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JACKSON
The loud crash followed by the shattering of glass sends my heart pounding.
Sophia.
I barely pause long enough to turn off the stove before I run toward the bathroom, calling out to her.
Please be OK.
“Sophia?” I tap the knuckle of my bent finger against the door. “Are you hurt?”
I can only hear a shuffling sound from inside, and my fear escalates. Is she broken? Bleeding? Unconscious? Why isn’t she answering?Fuck.
“Sophia, I’m coming in.” Without waiting another second, I turn the handle and push.Then I blink when I’m confronted with broken glass and cabinetry on the floor, interspersed with the contents of my medicine cabinet. “What happened here?” Looking up, I spot Sophia, her eyes wide and worried as she clutches her hands against her chest. I quickly scan her from head to toe, and she appears to be unharmed. “Are you OK?”
She bites her lip and looks down at the mess at our feet. “I, uh…well…”
“Were you looking for something?” I ask, lean a casual shoulder against the doorway and cock an eyebrow at her.
“Looking for something?” she repeats, appearing confused.
“Were you snooping through my cupboards?” I keep my voice mild because honestly, she can go through my cupboards all day long if she likes. I don’t have anything to hide.
“What?No!” Her eyes shoot up to mine, and her mouth drops open before her face crumples. I curse myself.
God dammit, Jackson.Now you’ve gone and upset her.
“It was an accident.” Her eyes shine, and her lips wobble as she looks miserably at the mess on the floor. “Jackson, I swear. I wasn’t snooping. I smashed my hip against the vanity and grabbed that to steady myself and…I’m so sorry. I’ll pay for the damages, I promise. But please, Jackson, you have to believe me.” She draws in a hiccuping breath. “I’d never snoop throughanybody’sbelongings, especially not yours.”
“Fuck, Sophia, I was just teasing you, sugar. You can go through the whole place for all I care. I honestly don’t care whether you looked in the cabinet or not. I’m more concerned about this hip. Why don’t you show me where it hit? Do you need some ice or something?”
“It’s just a bruise.” She sniffs and lifts her sweater a little, hooking her thumb in the waistband of her jeans. Just the peak of creamy white skin has my mind going to dirty places, but I force myself to focus on the matter at hand.
Stepping around the mess on the floor, I squat down in front of her and inspect her exposed hip. It’s already showing signs of bruising. “Looks like you gave it a good clobbering,” I say, gently touching the tender skin. She shudders and her breathing deepens.
“I wasn’t paying attention and turned too quickly.”
“Hmm. I’ll get you an ice pack for this. It’ll help with the pain,” I say, glancing up to meet her eyes. It’s then that I notice she’s holding something bunched up in her palm. “What’s that in your hand?”
She lets out a little groan and steps away from me, muttering,fuck,under her breath, the word sounding hilarious coming from her sweet mouth. I get to my feet. “It’s, ah…” Her eyes dart from side to side as she quickly shoves whatever she holds into her pocket. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” As the fabric disappears from sight, I grin, realizing what she’s hiding. “Why, Sophia,” I begin, closing the distance between us and pulling her forward till her hips are flush against mine. She gasps and clutches my shoulders to steady herself, her doe eyes looking up at me. “Are those your panties in your pocket?” My voice comes out husky and intimate, yet amused, as I lower my head and trace my tongue across the seam of her lips.
She moans before she seems to shake it off and swallow hard. “No,” she whispers.
I grin before I brush my bearded face across her cheek and her eyes flutter closed as she tilts her head back, giving me access to her neck. I trail wet kisses along her jaw before I move to nip at her ear. “Liar,” I drawl as I reach between us, slipping my fingers into her pocket and tugging out the panties before I step back and spin them around my finger triumphantly.
Sophia blushes a bright red.
“Were you planning on giving me these as my Christmas present?” Not breaking eye contact, I bring them up to my nose and inhale the sweet smell of her essence. “I know it’s not Christmas morning yet, but I’m keeping these.” I slide them intomypocket as she looks at me with a wide-eyed gasp.
“Ah…OK. You…you can keep them.”
“Thank you. You smell as sweet as you look, sugar,” I tell her, pulling her in closer. “But I bet you’lltasteeven sweeter.”
“The things you say to me, Jackson.” She buries her head in my neck and I laugh, placing a kiss on top of her head.
“The things I’m going todoto you, my innocent Sophia.”
