“I won’t make you wait that long.”
When they got back to Pleasant Lane, Jesse quickly checked in with Zach and attempted to collect Clementine but she refused, choosing to stay glued to Evie’s side. Jesse felt the acute burn of betrayal; still, it was for the best. No dogs to interrupt what he had planned next. They walked into his house, where he asked Lily-Grace to follow him into the kitchen.
“Can you do splits in the kitchen?” she asked.
“I’m sure I can, but that’ll have to wait for later.” Jesse connected his phone to the house speakers, then watched her face as the opening notes of the “Thong Song” started to play.
“You have a choreography routine worked out for this?”
“Maybe.” He held out his hand, and when their fingers touched, he pulled her into his arms. Effortlessly he began slowly swaying them both to the music.
“I’ve never slow-danced to Sisqo,” Lily-Grace said quietly.
“One thing my granddad taught me, you can slow dance to anything if you’re with the right partner.”
“I’m seeing that.” She swallowed, her gaze drifting down to his lips, and Jesse felt that shift in the air, the moment they’d both been waiting for all day. They were finally alone, finally free to dive back into the carnal desires they had for each other.
“So what do we do now?” Lily-Grace asked.
“You tell me.”
“Well, I’m moving back home. If things go well, this time next week you’ll be buying me a horse. What’s next for you and me?”
“I think we’ll just have to get married. Really lean into our own happily ever after.”
“I don’t hate that idea. We have to have like one real fight first though.”
“Uh, excuse me, I think we’ve already had our first fight.”
“That was a passionate, pre-relationship exchange of conflicting viewpoints.”
“I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I see.”
“I want to give you whatever you want, until the end of time,” Jesse said.
“Is that so?”
“Mm-hmmm. I can argue with Corie. I don’t want to argue with you.”
“Wow. A man, this handsome, this skilled, this tall, with such good taste in music—” Lily-Grace sighed and shook her head as “We Like To Party!” started to play. “Jesse, what the hell is this playlist?”
“What, you don’t work out to the Vengaboys?”
“Anyway. What am I supposed to do with a man who gives me everything I want?”
“Enjoy the hell out of him.” Jesse wasn’t done listening to Lily-Grace. He could listen to her talk all day. He wanted to learn everything about her, hear every word she had to say, but he’d been waiting for hours. He had to kiss her properly. He pressed his lips to hers, going hard almost instantly at the way she moaned against his mouth. She moved closer, putting their slow dancing to a stop as she slipped her tongue against his. Jesse responded in kind, letting their tongues move together until he needed to step back and take a breath.
“Tell me what you want, right now,” he whispered.
“I want you to show me your office.”
“And what’s going to happen there? Tell me so I can make it good for you. And don’t hold back because you think I can’t handle it.”
“Oh, I know you can. Come on. Show me the space so I can see what I’m working with.”
Jesse took Lily-Grace’s hand and led her through the house, the sound of Sean Paul’s “Temperature” accompanying them. Jesse turned on the lights in his office and leaned against the doorjamb while Lily-Grace had a look around.
