by Erica Lynn
“Screw that. I mean right now.” Gigi laughed as she pulled away and leaned back against the door.
“Now, we go home. We got to sleep. We talk about this tomorrow at dinner.”
“Here you are making fun of me and you already have a plan.”
“Yep. See. I can think ahead.” He winced as light suddenly filled his vision.
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. I couldn’t take the pitch black thing much longer.
“No worries,” he said, squinting as he waited for his eyes to adjust. “Hey, look at that, even the dots on your face look cute.”
Gigi squirmed away from him and went to look at herself in the mirror, pulling at her shirt that had apparently gotten disheveled during their kiss. Our first kiss. Jackson couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
“I’m glad we didn’t do anything else in here,” Gigi said.
“Why?”
“Because, you know, you’ve been with lots of women. In these rooms.”
“I have, have I?” Jackson asked, amused.
“Haven’t you?” Gigi looked at him quizzically, then went back to straightening her appearance. Although he knew she really was simply trying to stay busy. The woman had nervous energy like nobody he’d ever seen, but if pulling on the same section of her shirt forty times helped her to relax, then so be it.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he said, leaning back against the door. “I’ve never been with a woman at these parties.”
Gigi turned toward him, shock on her face. “Why are you lying to me?”
“I’m not.”
“Stassi says you come here all the time, and you’ve even said you’re a regular. Cameron calls you VIP of these places.”
“Yes, I come here a lot. Or at least I used to, obviously I haven’t lately.”
“So?”
“So…I don’t have sex here. I’ve never even messed around here. I’ve never done anything here.”
“Then why come?”
“I like the energy. I like being able to come and watch people. When they’re in their most aroused state, passionate, turned the fuck on…they emit a certain energy. It’s incredible. I feed off of it. I come in, watch for a while, then go to the back room and sketch.”
Gigi took a few steps toward him, her eyes searching his face for any sign of deceit. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah.” Jackson shrugged, suddenly extremely self-conscious. He’d never admitted that to anyone before, and even hearing the words out loud felt really odd.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“I don’t know. Everyone has this vision of me. This idea. I don’t mind it, so I never felt the need to correct it.”
“What do you sketch?”
“Whatever happens to be on my mind. Sometimes it’s something I’ve seen, something I want to see, something I want to photograph. I don’t really plan it out. I just grab some paper and a pencil…and I draw.”
Gigi nodded, chewing on her bottom lip as she took in the information. “And how do you get in these pencils and paper? We can’t even bring our purses in.”
Jackson sighed, worried his answer was going to bring them right back where they had started. “Alec leaves them for me in one of the back rooms. It’s kind of my room.”
“And why would he do that?”
“Because I help him with LeAnn.”
Gigi took a deep breath, the frustration evident on her face. “Back to her.”
Jackson nodded, but remained silent.
“Wait,” Gigi took a few steps forward, the beginnings of a smile starting to play on her face. “So you’ve never been with anyone here?”
“Correct.”
“So LeAnn and you never…”
Jackson chuckled, the sound filling the room. “No. LeAnn and I have never done anything. We’ve only ever been friendly.”
Gigi squealed as she closed the remaining distance between them, then jumped into his arms. She pressed her mouth to his and kissed him again, sweet and…happy.
He hugged his arms around her waist, hoisting her up to his hips. He smiled as he kissed her back, surprised at her reaction, but not by much.
Chapter 3
Gigi awoke the next morning feeling lighter than she had in as long as she could remember. She opened her eyes, the sun peeking in from the blinds, and realized she was smiling. Smiling. She giggled into her pillow when the realization hit her. “You sound like a Disney princess, you idiot,” she mumbled to herself as she stretched her arms and legs.
She jumped out of bed and began to dig through her drawers. The weekends had become her favorite days. Obviously not working was awesome, but Saturday and Sunday now meant painting. All. Damn. Day. The feel of creating, of running the brush over the canvas, most of the time not even sure what the end product was going to be, but loving it all the same. Heart racing in anticipation of the final stroke. Nothing gave her more of a rush. Well, almost nothing. And the ear to ear smile was back on her face. Perfect.
Gigi grabbed some old and tattered jean shorts out of the drawer and pulled them up her legs, pairing them with a black spaghetti-strap top. She didn’t bother with a bra, her breasts were far from the largest in the land. She ran a brush her hair, sending a silent thank you to the hair gods that it looked decent and she wouldn’t have to wash it. It wasn’t until she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth that she heard the music coming from downstairs. She stopped for a moment, the suds from the toothpaste bubbling away in her mouth, and listened.
She heard the distinct clatter of dishes and pans, and the smell of meat immediately made its way into her senses. She had no idea how she’d missed it before, but now that her nose had latched onto it, her stomach growled angrily in response. She quickly finished up her teeth and washed her face, then threw a few spritzes of her favorite body spray on and headed to the kitchen.
July was always hot in Houston, but this year it was particularly stifling. Even with the air-conditioning going all day, the heat seemed to seep into the walls. She was only halfway down the stairs and she already wanted to jump into a pool filled with ice.
She turned the corner and stopped, making a conscious effort not to let her mouth hang open as she tried to catch her breath. She’d seen Jackson shirtless a million times over the course of the last four months, but something was different. Now she knew what it felt like to be trapped against that chest. To feel her soft breasts rising and falling in time with his muscled torso. Yesterday’s shirtless Jackson and today’s shirtless Jackson were two very different people.
“What’s up, buttercup?” Jackson asked, cracking some eggs into a glass bowl.
“Nothing much. How are you this morning?” Gigi tried to keep her voice casual as she grabbed two coffee mugs from the cabinet and placed them on the counter, but she was pretty sure he could still tell how nervous she was.
“I’m good. Slept well.”
She heard the amusement in his voice, and couldn’t help but break out into another grin. “Who is this?” she asked, motioning to the music playing over his phone on the iPod doc.
“The one and only Blue October, of course.” Jackson gave her a face that said, who else would I be listening to?
“Ah, them again,” she laughed. “You’re obsessed.”
“I am, as everyone else should be. They’re amazing.” Jackson turned the music up, moving his hips to the beat.
“You make my heart go bang? What does that even mean?”
“I guess it means he loves her. She makes his heart go bang.” Jackson shrugged. “I think it’s romantic.”
“Who knew you were such a softy?” Gigi teased.
“I never knew this side of me,” Jackson sang along with the chorus at the top of his lungs.
She rolled her eyes, her heart secretly melting, and grabbed their small coffee grinder. She plugged it in, then opened the cabinet and stood up on her tip-toes, reaching for the bag of beans.
Strong arms wra
pped around her waist from behind, large palms finding their way to her ribcage. She closed her eyes and hoped they’d venture a tiny bit further north, but they didn’t.
“You aren’t going to give me a good morning kiss?” he teased.
Gigi lowered herself to the balls of her feet, then turned to face him. “I wasn’t aware we were doing that now.”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“You know, now that I think about it, I can’t come up with one damn reason not to.”
“I like your thinking.”
“Me, too.” Gigi thought about wrapping her arms around his neck, but then changed her mind. Instead, she placed her palms on the counter behind her, then leaned back.
Jackson didn’t hesitate to act on her challenge. He leaned toward her, a small growl coming from his parted lips as he moved in, his arms tightening around her middle, his warm lips meeting hers.
Gigi concentrated on not fainting right where she stood as she received the best good morning kiss in recorded history. It had to be. Soft lips, but also strong and intense, warm body pressed against hers, hard muscles…mm mm mmm.
He backed away from her mouth and reached up, the heat that was Jackson radiating off his body, and grabbed the bag of coffee beans. He set it on the counter, placed a sweet kiss on the tip of her nose, then jogged back to the stove. “If I burn the damn steak it’ll be your fault.”
“Steak for breakfast?” she asked, mentally getting herself back together while also attempting to ignore the now persistent ache in her sex.
“Yep.” Jackson flipped the steak, then went back to cracking eggs into a bowl. “It was supposed to be for dinner last night, but, as you know, we got a little sidetracked.”
Gigi poured the beans into the top of the grinder, then closed the lid and turned it on, letting it do its thing. She turned on the sink and held the carafe under it, then dumped it into the coffee maker. After she’d transferred the now ground beans to the filter and started the pot, she turned back to Jackson and admired the way his back muscles moved as he took the steak out of the pan and set it on a cutting board. She grabbed some shredded cheese and chopped onions and bell peppers from the fridge and handed them to him.
They both discovered early on how they each loved onions and bell peppers in any and everything they cooked, so they always had a large bowl filled with them in the fridge, already chopped and ready to go. They were also the only vegetables Gigi would eat.
“Best sous chef ever,” Jackson said with a grin.
“Sexiest, too. Right?” Gigi squealed when his response was a firm slap to her bottom, then returned to the fridge for some heavy cream. “Are you going to your studio today?”
“Planning on it,” Jackson said as he emptied some of the cheese and vegetables into the eggs, then began to whisk them together. “I love how we call it a studio instead of the work shed that it really is.”
“Oh hush. It’s great.”
“Thanks. What are your plans?”
“I think I’m just going to hang here and paint.”
“Nice. Maybe I can join you later.”
“I’d love that.”
“Me, too.” Jackson poured the eggs into the pan, moving them around with a spatula. “Hey, I was thinking—”
A knock at the door interrupted his sentence.
“Are you expecting someone?” he asked, turning down the music.
“I’m never expecting anyone this early.” True it was almost ten, but that was early for a Saturday in Gigi’s world. She walked to the door just as the doorbell rang. “I’m coming, I’m coming. Goodness. Hold your horses…” and then she saw it. The top of a head full of lovely blonde hair, and the edges of some pink shades. “It’s Stassi,” she called to Jackson.
“In the flesh,” Stassi yelled from outside. “Open up or I’m busting it down.”
Gigi unlocked the deadbolt and held open the door for her unexpected guest.
“Good morning, sunshine. You look beautiful, as per usual.” Stassi pushed her sunglasses up on her head, then made a scene of sniffing the air. “Are you cooking?”
“Jackson made steak and eggs.”
“Oh thank goodness. I’m starving.”
Gigi motioned for Stassi to come inside, then closed the door behind her. She couldn’t help but laugh as Stassi made her way to the kitchen in her bright pink workout clothes. The woman was ridiculously gorgeous, and she’d be the first to tell you she worked hard to keep it that way. Every Saturday morning was spent in the gym, and she was always ravenous afterward.
“Stass,” Jackson said when he saw her. “Didn’t feel the need to call?”
“I thought I’d use the element of surprise to my advantage.” She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, then sat down in one of the chairs at the table. “We need to finish our little chat from last night. After all, I’d hate for us all not to be on the same page.”
Gigi’s cheeks heated, and she knew a deep shade of scarlet was creeping along her skin. She looked up at Jackson and shrugged. No, she shouldn’t have told Stassi what they’d agreed to, but she’d been upset and it had come out. There wasn’t any point in thinking about the what ifs now. “Didn’t I tell you everything last night?”
“I know your reasons for doing what you’re doing. Jealousy. Revenge. Showing that douche canoe someone else is loving what he’ll never have again. I get those. I don’t agree with them, but I get them.” Stassi narrowed her eyes at Jackson, “What I don’t understand is why you’re going along with this. What’s in it for you?”
Jackson took another plate from the cabinet and divided the food between them, then placed them on the table. “There’s plenty of eggs, but only enough steak for two. Next time you plan your inquisition, you might want to at least send a text. Maybe then we’ll have enough food.”
“Oh, it’s okay. I’m sure there will be plenty of steak for you to have another time.” She smiled sweetly as she placed her index finger on his plate and slid it her way, then replaced it with hers.
Gigi poured Jackson and her some coffee, and placed the mugs on the table. She looked up at him and offered a small wink, to which he smiled and took Stassi’s steak-less plate for himself.
Jackson and Stassi always had an interesting banter. More like siblings, really.
“So—” Stassi began, chewing on her piece of stolen beef “—fess up. Why are you doing this?”
Jackson took a drink of his coffee, his eyes on Stassi. “I’m trying to open up my own photography studio. When I saw Gigi, I knew I had to take her picture. An entire set flashed in my head, and it had to be her. She’s exactly what I’d always been looking for.”
“Which is what, exactly?” Stassi asked.
“Her look. Her mannerisms. Her.” Jackson laid his hand on Gigi’s. “There’s an energy about her, it surrounds her, really. Something different. Something pure.”
Gigi couldn’t help but baulk at the last statement.
“Not like innocence,” Jackson clarified with a chuckle. “More like something real. True. Organic.”
“Okay. And?” Stassi pressed.
“So I brought it up to Gigi that day at the office, and she said no. I’d heard her conversation with her ex, and I figured we could scratch each other’s backs. I’ll pretend to be the doting fiancé for when Preston comes into town—”
“We prefer to call him, he-who-shall-not-be-named,” Gigi said before taking another sip of her coffee.
“Or douche canoe,” Stassi offered.
“Right. Anyway,” Jackson rolled his eyes, causing both women to laugh. “I’ll be the perfect fiancé when he’s here, and in return, Gigi lets me use her as the muse for my portfolio.”
Stassi’s brow furrowed in concentration. She continued to eat the eggs and steak off her plate, staring thoughtfully at them as she chewed. “Okay. I have to be honest, this sounds fucking ridiculous.”
“I know,” they both agreed at the same time.
“It wasn�
�t supposed to go this far,” Gigi offered. “It was only going to be for a week or two, tops. But then you-know-who never came into town, the need for Jackson’s portfolio kept getting pushed back, so we kept forgetting to take pictures. And then we just got comfortable.” Gigi heard the words coming out of her mouth and realized they still sounded incredibly stupid. Stupid or not, they’re the truth.
“So have you taken the pictures now?” Stassi asked.
“Yes,” Jackson answered. “I sent in my portfolio a month or so ago, and am just waiting to hear back.”
“Okay. So Gigi held up her side of the deal, and you’re just waiting around here until you can hold up yours?”
“Pretty much.”
“Who even knows how long that will be?”
“We know,” Gigi said, fingers folded in her lap. “Trust us, we know.”
“What about Lacey?” Stassi asked. “She threw that big party for you. She’s been working really hard on being a supportive sister.”
“I know. That’s what I regret most,” Gigi admitted.
“When we started this, we had no idea Cameron and Lacey were going to become a real thing. For all we knew there’d be a few dates and that’d be it. Nobody could have guessed they’d be perfect for each other.” Jackson took a bite of his eggs, swallowing before speaking again. “And who says we even have to tell them?”
“Of course you have to tell them,” Stassi said, rolling her eyes. “As far as they know, you’re engaged. So when you don’t get married, some people might get a little suspicious. Especially when you start seeing other people.”
“Who says that’ll happen?” Jackson countered.
Gigi looked up at him, the ear-to-ear smile back in place. “Yeah,” she agreed, throwing a look at Stassi. “Who says that’ll happen?”
Stassi threw her hands up in surrender. “Look, y’all can do whatever y’all please. I won’t tell Lacey. You’re all my friends and I’m not going to get involved.” She looked at Gigi, her face serious as a heart attack. “But you need to know, if Lacey finds out about this, and it always comes out some way or another, it’s going to break her heart. Y’all have gotten closer over these last few months. I can tell. If she finds out you’ve been lying to her about something so important…”