Page 32 of What A Croc
Instead, I exclaimed, “Rude!” and watched as my son’s face lit up in a wide grin at my snark.
He gave me a kiss on my cheek, whispering, “You deserve to be happy, Pops.”
Flustered, by both my son and the flowers from Jackson, I gave a little flip of my hand as I left the break room, but I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips. It was kind of nice knowing I had people in my corner, rooting for me. It was even nicer that one of those people was my son.
Not knowing what to do with the flowers, since they wouldn’t fit in the cubbies we had for staff to store theirbelongings, I hurried to Wyatt’s office and deposited the flowers onto the small table he had there.
Quickly snapping a picture of the beautiful flowers, I sent off a text to Jackson.
Me:Thank you doesn’t seem adequate. They are stunning.
Not expecting a reply, since Jackson had said he would be in meetings all day, I quickly glanced at my phone when it buzzed in my hand.
Jackson:You’re stunning. And you should be surrounded by things as equally beautiful.
Heart hammering, mouth dry, I stared at the eloquent words, at a loss of how to even respond to them.
This man was overwhelming in all the best romantic movie ways, and I honestly didn’t know what to do with it all.
Jackson:Can I call you? Do you have time to talk? For just a minute?
Technically, my break was over, but I knew my kids were in good hands, so I sent back a yes. Not ten seconds later, Jackson’s name flashed on the screen with an incoming call.
“Hello,” my voice was more hesitant than I meant it to be, but all kinds of strange emotions were swirling inside me.
“Please just listen, and don’t say anything until I’m finished,” Jackson urged hurriedly, his voice hushed, and I wondered where he was. Had he walked out of the meeting he was in, just to speak to me? Was he standing outside a conference room somewhere in Sinclair's department store, with people waiting on him?
My head nodded slowly in agreement, even though he couldn’t see me. Instead of actually responding, my throat made some kind of garbled noise that Jackson must have taken as a yes.
“I heard you, Robert, I did. I listened to all your reasons you think we won’t work or shouldn’t work. I want you to know that you allowing me to spend your heat with you meant…well, it was an honor and one I don’t take lightly. But I don’t care about the age difference, or that your child-bearing years are over, or that I might outlive you. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, for all we know. And I understand that I’ve lost one mate already and you are just trying to spare me from that. But all of that is just…it’s just static. It’s just life. Anything can happen at any time. We aren’t in control of any of it. I know that better than most and I refuse to live my life worrying about all the things that might happen that we can’t control.”
My breath hitched again, but I stayed silent, just listening to him.
“But the Goddess says that we are supposed to be together. I don’t know why things happen the way they do. I don’t know why I got to love Levi first and he was taken away. I don’t know why you spent so many years in an unhappy marriage to someone that couldn’t see what a precious gift they had in you. But all of that made us who we are today, and the one thing I do know is I want you, Robert. I want you in every way there is possible to want a person. And I plan to court you. I plan to make you see what I see in you. How absolutely wonderful I think you are. I just need you to give me–us–a chance. I need you to let go of all these rules you have for what you think is acceptable and just give us a chance. Because I think we could be something truly amazing and special, if you just let us have a chance.”
Silence stretched across the line, his words buzzing in my brain. I was barely aware of Wyatt coming into his office, moving to take a seat at his desk. Barely aware of him looking at me, then frowning and asking if I was okay.
Jackson’s voice broke the silence. “That’s it. That’s all I got. That was me pouring my heart out to you, so if you would say something now, that would be great. Even if you tell me to go fuck myself.”
Gasping, because I hadn’t even realized I had forgotten how to breathe, I made some kind of noise between laughing and crying.
Just give us a chance.
What’s it going to hurt to give him a chance?My gazelle asked me softly.
Finally, I breathed the only word I could to Jackson’s word vomit plea.
“Yes.”
Chapter Fifteen
Jackson
Reading my phone, I couldn’t help the grin that lit up my face. My cheeks were starting to hurt from all the grinning I had been doing the last week.
Robert:The cookies were amazing, but please stop sending me things. You really don’t need to shower me with gifts.
Me:Gifts are my love language.
