her head. I held my breath, waiting for her answer. But she shook her head. “No.”
My heart stopped. “Why?”
“You still haven’t gotten the proposal right,” she said, a smile teasing at her lips, and she began to move her hips again. “When you get it right, I’ll say yes. But until then, the answer will always be no.”
Groaning, I grabbed her ass and flipped her under me. “I’ll try again until I get it right,” I vowed.
“Good,” she whispered. “Don’t ever give up.”
Chapter 24
Kin
The bed was empty when I woke up the next morning. There had been little sleep for either of us the night before, leaving my mind foggy with exhaustion. But my body seemed to hum with the remembered pleasure Jace had spent the entire night giving me.
I walked sleepily into the kitchen, barely glancing at the four people sitting at the table eating breakfast. I’d grabbed a pair of Jace’s sweats and another one of his shirts before coming downstairs, and they hung off me as I crossed half blind to the coffeepot for a cup.
From behind me, I heard Gray snickering. Knowing the reason why, I felt heat fill my face. Keeping my back to the table, I sipped my coffee and tried to pretend he hadn’t heard me losing my mind the night before while Jace fucked me.
Thickly muscled arms wrapped around my waist seconds before Jace kissed my neck. “Hungry?”
I melted back against him with a shake of my head. “Not up to eating.”
“Not even if I made you an omelet?” he enticed, but I shook my head, my stomach protesting at just the thought of eggs.
“I’m good with coffee for now,” I assured him.
“Then come sit with me.” Taking my hand, he tugged me over to the table and pulled out a chair between his and Kassa’s. “We were just talking about the wedding.”
Kassa tossed her fork into her bowl of fruit. I didn’t know how long she’d been eating, but the bowl was nearly full, and that wasn’t like her at all. Even if she’d been there five minutes, that fruit should have been nearly gone, she loved it that much. Wondering if she was just having morning sickness, I gave her my full attention.
“The courthouse closes at five, so that gives us plenty of time to get ready. Alicia is taking me and you to the spa for the morning…”
I sipped my coffee, nodding along with the rest of her plans for the day. The excitement on her face and filling her voice told me she really didn’t care about all the other wedding stuff. Kassa had been all about the bachelorette party when we’d spent a weekend in Vegas for Lucy’s. I’d planned some pretty kick-ass things for us to do, and Kassa had asked me to do something similar for her own party. Yet that didn’t even seem to be on her mind as she ticked off her list of what she expected of the day.
Jace and Gray were going to the gym for the morning. Considering that was Gray’s favorite place in the world when he wasn’t with Kassa, I figured that was plenty of excitement for him. His sand-colored eyes watched her talking animatedly, love flooding out of them as he smiled whenever she looked at him like he hung the moon. To her, he probably did.
With the day’s activities all mapped out, I went upstairs to take a shower. Since my things were still in Kassa’s old room, I used her bathroom to shower and get ready. We were coming back after the spa to get dressed for the civil ceremony planned for three, so I pulled on jeans and a T-shirt, leaving my hair down since it would get styled at the spa later.
Tossing everything back into my case, I turned to leave the room just as there was a knock on the door. Frowning, I opened the door to find Alicia standing hesitantly on the other side.
Licking her lips nervously, she gave me a small smile. “Do you have a minute, sweetheart? I would like to speak to you for a moment.”
Concerned, I stepped back. “Sure. Come in.” She walked in, and I closed the door. “Are you okay?”
“Just a bit of a headache, but it’s not nearly as bad as these things tend to get.” She clasped her hands together in front of her, glancing around the room for a moment before finally turning to face me. “So, you and Jace are back together? You worked everything out?”
The hopefulness in her voice made my heart squeeze. “We’re back together, but I’m not sure we have everything figured out yet. I’m hoping we can sort it out as we go.”
“Well, I’m glad you two are on the right track. It was hard watching him miss you so much.” She pressed her lips together, growing quiet again.
I crossed to her, grasping her hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Alicia, I know things are crazy for you right now. I, more than anyone, know how stressful being sick is when you want to be strong for everyone else. But you should really consider telling Kassa and Gray what is going on. You think you’re doing them a favor by not putting this stress off on them, but if something does happen, you’re only going to hurt them more.”
She swallowed hard. “I know, Kin. Really, I do. But I just can’t do that to them. Not yet, anyway. I have a solution for getting Jace to agree to go back to California and going on his winter tour without having to worry about me.”
“What is it?”
“I’m quitting my job. The people of Bristol won’t be too happy knowing their district attorney is making important decisions when she has a brain tumor, so I’m resigning.” I couldn’t keep the surprise off my face. Sure Jace, Kassa, and Gray were her babies, but her job had always been her life. I hadn’t expected her to give that up even if she was so sick. “And I’m going to hire a nurse. Someone to come in every day to clean and cook a little, as well as help out with my medical needs.”