"Well, I do love them, so thank you." She smiled, the flowers would be dried and pressed and kept in her special little keepsake box that she kept in her hope chest. They were, the first flowers received from a male not related to her or a non pageant affiliated employee, the first given to her by someone that made her feel the way someone that gives you flowers was supposed to make you feel. They were special, because Jackson had given them to her.
She wouldn't want him to feel like an ass, she just wasn't used to feeling this almost painful ache to be just be with him, hear his voice, see his smile, breathe in his scent and let it wash over her... she'd just never had it bad for a guy and it was certain that Annabelle had it very bad for Jackson Lowell.
She listened when he spoke, her eyes finally looking up to meet his. And just as quickly as the sad dejected puppy face had come to be, it was replaced by a little hopefilled smile. He wanted her to be his girlfriend... she hadn't read things wrong, he was just as new and clumsy about this whole relationship thing as she was and there was hope. She kissed him again, less wild and frantic than previous, it was slow and deliberate and soft. She broke the kiss this time, again, slowly and deliberately, sliding her hands into his. "I don't know how it's supposed to go either, Jackson. I just know what I feel when I'm with you, or think of you, which is a lot, for the record. You make me smile, you took me out for barbecue and didn't give me hell for eating like a truck driver the night before a pageant, you called to see how the pageant went and let me do the tired rambling thing and never once sounded like you weren't listening, even if the words coming out of my mouth didn't make any sense and you picked flowers for me yourself, which is so much more personal and better than some cold arrangement from a store... you couldn't possibly ruin it, I'm kindof really crazy about you, Jackson. Just in case you hadn't noticed."