Page 62 of Forecasting the Forward

“Fuck yes, it does,” I whisper as I kiss her deeply. No one has ever called me theirs either, and fuck if that doesn’t make me realize something monumental.

I’m in love with this woman. I know it. She brings a peace to me that I never thought possible. I felt a pull toward her from the moment she ran into me, and it didn’t lessen, even when we didn’t talk.

I told the guys I would make Becca fall in love with me, so now I have to figure out exactly how to do it.

“You said he’s friendly, right?”Jacob murmurs as he follows me into my apartment building elevator.

I laugh. “Thunder has never met a stranger. He’ll probably lead you to where I keep the knives.”

Jacob’s brows shoot up to his hairline. “Why the knives?”

“I would have said he’d lead you to where I keep my jewelry, but I don’t have anything worth any money. Knives are probably the nicest thing in my apartment. Well, a couple pairs of shoes were fairly costly.”

Jacob slides an arm around my waist, squeezing me into his side. “I happen to think heels are an excellent use of money, darlin’.”

I feel a blush cover my neck as I shyly look down at the floor. I love how Jacob flirts with me, but I’m still pretty awkward, and I’m not sure I even know if I’m flirting back or not.

“Let’s hope Thunder doesn’t bring any criminals to the knives. Speaking of the kitchen, I just want to confirm that you weren’t exaggerating about liking to cook. If so, that really makes me happy,” Jacob says with a hint of a smile.

I nod. “I’m really happy that you like to cook too.”

“I use a meal service for a lot of healthy meals, but when I have down time, I really enjoy cooking. It’s pretty calming. I’m not the best chef out there, but I can handle some easy things.”

“I’ve taken cooking classes to help me learn,” I confess. “My parents wouldn’t let me in the kitchen very much growing up. We had a chef, and my mother worried if I learned to cook, or had too much free time in the kitchen, I’d get fat.”

“I fucking hate that woman,” Jacob mutters under his breath. Reaching my floor, he follows me down the hall. I hear Thunder’s woof as we approach. “Who watched Thunder while we were gone?”

“My neighbor’s daughter, Ainsley. She’s saving for college, and was all too thrilled to make a couple hundred to feed Thunder and walk him a few times a day. Usually I have Thunder at a doggie daycare facility, but they didn’t have room for him on such short notice.”

Perfectly timed, we pass Ainsley, and she tells me she just walked Thunder, and played with him for thirty minutes. As we approach my apartment, I’m hopeful it means Thunder will be calmer.

Unlocking the door, a flurry of yellow fur dances next to me, whining, but then stops completely. Thunder looks up at Jacob for a moment before barking, then leaps into Jacob’s arms. “Woah! Hey, buddy. Guess we’re friends now.”

Thunder licks the entire length of Jacob’s face, making him chuckle. “I told you he doesn’t know a stranger.”

“I hope he’s okay with the pigs,” Jacob comments as he carefully puts Thunder down. “They’ve never had a dog in the apartment, but I rarely let them just wander around. Probably best to keep him out of their room, though.”

“I thought you were embellishing about them having an entire room” I say.

“Yeah, I wasn’t kidding about that. They have an entire room,” Jacob answers, ambling around my apartment. I know his apartment has probably double, or triple, the amount of square feet, but I love my space. Soft purple lace curtains cover the large windows, and little trinkets, from all the places I’ve lived, cover a coffee table and bookshelf. A few of my favorite romance books lay haphazardly on the bookshelf. I prefer to read on my Kindle, but every now and again, I’m so struck by a book that I need to have it on my shelf as a constant reminder of how much I love it.

“This space is so … you,” Jacob says quietly.

My hackles go up. “What does that mean?”

His head pops up, and his eyes widen. “Oh, not in a bad way, Spitfire. I can see how much you love living here. It represents you, and your path to get here. I can imagine you cuddling on the couch with Thunder, undoubtedly under that thick blanket you have across the back, and watching a movie. I can see you happily cooking in this kitchen.”

“Oh,” I whisper.

Jacob approaches me slowly, lowering his voice. “I gotta be honest with you, darlin’. I’m afraid once you get to my apartment, and you see how … bland it is, you won’t want to be there. It’s nothing like this. But I really want you to be with me.”

Looking into his blue eyes, I can see the sincerity in them. “I like that you’re honest about what you’re thinking. You don’t hide things.”

He cocks his head to the side, studying me. “I have no reason to hide things from you. I believe communication is the most important part of a relationship. I hope that you’ll trust me enough to tell me what you’re thinking, too.”

“Okay,” I answer, nodding as a smile breaks across my face. “But maybe we could bring some of my things to your apartment? That way there’s more color.”

“Darlin’,” Jacob says as he pulls me into his arms, “I don’t care what you bring. Hell, bring it all if you want. I just wantyou.”

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