“Is this what our love is going to be like?” he asked, wanting it to be different, but committed to taking her any way he could get her. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do to prove how much I want you in my life. I’ll call the Water Summit organizers and tell them I can’t do it, but will you ever believe me?”
Fear shot through Mia like a bucket of cold water being dumped over her head. She shook at the sensation. Her head spun and she couldn’t…she couldn’t keep her emotions straight. He loved her. Was staying with her. So why was she sad?
What was worse, she wondered, her heart an empty vacuum. Being left over and over again? Or being left once and for all?
Was that the question? The gamble? A slow death from a thousand small wounds, or a quick one that was brutal and traumatic?
“I’m going to go call the organizers,” he said, the fire in him banked. “Maybe it’s just too soon to even talk about this.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, long and sweet, and she wanted to die right there. In that kiss. Hold on to it, so nothing could get between her and that second of bliss. Of truth.
You’re a coward, she told herself, hating herself for her fear. And you’re turning Jack into something he’s not. Something tame.
How long can he keep sublimating his wants to make you happy? How long will you like him if he does?
She heard him in the other room, shrugging out of his jacket. The bed squealed slightly under his weight and she knew him so well she could see what he was doing without looking at him.
She saw the curve of his neck, the resigned hang of his head.
But then the bed squealed again and she heard him come back into the room. She spun to face him and her breath caught in her throat. Something hot pooled in her belly.
Jack was…different. Angry. His eyes sharp. His intent clear.
“This is bullshit,” he said, stepping up to her. He searched her face and she felt naked under his scorching regard. “You’re not this person, Mia.”
She opened her mouth, but he kissed her. He kissed her so hard she fell backward onto the couch and he was right there, on top of her. Hot and heavy and perfect.
“You’re not scared. You’re the toughest girl I know and that’s what I love about you,” he said, pressing kisses along her chin. Her neck.
“Love isn’t going to turn me into something I’m not and fear isn’t going to turn you into something you’re not.”
Bells went off in her head, the truth something she couldn’t run from.
“I won’t be brought to heel, Mia. Not because you’re too scared to share my life.”
“What are you going to do?” she breathed.
“Drag you, kicking and screaming, around the world. Show you everything you’ve ever wanted to see. I’m going to run that ranch with you. Give you babies—” He stopped for a second and her eyes burned with tears, tears she saw reflected in his eyes.
Jack was crying. Her heart broke with love.
“Lots of them,” he whispered.
The moment was too tender, too fragile, and he blinked away the tears, but she saw the truth. Had known it all along, even when she was too scared to believe it.
Jack loved her. Only her. And it was forever.
His hands slid up under her shirt, pushing aside her bra until he cupped her breasts in his hands.
He growled under his breath, up against her throat, the vibrations hitting all the high notes between her legs. “I love your breasts,” he said. “I never said that because I wanted to respect you, but I’m done.” He looked into her eyes and she wanted to laugh at the desire in his face. He was a man transformed. Barely in control.
“You’re done respecting me?” she asked.
He stretched his body out over hers. “Yep,” he said. “No more pussyfooting around.”
It took a moment, but joy, love, broke through the fear, destroyed the doubt and this man in her arms, her husband, her husband, made her whole.
Truly herself. All sides completed.
Laughter, healing and true, real and beautiful, bubbled out through the cracks in her fear, destroying what was left of it.
He glanced up at her, wariness and hope all over his beloved face.
“Promise?”
“That I love your breasts?” He palmed the heavy weight in his hands, teasing the nipples with his thumbs. “Yes.”
“No, that thing about dragging me kicking and screaming around the world. About the ranch. About…about the babies.”
He rested his head against her neck and she felt her heart grow, double and then triple in size until he was enclosed. Never to be let out.
“I promise,” he said, kissing the tears that leaked from her eyes.
“I’m sorry I was scared,” she said, lifting her lips to kiss away his tears. They were the sweetest thing she’d ever tasted. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”