Page 119 of First in Line

“Okay, but the solution you offered is short term,” she points out. “A year, two maximum. How do you think we can make this work in the long term, Jax?”

I think for a moment, then decide I need to know more about her expectations before I can respond. “How do you envision your future? What do you see in ten years?”

“Hm… A nice house, in a nice town, in a nice neighborhood. Two kids. Maybe a dog. Definitely a couple of fat cats. My own firm. And a loving husband who doesn’t travel nine months a year.”

“Ouch… But okay, that’s definitely attainable.“

“You? Where do you see yourself in a decade?”

“Well, your house sounds great, in that nice neighborhood and everything.Fourkids.” She raises an eyebrow at that, unconvinced. “Definitely a dog. And allowing your cats to be fat is animal abuse, so they’re actively dieting, but still fat, somehow. And a loving wife, for whom I’d stop traveling nine months a year.”

“Sounds like there’s a lot of overlap,” she says after a moment.

“I know, it’s crazy. Almost like we’re meant to be together.”

Her pearly teeth bite into her lower lip, her hesitation obvious. Aware that I’ve almost won, I go for the kill and bring my face close to hers. “So, will you give us another chance, Evie?” I ask softly.

“You’re very hard to say no to, you know that?”

“I am, in fact, aware of that. But you’re very good at saying no to me.”

Our lips are so close together that we’re breathing each other’s air. Deep down, I know she wouldn’t allow such closeness if she weren’t already conquered.

But when she says, “Okay,” relief floods me.

Because words fail me, I express my joy physically, pressing my lips onto hers. She returns it with matching intensity, giving and taking as much as I do.

When her phone dings next to us, though, she pushes me away. “It could be work. I have to check it, sorry.”

She grabs her phone and opens the notification she just received. She reads it quickly, her eyebrows flickering as she does. Then she stares at it for several seconds, pinching her lips together.

“What is it?” I ask.

Instead of answering, she turns the phone toward me so I can read it myself. It’s from her lawyer. The divorce was approved and officialized earlier today.

“Talk about fucking timing,” I mumble before grabbing the phone from her and throwing it on the other lounger. When I lean into her, she lets me. “Honestly, I don’t mind. It just means I’ll get to marry you again. Properly this time.”

“Wait, slow down a little, champ. There’s a time cap to this,” she explains. “You have the rest of the season to convince me this can work.”

“I can do that.”

“You better, Jackson. Because if I get my heart broken again, Iwillwalk away with yours.”

“I’ll carve it out for you myself.”

Once more, I kiss her, still on a high. I’m getting a real second chance. No way I’m fucking it up this time around.

When I tug at the front clasp of her bikini top, causing her tits to spill out and free themselves, she moans, “Again?!” into our kiss.

“It’s been over two hours since I bent you over that counter,” I defend myself, now working on unfastening her sarong.

“And I can still feel you oozing out of me.”

“Hmm, I need to check that out for myself.”

She doesn’t protest as I tug her bikini bottoms down her legs, and her cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink when I spread them open. Sure enough, some of the mess I left behind before my workout is still there, coating her slick folds.

“Now, since you’re going back to Colorado tomorrow, let’s make today count, shall we?”