Page 54 of Call It Serendipity

“Jake…” I breathe as he pulls away.

And watching him gesture for his dog to join him on the walk to the front door, I feel certain that my mind is already made up.

I don’t want to freeze again.

“Jake,” I repeat, sharper this time. He stops, only a step from the threshold, and turns back to face me.

I’m already moving towards him with such determination I practically slam against him. He doesn’t miss a beat, wrapping me up in his arms once more.

It feels right to be back in his embrace, so right that I launch up on my toes and bring my mouth to his.

Again, he doesn’t hesitate, his mouth slanting over mine with delicious weight.

I expected kissing Jake to be dizzying. I was already delirious with need; I assumed that finally having him like this would push it right over the edge.

But, in reality, the way his mouth takes mine is something else entirely. And so much better.

It’s a steady, quiet kind of magic. An ember sparking within me that I know will linger long after he’s gone back to the city.

His one hand keeps me pressed tight to him while the other finds my claw clip, squeezing until my hair falls free. Then he tosses it aside so his fingers can tangle in my locks instead.

We spin, my back settling against the door and him settling against me. I angle my chin up to better accommodate his height, and he takes advantage of the way he towers over me, deepening the kiss.

When a sated whimper escapes me, he chases it, devours it. God, I should have kissed this man the day he saved my life, right there in the middle of the street.

Coming up for air, we pull apart enough for me to slide my hands up onto his chest. It’s rising and falling with considerable effort, sending a thrill through me. I really enjoy wreaking havoc on him.

“Let’s forget the hotel issue,” I rasp.

Jake smiles, then pulls me into a hurried, fervent kiss. Then he follows it with another.

His hand squeezes my waist, the other leaving my hair to plant itself against the door above me. “You’re sure?” he asks, his voice strangled.

I nod up at him. “Yea⁠—”

He catches my answer with his mouth, and I sink against him happily. Maybe this decision will be my demise, but I have a feeling he was right—it will be sweet.

30

After a “goodnight” murmured between kisses, Jake leaves me standing on the front porch—thoroughly dazed. I touch my fingertips to my lips and smile against them.

There’s something irresistible when a man repeatedly described as steady and dependable instead acts on impulse. Arriving without a plan and letting that stable control of his slip.

And at the top of that list, I want to be with you.

I turn back inside, stopping to bend down and retrieve my hair clip. Seeing it deposited so haphazardly stretches my grin wider.

“You look happy.”

A screech escapes me as I jump back and clutch at my chest. My heart threatens to pound right out of it, and my hand grasps desperately over the frantic thuds, as if planning to catch it if that happens.

Leaning in the kitchen doorway at the back of the house, Claire beams triumphantly.

“What are you doing home?” I gasp.

She saunters in and throws her purse on the counter before jumping up next to it. “Levi got a message from work. Someone called off and he needs to go in and open tomorrow morning, way earlier than I felt like waking up.”

I move towards her, trying to put my clip back in my hair as I go. “How long were you standing there before I noticed? That was so creepy.”