“Jackson,” I breathed out, stunned that he had brought them since he hadn’t really seemed like the traditional flowers-for-his-date kind of guy. Maybe he looked like it all dressed up, but hot tattooed guy underneath was still the same.
He flashed me a smug grin. “Consider the thank-you portion of the night over and done with. Just so there’s no confusion.”
“My oh my, you sure are a smooth one,” Char said. “Very well played. Why don’t I just take those and put them in water for Kaylie so y’all can head out for the date part of your night.”
Jackson reached out to grab my hand. “You heard the girl. Let’s get moving. I wouldn’t want us to miss our reservation.”
“You made reservations?” I asked, a little worried that maybe he had picked somewhere fancy where I would look out of place. I felt sexy in my outfit, but I hadn’t picked it with a super nice restaurant in mind. It was easy to forget that he came from money since he didn’t act like it. “Where are we going? Am I dressed okay for it?”
“No, you’re not dressed okay,” he answered and my heart dropped. “You look fucking amazing. So beyond okay that I’ll have to stick close to you all night just to make sure that other guys know you’re with me.”
I couldn’t stop myself from beaming at his compliment. He was damn good at this. It was hard to remember that most guys would say just about anything to score. “I’m not sure if I should trust you,” I said as we walked to his truck. “Are you being genuine, or are you just putting on an act to get so you can get me into bed?”
Jackson stopped and turned to me so that he could stare straight into my eyes as he answered my question. “One thing you can be damn sure about, Kaylie, is that I won’t ever lie to you. What you see is what you get with me, okay?” he asked. When I nodded that I understood, he continued. “I know this might piss you off because it makes me sound like a douche, but I don’t need to put on an act if I want a piece of ass. The real kind. Not the drink. If that’s all I was interested in, there are other girls on campus who would give it up if I looked their way. No need for dinner. No compliments on how they look.”
I pulled away from him a little, but he wouldn’t let me get far. “You’re right. That does make you sound like a douche because that’s exactly what you used to be interested in. How could I possibly think that I’m any different to you than all those girls? That if I decide to let this thing between us run its course that you won’t disappear the second the sheets get cold?”
“You’re already different. I’ve never taken any of them to dinner. I sure as shit didn’t bring them flowers or think about what I was going to wear if I saw them. If that’s not enough for you, then I’ll just have to work harder to convince you that I’m not in this just to get into your panties.”
“I’m not very good at trusting people to stay around,” I admitted.
“Neither of us knows what’s going to happen here. We don’t know each other well enough yet. But I do know that I was willing to risk Aubrey’s wrath just by taking you to dinner tonight. She’d have my balls if I banged you and walked away the next morning. That’s one worry you can cross off your list.”
“You talked to your sister?” I asked, feeling a little better about the night and his intentions if that was true.
“If by talking you mean that she grilled me, then yes.”
“Okay,” I whispered and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.
He wrapped his arms around me to hug me tight. “Right, let’s get date number two started. I’m starving!”
We made it to the truck, and he bundled me inside before getting in himself. I watched him as he started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. It was hard to believe that I was on a date with Jackson. If someone had told me that this would happen a month ago, I would have laughed my ass off at the idea because he was such a player. A week ago, I would have said no way because I couldn’t have imagined him being interested in me. Now, I was just happy to be here with him and a little scared by how he made me feel.
“So where are you taking me?” I asked since he had not answered the question earlier.
“How do you feel about Japanese food? I wanted to take you to one of my favorite places. It’s a Teppan grill, but it has sushi too,” he answered, sounding like an excited kid.
“You’re favorite place, huh?” I teased.
“Yup. Good food and lots of it. Plus the chefs put on a bit of a show while they’re cooking. My parents used to take us there for my birthday when I was younger, and it’s always been kind of a special place for me.”
I was touched that he wanted to bring me to somewhere that meant something to him. He was already scoring major points with me tonight, and the date had barely started. I definitely needed to stay on my toes around him before I did something stupid like falling hard for him. So I just smiled in response and fiddled with the radio. I wasn’t surprised to find it set to an XM station that was all about rock ‘n’ roll. I let the music roll over me and enjoyed the ride to the restaurant. We got there pretty fast, and it was quickly obvious that Jackson hadn’t been exaggerating about coming here before.
“Jackson, welcome back,” the hostess greeted us with a big smile. She grabbed two menus and walked us to a station in the corner where nobody else was seated. It was odd because all the other ones were packed with people. “Your waiter will be with you shortly,” she said before walking away.
She wasn’t kidding either. The waiter showed up before I could even get my coat settled on the chair. He had a tray with a two white containers, glasses, and cups on it that he placed in front of us. I easily recognized the first as a teapot but wasn’t sure about the other flask-like one he had brought.
“What’s this?” I asked Jackson.
“Sake. You can’t experience Japanese food without trying it,” he answered as he poured us each a drink. I took a small sip, not sure what to expect. “What do you think?”
“I’ve never tried it before, but it’s good. Different than I expected since the only time I’ve ever seen was it in sake bombs at the bar before.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure comparing the sake you serve at the bar to this is like comparing Popov vodka to Ketel One,” he explained.
As I sipped my sake, the chef rolled a cart to the table. I looked around the restaurant, surprised to see him at our table already. Nobody else had been seated with us, which was really strange. We also hadn’t ordered, but he seemed to have everything with him to make our dinner.
Jackson must have noticed my confused expression because he nodded his head at the chef before leaning towards me so he could whisper in my ear. “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked for a favor when I made the reservation.”
Goosebumps traveled up my spine at the feel of his hot breath against my ear. “What kind of favor?”
“The kind where I get to enjoy my favorite restaurant with you all to myself. I didn’t want to share a table with a bunch of strangers.”
I nodded my head towards the chef, who had started to prepare the grill in front of us. “And how does he know what I want to order?”
“I didn’t want them to be out any money for letting me have a table to myself on the busiest night of the week, so I ordered a few different dinners for each of us. This way we can enjoy ourselves without anyone interrupting us. And you get to try a little bit of anything that sounds good to you. It’s a win-win.”
And there he went shocking the hell out of me again. I glanced at the chef’s cart again and realized exactly how much food there was on it. “What about all the leftovers? There’s no way the two of us are going to be able to eat all of that.”
“Ditching leftover food is an easy problem to solve. You can take some back to your roommate, and I’m sure the guys at the house will devour anything I bring back to them. And this way you can have as much of anything you really like as you want.”
I peeked at the grill, where the chef was preparing a gigantic mound of fried rice a
nd eight sets of what looked like a shrimp appetizer of some kind. “You really do mean as much as I want. That’s a ton of food.”
He grinned at me and a slight blush crept up his chiseled cheekbones. “I might have gone a little overboard.”
I reached out and placed my hand over his. “No, you went exactly the perfect amount overboard. This was a very cool thing to do, Jackson.”
He nodded before he grabbed his sake and gulped down the rest. “How about more sake?”
“I don’t know. Did you order eight servings of that, too?” I teased him.
“Nah. I thought about it but then I wouldn’t be able to drive you home,” he said, shrugging his broad shoulders. “Hell, neither of us would even remember this date if we drank that much.”
“And this is where I should admit to something. I know I’m a bartender, so this will probably shock you, but I hardly ever drink. I would say I make for a cheap date, but you’ve pretty much proven that wrong with all of this.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you can drink all the tea you want.” He poured me a cup and put it by my plate. “You don’t have to finish the sake if you don’t want it.”
“No, I really like how warm it makes me feel,” I giggled.
“We better get some food into you,” he said as he handed my plate to the chef so he could pile some shrimp on it before giving him his own plate. I really liked how it felt when he did small things like that—pouring me drinks and getting me food.
“Delicious,” I declared as I took my first bite. I enjoyed the whole meal, tasting a little bit of anything that caught my eye. He really had ordered some of everything. We had chicken, two different kinds of steak, more shrimp, and lobster to go with the rice and vegetables. The chef made a volcano with an onion that he set on fire and kept doing tricks like tossing shrimp shells into his chef’s hat. It was really entertaining and the food was amazing. It was absolutely the best dinner date I could ever remember having.
“I’m so full,” I said as I rubbed my stomach, trying to get comfortable. I really had eaten too much.
My sweater rode up a little and Jackson’s gaze landed on my bare skin. “Here, let me help with that.” He reached over to move my hand out of the way and replace it with his. His warmth seeped into my skin as he gently rubbed in circles.
“Jackson,” I murmured, lost in the feeling of his touch.
“Kaylie?”
“Yeah,” I said drowsily.
“Ready for the next part of our date?”
My eyes popped open at his question. “Next part?”
“I thought we’d take a little detour on the way back to campus. You game?”
“If your detour is as good as the rest of the night has been, then count me in,” I answered.
The waiter boxed up all the leftovers and put them into a couple bags for us to take. Jackson handed him his credit card and paid for our meal without even glancing at the bill. He carried both bags as he led me out of the restaurant to his truck and helped me inside. A girl really could get used to all this pampering pretty easily. Jackson might have been new to the whole dating thing, but he sure knew what he was doing.
He turned the music on low and switched it to an alternative rock station. The Foo Fighters came on, and I leaned back in my seat to enjoy the music. Jackson drove to the outskirts of town to the lake and pulled off the road onto a dirt path. We drove a few more minutes before coming to a summer cabin. He parked in the driveway and hopped out before I even thought to ask what we were doing here.
“C’mon,” he said as he pulled me out of the truck. “It’ll be fun, I swear.”
We walked around to the back porch, and I noticed the sleds piled in the corner. I glanced down at my outfit and looked at Jackson like he was crazy.
“Hell no! I’d freeze my ass off if I went sledding with you dressed like this.”
“I already thought of that.” He gestured to the sliding glass door. “This is my parents’ cabin. Some of Aubrey’s winter stuff is inside. I pulled it out of the closet for you earlier today. Grab some snow pants, gloves, and a hat.”
“But Jackson,” I complained.
“Just once, Kaylie. Please,” he asked.
“Fine! One time down and that’s it. I don’t really like being cold.”
“If you’re not having fun, then we’ll stop. I’m not going to make you do something you hate, Kaylie.” He gave me puppy-dog eyes. “I just thought you might like this. That’s all. Give it a chance. You liked the flowers, sake, and dinner. Right?”
“Right,” I huffed before stomping inside.
This was not how I’d pictured the end of our date. I never imagined that the infamous campus playboy would want to take me sledding.
I grabbed a pair of snow pants and slid them on, my skirt bunching up inside. I wasn’t changing my boots even if they weren’t designed for playing in the snow. I picked out a set of gloves with a matching hat and headed back outside. Jackson had already put on a pair of snow pants and pulled out a small toboggan.
“Ready?” he grinned up at me from the back of the sled.
I climbed in front of him and he pushed off before wrapping his arms around me. We went whooshing down the hill onto the lake and finally skidded to a halt. Jackson leaned back and tugged me with him.
“Look up,” he whispered.
The stars were clear in the sky, twinkling brightly. Everything was so still and quiet in contrast to the heart-pumping feeling of barreling down the hill.
“Wow,” I whispered back. “It’s so beautiful, Jackson.”
“That’s why I wanted to share it with you. I thought you’d like it,” he said as he tightened his arms around me. “Plus it means I have an excuse to get you in my arms since we’re warmer cuddled up like this.”
“So you even got Mother Nature to help you out with our date?”
“Hey, I’ll take all the help I can get with you,” he replied.
“I’m not sure you need any help at all, Jackson. Tonight was amazing. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for agreeing to come out with me, even if I kind of had to trick you into the date.”
We lay there enjoying the moment for a while until I shivered a little, the cold getting to me.
Jackson let me go, giving me a little push to my feet. “It’s colder than I thought it would be. We better get you back inside so you can warm up.”
We held hands as we trudged back up the hill to the cabin, Jackson pulling the sled behind him. The way up was certainly harder than down, and my boots didn’t make it any easier for me. Jackson had to steady me several times, catching me before I fell each time. When we made it back to the porch, Jackson came inside with me unlike earlier. We both stripped out of our snow stuff, and Jackson hung everything up in the bathroom to dry. There was an awkward silence as I realized the date was drawing to a close, we were completely alone in his parents’ cabin, and he hadn’t kissed me yet tonight.
“So…I guess we should head back. I have a morning class tomorrow,” I said awkwardly.
“Me, too,” he replied as he strode towards me with a determined look on his face. “But I need to do this now. I don’t want to wait until I’m dropping you off in front of other people.”
I took a step back, and Jackson kept walking my way. My back bumped against the wall, and he rested his hands on either side of me, caging me in. I knew what he’d meant, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Do what?”
He responded by kissing me. The kiss started off slow at first, his lips caressing mine before he murmured, “Open.”
My lips parted at his commanding tone and his tongue darted inside and entangled with mine. His hands moved to hold my head in place as he ravaged my mouth with his. I glided my fingertips along his back, enjoying the play of his muscles as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss even more. I wanted to get closer and clenched my hands to draw his body into mine. His hips rocked into me, and when I felt his hard cock rub aga
inst my stomach, I gasped. Jackson pulled away to make sure I was okay, but I couldn’t speak so I just nodded my head and stepped into him so he would know that I wanted him to kiss me again.
He laughed softly at my action and shook his head. “I don’t think I can trust myself to kiss you again knowing we have this place to ourselves.”
“Please, Jackson,” I whimpered.
“Fuck. You have no idea how badly I want to hear those words coming from your mouth, Kaylie. You really don’t fight fair at all, do you?” he asked before giving me what I so desperately wanted.
My body felt alive for the first time in a very long time. My heart was beating so hard that I could feel my pulse in my neck. But he didn’t kiss me like he had last time. This was softer, more delicate. And exploration of my lips with his as he licked the seams and inched away when I tried to deepen the kiss. He waited until I backed off before nibbling on my lower lip, his hands cupping my face. My eyes drifted shut and I enjoyed the beauty of the moment. This one perfect kiss from Jackson after the amazing night he’d planned for me.
“No more,” he whispered against my lips. “Shit, Kaylie. We need to stop before I decide that taking it slow isn’t a good idea with you.”
“Maybe I don’t want to take it slow,” I said, even though I hadn’t planned to do anything more than enjoy dinner and a couple of kisses tonight.
“What do you want from this? Do you want to maybe take a step towards a relationship? Or friends with benefits? Because you might not believe me yet, but I’m really not trying to just have sex with you. And if we do this now, how the hell am I supposed to show you that I’m different with you? That even though I don’t know what this is, it still means something other than just getting off tonight?”
“I don’t know what I want,” I admitted. It was the truth. Until Jackson had stormed into my life, guys and relationships had been the last thing on my mind.
“Then we need to wait. Which means that we need to get the hell out of here. Now. Before I change my mind, strip you bare, and find out if you taste as good all over as you do when I kiss you,” he said before giving me a swift kiss and pulling me towards the door.
The Blythe College Complete Series Box Set Page 26
