Loving You (The Jade Series #3) (26 page)

I glance over the menu quick, then set it aside. “I’ll just eat chocolate for dinner.”

He picks the menu back up, forcing me to take it. “You need real food. You can’t just eat chocolate.”

“Why? Do I need to fuel up for something?” I smile as I crawl across the couch and onto his lap.
 

“Maybe.” He grips my hips, pulling me closer as he kisses me. The room suddenly feels even warmer. I break from the kiss to take my t-shirt off.
 

Garret’s smiling. “You can distract me, Jade, but you’re still eating dinner.” He brings my mouth to his and whispers, “Just not right now.” He kisses me again and I part my lips to let his tongue past. It’s warm and tastes like chocolate and feels so good that I hear myself softly moan.
 

Garret slowly pulls back. “What was that for?”

I’m usually really quiet when we’re making out, so I was hoping he didn’t hear that, but of course he did.

“It’s nothing. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He gives me just the slightest smile, his gorgeous blue eyes gazing back at me. “I liked it. I want to know how to make you do it again.”
 

His voice is so freaking sexy, especially when he’s talking just above a whisper, which he does whenever he’s this close to me.

“Tell me what you like, Jade.”
 

I feel my face heating up. “I just really liked the kiss. You taste like chocolate.”

“So the chocolate made you do that?” His smile widens.

I nod.
 

“Should I go get some more? Because I’d really like you to do that again.”

“No. Just kiss me.”
 

He does and his tongue still tastes like chocolate and has me moaning even more as it explores my mouth. I can tell the sounds I’m making are driving Garret crazy. Minutes later, he stands up, still kissing me, his hands under my thighs holding me up. I wrap my arms around his neck as he walks us to the bedroom.

He lays me down on the bed, then reaches behind his neck and yanks his shirt off. As I look at his arms, his chest, his abs, I still can’t believe I’m with a guy this hot. I strip the rest of my clothes off while he takes off his. Then I jump off the bed quick and shove the comforter to the floor because I just saw a news story that said those things are covered in germs.
 

When I get back in bed Garret’s giving me this odd look like he can’t figure out what I was doing but he doesn’t bother asking. He joins me in the bed and instead of kissing me or getting on top of me like he normally would, he lies beside me and slowly moves his hand along my skin. When his hand travels up the inside of my thigh I try not to moan again, but it slips out.
 

“You like that?” he whispers against my neck.

I nod, keeping my eyes closed.
 

“Let’s see what else you like.”

And so begins his quest of finding every place on my body that makes me moan in pleasure. All my secret spots. For a moment it concerns me because it’s yet another thing that will bring us closer, and that scares me. But I quickly forget about it because I’m loving this way too much. And I love Garret, and if anyone’s going to know this stuff about me, I want it to be him.
 

Everywhere he touches leaves behind a tingling heat that builds and teases and aches for more of him. When he finally moves on to the actual sex part, we’re both so turned on that it ends up being really quick, but beyond amazing. It’s like the sex just keeps getting better the more we do it. I guess that’s why we do it all the time.

We’re both sweaty so we shower off, then Garret suggests we try out the hot tub. “I know it’s cold out there, but what do you think?”

“I’m up for it. I’ll be right back.” I go in the bathroom and put on the black bikini. When I come out, Garret’s waiting in his swim trunks.
 

“Okay, I’m ready.”

His eyes drift up and down my body, lingering at my breasts, which look even bigger than normal because the bikini top pushes them up and creates a lot of cleavage.
 

“Holy, shit, Jade. That is hot. Where did you get that?”

“Harper’s sister.” I spin around to show him the back.

“Remind me to thank her.”
 

When I turn back around he’s standing right in front of me.

“Yeah, it’ll be great for this summer.”

“I don’t think I can let you wear that in public. You’ll have guys all over you. You’ll definitely have
me
all over you.” He leaves kisses along my shoulder and starts untying the strings of my top.

“Garret. The hot tub, remember?”

He pulls away and looks at me again. “Yeah. I don’t think we’ll be in there very long.”

And we’re not. The bikini leads us right back to the bed.

The next morning, we sleep in, eat a late breakfast, then have our couple’s massage. I don’t like to be touched by strangers, so at first I’m a little on edge, but as soon as the woman begins rubbing the tension out of my shoulders I totally relax. By the time she makes it to my back I’m almost asleep.
 

After the massages we have lunch, then walk on the beach. It’s crazy how warm it is for February—65 degrees, although it feels cooler than that with the ocean breeze.
 

Garret takes photos of me on the beach to send to Frank and Ryan. Then I collect shells and colored stones to take back to my dorm room.
 

“Ooh! Look at this one.” I reach down and pick up a silvery blue shell.

“Lilly does the same thing when we go to the beach,” Garret says.

I laugh. “Are you saying I’m like a little kid?”
 

“No.” He stops to kiss me. “I just like seeing you happy. You’re happy, right, Jade?”

I kiss him back. “I’m very happy.”

“Good.” He looks down at my shells. I’ve collected so many I had to curl up the bottom of my shirt to use as a make-shift bag. “I can hold those for you if you want to get some more.”

“That’s okay. I have plenty. Let’s go inside so I can clean them off.”

Back in the room, Garret watches TV while I rinse the dirt and sand off my shells in the bathroom sink.
 

“I guess my dad won’t be home for Valentine’s Day,” I hear Garret say from the living room.

“How do you know that?” I go in the living room and join him on the couch. “Did he call?”
 

“He’s on TV. I just saw him at a fundraiser in Florida for Kent Gleason.” He points to the screen. “Right there. You see him? He’s standing off to the side.”

“Your dad didn’t tell you he was going there?”

“He travels all the time. I never know where he is.” Garret leans back and puts his feet up on the leather ottoman in front of the couch. “I wonder if he’s meeting that woman. Maybe that’s why he wanted to get away this weekend.”

“Where does she live again?”

“She lives in DC, but she travels just as much as he does, so it wouldn’t surprise me if—” He stops and watches as the camera scans the crowd. “Yep. I just saw her. So I guess we know what he’ll be doing for Valentine’s Day.”

I back myself into the pillows at the end of the couch and rest my feet against Garret’s leg. “Does it bother you that he cheats on Katherine? I know you hate her, but still.”

“I don’t really care.” His eyes remain on the TV, which shows Kent Gleason shaking hands with people in the crowd. “It’s none of my business. Besides, Katherine’s probably cheating, too.”

His answer makes it sound like cheating isn’t that big a deal. I don’t think he meant it that way, but then again, I’m not really sure.

“Garret, would you ever cheat? Like if you got tired of your wife? Or if you didn’t like her anymore?”

He picks up my feet, placing them across his lap. “I’d never cheat on my wife. If I wasn’t happy in my marriage, I’d get a divorce, not have an affair. Why are you asking me this?”

“No reason. I was just making conversation.”

He reaches for the remote and shuts the TV off. “You’re such a horrible liar. Just admit it. You think I’ll be like my father someday.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. I can tell you’re thinking it.” He holds his hand out. “Come over here.”
 

I grab his hand and scoot over on the couch. He lifts me up and sits me on his lap, facing him. “I’d never cheat on you, Jade. Not as your boyfriend. Not as your husband. I’m not my father and I’m not my grandfather.”

“But they probably didn’t think they’d cheat when they got married and look what happened.”

I glance down, but he tips my chin up with his hand and locks his eyes on mine. “I’m not like them. Cheating’s not an option. It’s not even on the table.”

“What about divorce? You just said you’d get a divorce if you weren’t happy in your marriage. But you’re not going to be happy all the time. Nobody is.”

“Divorce is the absolute last option. If things weren’t working between us, we’d fix them. We’d do whatever we have to do. I’m not taking the easy way out.”

“Well, you might—” He puts his finger to my lips.

“Listen, Jade. I love you more than anything in this world. And if I’m ever lucky enough to get you to be my wife, there’s no way in hell I’m letting you go.”

Did he just come up with that? Because what he just said was perfect. In fact, I’d like to frame what he said and hang it on my wall so I can read it over and over again.
 

It’s one of those times when I’m so blown away by his sweet words that I can’t seem to find any of my own. So I just wrap my arms around him and hug him. I love him so much right now that if he got down on one knee and proposed, I’d say yes. It would be completely crazy and I know it’s too soon, but I know for sure now that this is the man I want to be with forever.
 

“You’re good with words, Garret.” I shift off his lap and sit next to him on the couch.

He looks surprised. “I am? Why? What did I say?”

“It’s just a general comment.”
 

Why do I have such a hard time with this? Why can’t I tell Garret how much he means to me or how much I appreciate the little things he does or says, like that statement he just made? What is wrong with me? He pours his heart out to me and I just sit there, afraid to tell him how I feel.

“It sounded like a compliment,” he says. “So I’m taking it as such because I don’t get many of those from you.”

See? Why don’t I give him more compliments? I’m a crappy, crappy girlfriend. And I can’t seem to fix myself.

“I made dinner reservations for 7, so we should probably get ready,” Garret says. “We’re eating here at the hotel. People come from all over just to eat at this restaurant, so it must be good.”

“I’m sure it is. Everything at this place is great.”

“And since we have to drive back tomorrow I made reservations at a restaurant that’s close to my house. It’s a nice place so they make you dress up. I was planning to stop by my house to change so I don’t have to wear my suit in the car. You can change there, too, if you want.”

“When did you plan all this? Because it had to have taken a ton of time.”

“I wanted it to be special. And special takes time.”

“Well, thanks for doing it. All of it. I’ll never forget this.”

“Then it was worth all the planning.” He gets up from the couch and goes in the bedroom. He returns with two wrapped packages; one big, one small. “Even though it’s not technically Valentine’s Day until tomorrow, I’m giving you your gifts now. You may want them for tonight.”

He hands me the larger box first. It’s covered in pink and white paper and looks like it was professionally wrapped.

“Garret, I feel really bad that I didn’t get you anything. I seriously need to find a job.”

“You’re not getting a job. My gift is having you here with me. Plus that black bikini, which I want to see you in again before we leave. Now are you going to open that or what?”

I open the box and inside is the pink lingerie he hinted at back in my room. It’s a silk and lace camisole with matching panties. The pink is a very light pink, not a hot pink or a kid-like pink.
 

“I like it,” I say, holding it up. “I even like the pink. Did you actually go and pick this out like last time?”

“I did,” he says smugly.

“And you weren’t embarrassed?”

“I have no problem picking that stuff out. The first time I went into one of those stores I felt a little uncomfortable, but I’m good now. I’ve got it figured out.”
 

I roll my eyes. “Oh, really? And what did you figure out?”

“It’s all about confidence. You can’t be intimated by those sales girls. And let me tell you, they try to intimidate you. They come at you with all these questions. But the trick is to tell them you don’t need help and then just pick something out. It shocks them. They don’t know how to react. They’re so used to guys wandering around looking lost.”