He smiled softly and nodded. “I am. I think we’re a good match. And I think that your parents would be proud of how well you get along with people. How happy you can make anyone. Even me.”
She sniffled again, but the tears were starting to dry up. He caressed her face with his finger.
“Can I show you how happy I am that you’re doing this with me?” he asked. “That I have the same fears as you, but that when I’m with you, they go away?”
She looked up, seeing only the beautiful light in his green eyes. Even if he didn’t love her the way the prince did in the storybooks, he wasn’t going to hurt her. She knew what she was in for. He’d never lied to her.
She needed to stop worrying and just live in the now. Live in the moment where they were. In this moment, there was no worry. There was no judgment.
Just them.
“Okay,” she whi
spered.
He smiled at her, and her worries began to fade. They were still there, in the back of her mind, but when he looked at her like that, they weren’t a problem anymore. They were on par with trying to remember if she turned out the bathroom light the night before. It was something to worry about, but not really.
Jackson scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. She clung to him. He would take her pain away. He would show her that everything was alright. When he was with her, she forgot everything but the pleasure he showed her.
It didn’t matter what anyone else thought, she realized. It only mattered what she thought. What Jackson thought. If this was enough for them, then there was no one to judge them.
She was happy with him. She loved him.
She pushed her fear of the future aside. There was only the now. She would love him. She would take the risk that one day he would look at someone else. It would kill her, but the way she felt towards him right now was worth it.
He was worth the risk. Their relationship was worth the risk.
She reached up and kissed him.
She was his.
Chapter 16
Jackson
* * *
It was supposed to be their first real public appearance as a couple and Jackson was nervous. He wasn’t nervous about Emma, but rather how the public would react to her. She was so sweet and warm, he knew they would love her if they gave her a chance.
He was worried that they wouldn’t give her that chance. He knew how cruel the media could be. He knew that they could rip her to shreds. That was the last thing in the world that he wanted.
Jackson pushed his fears aside and waited patiently for Emma to emerge from the bathroom. The hair and makeup ladies had both left, so she just needed to put on her dress. It was another of Thad’s design choices, so he knew she was going to look stunning.
The bathroom door opened and she stepped out. Jackson’s use of the word stunning wasn’t enough to describe her. She was radiant. Gorgeous. Breathtaking.
Scratch all of those, he thought to himself. There isn’t a word for how beautiful she looks.
“What do you think?” Emma asked, her voice unsure as she held out her arms for his approval. Jackson didn’t know much about dress design, but this one fit her to a tee. Her dress was black with just a hint of shine to it. White cutout patterns accented her waist and bust, giving her the illusion of a corseted waist. Her hair hung around her shoulders in soft waves.
He wanted to run his fingers through those waves. He wanted to hike up her dress and take her right there, to be honest. He felt himself harden at the thought of bending her over and how the dress would ride up her ass...
“Jackson?” Emma’s nervous voice broke through his thoughts.
“You look perfect,” he told her, keeping his desire to hike up her dress quiet.
“I just want to make sure that I’m doing what you need me to do.” She chewed on a delicious red lip for a moment before realizing what she was doing.
He loved that she was putting her whole heart into making this work. It was more than he expected.