He laughed, then quite deliberately slipped his hand down her back to cup her ass. “Well, since I got to watch you dress - which almost didn’t happen, by the way, once I saw how hot you looked in those little scraps of lace - I can use my own imagination about what’s below this sexy dress. Glad you like it, by the way.”
She smirked, tugging on the short hem of the seafoam green cocktail dress he’d given her as still one more part of her Christmas present. “It’s gorgeous, but there isn’t a whole lot of it to like.”
The spaghetti straps left her arms and shoulders completely bare, and the deep V neckline offered up a generous display of cleavage - cleavage that had been enhanced courtesy of the push-up bra she was wearing. The tight-fitting skirt ended several inches above the knee, and she’d had to resist the urge to tug on the hem all evening - not always successfully. She wore strappy bronze evening sandals and for once her toenails were actually painted since Jackson had more or less strong-armed her into having a mani-pedi. He’d also secretly arranged for her to have a haircut and facial, in addition to the couples massage they had both enjoyed earlier today.
They had indulged in lavish gourmet meals, slept in a sumptuous king-sized bed on the softest sheets she’d ever felt, and generally lazed about for the past few days, except for those short walks in the rain and swims in the indoor heated pool, and some wine tasting at a few of the local vineyards. Scarlett had felt even more pampered and relaxed than she had during her two-week stay at the resort in Arizona last summer, and had certainly enjoyed herself more since the man she loved desperately had been by her side the entire time. Being able to spend a whole five days together was a rare treat, a welcome change from their all-too-short weekends.
This getaway was also an opportunity for her to rest up physically and mentally for the upcoming start of the next semester at college, her final one before graduating in May, and definitely the toughest one she would endure. She had tons of work to do yet on her senior thesis, and also had to get serious about applying for internships. She was grateful that she would only have one job to work this coming semester instead of the three she would have had to hold otherwise, allowing her far more time to focus on her schoolwork. And since she finally had a place of her own all of that studying and schoolwork would be done in blissful peace and quiet, without having to ignore noisy roommates or a party going on in the dorm building.
After tonight’s New Year’s Eve celebration, she and Jackson had one more day to enjoy themselves at this fabulous hotel before having to head back to reality. And aside from sleeping in before enjoying a late brunch, they had no other plans for the entire day except to relax and savor their remaining time together. She didn’t want to think about how much she was going to miss him when he had to fly home to Phoenix, especially since it was going to be almost three whole weeks before he could return to Berkeley. Gilmore Construction was celebrating its fortieth year in business in early January, and the company was throwing a huge party for clients, family, and friends on the second weekend of the month . There was no possible way for Jackson to back out of such a big event, and to even suggest his absence would have triggered all sorts of alarms and suspicions.
“Hey, I get it,” she’d assured him when he had fretted about having to miss a weekend visit. “This kind of stuff is going to happen from time to time. We’ve been lucky so far, that you’ve been able to get away as often as you have. Or that you haven’t experienced any really serious flight delays or cancellations. And while you might be able to talk your way out of an occasional birthday party or football game, you really do need to be at this event, Jackson.”
“Yeah, I know,” he’d admitted with a heavy sigh. “It’s just too damned bad that we’re stuck in this situation. Otherwise, you’d be attending the party with me.”
Scarlett had shuddered at the very idea. “Oh, Christ, no! Making small talk with hundreds of people, having to play nice with my father, trying to ignore your father. And worse, having all those rich, stuck-up people look at me and wonder what in the hell Jackson Gilmore sees in that skinny little redhead.”
He’d squeezed her ass then, eliciting a yelp of surprise. “Not quite so skinny anymore,” he’d corrected with a lascivious grin. “And they would all know exactly what I see in you, Scarlett. A gorgeous, big-hearted woman who I love more than anything or anyone.”
She’d kissed him after that remark, a remark that had touched her deeply because she knew it wasn’t just a line. But despite her reassurances that she understood why he had to attend such an important party, deep down she still resented the fact that he wouldn’t be able to spend that weekend with her. And hated the circumstances that would continue to keep them apart, unless she wanted to bear the responsibility of causing untold strife to her father’s family if the truth about her and Jackson were to ever be revealed.
So she was damned sure going to enjoy the rest of this evening - though in truth it would be morning within the next minute or two - and the entirety of the following day, committing each moment with Jackson to memory so that those memories would be enough to tide her over for nearly three whole weeks.
“Ready, babe?” asked Jackson now. “Looks like they’re getting ready for the countdown.”
She slid her arm around his waist, snuggling close. “All ready,” she confirmed with a grin.
The hotel staff member who was in charge of organizing the evening’s festivities had taken the stage here in the grand ballroom several minutes earlier, reminding the party guests that the New Year was quickly approaching. Now, as the lights dimmed, that same staff member began to count down from ten into the microphone.
“Five, four, three, two, one!” he yelled. “Happy New Year, everyone!”
Dozens of gold and silver balloons were released from the netting that had been holding them in place overhead, cascading down onto the gleeful party guests. At the same time the seven piece band who’d been playing dance music for the last couple of hours launched into a jazzy rendition of “Auld Lang Syne”, and the party guests tooted the paper horns they’d been given. All around the room couples were embracing and kissing, some more passionately and thoroughly than others, as they celebrated the start of a new year.
Jackson pulled her flush against him, a grin wreathing his darkly handsome features as his eyes sparkled knowingly. “Well, we can’t be the only ones here not ringing in the new year properly.”
Scarlett shrugged teasingly. “And you know I rarely if ever go along with the crowd, that I like to march to my own beat. And that I’m not one for silly, sentimental stuff like - oh!”
Her deliberately taunting comments were cut off as he captured her mouth in a searing, blistering kiss, his arms banded so tightly around her waist that he was practically lifting her off the floor. She groaned beneath that kiss, a kiss that didn’t allow for even the tiniest bit of resistance - not that she was in the least inclined to do so. Just the opposite, in fact, as she returned his kiss with equal ardor, winding her arms around his neck and straining upwards on her tiptoes in order to get even closer to him. She was overwhelmed with the sheer force of her feelings for this man - a heady combination of love, desire, affection, gratitude, and passion. They might have been as different as night and day in many regards, and certainly in their backgrounds, but right now, as they continued to kiss with a nearly out of control hunger, they were closer than two beings could ever hope to be, both physically and emotionally.