Author Note: I'm still writing Chapter 23 and yes there is still a bit of smut in this one so close your eyes or…..
Chapter 20 – Mistress of Mean
"I'm a guy and you know, I'm gonna look."
"And I'm a girl that can make you very uncomfortable."
The cards were on the table. They each knew it wasn't really a threat but the words hung in the air. Jackie took a very slow deep breath and watched as Eric's eyes were drawn to her expanding chest. He saw the smirk and knew she did that on purpose. 'Oh, you are the devil." He threw a pillow at her and missed. Jackie lifted an eyebrow and slowly feigned a yawn, lifting her arms overhead which in effect lifted everything with it.
Eric closed his eyes and grabbed the comforter. "You are the devil and you are cruel." Jackie laughed and leaned forward to give him a smack on the lips. "Yeah, and you are easy."
He opened his eyes as she threw back the covers. The little tap panties were cute and when she bent over to grab her pillow from the floor, the edge of the panties gave him a preview he totally wasn't ready for. "Jackie, cut it out!" He reached out and grabbed her by the waist pulling her back on the bed. She was giggling. "I knew you couldn't take it."
"Okay, you are the Mistress of Mean. You win." He conceded. "Don't move. For god's sake just don't move."
She turned in his arms, "Or what?" Eric was petrified, a giggling voluptuous Jackie Burkhart and a soft comfy bed were no match for his self control. "The Force is strong within me." Was just about all he could say.
She sat stock still trying to hold in her laughter but his hands around her waist were tickling and she couldn't take it any more. She rolled off the bed and onto the floor. "Okay Obi-Wan, I'm going to shower and dress. You move your cute little butt back to your place, do the same and meet me back here."
Eric agreed – he just had to wait until Jackie stepped out of the room – no need for tent pole attention at this moment. "Can I watch?" he teased.
"You wish!' she chuckled as she disappeared from the room.
*
Shower, shave, brushing teeth and dressing took less than fifteen minutes. Eric still had her door key and let himself back in the apartment. He went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee while she was still in the bedroom. He could hear her humming and he made him smile. So far, this was the nicest Sunday morning he had spent in almost two years.
"So I'm supposed to get out of bed early on a Sunday to make you pancakes? Are you out of your freaking mind? I was up all night writing that editorial. Where's my breakfast!"
"Donna, I've made breakfast every weekend for a month, we agreed to take turns. It's only fair."
"Fair? You want fair? I'm tired of trying to hold back my ambitions until you catch up to me. You knew I wanted to go to college but I married you instead. I didn't sign up to be your caretaker. If you got a real job, then I wouldn't have to take this funked up paper job. I made more money as Hot Donna than I do now!"
"Well, maybe you could be a little more supportive…. It's not always about you sweetheart."
"Maybe if you hadn't left me alone for a year…."
"Are we going to have this argument again? We've only been married two months, we should still be honeymooners."
"Honeymoon my ass. I didn't sign up for this. I'm going out. I'll see you whenever I get home."
"Eric? Did you make coffee?"
He blinked back to the present. "What? Yes, I was just remembering something. Hey, you look very pretty." He smiled.
Jackie twirled around in her little sundress with strappy sandals. She put her hair in ponytail and it bounced around her shoulders. She poured a cup of the strong coffee and added some sweetener. "This was very nice of you."
Eric carried his cup to the dinette table and Jackie followed. "So…. Eric Forman….I have the whole day free and I owe you an explanation or two."
He was touched that she remembered her promise. 'Nah, you don't owe me anything. I just like hanging out with you."
"And I like hanging out with you. Oh! You need to call your folks!" She said excitedly.
"Why?"
Her lips curved in a cute pink smile, "They leave for their trip today."
"Trip…oh, the train ride to the Smithsonian. Hey, how did you manage that?" He asked incredulously. Jackie smiled and told Eric the story about the Brewery owner's daughter being a little slutty and the trip was a "thank you" for doing a good job.
"Mom also said you've sent them on cruises – was that the same thing?"
Jackie nodded. "I would have gone, but I have a confession. You can't tell anyone ever. Promise?"
"I cross my heart." He said solemnly with a smile playing on his lips.
"I can't swim. I'm deathly afraid of deep water."
"Wait, remember when we went skinny dipping at the reservoir? Kelso got our clothes stolen?"
Jackie laughed, "Fez was saying "Naked is dirty, dirty, dirty!" They both laughed at the memory of Fez's butt tattoo. "But Jackie, you were swimming so how can you be afraid of water?"
She looked at him. "Seriously, I know you didn't pay much attention to me then, but I stood in one spot. I know there were eels in that water and I was deathly afraid. To this day, I will only stand in shallow water so there is no way I'm getting on a cruise ship. I give all those trips to your parents."
She finished her coffee. "Go call your folks and I'll make some breakfast."
*
"Oh, Eric, how sweet of you to call – you're dad is anxious to go to Washington to tell some Legislators how to take care of business."
Eric laughed. "That sounds like dad alright. Do you need me to do anything while you're gone?"
"No honey, we're pretty good at the trip taking these days. Maybe you can come over a couple of times and turn on a light or two just so it looks like someone's home."
"I'll do that. Have fun mom. Don't forget to bring me back something!" He joked, but he really did want a souvenir! He hung up the phone and found Jackie was smiling at him. "What!"
She grinned. "Nothing – I made scrambled eggs and toast. I'm still working on not burning bacon, but that's not happening this weekend."
Eric laughed. "Well, I'm starving and I would have eaten it anyways!"
*
Jackie took the dirty dishes into the kitchen and rinsed them clean while Eric took out the trash for her. She loaded the dishwasher and wiped down her counters. "Thanks Eric, I appreciate that."
"Hey, it's a guy's job. You made breakfast."
"I'll disagree but I thank you anyways. So what do you want to do today?"
Eric had to think about it. Usually he just went along with whatever Fez had in mind or was caught up in the Kelso weekend activities. "How about just hanging around here today? We could swim – Um, stand in the shallow end of the pool, rent a couple of movies and get some takeout?"
Jackie smiled. "I'd like that. You have to promise that one of the movies is a chick movie though. And Fez can't know you're here or I'll feel obliged to invite him in."
"Deal – but I want to clear up something before we move on." Jackie sat down on the arm of the couch. The tone of his voice was serious.
"Okay, what's on your mind?"
Eric sat down on the couch next to her. "About this half-date nonsense…."
She gave him a piercing glance, "You're not getting out of it." Eric opened his mouth to open and Jackie put up her hand. "Eric, this is very important if you and I are going to be…anything. Tell me quickly how many girls you've kissed. "
"I don't know why that's important. Okay five maybe six."
"How many have you slept with?"
"Hey, not fair – one."
"Have you gone past first base with anybody besides Donna?"
"Sort of – why are you asking me these extremely personal questions?" His defenses were starting to go up.
Jackie smiled. "I'm not trying to demean you Eric. How are you supposed to know what else you like if you don't kiss a different girl or try to go to second base with someone new? Girls come in all shapes and sizes and they all kiss different. Let me give you an example okay?"
Eric leaned back against the sofa. "Go ahead."
"I've had Michael for a boyfriend. Trust me he's a better friend and he's a sloppy kisser. Then there was Todd the cheese guy, I'm sure you remember him. "She added a little pointedly. "He was a dry kisser. Then was Steven who was good but mostly emotionless. After I finally started dating again, I found a handsome guy who was built and met all the qualifications of a movie star but he was all over the place. Ew… "Jackie shuddered at the memory. "Anyhow, getting back to my point - If I hadn't kissed all those guys, I never would have known what kind of kissing I like."
"So you found a kiss you like?"
She smiled and Eric saw her looking at his mouth. "Oh my god, you like the way I kiss?"
She nodded her head. "Yes…very much. But if I didn't have those awful experiences; then what measure would I use to determine what a good kiss was? I may never have kissed anyone again after Trask!"
Eric could feel his chest puff out a bit. Jackie liked the way he kissed. Cool. She patted his hand. "Now, apart from Donna, what did you feel when your second girl kissed you?"
"I'm not comfortable talking about this but it was like kissing my grandma."
Jackie giggled. "I know you've kissed Pam Macy. Everybody has. What was that like?" Eric frowned Pam Macy was supposed to be a secret. "She was okay but I thought maybe she should have moved her lips more."
"Good. Tell me about Candie."
"Oh, God, she nearly drowned me with saliva." He groaned.
Jackie burst out laughing, "I heard she liked the French kissing too much."
"I think she was looking for a French man in the back of my mouth." Jackie started laughing again. "Okay – okay…what about your coffee date girl?"
"She was sweet; she kissed me on the cheek." Eric didn't want to talk about Annie now that she was an employee. Eric never really considered that women rated men on kissing – this was something to think about.
"Okay – what about when you kiss me?"
Did she really just ask him to rate her? "Different." That was a good answer. Jackie wasn't satisfied with it though.
"Kindly explain different. Good? Bad? Needs improvement? C'mon Eric you can tell me."
He exhaled nervously. "It's perfect. Every kiss is different – sometimes you taste like vanilla or your lips are soft or I don't know how to explain it."
"So, you don't know what kind of kiss you like yet."
Eric shook his head. "I do know and I don't need to experiment anymore."
"But you're not married anymore so that's why you need to go out there." She argued.
Eric smiled. "I didn't say Donna was the kiss I liked – she was the measure. I like you."
Jackie smiled, "Are you trying to score points or something?"
Eric tugged her wrist and she tumbled off the sofa arm and into his lap. "Ooh…a calculated move there Mr. Bond." She teased gently.
"Shut up and kiss me." He growled in a low voice.
Jackie's lips softly grazed his and he felt his heart speed up a bit, she really was good at this. Eric closed his eyes as her fingers lightly touched his freshly shaven cheek. He did that for her. Jackie pulled him backwards until they were both lying on the sofa.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and urged him closer until he was practically smothering her. She tasted of mint and smelled like flowers and her body was oh so soft under him. She was kissing him so urgently that Eric was acutely and achingly aware that this was a kiss that was reserved only for him. The kiss was serious and it was scary and it felt so freaking good!
She pulled his face away and looked at him with those gorgeous mismatched colored eyes. "So…was it different?"
He grinned. "It was awful. You may have to do it again. And again…"
Jackie laughed, "Well, unless you want me to make you uncomfortable again, we better go get our movies. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, you're still the Mistress of Mean." He smiled and took her hand to pull her off the couch.
*