Last First Kiss (26 page)

Carrie glared at Jackson, who was already cracking up. You see? She knows how he is!”

Giselle walked up with her girls. “Wow, who’s bike?”

“
It’s Jackson’s, dammit!” Sam said, as everyone but Carrie laughed.

“
Is it really yours?” Giselle turned to ask him.

“
Yep, it was delivered this morning.”

“
It’s so big, and it’s pretty!” Lexie said.

“
I like the fringes on the seat,” Mac said. “Can we ride on it?”

“
No sweetie, not just sitting behind me. It wouldn’t be very safe. Sam, you want to take it for a spin?”

“
You gonna be here for a while?” Sam asked.

“
I can be here for as long as you need me to be,” he answered.

“
Then I’ll take it for a spin after the game.”

Jackson agreed and everyone walked to the bleachers.

“
I never took you for the motorcycle type,” Giselle told him once they seated themselves.

Jackson shrugged. “I’m sure there are a lot of things you don’t know about me.” He stretched one of his long legs out on the bleacher in front of him. “I had one the entire time I attended LSU. It was easier to find parking spots.”

“
Toby had a bike when we first got married, but it wasn’t very practical for us as a couple. We had to sell it and buy a car.” She sighed. “I loved that bike.”

She looked at him, and imagined what it would feel like to be behind him, the wind blowing in her face. She could imagine her hands wrapped around his waist...with those well defined, rock hard abs that were the perfect shade of tan, and had the perfect amount of dark feathery hair leading down to that...towel.
That damn towel again.

His long leg welcomed her to feast her man-starved eyes upon him. Feeling suddenly hot, she tore her gaze from the sight of him and used her hand to fan her face. Toby had always looked better in preppy clothes than dressed down in jeans. But Jackson...Damn if he did wear them like a male model. She’d never seen a man look so freaking hot in a pair of faded jeans. He looked like he would be just as comfortable working on a ranch as sitting behind a desk with a computer in front of him.

Unable to resist the pull, she turned back to watch him from beneath her dark glasses. He pulled one long leg slowly up and shifted positions, stretching the opposite leg out in front of him and bending the leg closest to her at the knee. He had to pull up a little on his jeans to adjust them over his muscular thighs. She bit her lip as her heat level rose, pushing the flush further up her neck as she was forced to turn away again.

<><><>

Jackson stood up. “I’m going to the concession stand...you wanting anything, Giselle?”

“
No thanks, I’m okay.”

Carrie was waiting at the window when he walked behind her and goosed her in the side.

“
Hey, Jack. Hot today, isn’t it? God, I hate summer time.”

Jackson agreed with her. “It was hot as hell riding over here.”

“
Ooh honey! Is that
your
gorgeous bike over there?”

Jackson turned toward the shrill voice to see a blonde haired woman, obviously bleached, wearing a pair of tight shorts, and a skin-tight, low-cut tank top. She wore huge, dangly earrings and several metal, bangle style bracelets on her wrists that jangled when she moved...And she moved a lot. She could have walked right on to a Kabuki theater stage with the amount of eye makeup she wore. He flinched, overpowered by the sickeningly sweet smell of whatever perfume she’d drenched herself in. The woman’s vocabulary obviously didn’t include the word
moderation
.

She reached over and grabbed his arm. “You want to take me for a ride?”

Jackson didn’t have to wonder who she was. Giselle’s dead on description of
‘Rode hard and put up wet’
told him this was
Izzy
somebody.

“
My name’s Isabelle, but everybody calls me Izzy...And who are
you
?” she asked saucily, cracking her chewing gum loudly.

All Jackson could think when he looked at her was the heartache this woman had caused Giselle, and the months of frustration she had caused him. He wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled, but his uncle had raised him to be a gentleman. “Excuse me, please.” He turned to walk away but Izzy was persistent, as well as loud, brassy, and easy as hell.

She grabbed his waist with both hands. “Oh come on now, cowboy, don’t go away just yet. Don’t you want to ride me on your big, bad motorcycle? I can show you a
real
good time.” She slid her hands down his stomach to his crotch.

He grabbed her hands, and jerked her to a halt. “Honey... Y
ou
don’t have a damn thing I want,” he sneered, before pushing her hands roughly aside, then turning to leave.

“
Uh! Forget him.” Izzy turned to her equally trashy sidekick. “He must already be screwing Giselle Granger.”

Jackson stopped in his tracks and turned to glare at her. By the time he closed the distance between them, Carrie had her by the arm, and was pulling her behind the concession stand. Izzy’s sidekick looked as though she would assist her friend, until Jackson’s icy glare made her dart off in the opposite direction.

Jackson walked back up to the window and paid for three waters, then waited around for Carrie, just in case she needed any assistance from him. After a few minutes, a terrified Izzy stumbled out from behind the building. When she saw Jackson, she tried her best to salvage what little dignity she never had. She flounced off, wagging her ass, jingling loudly with every exaggerated step and pronounced swing of her arms.

Carrie appeared next, grumbling to herself. “That tramp has got some nerve.”

Jackson stared down at her and shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that hard up.”

Carrie laughed softly. “No, I imagine you haven’t. Come on stud, let’s go watch the game.”

Mac and Allie’s team finished off the opposition in an easy win, and soon, they were standing around watching Sam drive off on Jackson’s motorcycle.

“
Crap, I’ll never hear the end of this now,” Carrie complained.

Jackson and Giselle laughed as Carrie walked to her truck.

“
Do I have to bring him back home?” he yelled at her.

“
No, his truck’s here. He’ll be back when he gets hungry enough. Serves you right, troublemaker!” she snapped.

Jackson waved Carrie off and turned to face Giselle as she spoke.

“
I wanted to let you know that Lexie’s game has been cancelled for Thursday. The coaches are going on vacation, and I’m taking the girls to New Orleans. We won’t see you for a week.”

He nodded, and kicked at nothing with his boot.
That sucks.

Giselle watched him scuff and kick at the dirt. He looked younger, standing there with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his tight jeans. He wore a tight red t-shirt with the name of the dealership he’d bought his bike.

“
You don’t have to wait here with me Giselle. I’m fully capable of staying by myself until Sam gets back.”

“
Lexie’s team is practicing over there.” She pointed to a practice field.

“
Oh, I hadn’t noticed,” he mumbled.

“
What happened with Izzy?”

He looked up at her. “What do you mean?”

She grinned. “Gretchen and I saw her walk off all upset. We figured somebody put her in her place. What happened?”

“
She asked me to give her a ride and when I tried to leave...she grabbed at me...,” he finished, lamely.

She leaned forward to hear him better. “She did
what
?”

He cleared his throat and blushed. “She grabbed at my crotch. I told her I wasn’t interested.”

She grinned, amused at his discomfort. “And then...?”

“
Ummm...Carrie chewed her out.”

“
For grabbing at your crotch?” she asked.

“
Well, for what she said after I turned her down.”

“
Which was...”

Jackson cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“
Go on, you can tell me,” she urged.

“
She suggested to her equally trash friend that you and were already...You know,” he said. “Who the hell dresses like that for a ballgame, anyway?”

Giselle chuckled. “She wasn’t here for the game, she was here for you. She said she’d make it her business to find out who you were. People see you and Bill here, and well, the two of you kind of stand out in a crowd.”

“
How’d you know she was here? Did she say something to you before that?”

Giselle giggled. “Are you kidding? She sounds like one of Santa’s reindeer...All that jingling and jangling!” She waved her arms and shook her butt in a comic imitation of Izzy that had Jackson in stitches. “Gretchen and I figured something had happened, as upset as she was when she left. Did you hear what Carrie told her?”

“
No, but I can guess.”

She grinned. “Me too. I’m glad she’s in my corner.”

They walked over to the batting cages. He raised his arms above his head and hooked his fingers in the wire fencing above the gate. Giselle watched his muscular arms flex and strain, and wondered again how one man could look so damn good in faded jeans and a tee shirt.

She tore her eyes away from him. “How’s the fledgling romance going? Have Bill and Gwen spoken again?”

He told her about Bill’s new truck and cell phone.

“
That’s impressive. Gwen’s accomplished a lot in a short time with Mr. ‘I don’t need no fancy cell phone or a new truck’” she said, in a near perfect imitation of Bill.

Jackson laughed again then tweaked her nose. “You’re pretty good. Maybe you should take that act on the road.”

“
Yeah, right,” she snorted. “I really am happy for him, though. He’s such a good man.”

“
He said he feels twenty years younger.”

“
Maybe Gwen’s got a friend for you,” she said quietly.

Jackson sighed and looked down at her. “Don’t hold your breath. Besides, I predict they’ll be married soon and working on a family right away.”

She nodded, in understanding. “I can see Bill with a new baby. Can’t you?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I can.” Jackson pushed away from the fence as Sam returned on his bike.

“
How was it?” Giselle asked him as he dismounted.

Sam grinned at her. “Handles like a dream. My bike is a real smooth ride, but this is even nicer.”

Giselle walked up to get a closer look at the beautiful piece of machinery. She squatted down low to check out all of the brightly polished chrome and passed her hand over the custom decals on the tank. She nodded her head appreciatively, as the two men watched her.

“
Looks like someone wants a ride,” Sam murmured to Jackson.

She heard the comment, and looked up hopefully, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. “I really would.” He gazed at her, and for a moment she thought he would.

“
Sorry, I have to get back to Lake Coburn, maybe another day.”

She stood up and nodded. “Sure, I understand. See ya next week, Jackson.” She walked off in the direction of Lexie’s practice.

Jackson stared off at Giselle’s retreating form.

“
Man, I can’t believe you passed up that opportunity,” Sam said.

Jackson turned back toward Sam, and mounted his bike. He fit the helmet over his head and adjusted the straps. “Hell, Sam, I’d have to be a real glutton for punishment to do that,” he said, before starting his bike and riding out of the ballpark.

CHAPTER 16

A week later, Giselle, Gretchen, and Lauren sat in the bleachers waiting for Allie and Mac’s game to begin.

“
Are Jackson and Bill coming?” Gretchen asked Giselle.

“
Jackson’s coming on his bike and Bill’s picking up Gwen and Alyssa.”

“
How’s that going?” Lauren asked.

“
I don’t know. I haven’t seen anyone in a week. We were in New Orleans for four days.” The sound of a motorcycle entering the park had them all looking in that direction. Jackson came into view wearing his jeans and one of his favored white tee shirts, along with the black helmet, and Ray Bans.