Page 100 of In the Air Tonight

It seems like there’s something else he wanted to say, but he turns back to his SUV, giving Fenway a pat on the head before he gets in.

After I wave him off, I turn to Jack. “So.”

“So. How’re you feeling?”

“Anxious but determined.”

“What’s this about your boss wanting you back in New York?”

“He’s been great about me being here this long, which is wildly out of character for him, but I have to go back eventually.”

“Do you?”

“What do you mean?”

He rests his hands on my shoulders. “Do you have to go back to the city?”

“I live there. My job is there.”

“But I’m here.”

“Remember when we said this was casual?”

“Remember when I said it’s not casual for me anymore?”

“Since when?”

“From about the first time I ever talked to you.”

“Jack…”

“Blaise… Don’t go.”

“I need to work. I have an apartment. I have—”

He kisses me, and I forget what I was going to say. “I’ve never felt like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like if I let you go, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

I’ve never felt like this either. There’s nowhere else I want to be than wherever he is, but I’m not ready to decide anything more than that. “I don’t have anywhere to be today.” I put my arms around him. “Maybe we could go back to what we were doing before Houston arrived?”

His hands slide down my arms to take my hands. Walking backward, he leads the way inside and upstairs to his room. I haven’t been in there before. I want to look around, but he has other ideas as he unbuttons my top and pushes it off my shoulders.

“Softest skin in the whole world,” he whispers as he kisses my neck.

Fenway comes barreling into the room and crashes into us, sending us sprawling onto his bed.

We crack up as her tongue goes on a mission to lick anything she can reach.

He gently pushes her away. “Thanks for moving things along, girl, but I’ve got it from here. Go lay down.”

She acts like he didn’t say anything.

“Fenway,” he says more sternly. “Go lay down in your bed.” He gives her another push to get her moving.

The dog finally jumps off the bed and lands with a thump and an indignant grunt.

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