“I'm here,” Annie smiles when she walks in the door.
“You look better than you sounded on the phone,” I smile at her. She sticks her tongue out at me.
“Annie this is our Nanny Melissa, she takes care of the girls, and mom once and a while too.” Lisa laughs. “Melissa this is our friend Annie.”
“Nice to meet you,” Melissa smiles at her. “I would shake your hand but they are full.”
“I see that. Jo I love your hair curled like that. Maybe you should take lessons.”
“Yeah, when was the last time you saw me spend this much time on my hair,” I laugh.
“Probably you’re wedding.”
“Yeah you’re probably right.” I smile at her as she hands me a glass of champagne. Melissa also takes one now that her hands are less busy.
“To the girls,” Lisa lifts her glass. We all cheers and take a drink.
“That is delicious,” I say as I take another drink.
“My in laws got it for me,” Annie smiled. “I always knew her taste in booze was a good thing.” I laugh. We sit and talk as Melissa finishes my hair and Lisa does her makeup. Once Melissa is done with my hair I start working on my makeup. I go light on the makeup because I am already looking all dolled up and the dress is going to add to it. I turn and look at Lisa.
“Looks perfect,” she smiles. “You’re getting nervous about seeing Jake aren’t you?”
“I am. I don’t know why, but this feels like our first date all over again,” I laugh.
“Probably because he has never seen you dressed up this much,” Annie smiles. “I think you look great just like that, maybe you should make a statement and go in jeans and a tank top.”
“She may be a little underdressed if she does that,” Lisa laughs. I look at the clock and it is 3:30.
“We should get moving, the guys are going to be here soon,” I look at Lisa. “I'm sure they are itching to leave Jake’s place and get here.”
“I actually think they are up looking at the house,” Lisa smiles.
“Figures,” I shake my head. “He is going to show up early because he is so damn impatient.”
“Most likely,” Lisa laughs. She goes out of the bathroom and walks down the hall to a bedroom. “Here you go,” she hands me my dress. “You can change in the bathroom if you want.”
“Ok,” I smile and walk back down the hall to the bathroom. I shut the door and take the bag off of the dress. It is just as pretty as I remember it. I can tell that Regina pressed it and it looks amazing. I take my tank top and jeans off and slip it on over my head. The strap covers my scar from where I got shot perfectly and just as I remember the back is beautiful. A single shoulder strap glitters with chunky rhinestones that also adorn the amazing cut out strappy back that cuts across just above my low waist. I zip it up and turn around. Fits perfectly. I grab the shoes and slip those on and that gives me just enough height to take it off the floor. I take one more look in the mirror and smile. Jake is going to love it. I hope his tux fits well color wise. I am sure that Molly or Lisa made him aware of a color to go with that would look good. I open the door and walk out. Annie is standing down the hall outside Lisa’s room looking in.
“Wow Jo, you look amazing,” she smiles. “I love that dress. Think I can borrow it someday if I ever have anything fancy to go to?”
“Sure,” I laugh. I walk over and see Lisa standing in front of the mirror. Her dress is beautiful. A dark purple with rhinestones accenting under her bust. In the front she has a slit up to just above her knee. “Looks amazing,” I say to her.
“Thanks,” she looks at me. “Still not as amazing as yours though. God I cannot wait to see Jake’s face.”
“Lisa, you guys up there?” I hear Mark yell from downstairs.
“You’re early,” she yells back. I hear him laugh.
“I know, but you know Jake, when he wants something he is impatient. Can I come up?”
“Are you alone?”
“Yeah, Jake is still across the street talking to the contractor.”
“Sure,” she smiles at me. “He is going to flip when he sees you to I bet.”
I walk in by her and help her adjust her dress a little when I hear Mark walk down the hall and he stops in the door. “Holy shit,” he just stands there in awe. “Jake is going to flip out when he sees that dress,” Mark laughs.
“In a good way or bad?” I look at him.
“He isn’t going to want to go anymore, he is going to want to take you home,” he looks at me. “You have no idea how gorgeous that is.”
“I told her the same thing,” Lisa smiles.
“You look amazing to babe,” he walks over to her and smiles. “As usual,” he kisses her.
“Jo, Jake is walking over right now,” Annie pokes her head in. My heart starts racing and I look at Lisa.
“Meet him outside,” she nudges me out. I walk down the steps and get to the front door. I can see him walking up the driveway. Annie has followed me down the steps and is standing next to me.
“Go for it,” she smiles and pulls the door open. I take a step out and Jake doesn’t see me at first. I start toward the steps and he looks up at me. He stops in his tracks and just stands there with his mouth open.
“What do you think?” I smile and twirl around like I did when I showed him my new dress when we were in Virginia Beach. He doesn’t say anything and doesn’t move but I see a smile form on his face. “Speechless I see.”
“Baby you have no idea,” he finally says then starts walking toward me. “You look absolutely amazing Jo. Holy shit. I never thought you would blow me away like this with one dress.”
“So you like it?”
“I love it,” he stops in front of me and bends down and kisses me. “Who picked it out?” He asks when he backs away.
“I did. I had five to try on and this one I just couldn’t pass up.”
“I'm glad you didn’t.” He smiles, “I have never seen anything like it before.” I smile up at him. “I like your hair too,” he grabs one of the curls and pulls it lightly and it bounces back into place. “You do well in this life,” he smirks.
“Ok, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I laugh. “Let’s get through this night of crazy and go from there.”
“Sounds perfect to me,” he runs his fingers up my arm to my shoulder then up my neck to my chin and pulls me in to kiss him. “I don’t want to take you to dinner, I want to take you home and keep you to myself.”
“I thought you wanted to show me off?”
“I do, but you looking like this is, it is going to be a long night of me wanting to be alone with you,” he gives me that smile and instantly I blush.
“Amazing isn’t she?” Annie pokes her head out the door.
He laughs, “You could say that,” he never takes his eyes off mine. “Well we had a deal right? You could pick out the dress and shoes and purse but I got to buy the jewelry?”
I look up at him and wonder what he has planned, “yeah, I think that was the deal.”
“Ok then,” he grabs my hand and starts toward the house. I follow him in and we walk to the kitchen. He stops at the counter and opens one of the doors and pulls out three boxes. “I had a little help, since I had no idea what your dress looked like,” he smiles. I see Lisa and Mark come around the corner and stand not far from us. He puts the first box down in front of me and opens it. Inside is a pair of diamond hoop earrings. They are beautiful. The diamonds are outlined in what looks like black gold.
“Jake these are amazing,” I smile as I run my finger down one of them.
“Well, if you like that then you will love this,” he grabs the biggest box. “This one I picked out on my own after I got the other one and sort of stayed with the same color concept,” he smiles. He is always so proud of his choice in jewelry, not that I can blame him; he picks out some amazing things. “Please don’t get mad about this one,” he opens it. Inside is a black pearl necklace. It has three rows of pearls a
nd has diamonds holding the rows together to the chain. I just stand there looking at it, it is so pretty. I can see why he told me not to get mad; this necklace probably cost a fortune.
“Jake, it’s amazing,” I smile up at him.
“You’re not mad?”
“I know you spent too much on it, but I have learned there is no point in fighting with you about it.” I smile.
“About time you realized that,” he smirks at me.
“Now I have something for you,” I smile up at him.
“What do you mean you have something for me?”
“I bought you something.” I look at Annie and she hands me a little bag. “I knew you had no idea what my dress looked like, and although you look handsome as always, I thought I would help you out a little bit,” I smile and hand him the bag. He opens it and pulls out a tie. It is a dark orange that matches pretty close to my dress.
“You don’t like my black tie?”
“I think this will match a little better,” I smile at him.
“Thanks baby,” he kisses me and takes off his other tie and puts the new one on and starts to tie it.
“So what is in the last one?” I look at him. It is the smallest box of them all.
“I haven’t decided if I should give this one to you yet,” he gets serious. “This one might get my ass kicked.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, plus I was thinking maybe it would make a good birthday present.”
“Didn’t you already give me my birthday present last night?”
“That could have been a congratulatory gift for your award,” he smiles.
“Pretty expensive gift to say congrats,” I laugh. Everyone else laughs also.
“Not really,” he smiles. “Let’s put this on,” he takes the necklace out of the box and puts it around my neck. He gets it on and I run my fingers down it.
“Its amazing Jake,” Lisa walks over to me. “Good pick.”
“Thanks,” he smiles.
“So she helped you pick out the earrings and that’s all?”
“Yeah, once I knew black would look good I was good to go,” he grabs my hand. “I pride myself in picking out jewelry Jo; you will never have anything ugly.”
“Well that’s always good to know,” I look at him.
“That is beautiful with your dress Jo,” Annie gets closer to me. “Put the earrings in.”
“Ok,” I grab them and walk down the hall to the bathroom that is off the kitchen. While I am in there putting them in I wonder what is in the other box. What else could he have gotten me, and why is it so small. The only thing I can think of is a ring, and there is no way he is thinking about that already. I have heard him tell people that would be too fast for us. I smile, would it though? If he asked me to marry him would I say yes? I probably would, because I love him and I know it will happen eventually. I just think people would look at it in a bad light with him being who he is. They would all think I am a gold digger then. I open the bathroom door and Annie is standing there. “Hi,” I smile. She has a serious look on her face.
“What else did he get you?”
“What do you mean?”
“What is in the other box?”
“I have no idea Annie.”
“It’s small,” she smiles at me. I know she is thinking the same thing I am.
“I know, I saw.”
“You don’t think he would yet do you?”
“I don’t know what to expect out of him sometimes,” I laugh.
“What would you say if he asked you to marry him right now Jo?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I cannot answer that question because I don’t know what I would say.” She shakes her head. “So what do you think?” I point to the earrings.
“They look good.”
“You didn’t want me to put them in, you were trying to get out of him what else he got me,” I laugh at her.
“And he is stubborn and wouldn’t tell me. He said I have to wait and see just like everyone else.”
“So no one knows what it is?”
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
“Jo, the limo is here,” Lisa comes around the corner.
“Ok,” I say. I look at Annie. “Wish me luck.”
“You will do fine, just follow his lead I'm sure he will keep you out of trouble,” she laughs. She gives me a hug and then walks down the hall and says good bye to everyone and leaves. I just stand there looking out the door at her walking down the driveway. She has been my solid rock for the last two years and now when I need someone to tell me what to do I can’t have her there. I will have to put all my trust in Jake.
“Ready?” He peeks around the corner.
I take a deep breath, “I don’t know.”
“Hey, you will be fine,” he walks over to me and grabs my hands. “Just be yourself that is all you can do. Baby, they are not going to be asking any stupid questions tonight. Most of them should have to do with the fundraiser. This isn’t set up for them to pick information out of us. They are going to want a lot of pictures of us because those will be all over the news, but as far as talking to us, they won’t ask many questions. I already had Joan make as many of them aware as she could that we will not be answering personal questions tonight. It is a general rule for this type of event.”
“What about with all the crap the last few days.”
“From what Joan has told me that has been pulled out of the airwaves. She basically made it sound like no one is interested in those kinds of stories about us. They want the mushy side,” he smiles and kisses my palm. “Let’s just go eat dinner, do some dancing, and have some really expensive champagne.”
“Sounds perfect,” I smile. He grabs my hand and we head for the door. I grab my clutch purse off the table by the door and follow him to the limo. We get in first then Lisa and Mark.
“You ok,” he pulls me close. I just look at him and smile. This is so much bigger than me and I don’t know if I can handle it. I don’t think he realizes how big it is for me to be all over the news like this. “It gets easier,” he kisses my temple. “I promise.” I glance over at Lisa, she looks so calm, but then she has been a part of Mark’s life since the start of his career she is probably used to the press and pictures. She looks at me and smiles. She knows I am nervous. About twenty minutes later I feel the limo slow down and pull up to a door. Through the tinted windows I can see a bunch of people standing with cameras. I see one limo in front of us and people getting out. “Here we go,” he smiles down at me. “Just relax and follow my lead, and remember to smile. You will be fine.” I nod. Our limo moves forward then stops and the door opens. Mark gets out the helps Lisa out. Jake moves to the back seat and I follow. He stands up outside the limo then reaches his hand back in to me. I see him wink at me. I grab his hand and he helps me out. The minute I get out of the limo there are flashes everywhere, I don’t know where to look, but I plaster a smile on my face trying not to make it show how nervous I am. He has not let go of my hand yet as we slowly make our way to a big opening. I see that Mark and Lisa have stopped and are getting some pictures taken. “This is where the take the pictures that are published on our website and pretty much all over the internet,” he laughs. He grabs my hand and drapes my arm through his. “You’re doing great,” he kisses my cheek.
“I'm trying,” I smile. He leads me to where Mark and Lisa where just standing and I take a deep breath. I know they are going to take a ton more pictures. We stand there for what seems like forever as they take a bunch of pictures. There is a lady standing there that tells us to change our pose a couple times.
“All set, thanks Jackson,” the lady says then Jake grabs my hand and we walk into the building.
“I'm not used to hearing people call you Jackson,” I smile.
“No?” He laughs.
“Everyone around you calls you Jake.”
“Yeah, that they do. Want
something to drink?”
“Sure,” I smile.
“Ok, stay here by Mark and Lisa, I will be right back.” I nod.
“So not too bad was it?” Lisa smiles.
“No, not too bad. I hope I look good in the pictures.”
“I'm sure you look amazing,” she smiles.
“Here you go,” Jake hands me a glass of champagne. “Come on, I want to introduce you to a few people,” he grabs my hand. We walk around for about an hour as he introduces me to a bunch of people. The last person he takes me over to is his coach. “Coach, this is Jo, Jo this is Coach Mills.”
“Well it is nice to finally meet you,” he shakes my hand. “This guy won’t stop talking about you.” He smiles.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I smile.
“So I hear you are a detective?”
“Yes I am.”
“Trying to give this man a heart attack,” he laughs. “I think he spends more time worrying about you then he does anything.”
“I know, and I tell him over and over again that I am a big girl and can handle myself.”
“She gives you a run for your money,” he looks at Jake. “I like her!”
“She keeps me on my toes that’s for sure,” he smiles down at me.
“If I could ask everyone to take their seats for dinner please,” I hear someone say into the microphone.
“Let’s go,” Jake takes my hand.
“It was nice to meet you Jo,” Coach puts his hand out to me.
“You as well,” I smile and shake his hand. I follow Jake to our table and see that Lisa and Mark have already sat down. I take my seat next to Lisa and Jake sits next to me.
“So far so good,” she smiles at me.
“Yeah, not too bad,” I laugh.
“From here it is pretty easy, shouldn’t be too many more pictures. They don’t allow too many people in here once dinner starts. The ones you see in here are professionals and they are pictures to buy.”
“Oh, maybe the four of us should get one together?” I smile at her.
“I agree,” Mark says. “But I want one with my lovely wife too,” he smiles at her. They are so damn cute together. I can see how happy they are. I look over at Jake and he is talking to the guy sitting next to him. He looks so good tonight and I'm amazed by him. He is such an amazing guy. How did I get so lucky? I put my hand on his leg and I see him smile. He puts his hand on top of mine and squeezes. We eat dinner and I listen to him talk to everyone at the table and smile. They spend a lot of time talking about some of the teams they play this year. I watch some of the other women with the guys and they all seem to be enjoying themselves listening to these guys talk. There are a couple girls that seem like they don’t care, I assume they are newly dating and just want the publicity of dating a football player.
Unexpected Love (Jo's Story) Page 46