Living in Sin (The Escort Series) (35 page)

Three days later is November fifteenth, our six month anniversary. I’ve been excited and nervous all day. I hope I haven’t let on to Jace that anything is up. I’ve gotten all my little gifts all packaged and ready to go, and I’ve talked to Troy about making sure Jace stays at home at a certain time today since I’m having the packages delivered. I’ve also made sure to get all pampered and done up for our date tonight.

Oh, God, I’m so nervous. I hope he doesn’t think this is too cheesy. The packages are already with the delivery person, and he knows when to deliver them. All I have to do is wait to hear from Jace. I sit down in my baby blue, chiffon, tea-length dress, and tap my feet on the floor, waiting anxiously for Jace’s response.

Troy and I are hanging out in my living room, watching some basketball, when I get a call saying I have a delivery.

“That’s weird,” I say when I hang up the phone.

“What’s up?” Troy asks.

“John just called up here saying someone is coming up with a delivery. I didn’t order anything, though.”

“Hmm. That is weird,” he responds. “Well, man, I’m gonna get outta here.”

“Alright. Take it easy. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay. Let me know what’s up with this package. Hopefully it isn’t anthrax or anything.”

“Funny.”

He laughs and shows himself out. I wait by the door for the delivery guy to show up. When he does, I’m shocked to see it’s two packages. One is fairly big, but the other is pretty small.

“Mr. Jamison?” he asks.

“That’s me.”

“Great. Here you go,” he says as he hands me the packages.

“I don’t need to sign anything?”

“Nope. Have a good night.” Then he walks away.

I close the door and take the packages to the kitchen. I inspect them trying to find a name or logo on them. The only thing I do notice is that the large box has a number one written on it, and the smaller one has a number two. I grab a knife and cut through the tape that’s on the box. After digging through some paper, my hand hits something that feels like metal.

When I pull it out, I laugh. It’s a crown. It’s silver and gold and has what I hope aren’t real diamonds in it. KING is written in large letters on the front. Adrienne. It can only be from her.

I place it on the table, and pull out more paper. At the bottom of the box is an envelope and good sized silver metal bar. When I pull it out I notice it has nice designs carved into it, and the bottom is a dark colored, round jewel. The top is uniquely shaped with gold designs running through it. When I finally figure out it’s a scepter, I laugh even harder. Such a smart ass she is.

I tear open the envelope and read her perfect, girly handwriting.

Jace

I know you change your mind on whether you want to be a king or a God, so why not be Zeus? He was the king of the Gods. Here’s your crown and scepter. You are now official.

Adrienne

I shake my head and laugh. I wonder how hard it was to find these. You don’t just see crowns and scepters all over the place. I put them together on the middle of the table and move onto the smaller package.

Upon opening it I notice there’s a realtor pamphlet inside. I look through that and notice that it’s full of houses that are for sale and rent. Really nice houses, too. There’s another piece of paper inside, so I unfold it and read it.

What’s a king without his castle? A king should always have a castle, and even though I like your place now, I know you’ve been thinking about moving. Here’s a booklet with brand new houses that are available to rent or buy. Brand new! Meaning nobody has ever lived in them, and of course they are all fit for a king. Lots of land! This is to show you that I support you in whatever you choose to do. I’ll visit you wherever you live. I couldn’t find a van, sorry.

xoxo-Adrienne

I laugh at her van joke before I look back through all the houses in the pamphlet. They’re all so nice, I’d have a hard time choosing one. I’m thankful that she gave this to me though. It will help me make a decision. I’ve told her about wanting a yard so if I wanted a dog, I could get one. I know I’ve mentioned moving into a ‘real house’ many times. I’m glad she’s giving me that little push, otherwise I may only just talk about it.

I see another paper peeking out of the package and snatch it up.

I have one more present for you. Send me a message when you’re ready and I’ll deliver this one myself.

I wonder what the other present is, and I wonder why I’m getting presents. Should I be getting her something? I don’t know. I don’t know why she’s doing this. I think about running out and getting something before she gets here. I have no idea what to get though. Damn, I wish I knew what all this was for. Maybe girls just like to do this stuff randomly.

A thought comes to me. I think I know exactly what to get her, but I don’t know where to start looking. I don’t want to keep her waiting too long, but this is just too good of a gift to pass up. Considering what she gave me, I need to give this to her. I begin looking up places on the internet in hopes of finding somewhere close by that has this gift.

I’m lucky. Within the first few minutes of me searching I find just the spot to go to, and luckily it’s not too far. I need to be fast, though. This is another reason why I need a new place. Rushing out the front door to my car would be faster if I didn’t live on the mother fucking top floor of a sky rise building!

Almost an hour later I’m finally back at my house. If I had had more time to plan this out and do some real searching, I may have been able to find a better one, but this will work. I send her a message letting her know I loved the gifts, and to hurry her ass over here. She responds with a smiley face.

And now I wait.

After what seems like hours, Adrienne finally shows up. I’ve hidden my gift behind the bar, so she’ll never see it.

I open the door and see her standing there holding a small bag with tissue paper sticking out of it. She looks gorgeous in her blue dress, and her hair falls below her shoulders. She smiles at me nervously.

“Hey, beautiful,” I say as I reach for her hand and pull her inside.

“You look nice,” she says eyeing my outfit.

I changed when I got back from the store, thinking basketball shorts and a T-shirt weren’t appropriate for exchanging gifts. Well, gifts like the one I plan on giving her. I put on some jeans and nice button up shirt. Nothing fancy, but probably something people don’t wear when they’re supposed to just be lounging at home. Oh well, hopefully she won’t think anything’s up.

“Thanks,” I say and lean in to give her a kiss.

Hand in hand we walk into the living room.

“I like the gifts,” I say with a grin.

“Really?” she laughs. “You didn’t think they were cheesy?”

“What? No way, I’m wearing the crown and holding the scepter the next time I go out.”

Her laugh bounces through the room. “Oh my gosh. What have I done?”

“Confirmed what I already knew. I like the Zeus reference. King of Gods. I like it.”

“I figured you would,” she says with a playful roll of her eyes.

“Okay, can I ask a question without you getting mad at me?” I ask. “Wait. Do you want a drink?”

“Yes and yes. You know what I like,” she responds as she sits on the couch.

After making our drinks, I return to the living room and sit on the couch, facing her.

“So what’s your question?” she asks.

“Okay. Are the gifts for something I should know about? Did I miss something, or are you just being nice?”

She smiles a relieved smile. “No, you didn’t miss anything. I’m just being a girl.”

“Oh. Okay. That makes me feel better.”

“Well, technically, today we’ve been together for six months. So I wanted to give you something.”

“I should get you something just for being able to put up with me for that long,” I say with a grin.

“You’re pretty easy to be around,” she says, stroking the top of my hand. “Well, I have one more thing for you.”

She takes a deep breath and then takes a drink. Her eyes bore into mine, and I can tell she’s nervous.

“It’s okay. I’m sure I’ll like whatever it is,” I say, trying to reassure her.

If anything, I should be nervous, but she doesn’t know what I have planned. The crown she got me gave me a great idea. A perfect way to tell her how I feel.

“I hope so,” she murmurs.

She hands me the small bag and I pull out the tissue paper. Inside are two silver, antique crafted hearts entwined with each other. One of the hearts reads, ‘My heart belongs to you.’ The other heart holds a picture of her and me. I don’t even remember anybody taking this picture. Adrienne and I are out on The Strip, the night lights are blurred behind us, and she’s looking up at me with all the adoration in the world on her face. I’m looking down at her, my hand on her cheek, and a slight smile on my face. Her hand is resting on my chest, and I can tell she’s on her tip toes, getting ready for a kiss. Anybody can look at this and see two people in love.

I look up at her, and she’s biting her lip. “There’s one more thing in there,” she says softly.

I reach back into the bag and pull out a letter.

Jace

They say the best gifts come from the heart, but I’m giving you my whole heart. It’s yours. I trust that you’ll protect it and keep it safe. I’ve gone to bed every night since I’ve met you, thinking only about you, and woken up every morning with thoughts of you still in my head. Am I scared? Yes. Only because you mean more to me than anyone ever has. Not being with you scares me. Sometimes you just know when you’re meant to be with someone, and I know without a doubt that you and I are meant to be. My heart is only whole because you are in it. If you were to ever leave me, I’m afraid it would break and be irreparable. You brought happiness into my life again. A happiness I’ve never known.

I love you, Jace

xoxo

I’m speechless, and that almost never happens. I haven’t looked up yet. I continue to read the note she wrote for me. I try to come up with words that will be appropriate, but I can’t. An idea comes to mind.

“Wait right here,” I say as I touch her legs.

I get up and run to where I’ve hidden my gift for her. I get back and sit back down in front of her.

“Adrienne, that was beautiful. I never thought I’d have an effect on someone like what you described. Making you happy is the only thing I want to do. You are the one who brought me to life. If it weren’t for you, I’d never know what true happiness is. For years I thought I was happy. But when you came along, I realized I had been missing out on so much.”

Her bottom lip is quivering and I can see the tears threating to spill over. I grip the gift box in my hand, ready to open it.

“I went out and got this for you. I had been trying to think of a way to express how I feel about you. I’ve never done it before, and I think I may have been overthinking it too much. This may seem corny, but it kind of goes hand in hand with the gift you got me.”

She watches me as I open the box and pull out her gift. She laughs that beautiful laugh that always makes me smile.

“Okay, let me explain. You bought me a crown, right?”

She nods looking confused.

“I’m a king, right?”

A smile dances on her lips and she rolls her eyes. “Mmhmm.”

“You said a king needs a castle, and thanks to you I can now go and pick one out. You also gave me a scepter, so it would seem I’m all set.”

She looks at me curiously.

“I think you forgot one thing. What is a king without his queen?”

I hand her the silver, rhinestone encrusted tiara I bought for her. It’s nothing fancy, just something I found at a costume store.

“I love you, Adrienne. I think I have for a little while now. You are my queen and I will always treat you like one. You deserve the best, and I strive to be the best for you.”

The tears spill over and cascade down her face. She puts the tiara aside and jumps in my lap.

“Oh, Jace! I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“I love you. More than you’ll ever know.”