Her mouth lifted into
a smile that made her eyes sparkle. “I don’t know. Do you think you’re up to it?”
“Let me give you a preview.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.
His kiss was gentle and restrained. He wouldn’t push her, but he needed to extend the invitation. It’d been a very long time since he was with a woman. His gut tightened at the thought of living up to Serena’s expectations.
But he didn’t have long to contemplate because she kissed him back with undeniable desire, which soothed his worries. As their kiss deepened, a warmth flooded his chest. The cracks and crevices in his heart filled in. In that moment, he no longer felt like a shell of a man. He felt complete and eager to step into the next stage of his life. Whatever that may be.
Serena pulled back. “We should go inside. It’s getting cold out here.”
They both turned to find out why Gizmo wasn’t whining to go inside. The pup was sound asleep in the back seat. Jackson couldn’t help but smile.
“So he really does run out of energy once in a while.”
“It’s hard to believe, but it does happen. Isn’t he so cute?”
“He is...when he’s sleeping.”
“Hey.” She swatted at Jackson’s arm. Then a worried look crossed over her face. “You do like Gizmo, don’t you?”
He knew by the serious tone of her voice that him bonding with her dog was nonnegotiable. Someday she’d make a good mother. Unlike his mother who’d taken his dog away from him.
“Oh, no,” she said. “You don’t like him.”
“What? No. I mean, yes, I do.”
“But you frowned when I asked you about it.”
“That wasn’t why I was frowning. I swear. I didn’t even realize I was frowning.”
He was going to have to do better to keep his thoughts from being so obvious on his face. Considering his job, he was normally quite adept at it. But either Serena could read him better than most or he felt so at ease around her that he didn’t think to hide anything.
And now he had no choice but to share with Serena that painful moment in his childhood. He’d never told anyone about it—not even his wife. It was a part of his life that he’d blocked out—until he’d met Serena and Gizmo.
“I was just thinking about the past. I had a dog once. He was rambunctious and I was young, about seven years old. Long story short, he got in lots of trouble and a week later, my mother took him back to the pound.”
He remembered clearly how his mother had told him to stop crying. He wasn’t a sniveling wimp. If he was strong, if he was a man—unlike his father who ran off at the first sign of trouble—then Jackson would be fine. He didn’t need a dog.
He’d been so young at the time that his priority was not letting his mother down. He wanted her to be proud of him more than anything else in the world—even more than having his puppy.
“I can’t believe it,” Serena said. “Your mom took your dog away.”
He nodded. “But it’s okay.”
“What’s okay about it? She got it for you, but seven days later she took it back to the shelter.”
“It was my fault. I didn’t take care of Rover like I’d promised.”
“You were only seven. How responsible can a seven-year-old be?”
Jackson shrugged, realizing that even after all this time he was protecting his mother. “It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago.”
“But it still bothers you, so it matters.”
He pulled back and reached for the door handle. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
Serena didn’t say anything as he walked away. By the rigid line of his shoulders, she knew the evening had been ruined. And it had held such promise.