Page 34 of Beyond the Cage
“Calm down. Your heart can’t take all the excitement.”
Stella motions to the men on the other side of the room. “Look around, honey. He’s about all the excitement we’re gonna get.”
“When’s he going to marry you?”
I turn to Grace, unable to hide my shock. Okay…that caught me off guard. The other ladies nod and watch me with hopeful expressions.
“It’s way too early to be talking about marriage. I barely know him.”
“My Henry and I, God rest his soul, married after two months. We had fifty-eight wonderful years.”
“Yeah, well, at least Henry spoke, Delilah.”
“Yeah, what’s the deal with that?” she asks.
“I wish I knew.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re a good girl. It’ll all work out. Especially if you make him these cookies.”
I smile as everyone nods in agreement. “Thanks, guys.”
I’m in higher spirits by the time I arrive home. I’m also in a much better frame of mind to deal with Mr. Jackson. I head straight for the shower because he should be here any minute. Hopefully.
When I step out of the shower, there’s a knock at the door.Is he early?I wrap my towel around me and make my way to the door.
“Who is it?”
No answer. Just another knock. I roll my eyes.This dude…
I crack the door open and peek through the space. My mouth falls open in shock. Oh, he’s standing there, all right. Dressed in a suit....a frickin’ suit! It’s simple – black suit, white shirt, black tie but…dear God, he looks like strawberries dipped in chocolate and covered in whipped cream. The thing fits him like a fucking latex glove. The last button on his jacket is undone and one hand is shoved in his pocket. In the other hand, he’s clutching roses…red roses…a whole lot of red roses. He’s flashing his sexy smile and, as usual, I want to throw myself at him. I don’t know how I’m doing it, but I restrain myself. I open the door all the way in order to improve my view. His smile fades and his eyes become cloudy, the ‘sell my soul’ look taking over. It shakes me to the core, and I want to beg him to pull me into his arms.Shake it off, Carter!
“You look…”gorgeous, beautiful, fucking hot!“nice. Where are you off to?” God, he smells good! He hands me the roses, still staring. “Thank you. Are you going to come in?”
He steps inside and closes the door, finally looking me in the eyes.Did he get all dressed up for me? Let’s see.
“I didn’t know you had plans. I would have –”
Shaking his head, he cuts me off, pointing to himself then to me.
“You and me?”
Nod.
“Where are we going?”
He just smiles. Nothing else. I take a deep breath.
“Fine. You put these in water while I get dressed.” I hand him the roses. “There’s a vase in the cupboard under the sink.”
I start thinking about what I’m going to wear as I walk to my bedroom. By the time I get to the closet, I’ve decided on my white, spaghetti strap cocktail dress with the gold-embellished empire waist. I place it on the bed and also reach for my strappy gold heels and clutch. I find underwear then head to the bathroom to fix my hair and makeup. I’m actually excited. This is our firstrealdate. When I’m done with my makeup, I put my hair half-up, half-down, fastening it with a gold clip. I twirl my finger in the strands at the side of my face, giving them a little curl. Perfect. Now to get dressed.
I return to the living room to find him sitting on the couch. Looking over as I enter, he jumps out of his seat, mouth open in awe. I can see it in his stare that he approves, but it would be nice to hear it for once.
“This is the part where you tell me how beautiful I look.”
Something flashes in his eyes that looks like disappointment – not in me, but in himself. I give him an encouraging smile even though my brain is telling me I shouldn’t feel sorry for him. He raises his hand to my cheek, and I close my eyes as he strokes it with the backs of his fingers. I breathe him in slowly. He smells amazing – woodsy, like freshly cut cedar. I force my eyes open, trying to clear the fog in my brain.
“This should be an interesting night. Let’s go, Mr. Jackson.”
