But watching her fight for the underdog at his headquarters, and now sitting here next to her when the case was essentially over, all he could think of was how foolish he’d been to push her away. Because somewhere just beneath the surface of his skin, he realized what his father had been trying to tell him. Aja Everett wasn’t like any other woman he’d encountered, and he’d screwed up royally by not making her part of his life.
He pulled through the front gates of her ranch, and heaviness filled his chest. The band grew tighter as he neared the house, the discomfort of each breath a reminder he was about to give up something precious.
He brought the truck to a stop behind one of his father’s security trucks parked in front of the house, then got out and walked around to her side of the truck to open her door. He knew she didn’t need him to do that or hold her hand as she stepped down on the running boards, then onto the ground. It was all for him. An action that allowed him to take care of her one more time because after tonight, he wouldn’t get the opportunity again.
He followed her to the bottom of the porch and stayed there as she walked up the steps. When Aja turned to see the security guard standing there, Jackson waved his hand and said, “You can return to your original post.” The man acknowledged Jackson, then Aja, before making his way down the steps of the front porch and walking to the truck parked in front of Jackson’s.
He’d hoped she’d keep walking once the security guard left, that she wouldn’t notice he was no longer following her. That way, he wouldn’t have to explain that if he stepped inside alone with her right now, he might never leave.
“You’re not coming in?”
He shook his head. “Until I get the call that Bennett is in custody, I want to keep an eye out on the perimeter of the house. I can watch the security feed from my car. As tired as I am, I don’t trust myself to do this from your comfy couch.”
“Don’t you need to be there for the arrest?”
“No, Colton sent me a text that the arrest warrant came through right after we left. Another team will handle the arrest. Bennett should be in custody soon.”
She smiled, but it was weak, not like her usual that seemed to radiate light all around her.
“I guess your job is done, then?”
He slowly bobbed his head. “This part of the job is done. If this goes to court, I’ll have to testify. But mostly, this portion of the investigation is over. The new focus will look into Bennett’s affairs to see if he’s been up to anything else, but as far as you’re concerned, it’s finished, Aja. Wrap-up will consist of my father completing the new security measures he’s already started implementing and switching the cameras from our private network in the van to your network here on the ranch. You should probably give Seneca fair warning; he’ll need to contact her about that.”
He saw the tremble in her smile and the way she wrapped her arms around herself. She had a jacket on—the days still reached the sixties and seventies, but at night, the temperature could drop as low as the thirties. Watching the sadness fill her eyes made him guess her shivering had nothing to do with the chill in the air.
“You okay?” He ran up the stairs and reached out to comfort her, but she straightened her shoulders, plastering a weary smile on her face as if to reassure him everything was fine, even when he knew it wasn’t.
“Would you wait here for a second? I have something I need to get.”
“Sure.”
She disappeared inside, and a few moments later, she reappeared with a gift-wrapped, medium-size square box in her arms.
“What’s this?”
“It’s something for you.”
Nerves—no, excitement—hell, he couldn’t tell which—were making his stomach dance in a weird way. “Aja, I can’t accept a gift from you for doing my job.”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Forever the Boy Scout.”
“You mean cowboy.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Whatever. Listen, this isn’t about your job. This is about all the things you did for me that weren’t part of your job.”
“Aja, giving me a gift for that is sort of like paying for services rendered. That’s kind of illegal.”
She moved over to a nearby porch table and set the box down before closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Saints alive, save me from this man’s stupidity.”
A hearty laugh bubbled up in his chest, making his shoulders shake. “What does a concrete princess like you know about that expression, ‘Saints alive’?”
“I keep telling you, I may have been born and raised and even lived most of my life in Brooklyn, but my heart was always here on this ranch in Fresh Springs, Texas.”
She smoothed her hand gently over the box, then looked up at him, the delight of the moment fighting to push her sadness to the fringes. “This isn’t about your work or the sex, Jackson. This is about the important things you did while you were here. Comforting me after the attack, getting your dad and brother out here to set up my security, as well as the deep, deep discount I’m sure you convinced your dad to give me. All of it was beyond the call of duty. I appreciate all of it. I wanted to give you a little something to say thanks.”
He stood there, staring at the beautiful lines and curves of her face, the dark eyes wide with sincerity, the genuine smile that spread the full lips of her mouth into a perfect bow, and he ached to touch her. But he knew if he started, he’d never stop, so he reached for the bow on top of the box instead.
She placed her hand on his, sending a jolt of electricity through his skin, the spark splitting, jumping from one nerve to the other, a charge of something bright and powerful taking over his senses. “Don’t open it. Not yet anyway.”
