“You were right,” I smiled softly. I’d missed my mom. I should really see her more often. “I’ve missed you,” I admitted.
Her eyes shone as we stopped in front of our cars. “I’ve missed you too, hon. I know things have been busy with the mansion. How are things with Jackson? I never hear anything.”
I rolled my eyes again, then felt my cheeks grow warm before answering, “Things are good. Really good.”
“I’m glad. I always liked Jackson.” I nodded, I knew as much. Mom had sort of adopted him into our family.
“When the renovations are fully done, you can come over for a barbeque in the garden. Ida too. I know Jackson would love you both spending time there with us before we open for our members.”
“I still can’t believe you’re doing that,” Mom laughed. I’d been horrified when Jackson had told her what his plans were back when we’d told them we were moving in together. But Mom had merely laughed and asked a bunch of questions. Like how would we vet the members? Where would we find them? Cleaners? Cooks? She had ideas too, much to my added horror.
“Jackson is excited about it,” I said, not defensively, but I needed her to know I was fully on board since my man wanted this.
“I have no doubt. He couldn’t stop talking about it and his many plans. I like that you’ll have that together. Some people say you shouldn’t work with your partner, but I believe you’re the sort of couple who works great together. You’ll build each other up and help make sure you both succeed. And I can’t wait to see where you’ll end up together.”
I was too speechless to answer. I knew she liked Jackson, and that she supported our future business. But this was way more support and trust than I’d ever expected, ever hoped for. In the end I ended up just saying, “Thank you.” And then my phone rang. It seemed my man couldn’t stand me not being there anymore. So, I kissed Mom on the cheek and told Jackson I’d be home soon.
Chapter 28
Jackson
How was I supposed to hide a cat tree and all those other things from Pete? I’d called him to ask how it was going, and was pleased beyond belief when he’d said he was driving home now. I just hadn’t taken into account how unhinged I’d gotten with the online purchases and now I had to hide them away.
I’d just managed to dump everything into the attic, not even caring to look through the rest of the stuff up there before hurrying back down the stairs. I stumbled a bit on the way down, but somehow my body moved just right and I righted myself before tumbling down. Phew! I needed to pay more attention and maybe not run down the stairs in the future.
I willed my body to relax after the almost fall, and moved into the kitchen. I figured Pete would appreciate a drink when he got home, and maybe a foot rub. Or back rub. Or an all over body rub…Right! Drink. I was practicing my bartending skills, hoping I could make some fantastic drinks for our future members. The less personnel we had to hire, the better. And I liked learning this stuff. It was surprisingly fun mixing different things together and creating these colorful drinks. And the flavor combinations were fun to figure out too.
Since Pete wasn’t old enough to drink yet—and seemed to prefer not to do it at home either—I made him a virgin piña colada. Not that it was the season for it. It was the start of spring, but I knew he loved pineapple, so I figured this would be a pleasant surprise for him. Not to mention that it was this drink I’d worked most on perfecting while he was away. Harold and his men had loved being my guinea pigs. The non-alcohol part helped too. There was just something magical about seeing these ripped men wearing their construction uniforms, all dirtied up while drinking a piña colada with a little pink umbrella in it.
The sound of the front door unlocking had me picking up my pace. I blended the mixture, then, knowing Pete was alerted to where I was by the sound, I quickly dumped the mixture into a tall glass, then picked out a lime green umbrella with pink polka dots on it and stuck it in and voila!
“Hey, sexy,” he grinned and I turned to give him the biggest hug ever. He let out an ‘oomph’ as I tugged him close.
“I missed you so much, baby,” I whispered, then kissed him. He returned the kiss eagerly, moaning into my mouth as I devoured him. I let my left hand cup his ass while my right hand held his nape. He was surrendering to my control and I loved it. I craved it. His warmth seeped into my cold body and everything felt right again.
The abandoned drink made a sound and I figured one of us must have bumped it a little. Luckily, it hadn’t spilled and I figured it was a sign to stop kissing and let my man enjoy his drink before I enjoyed him. I stepped back, breathing hard as I gestured to the drink. “For me?” he asked, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of love and lust. My favorite combination.
“Of course, it’s for you, baby. A virgin piña colada. I’ve been practicing,” I stated, proudly.
“Really?” He sounded so happy by that, and I guess him seeing me enjoy new hobbies was a good thing. I felt much happier myself. Especially now that he was home again.
“I forced them on Harold and the guys,” I admitted with a shrug.
“I’m sure they were horrified,” he nodded in agreement before smiling and tasting his drink. “Wow! This is amazing!”
“Truly? You’re not just saying that?”
“Fuck no, I want more of these. Can it be a once-a-day sort of treat? There needs to be perks to being owners of the company, right? I want a daily piña colada with my name on it.” I chuckled and just took him in. He was humming with delight as he drank, a slight bounce to his hips as if he was trying to stop himself from dancing with happiness.
I was so in love with him.
When the drink was empty, he pouted and gave me puppy dog eyes, which were awfully effective with his big brown eyes. “I can make you another one,” I relented, knowing fully well his once-a-day drink just turned into a twice-a-day thing.
With his second drink in hand, I walked him through everything that had happened with the renovations while he was gone. I really didn’t want to ask questions, especially not when I noticed he was still wearing the same clothes. I hadn’t realized until now that he hadn’t even had a bag of personal items with him. Not unless he had a to-go bag ready in the car. Which I doubted. It had to have been a rough case and I was even more relieved to know he was done with it.
“Have you told Rino?” I asked, wondering if his boss would turn up at our doorstep begging for Pete to return to work. I didn’t know what Pete had done for them exactly, but he seemed important to Rino.
“Not yet. I haven’t even told my mom yet, either. I figured she deserved to know first so she wouldn’t accidentally overhear at work and feel hurt over me not telling her myself.”
