Page 31 of Billionaire's Fantasy
He grins, his eyes sparkling mischievously. “No need to apologize, Amber. You’re always welcome to walk in on me.”
Did he just? What the hell?
I roll my eyes, trying to hide my blush. “Yeah, okay. See you later, Jackson.”
As I walk out of the room, I can feel his eyes on me, and I wonder if he feels the same attraction I do. And knowing that he has been hired by my dad, would it be wise to act on it? And I still don’t know if he is involved with Olivia, though.
A thousand and one questions and scenarios run through my head as I walk back to my room, and about half of them involve Jackson’s semi-naked body, and what it would have felt like if I had licked the water that was trickling down his chest.
Two hours later, we are settled in the common room, Olivia still out of sight.
I take a sip of the cold pina colada and let it wash over me. I turn to Jackson, who is sitting next to me, holding a beer. “Can I ask you something personal?” I ask.
He nods. “Sure, what’s up?”
“I noticed you have a lot of tattoos,” I say, gesturing toward his arms.
Jackson looks down at his arms and chuckles. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“Can you tell me about them?” I ask.
He takes a sip, considering his answer. “I got most of them after I left the army,” he says finally. “It was a way for me to cope with everything that had happened.”
I nod, understanding that that might be all he wants to share right now. “What do they all mean?”
“Well,” Jackson starts, rolling up his sleeve to show me a tattoo of a soldier’s helmet. “This one is obviously army related. I got it right before I enlisted.”
“That’s cool,” I say, studying the details of the helmet.
He then rolls up his other sleeve, revealing a tattoo of a sparrow. “This one is a little more personal,” he says, tracing the outline with his finger. “I lost a lot of people during my time in the army, but there was one person in particular who was very important to me. I got this as a reminder of her.”
I don’t say anything, not wanting to pry too much. But I wonder who she was and what happened to her.
Jackson takes another sip of his drink before continuing. “She… Okay—she was like a sparrow that had nested outside my tent. She would come and go every day, and I guess I just got attached to her. One day, I woke up and she was gone. You should always be ready for that, I know, but it hit me hard.”
I feel a pang of sympathy for him. “I’m sorry,” I say softly.
Jackson shrugs. “It’s okay. I don’t think I’ll ever forget her, but at least I have this tattoo to remind me of her.”
I nod, taking another sip of my drink. “Thanks for sharing that with me.”
He smiles. “I might tell you more about her when I’m ready.”
As we sit by the plant display, sipping on our drinks, I keep thinking about the sparrow tattoo and the girl it represents. I wonder how close they were and how much Jackson still thinks about her, or if he moved on. But I don’t want to push the subject, so I keep my thoughts to myself and enjoy the spectacular views.
I am just glad that when I was suddenly overcome with all my dumb feelings of lust, I did not act on them. Judging by his response just now, I don’t think he would have appreciated my advances at all.
Chapter 8
The Distance Between Us
Jackson
Iwakeupearlythe next morning, feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep. As I stretch and yawn, I realize I’m starving, and I remember that I had ordered a room-service breakfast buffet to be brought up to our suite. I quickly get up and head to the dining table, eager to start my day with a hearty breakfast.
As I indulge in the delicious food, I hear some movement from the other room. It’s Amber. She walks into the dining room and greets me with a warm smile. We exchange pleasantries, and soon our conversation turns to the exciting plans we have for the day—the bioluminescence tour.
“I’m so excited for this tour,” Amber exclaims, her green eyes gleaming with excitement. “I can’t wait to vlog the entire experience.”
