Tasha fiddled with the iPhone in her hands, wiggling with nerves perched on the end of Jem's couch.
She couldn't believe her life had taken this turn. She felt...guilty. But at the same time, this was innocent. She had zero intentions of crossing any lines with Jackson and she knew he'd never put her in that situation. Case had no reason to not trust her or Jackson.
She took a deep breath and texted Jackson , "at Jem's apartment babysitting her cat. Come join me?"
And then she sent it. Butterflies of uncertainty immediately started fluttering in her stomach and she got up and paced for a few minutes before a reply came back.
"I'd rather see just you....minus the demon cat. But I'll be there in five."
She laughed. Squirrel wasn't that bad. She sat back down on the couch beside her and scratched her behind her ears and was rewarded with a warm purr.
She looked up as she heard Jackson push through the door, expecting to see a smile on his face. Instead she was met with a glare.
"What's wrong?" She asked, jumping up, alarmed.
His eyes were flashing with irritation as he said, "you didn't have this door locked. Anyone could have come in here."
She frowned. "I guess you're right, I didn't think about it."
"Well you better start thinking about it from now on." He said, walking over and pulling her into a tight hug. She rested her head on his chest.
One of his hands came to rest on the small of her back, the other going to cradle her head and gently stroking her hair.
"I will... I promise." She whispered into his chest.
They stood like that for several minutes before she tilted her head back to look into his face.
"This was a nice surprise," he whispered, leaning down, the gentle brush of his lips making her heart race a lot more than something that simple should have, she thought as she kissed him back.
"We have Jem to thank for that. She's probably currently waging war against my brother."
"You hope. I'm sure case is holding his own. I'm just grateful to have this chance to spend some time alone with you. We need to discuss where we plan to go from here." He pulled her over to the couch and sat them both down, the fingers of his hand stroking over hers.
"I know I love you. What I don't know is what I need to do about it."
He raked his hands through his hair.
"And quite honestly that scares the hell out of me."
