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Chapter Eleven
For as long as he could remember the Wildes Food Truck festival happened twice a year—during spring and summer. When he was growing up, the Huxley family would drive down from Middletown, eat everything they could get their hands on, and drive back in a food coma.
This year, they promised there would be close to 80 trucks, live music all day and a fully stocked bar. It sounded like the perfect kind of place to take Oleander.
Ursula had never cared for food trucks or street food, always wanting Jackson to spend lots of money at fancy restaurants where they didn’t include the price on the menu. She liked dressing up, being seen in public and flaunting the fact that she visited all these places. She would even make Jackson pose for a million pictures all night. Only to spend the rest of the evening uploading everything to Instagram.
JacksonhatedInstagram. Sure, it was a big part of advertising and they had to always pay attention to the trends to make the right kind of communication plans. But if he could, he’d avoid Instagram for the rest of his life. Ursula had ruined a lot of things for him, but he was going to make sure this food truck date was one that would stay with Oleander forever. Even if nothing more came from this, Jackson truly believed it would be memorable.
Since they agreed to meet at the park instead of him picking her up, he got there 10 minutes early to scope out the place. However, showing up early didn’t mean he got an easy spot to park, because all of Wildes had turned up for the food trucks.
As Jackson waited in line for tickets, he spotted a group of teenagers ahead of him. They were on a quadruple date and he realized that he’d never done that in high school, let alone go on a regular date. But the guys looked excited to be out with the girls and Jackson understood that feeling.
He had that look on his face when he was getting ready as well, because he was so damn excited. It was unlike Jackson to worry about his clothes, but he spent 15 agonizing minutes staring at his wardrobe of punny t-shirts and shirts before he settled on khakis, a dark tee, and his most comfortable flannel.
Jackson had also spent far too long trying to decide what kind of flowers Oleander would like. At the florist, he said he only wanted one flower and went on to explain his date and why he wanted to keep it simple, so she gave him a coral peony. The florist even told him peonies symbolized good luck, love and honor—he could definitely do with some luck.
He knew it was weird to appreciate a woman who ate everything, but after dating women who picked at their food, insisted on expensive restaurants, or women who only ate kale everywhere they went; it was refreshing to meet a woman who didn’t hold back. He’d told Oleander to bring her appetite, because he intended for them to drink and eat everything they could get their hands on.
As he waited, Jackson replayed the whole conversation about him asking her out, a small smile tugging at his lips. When they spent the evening together, talking and getting to know each other, Jackson discovered he really did like that version of Oleander—she was funny, sassy and incredibly sexy. Plus, she was drop dead gorgeous when she released all the tension in her body and let herself laugh. Every laugh he pulled out of her felt like a tiny victory and Jackson loved it.
Loud music blasted through the speakers and Jackson blinked away the haze. When he looked up, the crowd heading his way parted to reveal Oleander.Holy shit. The whole thing felt like a scene out of a movie, and he stopped breathing at the sight of her.
Jackson had gotten so used to seeing Oleander in jeans and tees, so to see her in a dress with her legs and cleavage on display knocked the wind out of him.
She had a light sweater on, covering up her arms. The dress fluttered around her thick thighs, exposing gorgeous legs that ended in a pair of white Converse. He was very aware of the fact that Oleander was a plus size woman, but now that he could see her legs without denim encasing them, he was in awe of the shape and the length. Oleander had her hair down—it was messy and ruffled and looked like she’djustrolled out of bed. Jackson wanted to drag her back into bed right away.
When Jackson finished looking her up and down, he found her watching him while talking on the phone. And the smile on her face made his heart race. Everyone else around them faded away as she reached him. Jackson couldn’t stop staring as she said goodbye and dropped her phone into the tote on her shoulder before turning her stunning smile on him. “Hi.”
“You look incredible.”
“I do, don’t I?” Oleander grinned, taking a small step back to twirl, causing her dress to flare out and flaunt those thighs before she stopped and turned back to him. “I pulled this one out just for you, so I’m glad you appreciate it.”
“Idoappreciate it,” he told her, his eyes drinking in the way the dress cinched at the waist while hugging her breasts and hips. He wanted to run his hands over her body desperately.
“You clean up nicely,” Oleander smiled, tugging gently on his jacket. “And I’m glad you didn’t brush your hair, this messy look is working for me.”
Jackson was sure his heart stopped, but he was aware of enough to hold up the flower. Oleander’s eyes lit up and her smile widened as he twirled the short stem between his fingers, “The florist said peonies symbolize things that probably don’t apply to us yet. But, I felt like the color would look good against your skin, so…” Jackson knew he was rambling, but the look on Oleander’s face made it hard to pay attention.
“Thank you,” Oleander whispered and took the flower from him, lifting it to her nose and sniffing as she smiled. “I’m guessing it’s for my hair?”
Jackson nodded. “May I?”
She handed the flower back to him and Jackson stepped closer as he lifted his hand to tuck her hair back behind her ear and with the other hand, he slid the flower over her ear and smiled as he adjusted it.
“How do I look?”
“Beautiful,” he whispered, hand lingering against her ear. Oleander stared up at him and Jackson hesitated, moving his hand farther to cup her cheek. She nodded as they leaned in closer, her warm breath brushing against his mouth. Jackson took that nod as consent and slanted his mouth over hers. A soft sound came out of her as their lips fit together and when he teased the seam of her lips with his tongue, she opened up for him.
Oleander’s arms wound around his waist as he used his other hand to tug her closer, careful not to crush the flower, his tongue sliding past her lips to tangle with hers. He felt light headed, every inch of his body coming alive and heard someone growl before realizing the sound came out of him.
After what felt like forever, he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Oleander’s. She chuckled and Jackson smiled, stroking his thumb along her jaw.
“I promise I’ll do my best to behave now.”
Oleander whispered, “Don’t you dare, I like this side of you.”
“You bring out this side of me,” he said.
