Restored Together

6

The next day passed and Jackson had been keeping quiet and low key. He should've resisted the offer, feeling a pit of shame and guilt inside him. He was on his way to Ava's gallery now to settle things.

"Ava!" He shouted, angry at the fact he let himself get played.

"I see you've come for your other half of your cut?" The blonde haired woman responded with a devilish smirk.

"Your paintings. You're really smuggling drugs and firearms in them."

"Oh, please, I figured you could handle it... Or did those three years do a number a ya?" She teased referring to his imprisonment. "Oh, you think I didn't do my research on you? Of course I did." She laughed, "You know, you did excellent by the way. I could really use someone like you as a regular."

"No thanks. This whole thing was a mistake." Jackson confessed, shaking his head.

"You sure?" Ava questioned him, putting the thick filled envelope of cash against his chest. "Money talks. I can up your pay if you were to do a couple more jobs for me."

"More than what Sonny could offer me if I were to go tell him what you're doing here? I don't think that would help your case with Avery." Jackson responded in defense, not backing down from the woman.

"Don't you dare bring my daughter into this." The woman warned, her voice and expression going cold. "I think Sonny's perspective of you wouldn't be so hot considering you're pursuing his daughter, Kristina." Ava added with a smirk, seeing that ticked a response in him.

"There's no need to bring Kristina into this." He responded in defense.

"Good. Looks like we've come to an agreement." Ava nodded.

"This a bad time?" Their heads shot to the voice coming from the door. Jason Morgan entered the room and approached the pair that seemed to be in a heated discussion. He saw Jackson quickly slip what looked like a filled envelope into his jacket pocket.

"I was just leaving." Jackson stated and stormed out. Jason watched him leave carefully, not exactly sure what Jackson was doing there but he suddenly didn't have a good feeling about it.

—

The next couple days went by. Jackson went to Kelley's Diner to grab coffee with Sam. He was wrestling with what to do now about his situation with Ava. It's not like he can turn Ava in, he committed the crime too. His head hurt as he thought about it.

"Hey!" Sam greeted her friend as he approached the counter, "I already got your coffee ordered."

"Oh, thank you. You remember how I like it?" He asked, glancing at the coffee maker.

"Caramel swirl with almond milk and sugar? Preferably iced." Sam said as she remembered all the coffee dates they used to have together.

"And yours is still with a bunch of cream and sugar that it looks like milk?" He laughed as he remembered her taste buds.

"How's the investigation going? I heard about the confessions. Is that enough for them to hold Shiloh?" Jackson then asked, focusing on why they were meeting.

"Yes! That's the good news I had! Shiloh got arrested... AGAIN. There's no way he can get out of these charges against him this time." Sam rambled on and informed her friend.

"That's great!" Jackson smiled, letting out a breath before his mind drifted to a certain woman, "Does Kristina know?" He then asked.

"I think so, my mom probably told her." Sam told her friend as she noticed him bring up her younger sister, "So, have you made a move yet?" She then asked him after a moment.

"What?" He asked her cluelessly.

"Oh, c'mon. You really think I wouldn't notice?" Sam looked up at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"We've had one drink together." Jackson confessed to his friend, trying to hide his blush, "I was actually supposed to meet her the other night but I got caught up with work." He told his friend, withholding what exactly he was caught up in.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sam nudged his arm as she chuckled at her friends nervousness.

"You really don't mind if we were to start seeing each other? I'd be lying if I said I didn't like her." He asked her, raising his eyebrow. Surprised at the fact that she wasn't playing the overprotective older sister role and they hadn't even been on an actual date yet.

"I think you two could actually be good together. I know that you both have gone through a lot. Of course, if you break her heart then I'll have to break you." Sam told her friend honestly.

—

Later that day, Jackson decided to wait until Kristina was getting done with her shift. He confirmed earlier with Sam that she was indeed working tonight. He arrived at Charlie's Pub and entered the empty restaurant. He looked around until his eyes fell on the petite bartender that stood up from behind the counter.

"How about that drink I owe you?" He said as he approached her at the bar.

"I think you owe me a few." She replied, not looking up from the glass cup she began cleaning.

"Yeah, I think you're right." He said in agreement with her. That got her attention and he met her gaze.

"You kinda just blew me off the other night and I was really looking forward to seeing you." She told him truthfully, tossing the rag down and crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I meant to text you earlier, things just got really busy with work that night." He explained, not going into detail that his "work" was with Ava Jerome. He couldn't bring himself to tell her right then. "I'm here trying to make up for it though." He told her, leaning against the bar, "if you'll let me."

Kristina eyed him carefully before grabbing two beers from behind the counter. "I'll put them on your tab." She said before sitting in a barstool next to him. "So, what's been on your mind lately."

"What or who?" He said flirtatiously, "You." He told her with a smirk, sipping his drink. "I didn't want to blow you off the other night. I would trade you over work any day." He told her with a grin, "I'm glad I'm here with you now." He said looking into her eyes, his hand resting on her thigh.

"I am too." Kristina responded smiling. "So, tell me something I don't know about you."

"I got this tattoo on my neck for my mother." Jackson told her, briefly pulling his shirt collar aside to show her fully. "I was twenty one when I got it. That year was probably the hardest. My mom passed away from ovarian cancer. She always had faith and loved with all her heart. So, I got a cross inside a heart." He explained to her, opening up about his heritage and his past.

"I'm sorry for your loss. My mom is actually a cancer survivor. She had second stage lung cancer when I was little. Luckily, she's strong and healthy now." Kristina responded. "Makes me realize I shouldn't be so harsh towards her when she's really just trying to help me." The brunette admitted, suddenly feeling guilty for her outburst with her family.

"Thanks. I probably could've chosen a better location for the tattoo but at the time I thought it was edgy." He joked with a light chuckle.

"Oh, it definitely is." Kristina told him, placing her hand on his neck. She gently rubbed her hand over the ink, feeling his smooth skin against her palm. Their embrace grew closer and she brought her other hand to wrap around his neck. They exchanged longing flirtatious looks as they inched closer before locking lips. He picked her up onto the bar countertop as she kept her legs wrapped around him as they kissed. Something they both had been wanting to do since they met weeks ago.