Perfect Match (13 page)

Noelle knew that Chelsey had a point, but she
also didn’t know how hard it was for her to trust him. To trust
anyone. She kept so much about her past relationships from people.
She figured if she didn’t talk about it, then she wouldn’t have to
think about it. Jackson had been true to his word, and she now
realized that Kayla would say just about anything to get at Noelle.
She wished she could let things go and not worry about getting
hurt. Also, Pop’s rule was important. She didn’t want to disappoint
her Pop, the only man that she ever trusted. Her feelings about
Jackson were too confusing at this point. The only thing she knew
for sure was she enjoyed being friends with him, and she enjoyed
the flirtatious banter they had. That would have to do…for now.

Noelle had a great time with Chelsey. She was
sure that Chelsey got even happier when she finally put away her
cell phone. Noelle knew it wasn’t fair to keep her attention on any
possible messages she may get from Jackson, but it didn’t mean that
she didn’t stop thinking of him. That dream she had about him the
night before had her all crazy, but in a good way. If she was to be
honest with herself, she loved having those dreams of him. A few
X-rated dreams every now and then never hurt anyone.

She surprised herself when they were walking
through Macy’s and saw a sweat suit on a mannequin that made her
think of Jackson. She could just picture him in it. It was thick
material and very soft. It was a Nike suit and it was black.
Nothing fancy, yet she knew she had to get it for

Jackson. “I have to buy this.” Noelle
said.

“I don’t think it will fit you, hon.”

“Not for me, Chels. For Jackson.”

Chelsey raised an eyebrow and said,
“Hmmm…buying expensive clothes for someone you aren’t interested
in. Hey, I’m just saying.”

Noelle just smiled, and was glad she didn’t
share her dream with Chelsey.

Jackson stood above Kevin and glared down at
him. He had just done his Shot to the Heart finishing move and
Kevin was down. He was to pin him and win the belt. He couldn’t
believe it! His first title! Afterwards, he was going to chase down
Kayla and act like he was going to kiss her then walk away. He has
been toying with her this whole time in order to psyche out the
champ so he could win the belt. Then, Kayla was supposed to run
after him and kiss him. She only wants to spend time with a winner.
Jackson was fine rehearsing some of the moves for the match but he
didn’t see a point in practicing a kiss. He was professional with
her, and would do what he had to do on air, but really felt
practicing their promo was not necessary. He shook Kevin’s hand and
stepped out of the ring, and made his way to gather up his stuff.
He was walking on air. He was going to win a title tonight, and he
couldn’t stop thinking of Noelle. He had fun sending her text
messages to her earlier. She told him she’d be in touch after her
day with her friend. He wanted to see if he got anything from her.
He heard Kayla’s heels clicking behind him, so he opted for a drink
of water instead. “Hey, good practice,” he heard Kayla say.

“Thanks.” He reached for his t-shirt and slid
it on over his head.

“So, um, don’t you think we should rehearse
our promo a bit?”

“I think I know how to just stand there while
you try to kiss me.” Jackson replied still not looking at her.
“I’ve had practice with that before.”

“What a fucked up thing to say, Jackson!”
Kayla said.

“Look, we are both professionals here. We
don’t have to pretend to like each other. All we have to do is our
spots and move on. Just because we are working together, doesn’t
mean anything has changed.”

“Are you sure? I think you are afraid to kiss
me. I think that you know kissing me will make you remember how
great it was between us.”

“Keep dreaming. Oh and why are you telling
people that I’m trying to see you again? I’d appreciate it if you
stopped telling lies.”

“If you are talking about Noelle, she took it
the wrong way. I can’t help it that your text came in while I was
talking to her. Maybe she sees something you don’t.”

“Kayla, you are truly out of your mind if you
think I have any thoughts of doing anything with you other than my
job. I wouldn’t have ended things if I ever saw a chance for us to
be together again. It’s time you moved on. Stop your lies to Noelle
about us. I don’t want you. It’s time for you to get that through
your head. Noelle knows the truth. So it’s time to get over me. Get
the hell out of my way.” Jackson said and left Kayla. He didn’t
give her a chance for a comeback. He was tired of looking at her.
When he got to the back locker room area, he checked his phone. He
had a text from Noelle.

Noelle: Thought you’d want to see the color I
chose.

Damn, was all he thought when he saw her sexy
red toes. They may have been the sexiest feet he ever saw, and feet
weren’t even his thing. He wanted to give those sexy feet a good
rub down, and work his way up from there, slowly moving up her
smooth calves and thighs. He’d caress her thighs and tenderly move
them apart while he trailed kisses all over them. He’d give her a
little bite before…he had to stop himself. He was getting all
horned up. What the hell was it about her that did that to him? He
couldn’t get her off of his mind. He always seemed to fantasize
about her, and now with her taking him up on his dare, well, it
just about sent him over the edge. That really set his head
spinning. Was she thinking of him the same way he always seemed to
be thinking of her? That was an interesting idea that he wanted to
look into more. He decided to call her. He wanted to tell her
firsthand about his night.

“Hey, Jackson,” Noelle said.

“So you went red?”

She giggled, “Nice, huh? How was practice?
Did Kayla bother you much?”

“Practice was good. I have some news.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Guess who’s winning the belt off of Kevin
tonight?”

“Jackson, that is wonderful! I’m totally
coming just to watch the show tonight.”

“That really would mean a lot to me. I just
heard that Larry is going to be here too. He’ll be happy to have
you here. He loves it.”

“I know. It’s fun hanging out with him.” She
paused and continued, “So that means you are going to be traveling
a lot now.”

Was that disappointment he heard in her
voice? “Yeah, three days a week. Not so bad. I’m getting ready to
work out. I’ll see you tonight.”

“I’ll be there.”

Jackson hung up the phone and knew he had a
huge smile on his face. He turned and saw Kayla walking passed the
doors and she noticed the goofy grin on his face. He didn’t care.
He loved that Noelle put that smile there and never wanted it to go
away.

***

“There he is now,” Larry said as Jackson made
his way into the viewing room, “The man of the hour.”

Jackson shyly made his way into the room. He
was anxiously waiting for his chance to see Noelle again. She was
waiting with Larry in the viewing room just as she promised. He
raised his eyebrows when he saw her and made his way over. “Man of
the hour? I don’t know about that.”

“Of course you are. It’s your night and I
couldn’t be more proud.” Larry gushed. “Is Howie coming
tonight?”

“He is.” Jackson said.

“I’m not sure who is more proud of you.”
Larry gave him the one arm guy hug.

“I think it’s a draw,” Jackson said. Larry
chuckled and excused himself so he could go check on things at The
Ruckus Room next door. Jackson looked down at her feet and noticed
she had flip flops on…in October. “Showing off those toes, I
see.”

She held up her foot and wiggled her toes.
“Beautiful.”

He nodded in agreement.

“Are you nervous?” Noelle asked him moving
the focus away from her toes.

He shook his head not taking his eyes off of
her and smiled. “Excited, yes.

Nervous, no.”

“I don’t believe you. How could you not be
nervous? You are about to go out in front of a ton of people on TV
and win your first championship belt, which you’ve been dreaming
about, and to top it off, you get to punk out your ex-girlfriend. I
have a hard time believing that you aren’t the slightest bit
nervous.”

Jackson sighed and took Noelle’s hand. He
placed it on his chest over his heart. “When I’m nervous, my
heartbeat quickens. It’s steady.” The last part of that sentence
faded out as the electricity of her touch spread all through him.
He didn’t take his eyes off of hers. He knew she was feeling this
magic too. Her eyes widened in surprise. She smiled at him and his
heart melted. It was at that moment that he knew he had fallen in
love with her, and he wasn’t going to let her go this time. He knew
that he was going to have to fight for her, but wasn’t sure who was
going to be the toughest to beat…Larry or Noelle herself.

Larry looked over to see if Noelle was okay,
and what he saw shocked him. She was standing in front of Jackson
with her hand on his chest. He squinted to get a better look. They
were just standing there gazing into each other’s eyes. What the
hell was that all about? He waited to see if anything else was
going to happen. Nothing did. They just stood there staring at each
other, which was weird enough in his opinion. He heard Jerry call
his name and got a little annoyed. He wanted to see what was going
on, but had a job to tend to. Larry shook his head and decided to
just let it be. He knew that Noelle and Jackson had been friends
for a long time, and they both know he feels about his daughters
and wrestlers. He glanced over his shoulder one more time before
leaving the room, and saw Noelle playfully hit Jackson. He smiled
at her, and that whole thing reminded Larry of how they played when
they were kids. He decided that they just had a long history
together and that he had nothing to worry about. He saw the way
Jackson was looking at Noelle, and for some reason he was comforted
by it.

Kayla was also watching the interaction
between her ex-boyfriend and Larry’s daughter and her reaction was
a lot different than Larry’s. In all the time that she dated
Jackson, she never once saw him give her the look he just gave
Noelle. He hardly gave her any special looks at all. She knew that
they had something going on and she was sick about it. Jackson
never reached over and took her hand the way he just did with
Noelle. He cared about his career and told her that nothing was
going to be more important than that. She knew Jackson, and he was
falling for that girl. Kayla didn’t like it…not at all.

Jackson was walking on air. He felt like
everything was going well in his life, he just won a belt. It was
his dream since before he could remember. All he thought about was
sharing this experience with Noelle. He was happy to see she wasn’t
gone yet. He rode in with Mike today and purposely told Mike to
leave because he had a ride. Well, he’d find out in a minute if
that was true.

“Hey, I’m glad I didn’t miss you.” He said as
he jogged up to her. She was just putting her purse over her
shoulder.

“Hi!” She smiled brightly at him.

“Is there any way you can give me a ride
home?”

“Sure. I was just ready to head out. Pop left
about a half hour ago, but I wanted to get some paperwork sorted
for tomorrow.”

“Great. I’m ready when you are.”

“Hey, Champ,” Noelle said as they were
heading out the door. “I have a present for you.”

Jackson had to fight a big grin that was
threatening to spread across his face. “You do? A present for me? I
have to say, I love getting presents.”

“Good, because I love giving them. It’s in
the car.” Noelle seemed suddenly worried about something. He wasn’t
sure what, but wanted to assure her that things were fine.

Once they were in her Jeep she handed him a
gift bag. He smiled at her and opened up the bag and tore the
through the tissue paper. He held it up so he could see what it was
and Noelle said, “It’s stupid. I don’t know why I got you
that.”

“I love it!” Jackson said, and his face
showed real appreciation for the sweat suit. “It’s perfect for when
I have to travel. I’m all about comfort and the weather is going to
be getting chilly. I love it. Thank you.”

“Honestly, when I saw it, I had to get it for
you. It just seemed like. . .you.”

“Thank you. My mom is the only other woman
that ever bought me clothes.” Jackson confessed.

“You mean Kayla never bought you
clothes?”

Jackson chuckled, “Yeah right. She was too
busy buying herself clothes.” He put the suit back in the gift
bag.

Noelle remembered at that moment to ask him
the favor that Chelsey needed. “Hey, do you think Mike would be
willing to do something for me?”

“Depends on what it is. I may not allow it,”
Jackson teased.

“Chelsey works at Robin Hood rehab. It’s a
facility for kids that were in accidents. Well, she overheard a
bunch of the kids talking about wrestling and how much they love
it. She wondered if I could get a few of the guys to come surprise
the kids. Do you think Mike would do it?”

“Yes. I want to do it too.”

“You do? You aren’t going to be too busy now
that you are one of the champions?”

“I will always make time for my fans, Noelle.
Especially if it’s a kid that needs to have his day brightened.
Count me in. I’ll get a few other guys to come along as well.”

Noelle was so happy and couldn’t wait to tell
Chelsey. She was touched by Jackson’s unselfishness too. “As soon
as she tells me when, I’ll let you know.”

“Are you going to go too?”

Noelle looked over at Jackson and smiled. “I
wouldn’t miss it.”

Jackson knew that he would do anything to
make Noelle happy. It was easy to say

yes to go visit those kids. He’d do it if
anyone asked him, but what made it so great was how she looked at
him when he agreed to do it. He’d do anything to make her smile and
when she dropped him off that night he knew he had fallen for her.
Mike had sent him a text asking him if he enjoyed his ride home.
Jackson chuckled and sent a surprising reply.