Page 32 of As Long As You Kiss Me

When he came back in with his purchases, Sully turned to him from where she stood at the table.

“So what is it?” She came over to him.

“Open it up and see.” He handed her the bag.

She pulled a box out. “A security camera. What a great idea.” She turned it over and read the information on the back. “I hadn’t even thought of using one.” She raised her eyes to him. “You’re not getting me this so you can watch me from afar, are you?”

“Oh yeah, totally. Because I’m a creeper like that.”

She laughed. “I was only kidding.”

“I know. I got you three of them. You can set them up at the front door, the living room, and your bedroom. There’s an app you can download that lets you see what’s going on.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Thank you, Jackson. This is so generous of you, even if you do plan on spying on me while I’m getting changed.”

“You’ve uncovered my master plan. If you’d like, I can install them for you after we eat,” Jackson offered.

“Just what I need.”

“Great. I’m going to eat because I’m starving.”

He set the bag with the remaining two cameras on the couch and headed to the table to get his food. Sully had already gotten out a plate for him, so he opened the little white box with the orange chicken and dished some out with a fork. The fried rice box was still open, so he got some out from there too.

“This stuff is so good it would be worth it to get fat off of it,” Sully said.

“I don’t know about that. I don’t want to think about what this food is doing to my body. I just want to eat it and enjoy.” He settled in a chair next to Sully and dug into his dinner.

“Amen to that.” Sully raised her fork in agreement.

She was so beautiful. He took a moment to sit back and watch her as she enjoyed her food. He longed to reach out and brush back a renegade strand of hair from her face, but he didn’t dare.

They sat in a comfortable silence as they ate the rest of their food. When he was full, he looked over at Sully. She’d set her fork down and pushed her plate away.

“I’m stuffed. Thank you for the yummy dinner.”

“No problem. Should we get busy installing these cameras?”

“They won’t install themselves.”

“That would be nice if they did.” Jackson stood up and took his plate to the sink, rinsing it before putting it in the dishwasher.

“Oh, so you clean up after yourself.” Sully came up beside him and began rinsing her plate.

He took it from her and put it in the dishwasher. “My mama taught me well. I wouldn’t dare do anything differently.”

“Sounds like she raised you right.”

“I don’t know how true that is. She did her best. I don’t always follow everything she taught me.”

“I’d say she did a pretty good job. I think you’re a great guy.” She looked up at him, and he felt his heart do a little flip-flop in his chest. He was getting more pulled in by the second.

“You don’t know everything about me though,” he said.

“Are you trying to tell me you have a dark side?”

“I’m not exactly squeaky clean. If you knew everything, you wouldn’t think I was that great.”

“I can’t tell whether that’s true or not, unless you’re willing to tell me what you mean.” Sully crossed the room to where the cameras were.

---