I'm Entirely Yours, Klaus (Book 3)

CH. 11

ELEVEN:

Thursday, November 22nd
8:25 PM

Jackson sighed, walking into the kitchen. I smiled in amusement, "She asleep?"

"Yeah, finally. She was a little fussy," he answered.

"Well, the dishes are just about done," I told him, washing the second to last plate. "You're a surprisingly good cook. Thank you for dinner. It was way better than drinking bourbon in Marcel's condo."

Jackson chuckled, "Thanks for showing up unannounced and uninvited."

"Hurtful," I gasped. Jackson rolled his eyes, grabbing the bottle of wine off the counter and refilling both of our glasses. I placed the plate into the drying rack while Jackson leaned against the counter beside me, sipping his wine.

"Thanks for cleaning up," he said.

"You cooked, it's only fair I clean," I shrugged. "Oh, and I put Hayley's plate in the microwave. Did she ever call you back?"

Jackson scoffed, "Nope."

I winced, awkward. She missed dinner. We waited an hour for her to show up, expecting her just to be late. But Hope was hungry, Jackson was hungry and I never finished more than a few bites at the Mikaelson's. I was starving. Jackson called her at least five times before saying we should eat without the momma. And we did.

Once I was done with the dishes, I cut the water off. I looked around, "do you have any paper towels?"

Jackson raised a brow. I went to question him but he stepped next to me and reached an arm around me. I looked over my shoulder, spotting the roll. Oh. They were right behind me.

"Thanks," I mumbled, glancing back at him. I gulped as I realized how close he was to reach them. His face was a few inches away from mine. I licked my lips, our dark eyes meeting.

"Yeah," he murmured, holding the paper towels up between us. I ripped off a couple sheets for myself, drying my hands. Jackson's lips quirked up a bit as he reached around me again to place the roll back. This time when he pulled his arm away, it was slow and he brushed his hand across my lower back. "Your dress is what, silk? Satin?" He smirked down at me.

I narrowed my eyes, trying not to smile, "it's something like that."

He chuckled lowly, taking a step closer to me. "It looks good on you."

"Whatever," I laughed, pushing him away. My face burning with a blush now. Calm down, Danielle. Don't make it weird.

"So, what, you need a ride home? I can take you once Hayley gets back so she can watch Hope."

"That'd be great," I said, following him to the living room where we plopped down on the couch. I frowned when I spotted a duffel bag in front of the entertainment center. "What's that? That wasn't there earlier."

Jackson scratched the back of his neck, "that's mine. I packed a bag of my stuff, after I got Hope to bed. Once Hayley is home, I'm going out to the bayou."

I frowned, "Jackson."

"What?" He sighed.

"You're not going to leave her."

He shrugged, "I just want to get out of here. Be with people who want to be around me." I didn't have words for that one. He had a fair point. Besides, it wasn't my business. "You know, I thought when we got married, she'd make a more serious commitment to me. She can't stay away from that place... away from Elijah."

I cringed, keeping my mouth shut. I gulped down a couple more sips of wine. Luckily, I didn't have to say anything cause the front door swung open. "Jack?" Hayley called, rushing into the room to find us on the couch. Shit. I needed to go. I slowly stood up, not wanting to signal anything was wrong. I didn't want to make anything more awkward. "Dani? Uh, hi."