Hope for Us (Hope Series Book #3) (16 page)

“Will you guys excuse me?” I waved my phone. “I have to handle something real quick.”

“Sure,” Mr. Griffin said.

Goosebumps popped up all over my skin as I walked through the restaurant. The world was watching me.

Jackson exited his car and a group of dinner guest stood waiting to get an autograph. He wore a dark grey suit with red pen strips. The coat fit him so well. It must have been tailored. He wore a white shirt and a dark red tie. I watched him deal with the people and their requests. He answered all their questions and signed a program from today’s game and a jersey. As he signed, he looked over at me and winked.

“Excuse me guys,” he said as he approached me.

He leaned over and kissed me on the lips and then pulled me into a hug.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I am now,” I said and sighed in relief inhaling the sent that is unique to Jackson. I held him tighter.

“Come on, let’s go inside.”

I wasn’t ready to join the group yet, but we couldn’t talk out here. He laced his fingers in mine and pulled me into the restaurant.

“Hi, Jerry,” Jackson said to the manager as we entered.

“Jackson, hell of a game today, my friend. Hell of a game.”

“Thank you.” He shook the guy’s hand. “Listen, is there someplace private I can talk to my girl.”

“Sure. Follow me.” He led us down a hallway, and we entered a private dining room.

“I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed.” He winked and closed the door.

“Oh, my God, that guy thinks were going to have sex in here,” I said.

A grin spread across Jackson lips and my insides tingled. It might not be a bad idea. Jackson approached me and as soon as he had me in his grasp, he pulled me to him and placed a kiss on my lips that I felt in my toes. I moaned as his tongue and hands explored me like new land to discover. He had touched my body everywhere, but it felt different every time.

He cradled my chin in his hands and tilted my head to kiss me deeper, slower and more deliberate. He ended the kiss with a series of little packs on my cheek and my ear.

“What’s wrong?”

I blinked and leaned back against the table.

“I just all of a sudden realized you were famous.”

“What?” He pulled back.

“And, now I’m famous, too.”  I sat on the table and I looked into his eyes feeling confident to continue to tell him my issues and I knew he wouldn’t judge me. I smiled as he leaned over and kissed the side of my lips.

“What happened?”

“They showed us on television and introduced me to the world as your new girlfriend.”

“Oh, baby. I am so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“I know, but it makes me nervous. Like now that the whole world knows we are together, they are going to feel free to make comments about it.”

“I’m sure no one even paid attention to it.” I unlocked my phone and showed it to him.

He read the text messages. Another one came in while he read.

“Wow, I don't think Kayla is happy.” He showed me her message.

I should have called her, but she’s the one who hung up on me.

“Besides that, did you have a good time at the game?”

“I did. Your parents are awesome. They made me feel welcome and even though you told them to, it seemed sincere.”

“I didn’t tell them to exactly. I told them how I felt about you. They had no choice. You’re not going anywhere,” he said as he stood between my legs.

“You told the suite attendant you’re in love with me. I bet that was super awkward for him.”

“Yeah, no, with him, I promised him cash if he was nice to you.” I placed my hands inside of his jacket and around his waist. I pulled him close. “You know we could.”

Jackson pressed into me. As I opened my mouth to protest, he kissed me.

I pushed him away. “Your family is waiting.”

We had a great time at dinner. I loved hearing stories about Jackson. Jack wore himself out, and he fell asleep as soon as we got him to the car.

Jackson hugged his parents who were catching a flight this evening. Patrick and Brenden where heading out and begged Jackson to join them, but he had other plans.

Jackson followed me home. He carried Jack upstairs and put him to bed. When he leaned over, kissed Jack on his forehead, and whispered, “Sweet dreams, buddy,” I melted into the floor.

Back downstairs, we headed straight to my room. I undressed him, removing his jacket and tie. I unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He had a red bruise on his left side. I touched it and he winced. I leaned over. “What happened?” I kissed it.

“That final tackle when I scrambled in the fourth quarter.”

“Yeah, you should have thrown it away.” I smiled and kissed his bruise.

“Now you’re giving me game advice?”

“Maybe.” I tilted my head up and watched his eyes glaze over as I touched him through his pants.

I unbuttoned his pants and they fell to the ground. Jackson kissed me as he reached down and pulled my dress up over my head. As our lips separated, he pushed me down on the bed. He kneeled at the foot of the bed and pulled me to the edge. He removed my panties and touched me.

“God I love the way you feel.”

He pressed his finger inside of me, and I groaned as he kissed my thigh.

I sat up and his fingers plunged deeper. “Come here.”

I grabbed his chin and he leaned up to kiss me while his fingers worked me and brought me over the edge. I moaned into his mouth and collapsed onto the bed as Jackson's lips worked their way up my body.

“I love the way you taste, too.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him. He winced. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He lifted himself up. “We're going to make this work." Jackson chuckled as he guided me on my side, facing away from him. I shivered as his lips kissed the back of my neck. He entered me from behind and I pressed back to meet him. I brought his hand to my lips and whispered "Thank you," as I kissed it and then rested it on my breast. He squeezed it and started moving inside of me. I whimpered with every thrust. I tried not to move too much. I didn’t want to hurt him, but he didn’t seem to care. He got faster and harder and it didn’t take much to push me over the edge. I felt Jackson’s breath increase as he got close and I guided his hand down to touch me and that was all it took. 

“Oh God.” He played with me and brought me to orgasm again. 

I turned around and found his lips and kissed him even while my orgasm subsided.

“Thank you,” I whispered again.

“What are you thanking me for?”

“For today, for loving me. For ensuring I don’t grow into a bitter lonely old lady.”

“Are you proposing to me?”

“No, I’m serious.” I pushed myself up to look into his eyes and draw the comfort they offered. “If this ...if today is a glimpse into what life with you will be like, I want it. All of it. I want you.”

Jackson searched my face. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

“What?” I asked.

“You just continue to surprise me." He shook his head.

“Is that too much? Did I say too much, too soon?” I lowered my head and tried to breathe through the anxiety attack building in my brain.

He placed his hand over my heart and I looked back up. There was something about when he placed his hand in that exact spot that all was right with the world. 

“I love you, Carrington. I’ve been waiting for you for seven years. It’s never too much, or too soon when it comes to you and me.”

I leaned in to kiss him and he kissed me back, as he pulled me up next to him. We cuddled up together, holding each other and we both fell fast asleep.

The alarm woke me. I rolled over and Jackson had already left. I crawled toward the edge of the bed and unlocked my phone. It opened on the notepad.

I leaned back and reread the message. Lingering over the
I love you
part. We had come a long way. Being open and honest convinced me we could handle anything together.

I pulled myself out of bed and away from Carrington’s nakedness pressed against me. I would rather wake up to her than the sound of my phone, ringing in the other room where I left it. I kissed her on the forehead, put on my clothes, and walked out to the other room to catch it before it woke anyone up.

It was two am.

“Hey Michael, don’t you sleep?”

“Hi Jackson, it could have waited until morning.”

“Well, why didn’t you say that in your text message.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.”

“Well, I’m up now. What’s going on?”

“Listen, this is probably nothing, but someone contacted our office from the Democrat. You know that piece I told you they were doing on you, local college hero made it to the NFL type of stuff. Well they sent us the questions a few days ago, but last night I got additional questions. I guess triggered by Carrington’s national television debut. Thanks for telling me by the way. Anyway, the questions leaned toward the story of you and Josh and Carrington and how you all met.”

“Well, decline the interview.”

“I can, but you know. Maybe we can spin this to make it come out good for you … and for Carrington. I’m afraid if we decline or ask them to stick to the original questions they will kind of run with the story. They are in Tallahassee, and they may find it worth it to dig more.”

“I don’t believe this.” I thought about Carrington telling me how great we were and how she wanted me for the long haul. My status brought up her past, the thing that threatened to keep us apart in the first place.

Every Monday afternoon, the team gathered in the meeting room and watched the game film. The coach handed out grades and pointed out mental errors. There was a good amount of footage capturing a player digging in his nose or worse digging in his ass. I usually enjoyed these sessions, but today, I was anxious. I needed to talk to Carrington.

I headed over to Carrington’s office after the team film session.

I heard her smile over the speakerphone when the receptionist announced me and she said, “Send him back.”

She opened the door and waited for me at the end of the hall. As I passed several cubicles, the entire floor stopped what they were doing to watch me walk by. 

My girl looked excited to see me, and I hated that I might cause her any ounce of anxiety or pain.

I stepped through her door, closed it, and pulled her in my arms. I needed to hold her, draw some strength from her before telling her what I had to tell her.

She purred in my arms, “I have been thinking about you all day.”

“Me, too.” I kissed her. “You look so hot when you’re in lawyer mode.”

She giggled as I pressed my lips below her ear.

She pulled back and her face dropped. 

“What’s going on?” she asked.

I shook my head, amazed our connection returned so quickly. I couldn’t hide anything from her. I hated being the one to take that gorgeous smile off her face, considering what she told me last night.

I took her hand and led her to a chair opposite her desk. I sat down and pulled her in my lap. She adjusted to face me.

“Michael’s office had been working with the Tallahassee Democrat. They want to do an article on me. We’ll, it seems after yesterday’s announcement, they want to add our story to the article.” I gestured between her and I.

“Tell them no.”

“Yeah, I could, but then they might consider running it anyway and speculating on the stuff that isn’t factual. At least if I answer the questions, I can control the content a little better.”

“Tell them what exactly?”

I pulled out my phone and opened the email from my agent.

She took my phone and retreated to behind her desk.

I watched her as she read through the questions, her eyes narrowing, her neck muscles tensing. She bit her lips as her eyes moved back and forth over the text taking it in. When she finished, she laid the phone down and looked up at me.

“Wow, they want the whole story. Josh’s being an addict, the attack, Lil’ Jack, all of it.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Carrington.”

She shook her head and waved her hand as if dismissing my apology.

“We could send them a letter, having them table the story and threaten to sue them for slander if they don’t.”

“But if we don’t do the interview, they may run the story anyway.”

“Say their actions will harm an eight-year-old.”

“What have you told Jack? What does he know?”

“He doesn’t know anything and now I really don’t want him to know anything.”

“Yeah, but if this does get out, it’s best that he hears from you. He’s going to find out someday.”

She slumped back in her chair and I moved behind the desk to kneel in front of her.

“I’m so sorry for doing this to you.”

Her face softened, and she reached out to touch my cheek.

“Jackson, this isn’t your fault. You’re right, it was going to come out eventually.” I took her hand and kissed it. Tears sprang in her eyes, but she wiped them away. “I don’t know what to say to Jack. He so young, and he won’t understand half of it.”

“We will figure it out, but I had another idea about the article.”

“What?”

“What if we did the interview together?”

“Together?”

“Yeah, I mean, this is your story as much as it is mine. Plus, you have experience in spinning things.”

“Or we could pay them off,” she said and laughed. I laughed with her. “No, really, you’re wealthy, Mr. Griffin is uber wealthy, let’s Griffin them. Throw money at the problem. Come on, it will be fun.”

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight, loving the fact she might really have healed from what happened to her.

“Maybe we could do the interview in New York next week?”

“You’re coming to my game?”

“Well, Mr. Griffin is taking Jack hunting in New Jersey.” She shook her head from side to side as if she couldn’t believe she agreed to let him go.

“I think it’s good. Jack brings out the best in that man.”

“Yeah, and I have to see Kayla before she disowns me and brands me the worst best friend every. Plus, she wants to come to your game.”

“I’ll talk to my agent and have him take care of everything.” I stood up and pulled her up with me. “And what about Jack?”

“Let’s wait and see how the interview goes first, okay?” I narrowed my eyes at her as she continued. “It might give me more clarity on what I need to say and what I need to protect him from. Let’s just wait.” She patted me on my chest and this conversation was over, for now, anyway.