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“I still can’t believe you came all the way here.” Jackson shook his head. “I figured I’d pissed you off real good by leaving that you’d never want to see me again.”
She sifted out a long breath. “I’m not going to lie, Jackson. I was pissed. Beyond belief. I was hurt too, but the anger took root and fueled me.”
He slid his palm over her thigh. “I’m sorry, Isabel. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“Leaving me is never the right thing,” she said. “Leaving without saying a word to me is even more never the right thing.”
“If I’d talked to you,” Jackson said as he studied his hand and wouldn’t meet her gaze, “I wouldn’t have been able to leave.”
She swatted his good arm, making him flinch. “I know. That’s exactly why you should have talked to me. Would have saved me from having to get on a plane and fly my ass down here to D.C.”
“It is a lovely ass,” Jackson said, biting his bottom lip and nearly making Isabel forget finishing dinner before undressing him.
“Promise me no more leaving, Jackson. Whatever obstacles come our way, we can face them together.” She cupped his bearded cheek. “We faced Ward together and we survived. There will be other risks, other dangers, other bad times, but if we have each other, we can make it through anything.”
“And if we have each other, there’s bound to be way more happy times than unhappy ones.”
“Now you’re making some sense, Doctor Hunky.” She tapped a finger to his temple. “You’re using that big brain of yours.”
“Sometimes that big brain thinks too much.”
She slid his plate from his lap and put it on the coffee table along with hers. “Let’s give that brain a break then. Let’s put your heart in charge.”
Isabel climbed onto his lap, a leg on either side of his hips. She was careful not to jostle him too much, not wanting to hurt his shoulder, but he moved both of his arms just fine to rest his hands on her waist under her shirt. His fingers were warm and strong and there would have been no way she could have lived the rest of her life without his touch. No way.
As she was about to lean forward and capture those full lips of his, Jackson’s phone buzzed on the end table. At the same time, hers vibrated from the coffee table.
“A quick check? Then right back to this?” Jackson raised an eyebrow as he gestured between them.
“Okay.”
They both reached for their phones. A message from Charlie lit up Isabel’s screen.
Did you convince him not to be an idiot or do I need to chopper down there and rescue you?
When Isabel had told Charlie of her plans to go to D.C., her best friend had offered to fly her down there in her helicopter.
“I’ll land right in the goddamn quad of that university,” she’d said.
“I think crashing Jackson’s class is epic enough,” Isabel had said. “I booked a direct flight, but thanks for the offer.”
“Okay,” Charlie had said, “but if you need a quick extraction, if that bonehead won’t listen to reason, you call me and I’ll swoop right in.”
Isabel had hugged her friend then. “I know you will.”
Tapping on her phone now, Isabel replied, No idiots discovered. Grand gesture was a huge success.
Charlie texted back with a dancing emoji. So happy for you! See you when you get back. The three little dots wavered for a few seconds. You are coming back, right?
Of course. Got a resort to build and best friends to bug.
A blinking red heart came back and Isabel sent a few XOXOs before setting her phone back on the coffee table. She turned her attention back to Jackson who was staring at his phone resting on his thigh.
“Are you okay?” She sidled up next to him and pulled her knees under her.
Jackson blinked rapidly like he always did when he was thinking, so Isabel kept quiet. After a few moments, he turned to look at her. “The university heard about my Sadekowi find—and about Ward trying to poach it. They want to...” He shook his head, a small smile forming on his mouth. “The Native American Studies Department of Asherfield University wants to offer me funding to continue excavating the site when the semester ends.”
Isabel’s jaw dropped then she was back in Jackson’s lap after moving his phone. “Of course they want you to excavate the site. You’re brilliant and they know it.” She kissed his nose.
