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She retreated toward the couch, folding her arms around herself. She wasn’t about to sit down and let him loom over her. “What do you want?”
He rubbed his face, and the rasp of his five-o’clock shadow against his fingers was loud in the quiet house. “I called Mel today. Told her I was quitting.”
“What?” She dropped her arms and stood straight. “Why did you do that?”
One side of his mouth curled up. “It was my opening gambit.”
“What are you talking about?” she demanded.
“I didn’t really want to quit. But Mel needed to know I was serious.”
“About what?”
“Once she stopped yelling at me, she asked me what I really wanted. I told her I wanted to keep my job, but do it from Seattle. I said I’d go to Montana whenever they needed me there, but I’d do my training at a gym here and live here.” He swallowed, and suddenly she saw how nervous he was. “Live with you.”
Her heart battering against her chest, Julia whispered, “I thought the whole point of the compound was that everyone lived there. Worked together, ate together, played together, so that when you went on an assignment, you were intimately familiar with everyone else.”
“It was. Is. But I’ve been there from the beginning. I already know everyone very well. And I’ll go back every other weekend. But I told Mel I wasn’t living at the compound full time. I’m not giving you up, and you can’t move to Montana.”
Hope bubbled up in her chest, as if she’d swallowed a handful of glitter and it was lighting up her heart. “What did Mel say?”
He snorted out a laugh. “She asked me what had taken me so long. She knew when she saw us together at Zoe’s party that we were a couple. Told me she’d thought about yanking me off the job, but she watched us all night and realized we were both doing what we needed to do. Not being distracted by our feelings. So she left me there.” He shook his head. “She saw how miserable I was when I went back to Montana.”
“Did she agree?” Julia held her breath while she waited for his answer.
“She did,” he said, relaxing his shoulders. As if he hadn’t been sure if Julia’d hear him out. “Said I’d get most of the jobs in the Seattle area, but that I’d have to work elsewhere, as well. I told her that was fine. As long as I came back here after the job was over.”
He swallowed hard and held her gaze. “What do you say, Jules? Will you take me back? Can you live with me not being here every day and every night?”
She flew across the room and into his arms, and he banded them around her. Held her so tightly she could feel his heart pounding in his chest. “Yes, Nico,” she whispered into his neck. “This is all I want. I never expected to see you again, and you’ve just given me everything.”
“You’re all I want, Julia. Forever.”
She lifted her head and saw him staring down at her, his expression full of awe. Love. Need.
Pressing her mouth to his, she kissed him for what felt like forever. She had to make up for all the nights she’d cried herself to sleep. All the nights she’d been alone. All the nights she’d ached for him.
When he ran his tongue along the seam of her mouth, she opened for him. As their tongues tangled and tasted, he lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on as he walked down the hall. Into her bedroom.
He eased her down, and she tore off his clothes, not caring when his shirt buttons plinked against her wooden floor. He ripped her Henley over her head, and a couple more buttons hit the floor. As she fumbled with the button on his jeans, he slid her yoga pants down her legs along with her underwear. And he ignored her struggle with his jeans as he lifted her onto the bed and put his mouth on her.
He held her against him, and it took only moments for her climax to roll through her, overpowering her and making her scream. Finally, she managed to say, “In me, Nico. Now.”
He tore off his jeans, grabbed a condom and sheathed himself. As soon as he slid inside her, she began to come again. It took only five thrusts for him to follow her.
Half on the bed, half off, she wrapped her legs and arms around him. Buried her face in his neck and breathed in his scent. Finally, as she was about to slide onto the floor beneath him, he lifted her in his arms. “Sorry,” he said, cupping the back of her head with one hand. “I should have taken more care with you. Should have taken my time. Show you how much I’ve missed you. How much I love you.”
She leaned back to study him. Smiled up at him. “We have all night,” she murmured, brushing a kiss over his lips. “We haven’t even made it into the bed yet.”
Banding his arms around her, he lifted her, then yanked back the covers on the bed. Laid her on the sheet like she was precious. A woman to be treasured. Protected. Then he followed her down and bent to kiss her again.
Hours later, when the darkness outside began to lighten, he pulled her closer and brushed the tangled hair from her face. “Can we talk about all the things you said you wanted?”
“Mmmm,” she said, sated and happy and boneless. “Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day. Right now, I just want to enjoy the fact that you’re here with me. We have the rest of our lives to figure stuff out.”
“Promise?” he whispered.
“Oh, yeah,” she murmured into his chest. “Because I have you now, and I’m never letting you go.”
He pressed his face against her hair, and she felt his smile. “’And they lived happily ever after’,” he murmured. “Is that us, Jules?”
“Damn straight that’s us,” she said, leaning away as she studied his face. “All we need now is the white picket fence.”
“Don’t forget the two point two kids,” he said.
“They’ll have to wait their turn.” She pressed her mouth to his and cupped his face in her palms. “Right now, all I want is you.”
* * * * *
