Page 151 of Renewal After Dark

“Well, don’t do that.”

She laughed again at the pained face he made.

They ate in companionable silence while she gathered her thoughts so she could tell him how she was feeling.

“When I said this is so good, I wasn’t just talking about the food, which is delicious. I’m talking about all of it. You and me and Jax.This.”

“I think so, too. I couldn’t wait to come home to see what you guys were up to.”

“And then we weren’t even here.”

“You were at work. I liked knowing you’d be back before long.”

“You’ve been the best friend I’ve ever had, Duke. You’ve been there for me more than people I’ve known all my life. You gave us a place to stay and let me borrow your truck and cooked for me and found a high chair and?—”

His hand landed on top of hers. “I love having you guys here. If I had my way, I’d want you to stay forever.”

“Forever is a really long time.”

“I know.” He leaned over to kiss her. “I hope it’s a really, really long time. If I had you and Jax to come home to every night, I can’t imagine ever wanting anything else.”

“It’s too soon for you to know that.”

He shook his head. “I’ve known that for weeks.”

“You’ve only known me for a few weeks!”

“It took about ten seconds to be nearly one hundred percent certain that I wanted you in my life. I had to talk myself out of running away from you because you’re Rosemary’s granddaughter, and I worried that she wouldn’t approve. But then I thought maybe she’d been preparing me for you with all the time she invested in me. I know that sounds dumb, but I’d like to think it’s possible.”

“It’s not dumb. It’s very sweet.”

“There’s that damned word again,” he said with an exasperated grimace.

“You’d better get used to it since you keep doingsweetthings.”

“I suppose I can live with that tag as long as I get to do sweet things for you and those sweet things make you happy.”

“They make me very happy. Scary happy.”

“Don’t be scared.”

“Can’t help it.”

“Any time you feel scared, you tell me, and I’ll give you a hundred reasons why you don’t need to be.”

“A hundred, huh?”

“I can do a hundred without even breaking a sweat.”

“Give me three.”

“You’re beautiful, smart and sexy as f-u-c-k. To start with. You make me laugh, you make me smile so much my face hurts, you care enough to make me wear a helmet, you’ve got me counting the minutes until I can see you again.”

“You count the minutes?”

“I do. Five times sixty was three hundred minutes today. They went byslow.”

“And then I wasn’t here when you got home.”

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