“I’m trying to impress my girlfriend,” he admitted – and heck, if she wasn’t a pool of mush before?
She was now.
“It’s working,” she whispered. “I’m very impressed by everything before me.”
Jack tugged her hand slightly, pulling her toward him. There was zero fight, zero resistance in her at the movement. She stepped closer, smelled the slightly woodsy scent mixed with the fragrant roast in the distance – and then glanced over his shoulder as something caught her eye. He’d set up a table in the front foyer that they’d painted together. It was dressed beautifully with a tablecloth, two glass jar candles flickered, and a bouquet of flowers was in a vase waiting. He wasn’t just impressing her, but knocking her socks clear off and breaking the mold for any other men in the future.
There wouldneverbe another Jack.
Her eyes slid back to his. That recognition of home, of perfection, was so powerful it was staggering. Her lips parted as she looked up at him, the feelings so strong that it knocked her speechless… but as the side of his lip curled on one side, she realized words weren’t necessary. His smile faded as his eyes grew hooded, his head dipped slightly as her heart skipped a beat – or maybe three of them.
She turned her head up toward him, unable and unwilling to fight any of this any longer. This feeling was like a rush unlike anything she’d ever felt before, and she embraced it with every bit of her heart and soul. This is what happiness was: a sense of belonging, and if a cataclysmic event happened in this very moment, her feet would be rooted in place for all time.
His head dipped a little lower, and she smiled slightly, never having paid attention to the fact that she barely came to his chin. He pulled back slightly, hesitating, and paused. “What?”
“Nothing,” she whispered between them. “I like this.”
“Trust me - it gets so much better from here,” his own voice a hushed promise, and she believed him as his breath mingled with her own. Both of them were taking short, stilted breaths, and it felt like it was dragging on forever instead of just a brief second or two. This wasn’t a rushed kiss, but rather a recognition between the two of them… and he was savoring it.
Jack wassavoringtheir first kiss, her brain screamed in awareness and comprehension.
If her brain, heart, and soul were actual characters sitting in a movie theater beside each other watching the show unfold – Brain would be throwing popcorn at the other two to get their attention at what was happening. Oh yes, Brain would be whistling like Leonardo DiCaprio in a movie, spotting it immediately… whereas Heart would have a wobbly lip, drinking in the sweetness of this kiss – and Soul? Soul was on the edge of her seat, leaning forward, smiling, as tears of relief and recognition streamed down her face.
Heidi’s own eyes stung, too.
His lower lip finally brushed against her upper lip in the softest of caresses as he dropped a tender kiss there before lifting them to kiss her again. He pressed them again, brief and gentle, creating an aching and longing for more that mixed with an unfurling within her chest. Her fingers loosened from his hand and immediately took purchase against his shirt front, her fingers slowly climbing instinctively, craving more from him. His hand moved to the curve of her back, pulling her to him… and in that single motion, it wasn’t just her falling under his spell.
They were both goners.
Jack’s lips finally slid across hers, claiming hers. She could taste him, feel the warmth of his body standing so close to hers, craving that comfort with every fiber of her being as they simply stood there, kissing. He wasn’t pushy or aggressive, but coaxed her silently into meeting him, kiss for kiss. Her eyes stung with unshed tears at the beauty of this, the perfection, the understanding that she could never tear herself from this place, this feeling, or this man… and as the kiss ended, the sensations did not.
He stood there, holding her close, dropping soft kisses against her cheek, forehead, and nose as they just held each other, their arms locked around each other. It was like two lost and lonely beings, two different yet perfect pieces of some puzzle, had, by sheer fate, found and recognized that they fit together. Neither said a word, both speechless, and clinging to the other, adrift in this unspoken feeling of wholeness… and beginnings of love.
A small timer buzzed in the other room, a few minutes later, breaking the interlude as he chuckled.
“What was that?” she whispered, her head lying on his shoulder as he dropped another soft kiss at her temple.
“Laundry,” he answered simply. “Your man does hisown laundry, and I think I heard your stomach growl. Are you ready to eat?”
“Do you really need to keep bragging about how wonderful you are?” she teased as they both laughed softly, still holding each other close.
“I’m just trying to make sure I’m irreplaceable,” he whispered against her hair as she buried her head against his neck – and nodded. He kissed her forehead lightly once more before whispering a fragile truth. “You are, you know… and I’m glad you’re mine.”
Looking up into his beloved eyes, she saw heaven.
“I’m so glad you’re mine too,” she spoke the words aloud – ones she never thought she’d admit ever again. “Don’t ever let me go.”
“Never,” he promised.
Fifteen
JACK
It wasfunny how kissing your girlfriend -heck, falling head over heels in love with someone– could suddenly turn a guy into Superman. After dinner last night, he nailed up the wainscoting in the hallway and painted the bedroom pink. Now, he was in shorts and a T-shirt outside with a shovel creating flowerbeds like nobody’s business – and couldn’t care less what anyone thought. After sleeping three hours, he woke up full of energy and met Heidi at the car with a cup of coffee just so he could steal another kiss from her before she went into town to open the café.
Yeah, he had it bad.
Women nested during the later stages of pregnancy… and if men did something like that – Jack was a prime example of what male-nesting resembled. He had already filled a trash bag picking up random things around the house, his mind pushing his body to make this house ready for Heidi… because after that kiss last night, spending hours talking with her again, he had no doubts in his mind that he was going to spend the next forty or fifty years loving that woman.
