“I didn’t say that, I just asked you to wait out here for a bit,” Jackson counters.
I let out a soft chuckle. “Um…okay. What’s the surprise?”
“Here—” Jackson reaches around from behind me to cover my eyes with his hand and then starts prodding me forward.
Whenever Jackson is this close to me it’s difficult to concentrate on anything else, even under normal circumstances, but without my vision everything is heightened; the feel of his beard scratching my neck, his hot breath on my skin, his strong arms wrapped around me as he guides me forward. “You know, I’ve never been into the blindfold thing before but I think it might be something we should keep in the back pocket,” I murmur.
He lets out a breath of amusement. “Really?”
“Would you like that?”
“I might,” he murmurs. “But no handcuffs. I need you touching me.”
“I know. I need that too.”
Just as I’m about to suggest we go try out a blindfold right now, Jackson draws us to a halt and shuffles back a step. “Ready?”
Oh, right. The surprise. And Steph is here—no blindfolds right now then. I sigh. “I don’t know. I know it’s not you naked, I can’t smell bacon, and I can’t hear any of the muffled pleas for help that I’d expect if you’d kidnapped Oscar Isaac and had him tied up and gagged in a corner. So unless he’s passed out…”
“Alas, my love for you doesn’t extend to felony kidnapping of a celebrity,” Jackson says wryly. “Although I’m curious to know what you plan to do with a bound and gagged Oscar Isaac.”
“Obviously I’d release him,” I explain. “Then I’d get him to put on his Moon knight costume and work as my personal butler for the rest of his life.”
“You’re going to make a great lawyer, Skyler,” Steph says dryly.
I flash a bright smile. “Thanks, Steph.”
“Well, I apologize for crushing your dream of becoming a twenty-first century celebrity slave-owner,” Jackson says. “I hope this makes up for it.”
He lowers his hand from my eyes and I find myself staring at the closed door of Rocket’s bedroom. I kind of figured the surprise had something to do with this seeing as how I saw Jackson coming out of here not long ago, but when Jackson opens the door to reveal the interior, I feel my jaw practically hitting the floor.
I’ve been so busy at work this week I’ve been crawling into bed as soon as I got home and have barely given the cat room a thought. But Jackson’s been hard at work. The room is incredible. Even better than the cat paradise I imagined in my whirlwind of enthusiasm last weekend.
The climbing tree I was struggling to assemble last week is in the center of the room, with a spiral staircase-style climber in the far corner and wooden planks fastened to the walls. They’re of varying sizes and placed all around the room, connecting together in a kind of multi-leveled circuit so that Rocket can climb up and down and around the room from either of the climbers or various points on the walls. There’s a comfy looking ottoman in another corner that I have no memory of buying, with one of the cat mats sitting on top of it. It’s framed by two of the tall plants I bought, and the other one is in the third corner, next to the cabinet that houses Rocket’s litter box. Two pots of the cat grass have been set on top of that cabinet, and the other one is conveniently placed in front of the cat TV—AKA the window.
The window was something I was fretting about last weekend, because it’s just a little too high up for a sofa or ottoman to be any good. But Jackson’s come up with the simple yet brilliant solution of a square bar table. The pot of cat grass and one of the cat mats are sitting on top; and so is Rocket. He’s currently curled up on the velvet mat, staring curiously at the apartment building across from ours.
“Jesus Christ, Jax,” I gush, still gaping around the room in awe. “This is incredible. How the hell did you do all this?”
A bashful smile crosses his face. It’s adorable. “Drew helped a lot. And the actually doing it part wasn’t all that hard—especially because it doesn’t really matter if the shelves aren’t exactly level,” he explains. “But I needed to watch atonof YouTube clips to work out exactly what needed to be done. That took a while.”
“It’s incredible,” I gush, gazing around the room again before flashing my boyfriend a broad grin. I reach for him and pull him into my arms, nuzzling my temple against his and kissing his cheek. “I love it so much. It’s perfect.”
“Aww. You two are just socute,”Steph coos. “But can I ask, sweet child of mine, is the reason you didn’t want me to see this room before now because you were waiting for Skyler to explain why the cat gets a bedroom while I’m on the couch?”
Jackson holds his hands up in defense. “Hey, it’shiscat.”
“Ourcat,” I correct firmly. I turn my glance to Steph, offering a quirk of my lips. “Jackson pretends hie doesn’t like Rocket but I’ve seen themcuddling.”
“Those cuddles were foisted on me,” Jackson protests.
I arch a brow at him. “And I suppose Rocket stole your credit card and bought that ottoman over there all on his own? Naughty cat—looks expensive.”
Jackson’s cheeks flame. “It’s to keep all his fucking toys out of the way. And it matches the decor.”
“Oh, Jackson, you’re acatperson,” Steph teases.
“Am not,” Jackson scowls.
