I’m crazy about him.
“Does that bother you?” he finally asks.
I lift up so I’m leaning on my elbow. Our gazes meet, his full of trepidation. Silly man. “Of course, it doesn’t bother me.”
He studies me, turning on his side so he’s facing me more fully. “This is the moment where you confess you feel the same way,” he whispers.
Smiling, I lean in and press my mouth to his. “Hey guess what? I feel the same way,” I murmur against his lips.
He smiles in return. I can feel his lips stretch against mine. “Really?”
“Really. Don’t sound so surprised.” I kiss him again and then shift away from his big, hot body. Sleeping with him is like sleeping with a furnace, I swear. “Can I confess something else to you?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
I roll over so I’m lying on my back, staring up at the ceiling. “I talked to my mom a while ago and she told me that she sold our house. And that she was staying with her new boyfriend while she looked for a new place to buy. Which meant I had nowhere to go for the summer and I was really worried about it.”
“Wait a minute. When did this conversation happen?”
“Monday,” I admit. I can feel him staring at me but I don’t look his way. I feel too stupid. I should’ve told him. I don’t know why I held it back but I did, like an idiot.
“Jade.” He’s touching me, his hands gentle in my hair as he pushes it away from my face. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.” I sigh and turn to look at him. “Kelli said I was being stupid.”
“You sort of were.”
I shove at him and he grunts. “Give me a break. I was unsure about…everything. I didn’t know how you really felt about me. It was happening so fast and I was trying to find a roommate all this week and failing miserably. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
“And all this time I was trying to work up the nerve to ask you to stay with me. That would’ve solved your problem in an instant. Crazy.” He runs his finger down my nose. “Why didn’t you ask if you could stay with me?”
“I already told you. I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”
He drops a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Your problems are my problems. We’re in this together, baby. Can’t you see that?”
I blink up at him, noting the sincerity in his dark gaze. How did I get so lucky that this man is mine? I remember how he drove me crazy when we first met. Now I can’t imagine my world without him. “You mean it?”
“Cross my heart, hope to die.” He kisses me, warm and sweet, his arm curling around my waist so he can bring me flush against him. “I love you, Jade.”
Oh God. Just hearing him say the words makes my heart feel like it could swell to three times its size. “I-I love you too, Shep.”
I wrap my arms around his neck as I drown in his kiss, the assured way his lips move against mine, the delicious sweep of his tongue within my mouth. “This is going to be the best summer ever,” he whispers against my lips after he breaks the kiss.
Now I’m feeling a little shy. I mean really? What in the world is wrong with me? “Do you want me to help pay rent? Enid is moving me up to fulltime for just the summer.”
He pulls away from me slightly. “Are you fucking kidding me? No, you’re not paying rent. You won’t have to pay a dime, just make me cookies and get me fat. That’ll be your payment.”
“I can’t do that,” I say, laughing. “I’ll get just as fat.”
“At least we’ll be fat and happy together.” His smile fades and his expression turns serious. “I want you to go back to Enid and tell her you don’t have to work fulltime after all.”
“But…” I start to protest and he places his index finger against my lips.
“I want to spend as much time with you this summer as possible,” he explains, his gaze locked on mine. “I know you need to work and I get that. But I want to be with you, Jade. As much as I can, before the fall semester starts back up and we’re busy.”
I nod slowly. “Okay,” I whisper against his finger. “I’ll see what can be arranged.”
He smiles and removes his finger from my lips before he kisses me again. “You do that.”
“You look way too fucking happy,” Tristan groans as I walk into the kitchen.
Smiling, I grab a mug from the cabinet and pour myself a cup of coffee. “That’s because I am.”
Gabe is sitting at the island, wearing a pair of tropical print swim trunks and nothing else. “I’m hanging out at your pool today,” he declares as a greeting.
I nod. “Sounds good.” Too bad Jade has to work this afternoon. I’d suggest we do the same thing. Not that I want to see these assholes catch a glimpse of Jade in a bikini but…
Damn. I need to get a hold of this possessive wave I feel every time I think of someone looking at my girl.
“What’s got your panties in a happy twist?” Tristan asks. “Hey, you never did tell us how dinner with your parents went last night.”
“Fucking awful,” I say cheerily, dumping a bunch of creamer in my cup. “My mom was a total bitch to Jade.”
“Ah, man. I could’ve predicted that,” Tristan says.
“Yeah, no thanks to you and your gossiping ways,” I mutter.
Tristan looks pained. “I already told you I’m sorry.”