Page 84 of Count On Me

Jaxson moves behind me, swoops me into his arms and carries me into the foyer of our house, and all my fears wash away when he kisses me. I’ve known this boy near enough my entire life. I’ve seen him at his worst and still loved him, I more than deserve him at his best. I love him more than anythingand all of this feels right. It’s not rushed. If anything, it was prolonged for what felt like an eternity.

I kiss him back, pressing my lips against his harder and with more force and he moans into my mouth. His tongue dances for dominance with mine and I’m happy to let him win.

“Are you ready for the grand tour, fianceé?” he whispers, his face mere inches away from my own.

“As long as you’re the one doing the guiding, I am.” I smile and sigh as he carries me through our house, our future in plain sight. He can count on me for everything. And I know I can count on him as well. There’s no more waiting, no more hoping. Just us, having and enjoying our lives together. 4Eva.

EPILOGUE - JAXSON

“If I’d known you were into blindfolds, Eddie, I would’ve done this a lot sooner.” The words are barely out of my mouth before I receive an elbow to my gut. “Ouch,” I grumble, but hearing Eddie’s giggle next to me makes me smirk. I’ll never get tired of hearing her laugh, seeing her happy and knowing I caused it.

It’s been six months since I showed her our new house. Six months of us being an official couple. Six months of her being mine. And the happiest six months of my entire life.

I’m still living with Lockheart as Edie has been decorating and making changes to our forever home. She’s been working nonstop and hasn’t let me see any of it. I’m in awe at her dedication to keeping it a secret. Today is the big unveil, hence the blindfold, and it’s also the day we’re telling our family and friends that we’re getting married. Because although we got engaged six months ago, we didn’t want everyone knowing about it just yet.

We wanted this to be for us. Something we can have to ourselves for a while. And it’s been the best six months. Although Mama and Erin are going to kill us when they find outwe’ve kept this from them, we’ll happily pay the price for doing it our way.

Edie stands in front of me and my body vibrates with the need to touch her. I reach my hand out blindly and find her waist and curl my fingers into her. She slaps at my hand half-heartedly because she feels the pull to touch me too. I grab her and bring her into my space, wrapping my arms around her. Nuzzling into her hair, I find the soft smooth skin of her neck and kiss my way up along it. She sighs against me, and I love when her body softens in my arms, savouring my touch and knowing she wants me as much as I want her.

“Can I take the blindfold off? Not seeing you is killing me.” I groan against her neck, my lips sucking and kissing everywhere I can find in the darkness.

“Not yet, Jaxson. Take my hand and stop distracting me and you’ll be able to take it off and see me.” I moan loudly against her skin but drag my lips away, refusing to relinquish my grip on her. She laughs at my squeezing fingertips, knowing I’m not letting her go, and I relish in the sound.

“Come on, I’ll lead the way with my hips, shall I?” she cajoles, and I growl as she sways them, knowing I’m missing the best fucking view of her ass swishing from side to side. We slowly make our way into the foyer and as we come to a stop, she takes a deep breath and lowers the blindfold.

I keep my eyes closed for an extra moment, only because I want to focus on the house, and if I see Edie right now, I'll drag her upstairs and make love to her instead of paying attention to her hard work. I spin around and open my eyes while clinging to her hand, always needing to touch her. I notice the changes she’s made immediately. It’s lighter and more vibrant with the splash of colour everywhere.

I walk into the reception room and notice that Edie has turned it into an office. Bookshelves line the walls and I smirkwhen I realise she’s turned it into a smaller version of the library fromBeauty And The Beast,her favourite princess film. She even has a rose in a glass jar in the corner, next to Gramps’s watch. I smirk but manage to hide it when I turn around.

“You hate it, don’t you? I made it all too me didn’t I? I’m sorry, Jaxson.” Her face is crestfallen and she looks down at the floor.

I shake my head and reach over to tip her chin up to look at me. “Eddie, what was my only requirement for this place?” I ask gently and watch as recognition flashes through her eyes.

“You wanted it to have me in it. You wanted to walk into a room and see me.” Her voice is quiet, her eyes filling with lust and desire. The way they do whenever she remembers just how much I need her, how much I love her.

“I love everything you’ve done. Everything makes me think of you.”

I walk around the room, taking in the books on the shelf, and freeze when she asks, “Jaxson, whatever happened to my book? The one by Annie Dyer that you borrowed?”

“Um… I may have, accidentally, broken the spine a little…” She gasps and clutches her chest and I quickly tell her, “But don’t worry, I’ve ordered a replacement. A signed copy. Am I forgiven?”

She tries to hide her excitement with a disinterested sigh. “I suppose so.” And then the fire returns to her eyes. “But do me a favour, never touch my books again. I love you but I won’t hesitate to get Angie to kill you if you hurt one of my book babies again.” She narrows her eyes at me and I grin back.

“So now I have some making up to do. What does Beauty think about christening the new library with her Beast?”

She bites on her lip and before I can do or say anything else, she grabs my shirt in her fist and pushes my back into the shelves. I knew we were gonna be fucking happy in this place.

EPILOGUE - EDIE

The guests are going to be here in a minute and I’m a mess. I’ve just managed to get into my dress and now I’m panicking because I’m all hot and sweaty from running around making sure everything is perfect. Nobody knows that this is an engagement party. Well, except Angie. I needed her help organising it. The only problem was her anger over me waiting five months to tell her in the first place. But I just wanted something to be for us. Everyone had a headstart on knowing about our feelings before we did, so I wanted this to be about me and Jaxson.

A knock at the bedroom door has me running toward it and as I open it, no surprise that I’m looking flustered and blotchy, Angie marches in with a mini handheld fan and shuts the door.

“I still don’t know if I've forgiven you. Any other secrets you’re hiding from me? Would explain the red blotches on your face.” She grins at me to show she's joking and I smile back weakly.

“I’m a mess. I’m flustered, worried, scared at people’s reactions and just so nervous. What if Mama is crazy mad at us. Or my mum goes ballistic? I can’t take you being mad too.”

“Oh come here you twit. I’m not mad. A little pissed off still, but not mad. It’s not like I’ve told you everything in my life.” Before I can question her about her own secrets she quickly carries on. “You’re engaged to the love of your life and you're living in a big huge mansion, and you have the best party planner/sister who’s ever graced the planet. You’ll be fine.” She breathes on her nails and then polishes them on her blazer. “Plus, everyone who’s coming today loves you and Jaxson. They’re your family, your friends and his. You don’t have to be worried or anxious. Everyone will be so happy, Edie. You got this!” She grabs my hand and squeezes and I push my shoulders back and nod my head.

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