“Part of being a business owner is the ability to change. To make things work even if they aren’t quite the plan. Now, you get to see my favorite place in the world. This is my sanctuary. I don’t let just anyone here.”
“You don’t?” Emma asked. “Is that what you tell all the girls?”
Jackson shook his head. “You are the first woman I’ve ever brought here,” he admitted. “I know that sounds like a great line, but it isn’t. This place is special to me. It’s mine. No one knows about it.”
He looked around the room with soft eyes and Emma had no reason to doubt him.
“Thank you for sharing this with me.”
He squeezed her hands. “We’re supposed to share everything, right? Besides, it felt right to bring you here.”
Warmth blossomed in her chest. He was going to give this marriage a real go. This wasn’t just all business to him. He wanted to make it work with her.
She made the decision to officially say yes right then. It wasn’t the fancy boat, the nice meal, or the house. It was that he was sharing it with her. He was opening up his world to her, giving her the chance to really be a part of his life.
That made the contract something she could do.
“Let me show you the kitchen,” Jackson said. “Dinner isn’t quite ready yet, but the sunset view is the best from in there.”
He pulled on her hand, giddy like a child showing her a prized possession. She grinned, following quickly behind him. He brought her around a corner into a beautiful stainless steel kitchen. It wasn’t big, but it was all state of the art.
Something simmered on the stove-top that smelled absolutely divine. Her mouth started watering.
“Take a seat anywhere. I just need to set up a few things,” he said, going to the sink and washing his hands. He picked up a wooden spoon. “I have shrimp, Italian bread, a salad, and some dessert.”
“That sounds amazing,” she told him, walking into the kitchen. The scent of rosemary and wine hung in the air and she breathed it in deeply.
“I had more planned.”
“I appreciate this,” she said, coming close to him.
Now that her mind was made up, she wasn’t nervous. This felt right. She went up on tiptoes and kissed his lips.
It was a small kiss. Just a peck, yet it sent shock waves through her core.
Jackson froze, his eyes going wide. He tipped his head, wanting to ask the question. Was she saying yes to him?
“Yes,” she told him. “My answer is yes. And it’s not the house that did it. It was you.”
He blinked twice before a slow smile bloomed. He set down his wooden spoon and put his hands on either side of her face. His eyes filled her vision as he looked her over. She loved that his pupils dilated as he looked at her.
And then he kissed her.
On a
scale of one to ten, this kiss was a fifteen. Sweet, sensual, sexy, spicy, and so much more. She couldn’t come up with the words to describe the kiss.
“How about we wait on dinner?” she whispered, suddenly filled with a different kind of hunger.
He grinned and kissed her again, reaching behind him and turning the stove-top to low.
Chapter 11
Jackson
* * *
Jackson wrapped his arms around Emma, loving the way she seemed to fit so perfectly in them. She was made for him. He kissed her fiercely, tasting her sweetness as they stumbled from the kitchen and out into the living room.