Seeking Me To Find You (Finding You Series Book 1) (15 page)

“How rude.” Pulling out of his touch, I start to get out of bed. Next thing I know, Jackson has pinned me on the bed with his hard body hovering just inches above mine.

“No. What’s rude is when someone, which is you, tries to escape before she can be given a proper wake up kiss.”

“But I have this huge crease…”

Next thing I know, Jackson is feverishly kissing me. His hands are roaming wildly over my body, which succeeds in making me forget why I even wanted to leave the bed. I clutch the back of his head, pulling his kiss deeper. A warm sensation travels from my lips down to my spine. Jackson’s kiss sets off a rush of liquid that pools within my heat. Suddenly, Jacksons pulls away and hops off the bed.

As he stalks to my bathroom with his bare ass taunting and teasing me, he looks over his defined deltoids with a mischievous smile. “Now that’s a proper wake up kiss.”

The bathroom door closes. I have to put a corner of my bed sheet in my mouth to muffle my exasperated cry. Hearing the shower kick on, I decide to make my way downstairs to see what breakfast I can concoct.

*

As I descend
the stairs, I’m quickly reminded of the confounding phone call last night. Pieces of the crystal vase adorn the top of my coffee table. I’ll have to trash the gruesome reminder later today.

Opening the refrigerator, I’m once again in awe at the bounty of food that Jackson bought for me. There will be no problem whipping up a breakfast good enough for the Drill Instructor who gave me the most pleasuring workout of my life.

Gathering items for a massive breakfast, I realize that if he wants coffee he is out of luck. Since I only drink hot tea, I don’t own a coffee pot. Guess I’ll have to pick up a cheap one to have on hand for guests when I go out this afternoon.

Turning on some music, I start cutting up fresh fruit. Music envelops my soul causing my body to sway throughout the kitchen. My thoughts retrace the events of the past couple of days. I’ve just met this man and he is currently in my shower washing away our night filled with pleasure. What does this say about me? What is he going to think about me? This is happening too fast.

“You’re doing it again,” comes a stern voice.

Startling me, I douse myself with the faucet spray gun, drenching my white shirt.

“Crap,” I scream while I try to gain control of the situation. Grabbing the closest towel, I proceed to blot the water saturating my shirt and body.

Jackson turns me around and takes the towel away from me. The look he gives me is of a hungry wolf trying to decide how to devour its prey. The blood rushing to my taut breasts makes my nipples enlarge and pebble immediately. Dipping my body back, he executes fine kisses from my neck to the lobe of my ear.

“I see we’re having ourselves a wet t-shirt contest this morning. Why don’t you go upstairs and change while I continue with breakfast.” Pulling out the coffee he bought yesterday Jackson asks, “Where do you keep the coffee pot?”

My stepfather always said that coffee was a main staple of every Marine’s life. Quickly I say, “I don’t have one.”

“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly. Did you say you didn’t have one?”

Stepping away to try to escape up the stairs, “Yes, I don’t have one.”

“Damn it woman. You know that in my world that’s considered a crime?” Winking at me, his stern look shifts to one of amusement. “You need to lighten up.” Pulling me into an embrace, he continues. “Why don’t you go upstairs and change. I’ll go home and make a vat of coffee. While I’m there, I’ll rescue Thor before Ben puts him on Craigslist.”

I walk Jackson over to the door. As he opens it, he pauses briefly. “When I get back, we can make breakfast together. Sound like a plan?”

“Here’s a key so you can let yourself back in.”

Shutting the door behind Jackson, I run up the stairs to take a quick shower.

*

Turning off the
faucet, I reach out the door blindly seeking my towel. Without warning, someone grabs my hand. I shriek while battling with the unknown through the shower curtain.

Whipping the curtain open, Jackson implores, “Calm down.”

“What the hell, Jackson.” I haul off and smack him on his rock hard chest. “Ow! Damn it! You scared the shit out of me.”

Holding my throbbing hand against my heart, I rip the towel out of his hand with the other one while walking past him.

“Why the hell would you want to scare me like that?”

I start rummaging through my chest of drawers for something to put on. Jackson follows me and starts making my bed.

“Let’s talk about locking your door.”

“What? I did lock my door.” I stand up, holding my clothes against me to shield my body from his view. “I want to talk about you scaring the piss out of me. And leave my damn bed alone. I can take care of that.”

Sitting down on the bed, he leans back and watches me. So, I walk into my closet to block his view further.

“When I came back over, I checked to see if your door was unlocked. Guess what? It was. Grace, I was sitting in your bathroom for five minutes without you noticing I was there.”

I just roll my eyes and look away.

“Look at me. Call it years of breaching doors in the military. You don’t want to give your enemy a heads up by smashing in the door when you have the opportunity to enter in a stealthy manner. And that’s exactly what a person breaking in here would do.”

“This still doesn’t excuse you for about giving me a heart attack.”

“What it does give me is an excuse for teaching you a lesson.”

I poke my head out of the closet. “Who are you? My dad?”

Shaking his head, “Not the last time I checked. It’s just anyone could have come in and done more than just
scare the shit out of you
. You are an attractive girl that lives alone. There’re sickos in this world that prey on people like you. Please take extra time and make sure your doors are locked.”

I emerge from my closet fully clothed. Standing at attention giving a stiff salute, “Sir, yes sir!”

“Smart ass!”

I turn to walk out of the bedroom and peer back. “I think I have a pretty fine ass, thank you.”

Jackson follows me down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sitting patiently on the kitchen floor is Thor, thumping his thick tail against the tile. I walk over and place a soft kiss on his block head. I’m rewarded with a juicy kiss upon my cheek.

Jackson and I settle into a rhythm of preparing breakfast. It’s fascinating that Jackson can anticipate my every move. If I need a spoon, he already has one out for me. If I need a plate from the cupboard, he has one laid out. I bet if I needed to blow my nose, he would have a Kleenex waiting in the wings. Thor sat in the middle of the kitchen watching us like he would a ping pong match the whole time.

We move to the patio to enjoy our breakfast and the slight morning breeze. We watch Thor chase butterflies as we eat in silence. Usually when there is silence between two people it feels awkward. This just feels relaxed.

“So, what do you have planned for the day?” Jackson asks while tossing Thor a piece of toast.

“I thought I would go back downtown to visit a little tea shop I found. I also need to run to another store to pick up a few odds and ends. You?”

“A fellow Marine is moving all this week. He asked me if I would help pack and move large items since his wife is really pregnant.”

“What’s really pregnant?” I say quite amused.

With a brief flash of horror he explains, “Like that sucker could pop out any day now.”

We both give a little chuckle and settle back into breakfast. Silence overcomes us once again.

Leaning towards me he whispers, “When can I see you again?”

I’m a little hesitant because our relationship is moving fast. Comfort has always guided me, but not always down the right road. The past weeks have thrown my life in a whirlwind, thankfully in the direction that I want. Even though it’s overwhelming, I’m excited. I have a new job, new house, and can walk around said house stark naked while drinking milk from the carton. Yeah, yuck to the milk carton but you know what I’m saying.

Leaning away from him, I continue, “You’re busy and I’m busy. I think we just need to take it one day at a time. This is a tad bit overwhelming”

Jackson runs his hands through his non-existent hair and leans back in his chair. “Can we try being friends and see where it leads?”

I reach out and take his hand. Rubbing my thumb across it, I whisper a simple “Yes”.

*

Now that Jackson
has left, my whole body’s equilibrium is off. I just can’t find my rhythm. Standing in the middle of my kitchen, it gets worse. I can’t find my damn keys. After finally finding my cell phone, I noticed that I killed it last night by whirling it across the room. I need to add
getting a new cell
to my list. Well, without keys this chick’s not going to get anything accomplished; my other set of keys is with Nate. You remember what Nate said about my keys and phone? Six feet under and in the palm of my hand. This makes me chuckle. Speaking of Nate, I miss his smart ass and his posse of boys known as the bat shit crazies. I know they drove me insane but I do miss them. Also, I still have things at his house that may be more useful here. Like my keys!

I search the whole house again. I decide to get a glass of tea and just chill out for a second. I’ve worked myself into a tight ball of frenzy in need of a clear head. When I open the freezer, whoop! they are there amongst the orange sherbet. Orange Sherbet!
I wonder what it would be like to take the orange sherbet and rub it all over Jackson.
Snap out of it, Grace! Your internal dialog is going to gain the reputation of a slut.
Things could be worse
. Like my infatuation with this man who made me shout his name a record amount of times last night.

*

My morning flies
by. I was able to check out that quaint tea shop and chocolate haven downtown. For a Monday it’s extremely crowded. With it being summer the tourists, as well as the locals, are perusing the area. Before I know it, it’s three o’clock. My stomach is threatening to eat itself from the inside out. One good thing the town has is an abundant selection of small cafes. The daunting task of purchasing a small computer that we call a cell phone still haunts me. Also changing my number is a must. Last night’s phone conversation with Evan got under my skin. During our time together, I never saw this sinister side of him. Yeah, he ended up being a cheating jerk, but last night he was just malicious in his rant.