Page 49

ROSIE

“Well, at least Cleo didn’t show up,” Anya says, clinking her nearly empty glass to mine. I’ve spent the majority of my glass recounting my afternoon.

I laugh dryly around my glass. “I think she’s learned that lesson now.”

“I’m proud of you for going, Rosie.” Anya squeezes my hand.

“I’m proud of myself too.” I wave my hand, ready to stop talking about the whole thing. “Anyway in other news. Did I tell you about the short?”

“No?” Anya says, sitting up straighter.

“It’s just been approved for feature film funding.”

Anya squeals. “That’s amazing.”

I nod, giddy at the news. Jackson’s quiet contribution meant that the film was shopped around at over twenty festivals, where it eventually found enough momentum to be commissioned into a feature. “I start editing next week.”

“That’s so exciting! Have you told the girls?”

“No, I’ll tell them now. Where’s Pip? ”

“I don’t know, she had a phone call and she’s been holed up upstairs ever since.”

The patio door slides open and Jackson appears with a wide awake Olive in his arms. “Someone’s up.”

“Yay!” Anya squeals, abandoning me for my child.

“She’s probably hungry,” I tell her, standing up from my bar stool and heading to the bag where I packed my milk.

“I’ll do it,” Anya coos, pulling a smiling Olive into her arms. “You guys go eat before it’s all gone.”

“I think the worry is if it’s all cooked,” Jackson agrees as he comes to my side, wrapping his arm around my waist as I pull the milk out of the bag.

“You have to?—“

“Rosie, I’ve got this,” Anya assures me, “go and enjoy, please. It’s my party, my rules.”

“Come on, pretty girl.” Jackson pulls me back outside, but before we can rejoin the others, he tugs me around the side of the house to a shadowy alcove next to the fuse box.

“Is the grill back here?” I tease but my giggle is cut off when Jackson backs me into the brick wall and kisses me breathless. It’s easy to sink into him, letting my tongue dance across his lips and my hands slide up his bare arms.

He nudges his leg in between mine, widening my stance until he can hook my thigh across his hip.

“Jackson.” I laugh, breathlessly. “We shouldn’t.”

“Isn’t this familiar?” Jackson asks, raining kisses along my neck. “This time last year, we snuck away from the same party.”

“I just went out for some air.” His hand clutches my backside and I groan as he grinds me against him. “You were the sneaky one.”

“Semantics,” he breathes.

“It’s not even dark out, everyone can see. ”

“I don’t care.” He tugs me closer, his hands exploring my body.

“We’re parents now, we have to behave.”

“Never.”

“I…okay, I’m out of excuses,” I admit, tugging his mouth back to mine and kissing the smirk from his lips.

I need him closer. I scrape my nails against the hair at the back of his neck, curling my fingers in the strands of hair he kept long because I asked him to. Both his arms curl around me, squeezing me closer to him.

Jackson runs his hands across my hips, my stomach, my breasts, down to the crease in my thighs. The man worships me.

“Stunning.” He slides his hand under my shirt, lightly teasing the cup of my bra. “Ravishing.” He plants a kiss across my jaw. “Breathtaking,”

I pull him back to my mouth as he whispers the final word on my lips. “Beautiful.”

I grind myself into him further, teasing him with every movement.

“You’re not bad looking yourself,” I tell him wickedly.

Jackson throws his head back with a laugh, and I let my head fall forward, resting on his shirt.

“Come on, let’s get back to the party.” Jackson tells me, stepping back and readjusting himself in his jeans. “I’ll ravish you when we get home.”

“Promise?” I tease, tugging at his waistband.

“That’s a promise, pretty girl.” Jackson claims my mouth in a final searing kiss, and I have half a mind to abandon the party and take him right here. But I don’t need to. I can wait. I know we’ve got a whole lifetime ahead of us.