Jackson

The first light of morning shone on her beautiful naked body lying beside me. Waking up beside her felt natural, like we had been doing this forever. I wanted to stay and spend the rest of the day in bed with her. I had to get up and get my staff moving. This weekend was about doing my first assignment and getting myself established.

I couldn’t let my smaller head do all the thinking.

I saw her cell sitting on the nightstand. I carefully reached for it, making sure I didn’t disturb her sleep. I kept her up most of the night and the better part of the morning making love to her. If I had my way, I would be calling the moving van to pack her shit and move it into my place before we even left the island.

If I pushed her too hard, I was afraid she would run. We’d made incredible progress. She told me she was falling in love with me. I lied when I told her I was falling in love with her as well. I had already fallen. My fear was that when I hit the bottom, no one would be to break the fall.

I needed her there to break my fall.

When I returned from the the shower to collect my clothes, she was awake, her hair tousled and her lips swollen from last night. The hickies I had given her were going to leave a mark for a while. My mark, on her.

After today, there would be no mistake — Angelic was mine.

I let her know I programmed her phone. She could get ahold of me whenever she wanted.

I wanted to see her again soon. I told her I wanted to see her photos of the wedding. The perfect excuse to make her come to me without feeling pressured. I was tiptoeing around her this morning, careful not to scare her off.

But something in her expression was off. Something in the way she clung to me when I kissed her. Something in the question she just asked me.

“Jackson, where do we go from here?”

Not sure how to answer without sounding like an obsessed stalking who wanted to shackle her to me so she never left my side again, I remained calm, giving her a choice of how fast she wanted this to proceed.

“Where do you want it to go, Angel?”

“We both live in Tranquility, maybe we could date.” Her voice was shaky, unsure. Was she unsure of my feelings or hers?

“We could do that, or you could move in with me.” My little head overtook my mouth, again. I might have just blew the best thing that has ever happened to me.

“Fuck, Jackson, how do you go from, let’s set up a business meeting mid week, to let’s move in together? Shit, the way you’ve been acting since you walked through that door this morning….”

Her pause caused me to be concerned. I needed her to finish that sentence. I needed her to tell me where her head was at, what she was thinking.

“How have I been acting since I walked through that door?” I pointed to the bathroom door. “Like a man who was afraid if he pushed too hard, the woman he loved was going to run in the opposite direction?” I knew frustration was flashing across my face like a fucking neon sign. I couldn’t help it. These feelings, this situation, was new to me.

She pulled the sheets up to cover her breasts, suddenly embarrassed for me to see her naked. “No, you were acting like a man who couldn’t get away fast enough. I woke up alone. You walked in and talked about phone numbers and meetings. I thought you were giving me the brushoff.”

I sat on the end of the bed, shaking my head. “Angel, I thought I was giving you space.”

I pulled her into my arms. “I don’t want to stop seeing you. I don’t want to not see you, always.”

She relaxed in my arms. “Dating would be a good place to start.”

“Did you just giggle like a schoolgirl?” I brushed my fingers across her blushed cheeks.

“No, I did not.” The evidence told otherwise. My girl giggled. My girl, I liked how that sounded.

Holding her hands in mine, I tried to undo my earlier mess. “I would love to be able to stay in bed with you all day, but I do have a staff to get off.”

She brought my hand to her mouth and tantalizingly sucked on my fingers. “I should be the only one you’re getting off.” She moaned as her eyes fluttered closed. My little head wanted to take over again. I couldn’t let it.

“I mean, I need to get my staff organized and heading out.” I pulled my hand away and rose from the bed. “I have to prepare a presentation for Richard tomorrow and someone has kept me very distracted.”

The sheet she had been clinging to her chest fell, exposing her breasts. “Distracted, is that what you’re calling it?”

“Pleasantly distracted,” I threw back teasingly.

“That’s better.” There was a mischievous spark in her crystal blue eyes.

“I’m serious about that meeting, say Wednesday, to go over your photos. Call my assistant, you have her number,” I smirked. “I will have my photographer there also and we can compare pictures. Will that work for you?”

“Yeah, that’s works for me.” She smiled back, stretching her lean body like a cat across the bed.

Images of her feline naked body rubbing against mine had me uncomfortably hard. Leaving her like this was not going to be easy. I didn’t think I could wait three days before seeing her again.

“I would like to take you to dinner tomorrow, if you’re available?”

She reached for her cell. “Let me check my calendar.” She slowly ran her thumb across the screen of her phone. I had no idea if she was actually checking her calendar or torturing me for pleasure. “Yeah, I can fit you in, say around seven?”

“Text me your address, I’ll have my driver pick you up around six thirty. I’ll make reservations for seven. I guess now would be a good time to ask what you like, besides Italian.”

“Since it’s officially our first date, can we keep it low key? Nothing pretentious.”

She wanted to keep this on an even playing field. If I took her someplace pretentious, as she called it, she would be uncomfortable and out of place. I didn’t want to start our relationship on a sour note.

“I like pretty much anything,” she told me.

She was falling into her shy mode; I needed to stop her from withdrawing. “Someplace where we can talk would be nice,” she added. “We haven’t done much of that this weekend. I don’t even know your favorite color.”

“Sure you do, Angel, cerulean blue, like your eyes. And that dress.” One last kiss on the lips to remind her why we were doing this. If I had my way, I would never let her out of my sight. If I pushed too hard, too fast, what I wanted would no longer be an option.

By the time I made my way downstairs, my assistant had everyone and everything efficiently under control. “We’re ready to roll, boss.” She handed me a thumb drive. “Mock ups are all downloaded on this and on your hard drive. Look them over tonight and the team can make any changes before your meeting tomorrow.”

My meeting tomorrow. Richard said we would look thing over Monday. I never thought to ask if he was coming into the office or if he wanted me to stay here on the island. One more day on the island. Could I convince Angelic to stay with me one more day?

My preoccupation came strutting down the stairs in skinny jeans, a tight purple T-shirt and her hair tied up in a messy bun. She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the breakfast nook, chatting up my assistant.

Angelic pulled her phone out of her back pocket, flipping through her screen. My assistant's phone buzzed. ”Anita Bentley.”

“Good morning, Ms. Bentley,” she said into her phone and threw me a wink. “This is Angelic Brooks. Mr. Naile requested I call and arrange an appointment for Wednesday.”

My assistant was looking at her, smirking and answered into her own phone. “Let me check Mr. Naile’s appointment calendar.” Anita swiped her tablet and checked the calendar. “Mr. Naile has an opening at one. Does that work for you?”

The ladies seem to be all too amused by this little game at my expense.

“I suppose this could work if Mr. Naile intends on making this a working lunch.” Angelic snickered.

Anita and Angelic looked my way and I gave them a nod yes.

“That can be arranged,” Anita replied into her phone. “Can I confirm this appointment?”

“Yes. Can you text me the address?” She asked.

With a wide grin Anita answered, “It’s the new high-rise on Johnston Drive. You can’t miss it,” she bragged. “It’s the tallest building in town.”

Angelic’s face turned serious. “Anita, what floor is Mr. Naile's office on?”

It hit me: Angelic’s claustrophobia. We never discussed if she ever overcome that fear. It never occurred to me she may not be able to make it to my office. I reached over and took Anita’s phone.

“Miss Brooks, this is Mr. Naile.” I stared directly into her eyes. “I am having the conference room on the first floor booked for our appointment. It will gives us the room to review your work and collaborate with my in house photographer.”

A smile stretched across her face, reaching her eyes. They sparkled when she smiled. It was the kind of mesmerizing sparkle men would go to war for.

“That is very acceptable, Mr. Naile. I look forward to our meeting, have a nice day.” She hung up the phone with a silly grin plastered across her face. I handed my assistant her phone back.

“Well, that was interesting,” Anita took her phone, secured it in her bag, and made a notation on her tablet to book the conference room. “We’re off, boss. Take a look at those mock ups. I might be biased, but I think they’re great.” She whispered something is Angelic’s ear, then left.

“Girl talk, or am I allowed to ask what that was?” I grimaced.

“I like her. She seems efficient. Have you know her long?” Angelic brought her coffee to her lips.

Nothing about her demeanor suggested that I was being baited or that she was jealous of my young pretty assistant. “Yes, she is very efficient. She’s Nate and Theo’s sister. She came highly recommended. Why do you ask?”

“All she said was thank you. What do you suppose that was about?” She sat and coyly drank her coffee.

I moved myself behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. I leaned into her ear. “Maybe she noticed the perpetual smile on my face all weekend. Who do you suppose put it there?” She melted against my chest and I inhaled her scent. “Come home with me, Angel. I don’t want this weekend to end.”

“We need to get back to real life, Jackson.” Her pause was as good as a but. “I am going to miss you. I know we did this kind of ass backwards, but I think we need to spend some time getting to know each other.”

She turned around in her seat and brushed her fingers lightly behind my ear. My sweet spot. A low growl escaped my chest and she smiled. “Thank you for understanding about the meeting. Exactly what floor is your office on, by the way?”

“Twenty fifth.” If she didn’t stop caressing my sweet spot, I was going to have to strip her of those skinny jeans, prop her on the counter and take her here. “I’m going to have to work on changing that.”

She brought her head to my chest. I let out a sigh. I needed her touch. I closed my eyes and remembered how incredibly intoxicating her fingers felt on my skin. I leaned in to claim her mouth. She placed a finger over my lips.

“We can do this without the sex, right?”

I involuntarily let out a frustrated sigh. I had never had to do this. It had always been about the sex.

She pushed me away, slid off her seat and crossed her arms across her chest. She was shutting down, closing herself off.

“Jackson, if this relationship is going to be nothing more than one big sexathon for you, we need to end this now!”