Me and Mr. Write (8 page)

“
I…I have been hurt Jackson, more than once and it’s just hard for me to accept that you won’t do it as well” I feel sick as she speaks, she is trusting me and I know I don’t deserve it,

“
Shush! It’s done now. Let’s get some sleep, im bushed”

We climb into bed and within moments of me holding her, Rosie is asleep a
nd breathing deeply on my chest. Despite my exhaustion I’m struggling to fall asleep, I can’t stop thinking about my conversation with Rafe. How many times has Rosie had her heart broken? I know that I’m going to add to the tally.

That’s not an
option; I can’t let her find out.

I wake as Rosie stretches out beside me and turns onto her side. I am shattered, I look at my phone and notice that the time is only six forty am, it’s still dark outside and I must have only had about four hours sleep. I slide up to Rosie’s back and wrap my arm around her waist; it’s strange to feel her sleeping in a t-shirt as she’s normally always naked in bed.

I slide my hand up under the material and stroke my hand across her tummy, she responds by taking a deep breath and pushing her backside against me, another strange feeling as
I’m wearing boxers.

I push my fingers up
Rosie’s soft skin and gently stroke her breasts, ‘
she is perfect’
I think as I drag a finger back over her nipple and she pushes back once again, an invitation that I’m glad to accept after last night. I’m hard as hell and when Rosie sleepily takes hold of my hand and guides it down between her legs I’m encouraged and bury my face into her neck, nibbling softly in that way that drives her insane.

She leans back toward me, parting her legs slig
htly to give me better access. She is wet and so warm as I dip a finger inside briefly and run the moisture upwards, Rosie rocks her hips back into me in response, My dick is so hard and pressing against her as she pushes backward is driving me crazy, and encouraging me to circle her clit harder and faster with my fingers.

Rosie reaches her hand behind her back taking hold of me. It feels great as she squeezes and pulls upwards and back down, I can’t help but groan into her ear and push my hips forward in response.
In what seems like seconds Rosie readjusts and pushes herself onto me, I push slowly into her and she leans her head back indicating that I’m pressing the right buttons.

It’s bliss to be inside her, she rolls forward so that she is face down on the mattress and I roll with her, kissing the back of
her neck and shoulders as I continue a slow pace inside her. Rosie pushes her backside up off the bed allowing me deeper and I kneel upright between her legs, gripping her hips as I start to thrust hard and fast deep inside her. She muffles a scream into the mattress and grips me tightly as she comes hard and fast, I can’t hold off as she clenches gloriously and I gasp as I empty into her…

“Welcome home Mr James” Rosie smiles up at me from the pillow, sated and flushed in the cheeks as I return from the bathroom,

“It’s good to be back baby.
Right then, breakfast and then we’re taking Glasgow by storm!”

I can do
this; I can push what happened in Thailand to the back of my mind and spend a happy monogamous lifetime with this amazing woman.

We order room service and eat breakfast in bed, then dress and head out into the city. As we walk, Rosie clings to my arm for warmth and fills me in on how the book tour has gone.

We’re
walking and talking as though we’re the only people in the world. Listening to Rosie so excited about the feedback she’s received on the tour makes me smile and when I talk about the wedding over a coffee I have to stop half way through telling her about it and just kiss her, I looked up to see her resting her chin in her hands and watching me, listening intently and smiling, she’s adorable.

While we eat lunch I start to panic about Rosie meeting Sasha in a couple of days, I can’t risk Sash
letting on about what happened, I can’t let Rosie get hurt like that. I’m sure that Sasha won’t say a word; we talked before I came home to try and smooth things out. She begged me not to go to the police saying that she had raped me, I told her not to be ridiculous and that she made the most stupid mistake she’ll ever make, but it was just a mistake.

For some reason
I told her we could still be friends, I don’t know why, I think it was partly because she was crying and partly to keep her on side. Sasha values our friendship and won’t jeopardise it I’m certain, but she can be a nasty piece of work when she wants, and they say there’s nothing like a woman scorned.

When Rosie asks me what’s wrong I realise that I haven’t said a word or looked at her for a while, I just assure her that I’m really enjoying my food, she seemed to believe me.

Rosie and I spend the whole day shopping and dipping in and out of bars to warm up. We’re both a bit drunk when we get back to the hotel, rosy cheeked from the cold and the alcohol and decide to get room service and curl up and watch a film in bed.

We are heading back to London tomorrow and then on to Devon for Ste
ve and Annie’s wedding part two so I want to make the most of this, while I have her to myself.

“Are we nearly there yet?”

“No Pippa, we’re five minutes further along the road than the last time you asked!” Jackson smiles at Pip in the rear-view mirror and she laughs from the back seat of the car.

Jackson has hired a car to take us to Devon as it was going to be a nightma
re journey on public transport. Watching him drive is quite a turn on; he is confident behind the wheel and handles the car perfectly, weaving in and out of the traffic to get us to Tavistock in record time.

We pull into the driveway of The Horn of Plenty and I’m immediately struck by the beauty of the place. The loveliness of the hotel and grounds is accentuated by the dusting of February snow highlighting every surface that it sits on. The centrepiece of the driveway is a slate lined fountain with neatly trimmed bushes, everything is white with frost as the icicles catch the light of the afternoon sun and shine like jewels as we cast our eyes toward the impressive entrance porch.

The
wedding is tomorrow, Steve and Annie are not yet legally married as their ceremony in Thailand was just a religious one, so I feel privileged to be one of less than one hundred guests here to witness them actually becoming husband and wife. We head into the hotel and after checking in and putting our things in the rooms, we all head down to the bar for some lunch.

Looking out of the windows at the stunning views over
the Tamar Valley I can see why Steve chose this venue. Annie has never been to England before and this place encapsulates all that is beautiful about our small island and lays it out in all its glory, like gifts for Annie to admire and treasure. The Georgian building represents our vast and colourful history, all around it a lush green landscape and various examples wildlife show the British countryside at its best and the icing on the cake is the beauty of English winter demonstrating our changing seasons.

Our room is beautiful and the view from up here is even more
breath taking than from the terrace. We have exclusive use of the hotel which is great and it all feels really intimate and cosy, Steve and Annie are already here but have taken their parents out for the day. We are all getting together for dinner this evening but not before an afternoon walk in the cold countryside with Jackson.

By the time we have got back to the hotel and changed for dinner I am more than ready for it, I’m famished and in need of a glass of wine, pronto. We head down to the bar and are practically pounced upon by someone throwing their arms around Jackson’s neck, separating us and aggravating me,

“Rosie, this is Sasha, a friend of mine from uni
” Jackson awkwardly pushes her to arm’s length and smiles at me. As he says her name I notice the way she looks up at him, the same way that I do when he says mine.

I immediately feel that Sasha is a threat
, she is petite and extremely attractive. Her black hair is perfectly tamed and cut into a sharp asymmetric bob, her dark eyes look almost black against the smoky make up that she is wearing so well. I have to gather my thoughts to remember how to speak but I can’t help feeling concerned by how pretty Sasha is and how comfortable she seems with Jackson.

“Nice to meet you” I smile but try my hardest to transmit a message telepathically so that she knows he is off limits, she doesn’t seem to receive it by the way that she places
her hand on his arm and laughs.

“Jackson, have you seen the photos from the wedding, there are some brilliant ones of
us in Presley’s!” She hasn’t even acknowledged me and now I realise that this is the woman that was offering him coffee so early in the morning when I had called. She is stunning and oozes sexuality, she is also obviously attracted to Jackson and she was in Thailand with him.

My blood is boiling and I can feel my cheeks becoming redder, I scan the room for Pippa and when I spot her at the bar I head towards her without excusing myself from Jackson’s side. I need talking down from the ledge that I find myself on. I know that I should trust Jackson, but Sasha has known
Jackson for a long time, I only found out a few days ago that it’s his thirtieth birthday next week.

“What’s happened?” Pippa asks as she sees me charging toward her, I keep walking, gesturing for her to follow and we head outside into the cold, “Rosie, I love you, but it is freezing,
why are we outside?”

I explain everything to Pip and she does her best to convince me that
I’m being an idiot, “So what if Jackson has female friends, and of course she was in Thailand if she’s a friend of Steve’s too, that’s nothing to be angry about Rosie. You need to let go of these trust issues or you are going to lose him” I know she’s right, I just needed to vent.

We sit for dinner at one large table; there are maybe twenty five of us here. Steve’s parents have been lovely all evening, telling me how happy they are to see Jackson finally settling down, so I’m pleased when they sit opposite Pip and I at the dinner table making conversation easy. Jackson is seated to my right, opposite Steve and Sasha has sat herself on the other side of him. I feel ok whilst Jackson is holding my hand, but when he releases it and turns his back slightly toward me to talk to Sasha, I feel a little rejected.

I try to ignore the feelings and tell myself that he is just trying not to be rude, but when I glance up to see the look that Steve is giving the two of them, I know there is something that I haven’t been told. After the main course I reach for Jackson’s hand and he looks me in the eye with a smile,

“Can I have a word please? In private…” Jackson eyes me curiously but stands and takes my hand again as we walk away from the table, I can feel eyes burning a hole into my back and I presume that it’s Sasha’s, maybe Steve’s too.

“What’s up baby?” Jackson asks so affectionately that I immediately feel ridiculous for feeling so insecure,

“It’s Sasha, I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me about her, am I wrong?” I ask softly, not wanting Jackson to feel like I’m attacking or accusing him. He looks away for a moment scratching the back of his head, and then looks back to me,

“Ok, listen, Sasha and I are
just friends. There are no feelings between us other than that of mates, you need to understand that” he looks at me as though he is waiting for me to acknowledge that I do, “But, yes we have slept together, in the past Rosie”

I knew it
so I don’t know why I feel annoyed, maybe it’s just that I can tell that she has more than feelings of friendship toward Jackson, but he has been honest with me as I asked him to. I close my eyes for a second and take a breath, when I open them Jackson is looking cautiously at me, I can see the worry in his eyes, he is unsure what my reaction will be,

“Thank you, for telling me” I smile and hold out my hand for him to take as we head back to the dinner table. He is mine, and Sasha can’t do anything to change that.

The wedding is beautiful, Annie’s
smile lights up the whole room and Steve looks so happy and in love that I can’t help but feel inspired. After the ceremony the bride and groom and their families head out for some photos in the frosty gardens of the hotel, most of the guests stay out of the cold and drink champagne whilst watching the action out of the windows of the bar.

Jackson
is Steve’s best man and I smile as I watch them posing for photographs together, both pausing to blow on their hands and rub them frantically together in an attempt to warm them up.

Annie has on a white wedding coat which contrasts with her
dark skin and exotic beauty making her look quite striking as she smiles for the camera. Before long Steve calls for everyone that was at the Thai wedding to come for a photo, I watch as Sasha makes a beeline for Jackson’s side and stands inappropriately close to him, smiling and hunching her shoulders to show how cold she is. Jackson smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm to warm her up.  There is something in the way that she looks at him, there is more to their relationship than Jackson has told me, I just know there is, and from the look that Pip throws my way she knows it now too.