“Okay.”
“When Rachel texts, when she reaches out like this, part of me still feels… responsible. Like I owe her something because she gave me the twins. Like I failed her by not being what she needed.” I force myself to hold Chloe’s gaze. “But that’s not fair to you. To us. And I need you to know that whatever I felt for Rachel and whatever history she and I have… it’s done. Done. She’s the twins’ mother, and I’ll always have to deal with that. But she’s not anything else. You’re the one I want, Chloe. You’re the one I’m choosing.”
“I know,” Chloe says softly. “I’m not worried about her, Jonah. I’m worried about you. About how much this costs you emotionally and mentally every time she shows up and reminds you of what you lost.”
“I didn’t lose anything.” The realization hits me as I say it. “She left. That’s on her, she lost out. And yeah, it hurt. But I didn’t lose anything worth keeping.”
“Except your trust,” Chloe says. “Your ability to believe someone will stay.”
She’s right. She’s so right it makes my chest ache.
“I’m working on that,” I say quietly. “You make it easier.”
“I’ll try, but you have to make the real effort.” She smiles, but there’s something vulnerable in it. “I’m not going anywhere. Even when your ex texts. Even when things get complicated. I’m staying.”
I stand up, moving around the table to kiss her, right there in the fancy restaurant with the white tablecloths and the candlelight. She makes a small, surprised sound, then melts into me, her hands coming up to cup my face, holding me to her.
“I love you,” I say against her lips. The words surprise me, but they’re true. Completely true. “I’m falling in love with you, Chloe.”
Her smile is radiant. “I’m falling in love with you too.”
I sit back down, and we’re both grinning like idiots when the waiter brings our food. My phone sits between us, Rachel’s messages still unanswered, but it doesn’t feel heavy anymore.
It just feels like the past.
And Chloe feels like the future.
Chapter 10
Chloe
Dinner was delicious,but we rushed through it, knowing what dessert we really wanted. And we barely make it through the front door.
Jonah’s mouth is on mine before I can turn on the lights, his hands gripping my hips, backing me against the wall of the entryway. I gasp against his lips, and he swallows the sound, kissing me like he’s been starving for it.
Maybe he has been. Maybe we both have.
“The twins—” I manage between kisses.
“At my mom’s. Until tomorrow, remember?” His teeth graze my neck, and I arch into him. “We have the whole night.”
“The whole night,” I repeat, my hands fisting in his shirt. “Jonah?—”
“Tell me to stop.” His voice is rough, desperate. “Tell me to slow down, and I will.”
“Don’t you dare stop.” I pull him closer, wrapping one leg around his hip. “Don’t you dare slow down.”
He groans, low and dark, and then his hands are under my thighs, lifting me. I wrap both legs around his waist, and he carries me through the dark house like I weigh nothing. We’rekissing the whole way— messy, urgent, all tongue and teeth and need. My hands in his hair. His hands cupping my ass, hard.
He takes the stairs two at a time, and I’m dizzy with wanting him. With wanting this. We’ve been dancing around this for weeks, stealing touches, bodies brushing in the kitchen, keeping it appropriate because of the twins, because of the newness of us. But there’s nothing appropriate about the way he’s touching me now. Nothing restrained about the way I’m clawing at his shirt, trying to get it off him. Trying to get skin-to-skin like it’s oxygen to my body.
His bedroom door slams open, and then we’re falling onto his bed —that big, king-sized bed I stared at what seems like forever ago— and he’s covering my body with his.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” he says against my throat. “Every morning in the bakery. Every night when you’re down the hall. I’ve been going insane wanting you.”
“Then have me.” I arch up, pressing against him, and feel how much he wants this. Wants me. His cock hard and bulging. “I’m yours, Jonah. I’m right here.”
He pulls back just enough to look at me, and even in the dim light from the hallway, I can see the heat in his eyes. The need. “You’re sure?”
