After the last of our climaxes left our bodies and we caught our breath, Jackson smiled at me ruefully as he looked down at the floor. We had knocked over the container of ice cream in our frenzied coupling, and ice cream was now dripping down the cabinets and all over the floor.
Even though it had been a pain to clean up the sticky mess, Jackson's suggestive comment this morning about the cream cheese made me forget the effort it had taken to clean the kitchen. Instead, I remembered how much fun it had been to clean each other in the shower afterwards.
But I resisted the urge to act on Jackson's invitation. I was nervous about the party tonight and wanted to spend the day shopping, determined to find a dress that would make Jackson proud to have me on his arm. I was surprised when he said he would join me. The Jackson of five years ago often went shopping with me, holding my bags and leering playfully as I modeled the clothes I tried on for him. But I didn't expect the Jackson of today to want to do something as monotonous as shopping. Regardless, I was happy to accept his offer to accompany me and we were finishing up bagels we had ordered in before we hit the stores.
Jackson shrugged when I didn't bite at his invitation with the cream cheese. "We can always save it for next time. At least we don't have to worry about it melting and making a mess."
I laughed, even though I felt my cheeks warming. I could be so wanton and illicit with Jackson in the heat of passion, but sometimes in the light of day, it still dumbfounded me how raw I could get with Jackson in the haze of arousal.
"I didn't know you were so into food and sex."
Jackson gave me a half-smile, looking irresistible as a shaft of morning light coming in through the window made his dark brown hair shine with golden highlights. His green eyes looked brilliant against the backdrop of his tanned skin, his dimples peeking out at me. Jackson's muscled forearms looked strong and powerful as he rested them on the breakfast table, leaning towards me. My heart felt too full, as if it was going to burst with happiness and relief. I never thought I would feel this way again, that I would be sitting across from Jackson feeling fulfilled and desired.
"Me neither. I'm learning that I'm into anything that involves you."
I lifted up my hand, brushing a lock of his hair back that had fallen onto his forehead. Jackson caught my hand in his, lowering it and turning his head to kiss my palm softly.
"I'm happy our ending was different from Hubbell and Katie's," he said quietly. My heart fluttered from his reference to The Way We Were, not realizing that my gesture mirrored the ending of the movie until Jackson mentioned it. "It would kill me if I had to walk away from you because of my own stupid mistakes."
I smiled at Jackson tenderly, my love for him surging through me. "We got to rewrite our ending. Maybe we should be thanking Candace for being a scheming liar."
Jackson smiled ruefully. "I don't know if I would go that far, but it did bring us together, which I'm grateful for. Now that we're back together, I can't remember how I lived life without you."
I smiled sweetly at Jackson but then caught sight of the clock on the wall behind him. I stood up, grabbing our coffee cups. "I'd love to stay here all day gazing into each other's eyes and waxing poetic about our relationship, but I have some shopping to do."
Jackson grinned, slapping me lightly on the behind. "Brat. That's what I get for trying to be romantic." Nevertheless, he stood and picked up our plates, following me into the kitchen. "Where do you want to go shopping?"
"Let's try Bloomingdale's first. We can work our way downtown if I don't find anything there."
"Why don't we just go to Fifth Avenue? All the stores are on one street so we don't have to run around the city. My assistant can call for private appointments, if you want. She knows more about that kind of stuff than I do."
I raised an eyebrow at Jackson. "Since when do you have an assistant?"
Jackson quirked his mouth, looking slightly abashed. "Unfortunately it comes with the territory. Marcie hired one without even telling me years ago, and I didn't have the heart to fire her. But Sherry, my assistant, doesn't get to do much. I usually don't even have her travel with me so she's twiddling her thumbs back in L.A. Calling stores and setting up appointments would give her something to do."
"Thanks for the offer, but I think my landlord would prefer me paying my rent this month, and I have a feeling that shopping in stores that take private appointments might be out of my price range."
"I'm buying your dress," Jackson said, frowning. His brows were furrowed together and I had a feeling that we were about to have a battle of wills.
"Jackson," I said, placing my hand on his arm to gentle my words. "I appreciate the offer, but I can afford to buy my own dress."
Jackson's frown became even more pronounced. "I didn't say you couldn't afford to buy your own dress. I said that I'm buying the dress for you. You're the one doing me a favor by coming with me tonight." Jackson's expression grew fiercer as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close. "Besides, we're together now. If I want to buy my woman a dress, I'm damn well going to buy her a dress."
"I just-" I hesitated, trying to choose words that wouldn't offend Jackson, but I couldn't forget the dozens of articles I had read accusing me of being a gold-digger. "I don't want you to think that you have to shower me with gifts. I don't want you for your money."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, otherwise I'm going to be seriously angry that you would ever think I would believe that. Don't start believing the crap they write in that trash they call magazines." Jackson increased the pressure of his arm, pushing me closer so that I had to tip my head back to keep eye contact with him. He looked grim as he gazed down at me. "I'm buying you a dress because you belong to me. If I want to spend money on you, that's my prerogative. You're mine and I take care of what's mine."
Jackson's possessive forcefulness took my breath away and I felt equal parts frustrated and pleased. It thrilled me to hear Jackson say I belonged to him, but another part of me wondered if this kind of attachment was unhealthy. I couldn't help wondering if the co-dependency in our prior relationship had pushed him towards Claire. I forced the thought from my mind, not wanting to depress myself. I just decided to let it go today and let Jackson have his way. I was hoping that we had a lifetime together to negotiate the terms of our relationship.
"Okay," I relented. "But no private appointments. Let's just shop like we're normal people." On that note, I glanced at his outfit. He was wearing his standard casual outfit, jeans and a well-worn t-shirt, but I frowned at his bare head. "Shouldn't you wear a cap? Do you have sunglasses with you? Everyone will recognize you."