Dried beer spills dotted the tile floor. Dirty glasses, cans and bottles littered the countertops, some even carried beer or stronger alcohol. In the lounge, more empty bottles and glasses covered the coffee table mixed with ashtrays filled with cigarette buds. The smell of stale smoke and beer lingered in the air. It made me want to crawl back into bed.

Well, someone had to clean this crap. It might as well be me.

I grabbed a black bin bag and dumped the empty cans, bottles and ashtrays inside.

One girl had passed out on a recliner. Puke drenched her red hair and cheek. This was the part of parties that I despised with a passion. I wondered if Jackson was still here. I doubted Harold would let him drive under the influence. Then again, he didn't look that drunk last night when I said goodnight.

Who was the lucky girl after me? Guys like Jackson only thought about themselves. They didn't give a flying shit about women's feelings. We were products to ease their needs.

Thanks to Phil, I became a cynic with love. I hated that.

When all the empty bottles and cans were inside the bag, I emptied all the ashtrays. The black bag got shoved into the corner for Harold to take out when he woke up.

Then I gathered all the empty glasses and ashtrays and filled the sink with warm water and loads of dish liquid. The suds grew as the water level rose.

I barely started when a pair of gigantic arms and hands appeared on both sides, leaning against the basin, boxing me in.

"Morning, Princess." Jackson spoke in a croaky voice. Warmth spread through my body.

I turned my head to the side to look at him. He was even sexier in the morning, with messy hair and red eyes mixed with the piercing blue irises.

"Oh, you are still here."

"Yeah, I drank way too much last night." He let go of the sink and rubbed his face with both his hands. My eyes flickered to the grey sleeping shorts and t-shirt. He had big calve muscles and his ass begged to be slapped. Stop it Cass, this is disgusting. His feet were inside a pair of flip-flops.

"So what did I miss? Who was the lucky girl last night?"

He gave me a glassy gaze as he plucked the dry towel off the railing and grabbed the one glass to dry.

"It's going to hail. A guy that does dishes, I'm impressed, Jackson."

"Finally," he said, looking at the ceiling. "Nobody for your piece of information. I was stuck with you in my mind the entire night."

"Yeah, I bet you tell that to all the girls."

"No, I don't. I usually just look at them, flutter my lashes and I get what I want."

I narrowed my eyes playfully. "Yeah, well, that one doesn't work on me, I'm afraid."

"Clearly not." He put the glass in the cupboard. "So what is it I have to do?"

"Oh, man." I sighed, and he chuckled.

"What? I know what I want, Cassy."

"Yeah, well, you are dangerous and I will not play that game."

"I promise you, I'm not a violent person, and why the hell not?"

I laughed at the way he misinterpreted that one. "Because I've been there, and I've done that," I answered his last question of why I refused to play this game. "I'm thirty, Jackson. Not twenty-one. If I was that age, this would've been a different conversation altogether."

"What does your age have to do with this?"

"Everything. I'm over the game, I want the real deal, I want to settle down."

He grunted, which made me laugh.

"That grunt tells me you still want to play. How old are you anyway?"

He smiled. "Age is but a number, Cass."

"I don't buy that one. We have different goals, and this road is going to lead nowhere. And if that doesn't bother you, well, I already have my answer."

"You are so cynical."

"You can thank my ex for that one."

"So what happened?"

"He cheated on me a month before the wedding, a month ago."

He froze.

"So yeah, yesterday wasn't a great day for me to be honest."

"Your wedding was set for yesterday?" All the banter was gone.

"Yup."

"I'm so sorry." He could be really sweet if he had to be.

"It's not your fault he turned out to be the biggest idiot. And he was thirty-two. Thirty-two." I made that part clear for him.

"So, he didn't know what he wanted. You can't judge all the guys under the same standards."

"Em warned me already."

"People change."

"Not in one night."

"Why not?"

I laughed. "It's not how it works."

He shrugged. "I still wanted to know what it is I won't last or pass."

"Yeah, it's a waste of time."

"Cassy?"

"What, I call it as I see it."

"You don't know that."

"Oh, and if you get what you want, I bet you will just skip on."

"Skip is for little girls in pigtails. Besides, you don't know that, I don't even know that."

"Okay, fine, what was your longest relationship?" Why was my stomach flipping around?

"Two years."

"When?" I sounded skeptical.

"In school."

I laughed. "What happened?"

"Turns out she liked another guy more."

I almost choked as I grabbed the next group of glasses that waited to be washed. "You're kidding me now?"

"Back then, I was different." Jackson grabbed another glass and walked to the cupboard as he dried it and then packed it away.

"So, what, this girl made your sworn off relationships or something?"

"Nope."

"Then why don't you do relationships?"

"Because I haven't found the right one."

"Oh, you are going to play that card."

"It's not a card, it's the truth." His lips curved at the corner, into a sexy lopsided grin.

"So, how old are you?"

"I'm afraid you are going to yell your no."

"I already said no."

"Mmm, I can still change your mind."

"I'm sure you can." Fuck, why did I just said that?

Jackson laughed as my cheeks heated.

"Shut up." I put the last few glasses in the sink.

"I'm turning twenty-five in January."

I gave him the look. "I'm turning thirty in November, it's a six years age difference."

"It's five years and two months. Round it off to the nearest, it's five years."

He made me laugh, and that was always a good sign.

"Yeah, no."

"Come on, Cassy. Age is but a number."

"It is not. You are not ready for what I want, Jackson. I'm doing you a favor."

"How do you know what I want?"

"I've seen enough last night."

"I'm single. I'm not like that when I'm with someone."

"The last time you were with someone was six years ago. Once you fall into that groove of having anyone you want, one person will never be enough."

"Says who?"

"Statistics."

"Okay, so what do you want out of a relationship?"

"A solid one. Someone I can trust and rely on when in need, and like I said, hopefully a wedding date in the next two years as I do not want my babies when I'm like thirty-six." I pulled the plug as I put the last glass on the rack to dry and rinsed out the dishcloth.

He grinned. "You want a baby, we can go right now and make one."

I swallowed hard. "Tempting, but I need stability first." I could feel my cheeks burning as I walked to the cupboard to wipe them clean.

"Then try me. I might surprise you." Jackson dried another glass and put it away in the cupboard.

"I heard that one before, too. It didn't work out so well."

"From the idiot that left you a month before the wedding?"

I turned around to look at him. "Correction, he didn't leave me, I left him."

"Good for you."

I giggled. I wished he could stop as I was so close to tell him my conditions, but I heeded Em's warning. Players never made great partners. They are brilliant at fucking things up and shattering hearts.

Jackson grabbed the broom and swept the floors.

"You are really handy in the kitchen."

"One of my perks, I guess."

The mop was next, and I took the warm water from the kettle and put it in the container. I hated the stickiness that stuck under my slippers as I walked around in the kitchen.

"So what do you do?" I changed the subject as I put the mop into the bucket.

"Are you sure you are ready for that one? I mean, I clearly am such an irresponsible person that there is no way that it's something worth mentioning."

"Haha, seriously, what do you do?" I asked, as he opened the back door and took the trash outside.

"I'm starting my last year of pre-med in September." He leaned against the doorway.

My eyes flickered from the mop to him. "Excuse me!"

He laughed. "Not what you expected."

"A doctor?"

"Yep."

"Okay, that is impressive."

"Thank you," he said politely.

Holy crap. "So how did you get into that one?"

"My uncle is one of the best oncologists here, and I wanted what he has."

I laughed. "You study for a doctor just because of what your uncle owns?"

"No, that would be stupid. I had a best friend that died before my eyes and I felt so helpless that I couldn't save him."

"Is this the same guy that Harold spoke about, Derick?"

"Yup."

I carried on mopping. "Sorry. I know he took it hard."

"Yeah, he wasn't on the scene."

"So what happened?"

"A drunk driver came out of nowhere, hit the car on Derick's side. I had a mild concussion, but the wreckage trapped Derick. A piece of the metal punctured his lung, kidney and liver and I watched him die in front of me. He couldn't even say goodbye to his parents or anyone. It was just me and the guys that tried to cut him out of the car."

"Do you think you could've saved his life if you knew what you know now?"

"Probably not, but I never want to be in that situation not knowing what to do."

A part of me felt sorry for him. I could only imagine what a situation like that could do to a person.

I almost reached him with the mop and was glad that this task was almost over. I needed a bath.

"So, what is it you want me to do?"

My gaze flickered to his again, and I leaned on the mop. "You're seriously going on with this?"

He shrugged, still standing in the doorframe. The cool breeze dried the floor in no time as the clean scent of lemon replaced the stale smoke. "I'm adamant. I will not stop, so you might as well tell me."

"Okay fine." I squinted as I looked at him. "Five dates. Five really special dates that you have to treat me like a princess, as I'm worth it, and the dates need to be personal. Since you want to get to know me so badly, it's only fair that I should get to know you as well. It doesn't have to be expensive dates, but it has to be very special, and it has to revolve around a beautiful memory." I really tried to make it as difficult as I could.

His eyebrows furrowed. "Just five dates?"

"There are rules and I fear this is the part where you are going to back off." I mopped the last part of the kitchen, right in front of Jackson.

He grinned as he raised his eyebrows. "Okay, let's hear them."

"The dates have to be over the course of five weeks. So you get one date per week to wow my socks off."

His eyebrow lifted. "Five weeks."

I was finally done with the mundane task, and the kitchen was spotless.

I rinsed out the mop. "And you can't date anyone else, so see it as being committed to me for five weeks. No sex, no fooling around on the side, and believe me, I'll find out. It's my curse. When that happens, the deal is off." I handed it to Jackson to put outside. The emotions on his face slacked, and the corner of my lips twitched upwards.

"No sex for five weeks?"

"Yeah, once we reach the last date, I'll be whatever you need me to be." I threw out the bucket of brown water into the sink and rinsed it out to get rid of the loose grit at the bottom.

"No sex for five weeks." That was more of a statement and not a question.

I laughed. Just what I thought.

I was glad that we finished cleaning up, and I walked to the entrance of the kitchen to take a bath and soak for a year. The no sex was his deal breaker, and a part of me was glad that he didn't take it, as I wouldn't be able to play this game without losing my heart.

Nice knowing you, Jackson. I was about to step over the threshold when the word escaped his lips.

"Deal."

I paused. Oh, crap.

What did you guys think about this chapter. Let me know in your comments. Thanks for reading. I hope that you loved it.