AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I promise you, Bailey, he won’t get to you. You have my word. Do you believe me?” There’s worry in his eyes and I know it’s there because he wants me to believe him.
I want to believe him. I answer his question the only way that will help ease his worry.
“I believe you.”
He gives me a nod and lets me go.
“I’m going to go call Mac and let him know what’s happened. Why don’t you go grab a glass of wine, and a beer for me, and meet me in front of the fireplace?”
I walk away toward the kitchen and do what he suggests. After the stress of the letter, it will be nice sitting in front of a roaring fire snuggled up with Jaxon.
20
JAXON AND I ARE sitting out on his back deck sipping coffee. The sun has just risen and the birds are chirping. This has become our morning routine. It’s peaceful out here and we both enjoy the quiet. Sometimes we sit in comfortable silence while other times we talk about anything and everything.
It’s been a couple days since we received the letter and there’s been nothing since. All has been quiet. Yesterday morning Mac stopped by to pick up the letter. He called last night to let us know there were no prints on it. He has a forensic team going over it for any clues that might lead them to Steven. Now we're at a standstill.
“Once this is over I want to take you somewhere,” Jaxon says, interrupting my thoughts.
“Where are we going?” I ask him.
He brings my hand up that he’s holding and kisses the back of it. With his mouth still on the back of my hand, he says, “Anywhere you want to go. Is there any place you’ve always wanted to travel to?”
I think for a minute and settle on the one place that’s always fascinated me.
“Okay, don’t laugh, but I’ve always wanted to visit New York City. I know it’s not the usual place for someone to want to visit, but I’ve always wanted to see Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Chinatown, and ride over the Brooklyn Bridge.”
He chuckles lightly. “Hmm… that’s definitely not what I expected. I figured you would say Hawaii or Vegas. But New York it is. We’ll spend a week there and visit all the places you want to see.”
Getting excited about the idea of finally seeing New York, I jump up and straddle him. I bounce up and down on his lap and he laughs at my silly behavior.
“Really? We’re really going to take a trip to New York?” My voice is loud and I can’t contain my happiness.
His smile is huge when he replies, “Yes, we can take a trip to New York. And if I had known you would do a happy dance in my lap, I would have suggested it sooner.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.
I give him my best smile and lower my head to give him a searing kiss. We’re both breathless by the time I pull away.
“Thank you,” I say against his lips.
“Anything for you, angel.”
Before I can stop myself, the three little words that I’ve been too scared to say, slip out of my mouth. I’ve thought them and felt them, but I haven’t said them yet.
“I love you.”
Jaxon closes his eyes and breathes out a soft whoosh of air. When he opens them again, he looks at me with such tender affection. He places his hands on either side of my jaw and rubs my upper cheeks with his thumbs.
“It’s about damn time you said that. I’ve waited and waited to hear those three words so I could say them back to you. I love you, angel.”
I smack his chest playfully and tell him, “Well, you could have said them first, you know.”
He shakes his head at that. “No, I couldn’t. It would have just scared you off. I’ve been biding my time, trying to wear you down. And look, it paid off. You love me.” He gives me a cheeky grin.
I grin back at him. “You really love me?”
“You bet your ass I do. I have for a while now.”
His confession has me bursting with happiness. Jaxon actually loves me. Me, the broken and scarred girl with a past that’s still trying to destroy her. A past that has the potential to destroy him. The thought brings my high a little lower. We still have some major issues we have to get through before we can truly be happy.
