The Match (It Happened in Charleston 1)

Jake notices. “Stop that. I know what you’re thinking, and you need to stop it. You’re perfect, Evie.”

“But…she’s so—”

“That woman you saw this morning is not at all a reflection of my personal taste. And she wasn’t even the woman I married. The Natalie you saw this morning was the woman who left me, not the woman I stood next to at the altar.”

I still feel a little self-conscious, but I say, “Go on.”

“Over the last year of our marriage, she majorly changed. She became obsessed with seeking ways to try to improve her physical self. And yesterday, I was just as shocked as you when I saw her.”

“Shocked in a good way?” I ask, not wanting to ask this question but knowing that if we are going to be a constant part of each other’s lives, I’m going to need him to answer it so when I have to see Natalie again, I won’t be a crazy jealous girlfriend.

Jake smiles and shakes his head. “Not in a good way.” He squints one eye and suddenly looks a little shy. “Evie…I—” His gaze falls to scan my body for a millisecond before it bounces back up to my face. “You’re perfect. You don’t ever need to doubt that.”

I smile and resist throwing a blanket over my head for the remainder of the conversation. But I’m an adult. I can do this. “Okay. So Natalie came back?” I’m putting the conversation back on the rails.

“Yeah. When I got home last night, she was on my porch. I didn’t know she was coming or else I would have told you. But we talked for a few minutes, and she said she wanted to be a family again. She tried to get me to sleep with her, so I went to my parents’ place for the night. The end.”

His eyes meet mine, and I can feel my mouth hanging open. I’m speechless. I have no words.

Jake laughs and scoots closer to put his arms around me, completely wrapping me up. “Evie, Natalie and I are over. I don’t have any affection for her anymore. I would like for her to step up and be a mom for Sam, but I don’t have high hopes of that happening. In fact, I told her that before she could see Sam again, she had to stay in town for one week and call Sam every day. This evening, she texted, saying she was sorry, but she heard back about a job in LA and would be flying out tonight. What that really meant was she was in between boyfriends, hoped I would fill the position for a minute, but when I turned her down, she went seeking someone else.”

“I’m sorry, Jake. For Sam’s sake, that really does break my heart.”

“I know. Me too.” He kisses my head. “Hopefully, one day Natalie will get her act together, but until then, I’m not going to let her hurt Sam any more than she already has.”

I touch his cheek and feel his five o’clock shadow beneath my palm. “You’re such a good daddy.”

He looks down at me, and his gaze pins me in place. “Evie. Let me be perfectly clear with you. I don’t want something casual anymore.” He adjusts himself to face me, and his big hand raises to cradle my face, making my hand drop to his shoulder. “I want Jake and Evie. Stupid kissing profile pictures. Cute ringtones for the other person. I want serious. Exclusive. Us. I don’t want anything less than planning months out for a vacation and obnoxious Christmas cards that have you, me, Sam, and the dogs on the front. Can you handle that?”

My skin is tingling, and my heart is racing. It’s trying to leap out of my chest and jump into Jake’s lap. In fact, yeah, it turns out it wasn’t my heart doing that—it was my body. I scoot up onto Jake’s lap (again, sorry, Grandmama) and wrap my arms around his neck, smiling down into his face.

I hover an inch from his mouth and then narrow my eyes. “Do we have to wear matching robes?”

A rumbling laugh breaks from his chest, and his head tilts back, squeezing me a little tighter. He doesn’t answer my question, because with his head tilted back like that, it gives me a perfect shot of his neck. His skin is warm against my lips as I place kiss after kiss up his neck.

I make it up to his mouth, and his gaze is sultry, and passionate, and full of… “I love you, Evie Jones.” Love. His gaze is full of love.

“I love you too, Jake.” I dip my head, and his lips caress mine for a luxurious, top-of-the-line, special-edition kiss.

Just as it’s heating up again, we both hear a soft little voice on the stairs. “Ew. Are you guys kissing?”

Jake and I break apart and both wipe at our mouths. “No…we were just…just…” He looks at me, but what in the heck is he thinking I’m going to do to help this? He’s been a parent for ten years, and I’ve been in this role for all of five minutes.

“Just looking for something in my eye!” I say.

“Through your mouth?” Busted.

I can see Jake trying so hard to contain his laughter. He rubs his hand firmly across his face and mouth and looks back up at Sam. “We’ll stop kissing. Are you feeling better, kiddo?”

I scoot off his lap, and Jake stands and walks to Sam.

“A little,” she says, coming down the stairs with the help of Jake. Daisy is right behind her.

Jake brings her over to the couch, and without hesitating even a second, Sam sits down beside me and curls her little body up next to mine. I wrap my arms around her and hug her close. I don’t know who is benefiting from this connection the most in this moment. I feel like my heart is physically expanding. It’s making room to accommodate all of the new love I have.

Jake disappears into the kitchen for a minute and then comes back out with a bowl of popcorn. He sits beside me, sets the bowl in my lap, and drapes his arm behind me to rest over my shoulders and let his fingers dangle over Sam’s, effectively snuggling both of us at the same time. Charlie and Daisy both come over to hunker down at the foot of the couch, draping over our feet. Jake turns on a movie, and we spend the rest of the night just like that. Snuggling, laughing, stealing kisses when Sam isn’t watching, and eating popcorn.

I hope with all of my heart that this is what every day for the rest of my life will look like.