Love Left Behind (19 page)

June fell into a
pattern as Jackson and I spent as much time together as possible. I stopped by
the gym most weekdays after work and afterwards we would either go out to
dinner or make dinner at Jackson's apartment. It was getting harder and harder
not to spend every waking moment with Jackson, but I forced myself to spend at
least a few nights at my apartment, much to his displeasure.

I made a concerted
effort to spend some time with Claire, making sure we had dinner together a few
weeknights and spending Sunday afternoons at Max's, along with Nathan and Mia
and, of course, Jackson. Luckily, Claire seemed to approve of our relationship
so she never seemed to mind my frequent absences.

Jackson always wanted
to have me around, so I spent most Friday and Saturday nights cheering him on
during their play. Saturday afternoons were the best when we would explore the
city. Our activities ranged from the typical tourist attractions, like the
Statue of Liberty, to strolling through festivals and eating our way through
the city.

I was completely happy
during those days. Work was going well, and Janet often told me how much of an
asset she thought I was as she gave me more and more responsibilities. Jackson
fully supported my ambitions, accepting that I often had to work late with no
complaints. On those days, I skipped the gym and went straight to Jackson's
apartment, knowing he would be waiting for me with dinner. And we couldn't seem
to get enough of each other in bed. I was sure the flame of our attraction
would die down after a while, but we still made love with the same urgency of
our first week.

It was after one of
those intense lovemaking sessions, while Jackson cradled me from behind,
spooning me, that he whispered those words to me.

"Emma, I love
you."

My heart burst with
emotion. I had been saying those words to him in my head, but I had been afraid
to say them out loud. Jackson saying it first freed me, making my heart gape
open. I was completely vulnerable yet completely happy.

I turned around in his
arms, gazing at him as he looked back at me seriously.

"I love you too,
Jackson. I never thought I could love someone as much as I love you."

Jackson's eyes
glittered with emotion as he tightened his arms around me. "You and me,
Emma. It's you and me against the world. There'll never be anyone else for
me."

He kissed me but it
wasn't just a kiss of passion. It was a kiss of promise. A promise that we
would be together forever.

July came with a lot of
heat and humidity and we spent the Fourth of July in Jackson's apartment,
straining to catch glimpses of the fireworks over the East River between
buildings from his balcony. We had passed on Nathan and Mia's barbecue, and I
worried out loud that we were isolating ourselves. But Jackson just shrugged,
saying that we saw them almost every Sunday and that he wanted to spend the
holiday alone with me.

I was a nervous wreck
when he announced that his mother was coming into the city for a charity
function one day at the end of July and he wanted me to meet her. Jackson
reassured me repeatedly that his mother would love me, but it didn't make me
any less nervous. Fortunately, Jackson's mother was gracious and sweet when we
met for lunch, telling me that she was glad that Jackson had finally found
someone. Jackson had just grinned widely, obviously happy that his mother and I
were getting along so well.

I didn't tell my own
mother about Jackson during her frequent phone calls. My mother had been
disappointed and upset about my broken engagement to Sean, so I didn't think
she could handle me having a new relationship so quickly. She didn't do well
with change and I didn't want to ruin my happiness by having to justify it to
her.

August was a busy
month. I had a lot on my plate at Mass Comm and Jackson's play had completed
its run so he was going on a lot of auditions although not much was panning
out. We spent a bulk of the month furniture shopping and it thrilled me that I
had so much input in decorating his apartment. Jackson surprised me with a diamond
pendant set in platinum on a silver chain at the end of August, announcing that
it was our three-month anniversary. I protested that it was too generous and I
hadn't gotten him anything, not knowing that we were celebrating our
three-month anniversary, but he had silenced me with a kiss and asserted that
his present was seeing me wearing nothing except his necklace. I was happy to
oblige.

It was the Friday
before Labor Day and I was itching to leave the office. Jackson and I were
going to the Hamptons where we had rented a house for the weekend, along with
Claire, Nathan and Mia.

I heard the intercom
buzz and picked up the receiver.

"Hi, Janet."

"Emma, can you
come in here for a minute. I just want to go over some things before the long
weekend."

"No problem."

I replaced the receiver
and walked into Janet's office, notepad and pen in hand. We had developed an
easy working relationship these past couple of months as Janet had gained
confidence in my skills.

I settled into the
chair across from her, my pen poised above my notebook.

"Do you have plans
this weekend?" Janet asked. I wasn't surprised by her question. As our
working relationship grew, Janet had shown more interest in me as a person and
we often traded stories about what we had done over the weekend. Most of her
life seemed to revolve around work, but she seemed happy with it.

"I'm going to the
Hamptons with my boyfriend and a few friends. What about you?"

"I'm heading up to
Connecticut to visit my parents. I'll be working most of the time there though.
I want to make sure everything is perfect for our presentation on Tuesday with
Canonfield."

We were pitching a new
marketing campaign to Janet's biggest client, and even though we were their
agency of record, they were opening the field for their latest campaign to
other agencies and Mass Comm was looking at Janet closely to ensure that she
kept Canonfield as a client.

"I hate to ask
this of you last minute, especially during a long holiday weekend, but some
pivotal changes just came in from creative and I need them to be integrated
into the presentation. The changes are complex so it'll probably take some
time. Can you work on it this weekend? You can take it with you to the
Hamptons."

Although I didn't
relish the idea of spending some of the weekend working, there was no way I was
going to say no or show any reluctance. I knew how important this was to Janet.
I also appreciated the fact that she wasn't asking me to come into the office
to work on it.

"Of course,"
I replied easily. "I'd be happy to."

Janet spent the next
hour going over the changes with me since they were significant revisions.
Afterwards, she said I could leave for the day, asking that I email her the
revised presentation, as well as saving it to a disk.

I packed up my things,
smiling as I straightened the picture I had on my desk. The picture was one of
Jackson and me that we had taken on top of the Empire State Building. We looked
happy and relaxed with our arms around each other and my head tucked under his
chin. Whenever I felt stressed or overwhelmed at work, I only needed to look at
that picture to feel a sense of calm. No matter what happened at work, Jackson
would be waiting for me at home with a loving smile and kiss.

I said goodbye to
Celeste, who had spent the day complaining that she was spending the holiday
weekend stuck in her apartment with her husband doing nothing, and I rushed
home. Jackson was picking Claire and me up and I needed to finish packing.

When I got home, Claire
was in her bedroom and I stuck my head in the open door.

"Hi! I see you're
doing the same thing I need to be doing."

Claire had her suitcase
open on her bed and was busy filling it to the brim. She sighed in frustration
as she waved at her suitcase.

"You'd think we
were going for an entire week instead of a weekend by the way I'm packing. I
can't seem to decide what to take, so it makes me want to take
everything."

"I'm sure whatever
you choose will be perfect. I need to change and get packing too."

When I got to my
bedroom, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and quickly changed into a white
skirt and fitted tee, relieved to be out of my stifling work clothes. I dragged
my suitcase, which I had already half-filled the night before, in front of the
closet. I was more decisive than Claire in choosing what to pack, probably
because I had much less clothing.

I rolled my suitcase
into the living room and sat down on the couch, pulling out my phone to make
sure I hadn't missed any text messages from Jackson. I saw I had one and opened
it, still eager to hear from him even though we had been together for over
three months.

Can't wait to see you, sweetheart. I missed having you next to me last
night. I'll be there at 6.

I felt a warm glow,
happy that Jackson couldn't seem to get enough of me as much as I couldn't get
enough of him. I checked the time and saw that it was a quarter to six. Claire
lugged her suitcase into the living room, collapsing next to me on the couch.
She raised her eyebrows when she saw my Tumi suitcase.

"Nice
suitcase."

I rolled my eyes.
"Jackson insisted on buying it for me after I told him about the debacle
with my humongous plastic burgundy ones. He wouldn't take no for an
answer."

It had become a habit
of Jackson's to perpetually buy me things, even though I protested. I didn't
need a lot of the things he gave me, but he told me that he wasn't buying me
things because I needed them. He was buying me things because it made him
happy, and his money from his grandmother was just sitting around. Admittedly,
it had been fun spending Jackson's money to help him furnish his apartment, but
I was okay with that since we were buying things for him.

"Jackson's always
been generous," Claire said. "If he can't be generous with his
girlfriend, who can he be generous with?"

"I guess," I
said reluctantly but then smiled. "Although I have to admit it's nice not
having to lug those atrocious suitcases around."

I heard the front door
buzzer and jumped up, eager to see Jackson. He was all smiles as he ran up the
stairs as I stood in the open doorway, drinking in the sight of him. His green
eyes were twinkling and he looked gorgeous with a lock of his dark hair falling
over his forehead.

"Hi, baby,"
he said, picking me up effortlessly and twirling me around. I laughed at his
silliness, feeling breathless when he set me down on the ground. "I've
missed you."

"It's only been a
day since we saw each other," I replied drily, although I had been missing
him as well.

"That's one day
too many." Jackson leaned down and kissed me and I stood on the tips of my
toes, letting him know without words that I had missed him too.

I heard a throat clear
and I pulled back, embarrassed that I had forgotten Claire was in the room.

"Sorry," I
apologized with a weak grin. "I guess we got a little carried away."

"No problem,"
Claire said with a bemused smile. "I just don't want to be late picking up
Nathan and Mia."

"We should get
downstairs. I'm double-parked and the last thing I want to do is get a ticket
before we leave."

Jackson carried our
suitcases down the stairs with ease and stowed them in the back of the SUV he
had rented for the weekend. I slid into the front seat as Claire climbed into
the backseat. It was a short ride to Nathan and Mia's apartment and we waited
in the car while Jackson called them on his cell phone, telling them we were
out front.

"How long will it
take to get to the Hamptons?" I asked, practically bouncing up and down in
my seat with excitement. Jackson and I had never been able to go away for the
weekend before because of his play, but now that it was over, I was
anticipating a lot more fun weekends.

Jackson smiled at me
indulgently, lifting our hands that were intertwined and kissing the back of
mine. "Probably a couple of hours with traffic."

"You're going to
love the Hamptons, Emma," Claire said, leaning forward between the front
seats. "There's always a ton of amazing parties during Labor Day
weekend."

I turned around
excitedly. "I heard the food there is incredible too."

Claire nodded, although
less enthusiastically. "There's a lot of great seafood."

Jackson chuckled.
"I think Emma is more interested in the food than the parties."

"I admit it,"
I said wryly. "I'm dreaming of lobsters, not parties in mansions."

Our conversation was
interrupted by the arrival of Nathan and Mia. They loaded their bags into the
back of the car and joined Claire in the backseat.

"Hey, guys,"
Nathan said. He slapped Jackson on the shoulder. "Thanks for driving, man.
It's much better than taking the bus."

"Is this your
first time going to the Hamptons, Emma?" Mia asked.

"Yeah. Claire was
just telling me that there are tons of great parties happening this
weekend."

"And the
food," Mia said dreamily. "That's one of the reasons I love going to
the Hamptons. The food there is to die for. I just hope someone is having a
lobster bake on the beach."

"See!" I said
triumphantly, shooting Jackson a sideways glance. "I'm not the only one
excited about the food."

Jackson grinned.
"Hey, I'm right there with you. I'll take a seafood feast over a swanky
party any day."

"Speaking of
feasts and parties, I'll have to take some time out from the festivities
tomorrow to do some work. My boss needs some revisions done for a presentation
on Tuesday and I promised I would get them to her as soon as possible."