in her hands. “That’s what she wanted and that’s what I want for you, too. For you to give yourself permission to be happy.”

She kissed him softly, hoping that she could convey all the comfort and healing she felt to him through her lips. After a few moments, he kissed her back. Then suddenly, his eyes opened. His lashes lowered over his dark eyes as he pulled her closer and kissed her again, an unforgiving clash of tongues and lips and teeth.
 

“I don’t know what you do to me,” he panted. “You make me believe anything is possible.”

“It is.”

She pulled him closer and kissed him again, pressing against him. It was strangely arousing to be in his arms when he was fully dressed and she was only wearing a thin, silk nightgown. He held her shoulders still so he could ravage her throat. She shivered at the slightly rough sensation of his stubble against the delicate skin.

He pushed her back on the bed, roughly. One of the straps on her gown snapped when he tugged it aside. She pushed it down, wiggling her hips until she was able to slide out of it. Part of her was surprised at this side of him, but a bigger part was thrilled. It was such a rush to be able to drive a man like Jackson to the point of urgency, where he couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough because he couldn’t wait to have her.
 

“I wanted to romance you tonight. To show you a good time. But I can’t seem to take it slow with you. You. Drive. Me.
Crazy
.”

He punctuated each word with a gentle bite to the soft skin of her breasts. He held them in the palms of his hands, holding them still so he could lick and bite the sensitive tips. She ran her fingers through his curls, trying desperately to keep up.
 

It was too much, too fast and she could already feel her release bearing down on her. She panted, almost afraid of it.
 

Jackson fumbled with his belt buckle, growling his frustration against her breast. The rumble of his voice against her nipple made her cry out. He finally got his pants off and then lowered himself between her thighs.
 

As soon as his erection pressed against her core, she came.

“Yes, come for me. I can’t wait to get inside you.”

She bit her lip to keep from screaming as she trembled in his arms. When she opened her eyes again, he sat up and ripped his dress shirt down the middle. The
ping, ping, ping
of the buttons hitting the floor would have been amusing if she wasn’t just as crazed to get him naked.

She ran her hands over his chest, greedily. His muscles contracted beneath her fingers and all she could do was admire as he leaned down and took her mouth in another breath-stealing kiss.

“I promise, the next time we make love it’ll be perfect. It’ll be romantic. I won’t be so rough.”

“There’s only one thing I need you to do that that will make this perfect.”

“Anything.”

“Get naked.
Now
.”

*
 
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*
 
*
 
*

JACKSON KNEW HE was being too rough but he couldn’t seem to slow down. His hands raced over all of her enticing curves, dipping into the hollow of her belly button and teasing the silky, soft skin behind her knees.
 

“Hurry!” She sat up and tugged on the elastic band of his boxers. “I want you naked, too.”

There was no way he could ignore a request like that. He probably set a land record for how fast he got the rest of his clothes off.

“That’s so much better.” She tugged him back down and wrapped herself around him, her long legs curling around his waist. Her hair flowed beneath them, tangling around her arms as she lay back on the bed. The wild curls made her look like she’d been completely and thoroughly taken and he loved it.
 

He gritted his teeth and pulled back. “I really hope I have protection with me.”

He reached over the side of the bed and pulled his wallet from his pocket. When he found a condom, Ridley leaned over and plucked it from his hand.
 

“Need some help?”
 

Her eyes were hot on his as she put the edge between her teeth and ripped it open gently. The sight of her plump lips around the edge of the package made him shiver with anticipation.

Then she pushed him back on the bed and gripped him firmly, her thumb tracing gentle circles around the tip of his shaft.
 

“Oh,
shit.
”

She took him between her lips, the sight of her pink tongue lapping at him almost enough to push him over the edge. She looked up at him with a wicked grin before taking him deeper, sucking him into the soft, wet cavern of her mouth. She made a little humming sound in the back of her throat that sent jaw-clenching vibrations skittering through him.

Baseball. Musical scales. Little old ladies.
 

He cursed as she sat back and then rolled the condom slowly down his length, so slowly he thought he’d go mad. His blood raced through his system and he was pretty sure he’d never been so aroused in his life.
 

Then she proved him wrong when she climbed on top of him and took him deep.
 

Her head fell back, ecstasy written all over her face. He would do anything to keep that look on her face, to hear her scream, to watch her come.
 

“Come on.
Come on
.” He chanted as she rolled her hips, taking him deeper with every twitch. His palms found her breasts and he cupped the soft weights, then skimmed his thumbs over their tight tips. She moaned at the contact and clenched around him.
 

“Oh my god,” she cried. Her hands came up and tangled in her own hair as she rode him until he knew he was going to come just like this.
 

Some women faked orgasms but he didn’t want Ridley to ever have to fake anything with him. His hands left her hips to stroke between her legs, following her rhythm until she cried out her pleasure.
 

“Jackson, I’m coming!”

Feeling her enthusiasm made Jackson want to please her more, and he eagerly strummed until her tight clenching muscles pushed him over the edge, too.

“Yes,” she mumbled and fell forward on his chest, shuddering with him as he growled his own release in her ear. He held her close, feeling the rapid fluttering of her heart against his.
 

An unmistakable sense of warmth stole through him as he looked down at her. He didn’t question what he was feeling, just pulled the blanket over them and rested his chin on her head. She let out a soft sigh and cuddled closer, her hand settling right over his heart.

As much as certain, less evolved, parts of him wanted her physically there was another less easily identified desire to see her smile. He wanted to court her, to buy her flowers and take her out to dinner. He wanted her to know how deeply she affected him. He wanted to hear her laugh.
 

To make her happy.

She could have a good life here. She could start her business, she’d already made some friends and she’d be close to her sister. Plus, they could be together. They were good together and there was no reason they couldn’t continue things for as long as they both wanted.

Maybe if he showed her that, she wouldn’t go back to Florida. She’d overcome so much already. There was really no reason for her to go back to the life she’d left behind.
 

And plenty of reasons to stay.

“MISS RIDLEY, WE got to play in the sprinklers. There was so much water it made
mud
!”
 

“RiRi, I saw a worm!”

“And now we’re going to set up a tent in the backyard!”

Ridley gave up trying to keep track of who said what as each boy tried to talk the loudest. It was amazing how lovely the chaotic sounds of a family could be.
 

She’d spent the morning with Katie and the kids. The second official day of summer camp had been a resounding success. Chris and Jase had been joined by the Mason boys, Hunter and Matthew to learn about the life cycle of a plant. Jase had been fascinated by the tiny seeds she’d shown them and they’d each received their own seeds, small pot and packet of dirt to practice with.
 

Afterward, they’d gone to Katie’s house for water play in the Mason’s backyard while she’d returned to Jackson’s house to work on her first column. It was going to be a do-it-yourself guide to planting tomatoes.
 

“Okay, everybody upstairs! You need to change clothes.”

Jackson came up behind them and thumped them each soundly on their behinds before hauling them up in his arms for kisses. She had never known a man could be so tender with children, and be so comfortable interacting with them. He seemed his happiest with the boys.
 

After their intense lovemaking last night, something seemed to have changed between them, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. Other than the fact that he had given her the deepest, most arousing kiss before leaving for work this morning. She’d found herself staring off into space and daydreaming about him all day.

Just then he looked up and caught her staring. Heat curled through her when he raised an eyebrow. She whipped around and busied herself with the containers of food she’d been packing.

“Why don’t you guys wash your hands before dinner? I thought we’d have a picnic outside.”
 

“Actually, I told the boys they could have dinner with the Masons. They’re setting up a tent in the backyard to pretend like they’re camping. I just brought them home so they could change out of their wet clothes. I didn’t know you had something planned.” He looked sheepish when he noticed the small wicker basket she’d lined with towels.
 

“I guess that means it’ll just be me and you.” She chanced a glance in his direction and was shocked at the raw, carnal desire in his eyes.
 

“Yes. Just the two of us,” he replied.
 

She shivered and tore her eyes from his. Her hands were shaking as she resumed folding napkins to place in the basket with the food.
 

“I’ll go set up outside. We can eat whenever you’re ready.”
 

God, I hope my voice doesn’t really sound that squeaky and breathless.