Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“And, Dane…I brought your car home in one piece with a full tank of gas. That’s a gift all its own.” He chuckled. “But also…” He dug in the bag and brought out one pristine red rose.
“Let’s give them some privacy,” Mark said at the exact right time, ushering his family out of the room, but I barely noticed because my heart was lodging its way inside my throat.
“I know it’s not much, but the gift shop only—”
“It’s perfect,” I replied, taking a step forward and finally touching him. The man I adored. Wrapping my hand around his nape, I pulled him toward me for a tender kiss. My thumb pressed at the pulse point at his throat, which was throbbing as unevenly as mine. “As perfect as you.”
“Please, I am far from it.” He leaned in to join our lips.
“Maybe you’re just pretty perfect for me,” I said against his mouth.
“Hey, you stole my line.” His fingers wound in the back of my T-shirt, drawing me closer. “And look at you, getting all cheesy.”
“Shh…” I kissed his temple. “Just let me be mushy and romantic.”
He arched a brow. “More romantic than a rose from the hospital gift store?”
I barked out a laugh, then buried my face in his neck, sighing at the scent of him. “Fuck, I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” he whispered against my ear.
After another blissful moment, I knew he had some things to tell me, and I needed to know, but I was also sort of afraid of his answer as I asked, “So why did you… How…” I gripped the rose and took a good whiff of it.
“My parents encouraged me to drive home to see you.”
I sputtered. “They did?”
“Yeah, I could barely believe it either. But we all talked, and my dad…well, I guess having a heart attack made him think about some stuff.”
“What did you say to them?”
He offered me a crooked, watery grin. “That I’m in love with you.”
“Fuck, Jess.” I set the rose down and wrapped him in a tight embrace as I trembled from his confession. “I’m in love with you too, and—”
“What?” he asked wide-eyed, as if he couldn’t believe it. How could he not know?
“Yeah, I… I’m in love with you.” And those words weren’t as hard to say as I would have thought. “You make me crazy, and I know we’re different, but somehow we just…work.”
“Oh my God. You more than like me too!” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you love me.” He arched an eyebrow. “Well, maybe I can. I am pretty awesome.”
“You are. And also really humble.”
We grinned stupidly at each other before hugging and kissing some more.
It felt like a burden had been released from my shoulders, until I remembered everything going on back home with his parents. My pulse beat erratically. “I really want this to work between us. So if you need to move back home, I—”
“No, that’s the thing. I’ll go back in a couple of days to make sure my cousin has it all worked out with my dad and the farm.” I raised an eyebrow, so he explained further. “He’s wanted to help more for ages, but my dad’s been stubborn about it.”
“Waiting for you?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Wow, that’s… Holy shit, that’s good news.” I heaved out a heavy breath as relief flooded me. Guess his dad had an awakening of sorts. Thank fuck.
“So, you want to try this relationship thing? With me?” he asked in a hesitant voice.
“With my favorite pain in the ass?” I rained kisses across his cheeks and lips. “How could I refuse? I’ll admit, Country Bumpkin Jesse is pretty sexy.”
“Yeah?” He snickered as he looked me over. “So is Ridiculous Pajamas Dane.”
I motioned over my shoulder toward the living room, where Bree was watching a movie with Hailey, more than likely with pink gloss on their lips from Jesse’s gift. “How about you get your butt in some ridiculous pajamas too?”
He clapped his hands excitedly. “Can we have a sleepover?”
I arched an eyebrow. “I sure hope so.”
He sighed dreamily, knotting our fingers. I rested our foreheads together, taking one more minute to breathe him in and blink away the tears beginning to sting my eyes. Guess I was pretty sappy after all.
So I just went with it, slanting my lips against his, and trusting in the us we had become.
Epilogue
Jesse
Six months later
I looked over at Seth and smiled while he played the piano in the Underground and I sang Billie Holiday. He had on a fedora instead of his backward ball cap, suspenders, and black eyeliner and red lipstick, which were his two staples as far as makeup went.
Seth grinned back at me and winked, his fingers dancing along the keys. He’d turned twenty-one a couple of months back and had been working at the Underground for about three weeks now. I loved getting to share this with him, singing one night a week while my best friend played the piano.