Beholden (The Belonging Duet, #2)(38)

“It should’ve never happened. I want to do more for her. She shouldn’t have to go through this alone. I know some of the military wives down there have brought food and things over. But he should be there with her.”

“I know. It was senseless and tragic, but you can’t make Natalie want your help.” It’s unfortunate but true. She needs to be ready, and if being near Mark or talking to Jackson is too hard on her then they need to respect that. “She really does seem to be doing better. At least she’s talking to you guys now.”

Jackson rubs the side of my face and closes his eyes. “I just know if Aaron were here, he’d want his brothers to step up. He’d want us to take care of them. She asked us to arrange everything for him, do a memorial and then a burial. He has a plot in Pennsylvania. Will you be there?”

Without hesitation I respond, “Jackson, you don’t even have to ask. I promise I’ll be there. No matter what.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to ask if I’ll stand by you. If you need me, I’m here.”

He lies on the blanket and I scoot up so I can curl into his arm. Jackson grabs our books and hands them to me, letting me know he’s done and needs to stop talking. The struggle is evident and I don’t want to push him too far.

We both get lost in other worlds, mine of course is about love, while he reads some suspense novel. But we enjoy the solace and the fact that we’re here—together.

After about an hour, Jackson starts to get restless and starts shifting and grunting.

“You ready?” I ask, knowing either his pain meds are wearing off or he’s asleep.

Jackson lifts his head and looks around. “I’m awake,” he says, clearly caught napping.

I giggle and start to get up and put our things in the basket.

“Since you somehow cheated and won the other bet, how about we just let you take what’s left of my balls and go to the boats?” Jackson half-laughs and half-snorts.

“There’s a lot of truth in that statement, but I’ll let you decide which part I mean.”

I’m enjoying this winning thing.

“When I first moved to this part of the city I used to come here with Garrett and race him.”

“Garrett?” I don’t remember anyone by that name.

“You met him. He was at dinner the night we met. Not that you stuck around long enough to really meet anyone, but he’s Mark’s older brother,” Jackson explains while he tries to get up, but he winces and stops.

I put all the stuff down and get behind him. “Let me help you,” I say gently, knowing how quickly his mood can shift when he needs help.

“You just want to touch my body.”

“You know it,” I reply, hoping he’ll play along.

We get up pretty easily and he grips the walker and puts his leg on the seat. Only one more week and he will be able to start walking with crutches. His arm is almost fully mobile, and he’s growing stronger and moving much more easily.

Jackson and I play for about an hour at the boat pond. I can’t for the life of me understand how the man has the drive to make anything a competition. The pond is filled with other boats but there he is trying to maneuver a tiny battery operated boat that doesn’t go more than two miles per hour. I let him win since I had no idea what in the world the rules were.

“At least I win this round,” Jackson boasts and pulls me against him, kissing the top of my head.

“Yeah,” I say without any enthusiasm. “You sure showed me. I’m buying the tickets to the play for tomorrow.”

“We’re going to pretend this isn’t happening. Since you cheated.” Jackson places a kiss against my temple and then grabs my hand. “Let’s go home. I have some plans for you.”

Home. Even he’s calling it home when we talk about it. As much as it thrills me that he’s so comfortable with me in his home, there’s a small part of me terrified we’re moving too fast. So much has happened and yet we’ve skipped the whole getting to know each other stage and fell into the living together stage. I don’t doubt my feelings or his, I only want to make sure we don’t screw this up.

We walk the block to his apartment with my arm draped around his waist. “I hope those plans include food and maybe ice cream,” I say as my stomach growls.

Jackson’s eyes dance with mischief. “I fully intend on eating.”

It takes me a second to understand the look on his face. “Oh my God! Jackson!” I laugh and he joins me.

“What? I ordered take-out.”

“Sure, that’s what you were insinuating.”

“I’m a gentleman,” he says as we enter the lobby of his building.

“Right, and I’m an angel,” I say and board the elevator.

He maneuvers us into the corner and spins his walker so I’m in between his arms, making it impossible for me to move. “Did you have something else in mind?”

My tongue swipes across my lips and Jackson’s eyes track the movement. “I could be open for suggestions.”

His arm slides a little lower and it amazes me that even injured he can find a way to seduce me. “Hmmm,” he says as the distance between us closes.

It takes every ounce of restraint to let him lead and not maul him. The rise and fall of my chest has his attention as my nipples pebble. His scent of crisp linen and cologne overwhelms me and I want nothing more than to be surrounded by him. I’ve never been more happy about the lack of that arm sling than in this moment when he snakes his other arm around my neck and one around my back and carefully pulls me flush against him. “I’m going to love you, and then I’m going to make you pay for toying with me all day.” The sound of promise in his voice causes heat to pool in my core.