Page 3 of Still Forever
That made me blush. I let that statement linger before we fell into a conversation.
We talked for twenty minutes, it wasn’t about anything special—food, music, and we watched some of the people coming and going.
But the way he listened? Like he had stored everything I had just told him to use at a later date, it was attractive to me.
“Come on, Kenn, we’re going to see Storm off,” Hunter interrupted the conversation that we were having. She had peeked her head out the door before she realized that I wasn’t alone. Then she gave me a wink and went back inside.
Silence fell over us as he turned back to me and stared. “You stare at women all the time that you ain’t ready for?” I asked him.
His eyes never left mine as he gave me a light chuckle.
“I don’t stare at anything I don’t plan to have, Shorty,” His voice was low and smooth. And I’d be lying if I said the words didn’t give me chills. I took a step back from him to put a little space between us.
“Let me call you later,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket and holding it out to me. I took it, entered my number into his contacts, and handed it back, keeping my calm as I gave him the initiative to reach out first.
“Goodnight, Jaxon.” I threw the words over my shoulder as I walked back into the venue so that I could say my goodbyes to Storm. I could feel his eyes on me. But I didn’t turn around, not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t trust my feet to keep moving if I did.
I rolled my eyes as I finally snapped out of my daze. I hated that this man still had the same effect on me years later, no matter how pissed I was at him. Jaxon made me feel things I could never understand. It wasn’t something that I could hide or deny.
“Zo!!! I said I want to go homeeeee,” I whined when he made a left turn instead of the right toward the estate.
“Chill, I gotta pick something up for Jax, it’ll be quick,” He chuckled.
Zo was the head of Jax’s security team for the estate.
Then Jax had made him my personal detail when we first decided to take our relationship seriously.
It’s like Zo fits right in with the Jennings bunch.
He was overbearing and crazy, just like them.
He had been by my side for the last three years, and if Jaxon trusted someone with my life, then that spoke volumes about them.
Zo had seen me at some of my best moments, and a couple of my lows when I would sit in the back seat quietly dropping tears.
After all this time, he was family, and we were way past formalities.
I sighed and continued to look out the window while he drove us through a part of New York that didn’t even look familiar to me. The drive was long, and just out of curiosity, I used the GPS to see that we were well over an hour and a half away from home.
We settled in front of a massive glass house. The spotless floor-to-ceiling glass blurred the lines between what was inside and what was out. As the lights from the truck shone on the house when we pulled in, an indoor swimming pool came into view.
I was in awe of its beauty. I had always wanted a home like this one, but Jax said it wasn’t practical for safety reasons.
He said it was a security breach. It would be easy for people to use drones to watch us or determine the layout of our home.
He called it a “death trap.” And I understood his point, but that didn’t make me like the look of it any less.
I was so busy staring at the house that I didn’t even see the figure walking up to the car until it was right in front of us. As it approached, I smiled before I stepped out of the back seat of the truck. Even in the dark, I knew the man standing just feet away from me from anywhere.
“Why are you being sneaky?” I asked as I rushed into Jax’s embrace. He wasn’t supposed to be home from Peru until next week.
“Business got handled, so me and Judah came home, Ma. I missed you.” He said before he leaned down to me, cupping my butt and kissing me. We stood in front of the home kissing like teenagers before we finally parted.
“Baby, what are we doing here?” I chuckled as I wiped the glossy lip combo that I had smeared from both our faces and looked around through the darkness of the night.
He didn’t answer; instead, he just took my hand and led me toward the entrance.
Pushing the front door open, he led me inside.
I was in awe at how beautiful the home was.
Then he led me through the kitchen and into the backyard.
I stopped short. My mouth hung in surprise as my eyes swept across the scene that he had set.
The entire backyard had been transformed into a private escape. There was an inflatable daybed, layered with cream-colored plush and throw blankets. One of my silk head wraps sat tucked underneath the pillow. I laughed when I noticed it. He really paid attention to detail.
Next to the bed was a wooden tray, two champagne flutes, and a bottle of Dom Perignon already chilled and open.
Two dinner plates rested, covered with a silver dome.
Gifts were littered nearby. Every time that he was away, he would always come back with something that he said reminded him of me.
The gifts were always so random, ranging from slippers to diamonds.
“Jax! This is so sweet!” I said in awe as I blinked back a wave of emotion. I used my finger to dab away the tear before he could see it.
“I missed movie night this month, and I owe you that,” He chuckled. Jaxon had committed my love language to his memory. I was a simple girl who really valued thoughtfulness, and this was just that.
Movies were my guilty pleasure. I made him commit to one movie night a month, where we would shut ourselves in the house and binge some of our favorites.
“This is beautiful, and I’m starving. Thank you.” I said once my legs finally allowed him to pull me toward the setup.
The moment I saw the large screen, I knew which movie I wanted to watch. When “Selena” randomly came up in conversation and he told me he’d never seen it, I’d decided right then—it would be up next.
He sat down and pulled me into the space between his legs before bringing the tray over to us as well. I put my head on his chest and soaked in the moment as he threw his arms around me and held me.
“Let’s eat,” he said as he pulled the covering off the plates and revealed the stuffed salmon, asparagus, and potatoes.
“Who cooked this, babe?” I loved the act of being thoughtful, but not that thoughtful. Jaxon couldn’t cook a bag of popcorn.
“Chef P, he’s gone. He left before you made it,” He chuckled as he kissed my temple. We had dinner underneath the stars as we talked about the things we had missed by being apart. My clients, Judah, our businesses, and everything in between.
When dinner was over, we started the movie and lay across the daybed.
I cupped his face and planted kisses all over it before watching Jennifer Lopez and singing along to Spanish lyrics that I had no clue about, but Jax understood perfectly.
As soon as I started to get comfortable with finally having an uninterrupted night, his phone rang. I pouted against his chest as he leaned up and checked the caller ID.
“What’s up, Trouble...Nah, I can’t go…. call Judah and let him handle it.” He said as he rubbed my butt. I held my breath because there was always business to be handled in this life. It was hardly ever a peaceful day.
When he put the phone back on the stand and continued to watch the movie with me, I exhaled a bit. I had halfway been expecting him to end our night or step out to take the call. But I was glad that he didn’t.
“Damn,” he said, eyes locked on the screen when the credits started to roll. He was invested way more than I thought he would be. I chuckled at his reaction to it.
His fingers rubbed down my spine lightly, making goosebumps ripple on my skin.
“I love you…”
“I love you more, Jaxon,” I said as I lay, melted into his arms.
“You know I’m fucking you in every corner of this glass house, right?” he asked lowly with his mouth against my forehead.
I turned in his arms, my mouth forming a knowing grin. “Start with this window right back here,” I said, pointing over my shoulder.
We both laughed, but I knew he was dead serious. He slid out of the bed and scooped me up. Just as he did, his phone buzzed on the table, and he didn’t even turn around.
He ignored it. For now.
And for the first time in a long time, I had my man all to myself.