Claimed (For Her 3)

But like my dad said, I can’t let fear rule me. I’ve got a plan, and I’m sticking to it.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Jordan

“No. No, no, no, no. Not happening,” Jay says, and crosses her arms.

I smile at her and wait with my hands outstretched.

“Damn it, Jordan, I don’t want to go through this again.” She looks at the horse carriage and then at me.

“I’ve double-checked the horse to make sure he’s okay, and I promise this time will be better.”

Jay looks at me and then bites her lip. “Do you really want to have a do-over?”

I nod and reach out, pulling her in my arms. “You deserve to have the date you always dreamed of. The first got ruined, so I’m going to make it better.”

“If it means that much to you…” she mumbles against my chest.

“It really does. I want to make all your dreams come true.”

She looks up at me and smiles, placing a hand on my cheek. I lean into the touch, and she nods.

“All right, handsome. Let’s go for a spin.”

The past two weeks have been heaven and hell for us. Heaven because we’ve spent every day together, and hell because I’ve had to loosen my control.

We’ve both decided to go back to work in two weeks, so we’ve spent our days lying around the house or going to the park. It’s been amazing, talking and laughing and making love. I can’t get enough of her, and the more I have, the more I want.

Her sister called one day last week and asked to go see a chick flick. I offered to go with them, but I could tell that Jay wanted some one-on-one time with Summer. I could have followed them. I could have waited outside the movie theater until she was finished. I could have gone with them and seen another movie. But instead I chose to trust Jay and listen to my father.

By the time she came back home to me, she was practically running through the door and in my arms. I made love to her on the floor right in the entrance because we couldn’t wait to get to the bedroom. I don’t think my anxiety about being away from her will ever leave me, but at least I’m able to control it long enough for her to see a movie. I’m a man who’s obsessed, so I can’t expect too much.

Her wrist only had a small break and is healing quickly. She was released to go back to work next week, so we’re sticking to the plan. I know Jay has her own fears about what happened to her, and working for Osbourne Corp. again. But Miles called her last week and they talked for a long time about how much he wanted her to come back to work.

She agreed to try it out again and see how it goes. With Miles cutting back some of his work, she’s not needed as much as she was before, so this is a good time to start. She can work part-time and still be able to keep busy while figuring out if this is what she still wants to do long-term.

She started writing again, and to walk by the office and see her typing away warms my heart. She looks so intense but happy, and that’s all I want for her. For the both of us. Maybe one day she’ll do something with her stories, but until then, I know she’s happy just writing.

I’ve thought about proposing to her a million times in the past two weeks, but I wanted it to be perfect. The carriage we had on our first date was hired for commission out of state. So I had to wait until it came back into the city before I could reserve it again. Now it’s here, and this time nothing is going to go wrong.

I help Jay into the carriage, and her hands are clammy. She looks worried as I sit down beside her and we pull away from the curb.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’m just really nervous.”

“It will be fine,” I say, running my hand over my pocket to be sure the ring is still safely inside.

“I love you,” I say, and kiss her lips softly.

She smiles at me, and some of her nerves drop away. “I love you, too, Jordan. So much.”

The carriage rides along the park, and it’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon in New York. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and I’ve got my soon-to-be wife at my side.

The ride is a little bumpy as we go over some of the rougher pathways. There’s some sort of race happening today, so there are a lot of people passing by us. It’s not as private of a ride as I’d like, but it’s New York, so there’s never much privacy.