“Can I, uh, can I get you anything? Water? Beer? A snack? Not ice cream though, I seem to have eaten all of that.” A nervous laugh bubbled out of her. God, she needed to shut up. Having JP in her apartment was making her stupid. Well, having JP in her apartment and not knowing why had her in a tizzy.
“Hannah,” he said, calm and cool as ever.
“Yes?”
“We’re fine. Sit with me?”
Nodding, she walked over to the couch where he’d already sat. With a few practiced movements, he had Kayla out of the baby carrier and onto the carpeted floor. She immediately started cruising around on all fours, exploring the new territory. Hannah’s heart squeezed as she watched her niece crawl over to a stack of paperbacks and knock them down.
“Oops, Kayla,” he said as he started to move from the couch.
Hannah put a hand on his knee. “She’s fine. I don’t mind if she plays with them.”
His skin was warm and strong beneath her hand, reminding her of everything she’d missed so badly over the past few days. But he was there. Within reach once again. Why?
When she went to move her hand, he placed his over it. Oh, those calluses. She almost groaned at the feel of them. She wanted them touching her anywhere, everywhere. Her face, her belly, her breasts, her thighs, inside her.
God, was he here to punish her? Torment her? If this was all she’d get of him, it would be torture. But JP wasn’t that kind of man.
“So, how are you?”
“I’m an idiot,” he said at the same time.
Her heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“I’m an idiot. For how I acted the other day.”
Shaking her head, she scooted closer. “No. JP, no. I’m the idiot. I—"
He stopped her with a hard kiss. She almost wept at how good it felt. But it was over too fast, leaving her pressing a hand to her lips to capture the feeling.
“I understand why you came home. You should have come home. You wouldn’t be you—the amazing, kind, compassionate, loving woman I fell in love with—if you didn’t take care of your family. God, Hannah, I’m so sorry.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head as sadness won over the elation of having him there. “You were right. I shouldn’t have come. Actually, it was worse than you or I thought it would be.”
“I know,” he said, cupping her face between his palms. “Your mom told me.”
“My mom—wait, what?’
“I said I know, baby.” He kissed her again. “I know what she did.” Another kiss. “I went to the hospital.”
He went to the hospital.
Another kiss landed on her lips, this time longer and hungrier.
“Wait,” she said, pulling back as far as she could with him still cradling her face. “I can’t think when you do that. All I can concentrate on is wanting to rip off your clothes.”
He groaned. “Yes, let’s do that.” He moved in to kiss her again.
“JP!” she said with a laugh as she covered his mouth with her palm.
He peeked at Kayla, who was happily playing with the books, then sighed. “Talk first, make-up sex later.”
That sounded like he planned on sticking around for a bit. Her heart soared.
“I can’t believe you’re really here,” she said.
He kissed her one last time, softly, before lowering his hands to her legs. “Hannah, I missed you like I’d miss a limb. It literally felt as though you took a part of me with you when you left, and it’s because you did. Cheesy as it sounds, you took a huge piece of my heart. I’m here because I don’t want to be without you.” He glanced at Kayla, then smiled. “We don’t want to be without you for another day.”
Tears flooded her eyes, blurring her vision. “JP,” she whispered. “I miss you so much. I feel like I can finally breathe now that you’re here. Why did you go to the hospital?”
“Because I love you, Hannah. You’ve shown me what I’m missing. What a real family can look like. You and Kayla made me want things I’d always been afraid of. But I’m not afraid anymore. I’m not my parents, and you aren’t yours. I want breakfasts with you. And I want to comfort Kayla with you in the middle of the night. I want to decorate a Christmas tree with you. I want long, passionate nights driving each other insane with pleasure. I want everything. When I think of the future, I imagine the three of us together. Everyday.”
Was this real? Did he want all the same things she did? “JP—”
“Wait. Let me finish.” He laid out what happened during his visit to her parents. With each word out of his mouth, her jaw dropped lower until he practically had to scoop it off the couch.
He’d gone to her parents and demanded they get the help they needed. For her. Her heart was so full, it felt as though I’d burst right through her ribcage. “I can’t believe you did that.”