Cuffed (2 page)

Jackson noticed the gazes of the other men around them—they lingered just a little too long on her for his liking. He clenched his fists and glowered at one as he walked past, eyes glued to Scarlett’s ass. If he stared any longer, the guy would be picking up his teeth.

What the hell was he doing? Jackson forced his hands to relax. He’d never been the territorial type. But right then, he wanted to zip up her jacket, throw her over his shoulder and find a place where he would be the only one to see her.

It was ridiculous. They’d never gone past the friend zone. He did wonder from time to time what she would be like if he got her naked. If their fiery arguments were anything to go by, she would be a wildcat in the sack. But he found the less he thought about that, the better it was for his sanity. She would never go for him.

“Not filming today?” She looked around for the camera that he was known for carrying. Jackson always filmed cons, but he seemed a little distracted.

Drawn from his thoughts, he tapped the top hat. “Thought it would be better to do this one from my POV.”

She smiled. “Always thinking.”

“Hey, gotta keep the fans on their toes, right?” He nudged her, sparking another round of photos and tweets.

“Jackson! Scarlett! I’m amazed you two haven’t started brawling yet. Or have you finally realized that all the hair-pulling and rough talk is just foreplay?” Rex Schaffer, aka Rex the Hex, approached them with a grin befitting his Loki costume. There wasn’t a costume that fit him and his channel more than Loki, God of Mischief. His popularity came from the pranks he pulled on everyone from unsuspecting bystanders to others in their community.

He clapped them on the shoulders, and Scarlett couldn’t help but swipe her hand over the spot he touched to make sure he hadn’t planted anything on her.

It was a move he didn’t miss. Her distrust of him made Rex laugh loud enough to draw more attention to them. Never one to miss a photo op, and winking at a few girls eyeing him, he threw his arms around Scarlett’s and Jackson’s shoulders, pulling them in close. “Smile for the cameras, guys.”

So there they were. The Norse God of Mischief, a disgruntled female gamer and the dapperly dressed hero of a shoujo anime smiling sweetly as flashes blinded them. Not all that odd by Comic Con standards. In fact, next to them stood half the Avengers, The Little Mermaid and She-Ra throwing up peace signs.

Scarlett still couldn’t shake the suspicion that Rex was up to something. It was rare for him to do anything without an ulterior motive.

A glance at Jackson told her he wasn’t buying the act either. His dark eyes met hers behind Rex’s back. He wasn’t even hiding the fact that he was keeping an eye on what Rex’s hands were doing.

Rex jostled them. “Look at you two playing nice. Don’t tell me the fire’s gone out of this relationship. I remember when you two couldn’t stand to post comments on the same blog.”

Scarlett slipped out of his grasp and brushed her jacket down as if he’d covered it in dirt. “We’re mature adults. Unlike
some
people.”

He must have been practicing his diabolical laugh because the one he barked gave her chills.

“You have to give the people what they want. You know they love it when you two bicker like two old ladies.”

She saw Jackson roll his eyes in exasperation. Shaking her head, Scarlett shrugged. There wasn’t the time to explain to him how people grew and evolved. Usually. Unlike him. “We’re on a panel in a few minutes. So we’ve got to go.”

The smile Rex gave her increased her sense of unease. He was definitely up to something. He checked his watch. “I’m on that one too. We’ve got plenty of time, so why don’t we check out what else is going on?”

Jackson shook his head. “Not interested. We’ve got coffee to bicker over.” Without waiting for a reply, he hooked his hand around Scarlett’s wrist and tugged her away. Once they were out of earshot he growled, “That guy pisses me off.”

“Me too.” She took a quick scan of Jackson. “Did he plant anything on you?”

“Not that I know of.” He patted himself down quickly and shrugged. “See anything?”

They checked each other over quickly. As clinical as Scarlett tried to be, she couldn’t help but feel his body under the costume. The tux hid muscle that intrigued her. She snapped out of it when he slid a hand over her bottom before letting it fall away. For a mad moment, she wanted him to do more. She dropped her hand back to her side and glared at him.

“Sorry.” Jackson’s wide grin said everything. “Nothing on you that I could find.”

She scowled. “You either.” Not that she was going to check any more.

“Good. How about that coffee?”

He gallantly offered his arm, but Scarlett sidestepped it.

“Sure.”

They headed for the first green mermaid they could find. Not at all a hard feat.

Jackson smirked. He’d pissed her off with the butt grab, but he had to be thorough. And he needed to feel the curve of that ass, even if it meant he’d get a fist in the face. It was totally worth it. Her glare and indignant tilt to her chin told him he would have to make it up to her somehow. Coffee seemed like a good start.

She stared straight ahead while they waited. It gave him the chance to study her. Scarlett was pretty, even when she was spitting mad. He wondered for a split second if he could kiss the expression away or if doing that would just make her angrier. What would that look like?

He shoved the insane thought aside. The last thing he needed to do right now was create a messy scene. But damn if he didn’t want to kiss her.

As they inched forward, Jackson caught her taking furtive peeks at him from under her lashes. She was checking him out!

He made sure to make it seem like he was taking everything in about their surroundings—the building, the décor, the pack of Power Rangers in line next to them—at everything, but where his gaze was actually drawn…to her.

When he sensed her focus on his face, he doggedly kept his attention elsewhere until he was sure she’d turned away. She spent a lot of time examining his chest and arms. She even stretched to disguise a move to examine his ass.

Scarlett was quite thorough, though he wished he wasn’t inside the monkey suit. He wasn’t the biggest guy or particularly handsome, but he wasn’t half bad. He’d gotten enough comments on his vids inviting him to meet up with random viewers. Not that he ever went. There were the
OMG, ur so hootttt
ones he got now and again. So at least he was attractive to someone out there. What he was interested in was that Scarlett seemed to find him easy on the eyes. He’d be glad to let her look her fill right now if it wasn’t so out of the bounds of decency to strip down and show her.

That’s when it hit him. The stubborn expression on her face wasn’t anger at him. She was into him and fighting it. At least that was his hope. He couldn’t be the only one interested, right?

By the time they reached the counter, he had debated, rebutted and turned over the possibility in his head half a dozen times. He had to find out if there was real heat between them before the end of the day or he’d lose it completely. But how?

The obvious way would be to blow off the panel, drag her somewhere quiet, peel the clothes from her delectable little body, pin her under him and not let her up again until after she screamed his name over and over as she fell apart.

The thought made his dick harden.

God. What would she look like spread under him? Did she scream? Maybe she was a moaner. What would it feel like to have her coming around him?

It would feel damn good, that’s what.

She was so tiny, at least a head shorter than he was. Scarlett would be a snug fit for sure.

He had to bite back a groan when his dick got even harder at that thought. Jackson eased a hand into his pocket covertly to readjust himself. Unfortunately, he couldn’t without bringing notice to his little problem thanks to the cut of the trousers. Cupping his hand over his erection, he did his best to hide it and think about something else.

But he couldn’t. Not while he was standing right next to her. She glowed, and smelled so good that he couldn’t focus on anything else.

What he wouldn’t give to see her flushed with arousal. He wanted to see her rumpled and replete. To see that hair tousled after wild lovemaking. To take her soft and slow by candlelight or hard and fast against a wall.

Jackson stroked himself as the images flashed through his mind before he knew what he was doing. Christ. She had him playing pocket pool like some teen who’d never touched a female.

And he sure as hell wanted to touch this one.

And kiss. And fondle. And definitely fuck.

“Jackson?”

Startled back to reality, he noticed they were at the counter, and Scarlett had tapped his hand, having obviously asked something.

“Huh?”

“What are you having?”

Her—and soon.

Once they ordered, Scarlett reached for her wallet, but he swooped in.

“My treat.”

Scarlett hesitated as they shuffled over to the crowded waiting area. “You really don’t have to.”

He shook his head. “Just take it. I’m trying to be chivalrous for once in my life.”

The barista called their names and she took her drink with a laugh. “Inspired by the costume?”

He winked as he retrieved his. “Maybe. You never know. I might have a softer side that I’m willing to let out to play right now.”

To let out his softer side in public? That would be something. She knew him well enough to know that there was more to him outside of his tough-talking, sarcastic YouTube persona. It was highly unlikely that she knew all there was about him. She was actually curious to find out a bit more.

Scarlett was pleasantly surprised when he led them to a quieter section and pulled out a chair for her. She took it and ignored the phones pointed their way, the wide-eyed stares and the frantic thumb movements that were the telltale signs they were going to be on a blog or Twitter feed sometime soon.

“Is that why you chose to wear it? I thought you lost a bet or something.” She couldn’t think of any other conceivable reason why.

He chuckled and took a long sip of his drink. “You would think, right?
Sailor Moon
isn’t exactly my kind of anime.” His eyes were drawn from her for a moment and a grin lit up the portion of his face that wasn’t covered by the mask. “You’re actually about to find out.”

Jackson stood just as a girl, who looked like she was in her early teens from her slight build and the way she was dressed, bounded toward him and leaped into his arms.

“I can’t believe you did it!”

Her shout turned heads in their direction.

He gave her a big hug before settling her back down and beaming at her. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

“I just never thought you’d actually do it!” She shrieked again, circling him.

A woman, who Scarlett assumed was the girl’s mother judging by her looks, watched on with a soft, teary smile as she took photo after photo.

Scarlett smiled and walked up to her. “Your daughter?”

“Yes.” She thrust out her hand. “I’m Carole and she’s Julia.”

Scarlett shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Scarlett.” She turned again to see Julia chatting Jackson’s ear off about something.

He took it all with a smile and even responded here and there, much to the girl’s delight. She even convinced him to pose with her again and he did so without complaint. If she had to guess, Scarlett would have to say that he was enjoying himself immensely. “She’s so cute. How does she know Jackson?”

Carole’s smile waned, turning a little watery. “Julia is a fan of his.”

Unsure of what she said that might have caused the other woman’s smile to waver, Scarlett bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry. Did I upset you?”

The woman sniffed but looked as though she was regaining control of her emotions. “I’m sorry. It’s nothing you said. You see, Julia suffers from a disorder that keeps her confined a lot of the time. Jackson heard about it and offered to help by wearing a costume of her choosing and turning up here to campaign for her cause.” Carole wiped a wet eye. “He has sent us all the money he’s made from his YouTube channel for the past few months to help us keep up with the cost of her treatments. He’s the reason she was even able to make it here today.”

Scarlett felt as though her heart was breaking and melting at the same time. Who would have thought that he could be capable of something so generous and kind? She watched him with Julia and a gaggle of
Sailor Moon
cosplayers posing their hearts out to the delight of the other con attendees. She pressed a hand over the ache in her chest at the scene.

“You’ve got a good one there, you know.” Carole nudged her with her elbow.

Nervous laughter bubbled up her throat. “Oh, we’re just friends.”

“I’m sorry. From the way you two were looking at each other I just assumed…” Carole hastily started taking more pictures, stepping away from Scarlett in the process.

Jackson had been looking at her? And he’d been doing so in a way that made innocent bystanders think there was something going on between them? She nibbled on her lip. She wasn’t exactly against the idea. He was hot and charming, and obviously had a very tender heart. Nothing wrong with that.

Watching him with Julia making ridiculous poses like it was something he did every day made her stomach flip.

“You keep staring at him like that and I won’t be the only one thinking you two are together.” Carole patted her on the back. “Why don’t you get in there with them?”

As if he’d heard Carole, Jackson turned to her and held out a hand in invitation. How could she say no?

Jackson snared hers, pulled her close the moment she was within arm’s reach and kept her pinned to his side. Between photos he leaned in. “I’m assuming Carole filled you in about the costume.”

She nodded, her heart feeling so full that she wasn’t sure if she could speak without letting loose a few tears at the same time.

“Hey.” He tightened his grip around her. “You okay?”

Was she? At the moment, she wasn’t so sure. “Yeah. I’m good.” Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a familiar figure approaching them. All emotions but dread disappeared. “Rex is here.”