Page 105 of Stay for Me
We walk hand in hand to the door where Jacob stands with a bouquet of flowers in front of him.
“These are for you.” My heart flutters, and I go to grab them, but he takes them back. “Not you.” He then extends them to Melanie. “But you.”
Melanie takes the flowers, her smile wide as she giggles. “Thank you, Jacob. These are beautiful.”
He winks at me and then focuses on Melanie. “It’s my pleasure.”
Melanie leans in and kisses his cheek. “I’m glad you’re dating my mother.”
Jacob’s eyes widen, and his gaze darts to me. “You told her?”
“She guessed.”
“The whole town knows,” Mel says with exasperation.
“Apparently, everyone knew before we did.”
Jacob shakes his head with a laugh. “And this is reason four hundred and thirty-three as to why I hate small towns.”
“What’s number four hundred and thirty-two?” I ask with bemusement.
“Cows.”
Melanie snorts, and I roll my eyes. “Come on in, you ridiculous man. We still have one more kid to talk to.”
* * *
Sebastian took it exactly as I expected. He was overjoyed. Jacob won my son’s heart the day he showed up at the door, so the mere idea of getting to be a part of his life is beyond Sebastian’s wildest dreams.
The paranoid and overanalytical part of me is screaming to proceed with caution. It won’t just be one broken heart in this house if things don’t work out. The other part of me is saying to stop assuming it will end in failure and just enjoy the journey.
Not sure which side is going to win out.
However, the kids are in their rooms since they have to be up early for school, and Jacob and I are on the couch with a movie on that neither of us is really watching. Instead, I’m just enjoying this. The normal little bubble we have where I’m allowed to rest in the arms of the man I am falling in love with.
“So, how do you think we did?” he asks.
“I think it was good.”
“Me too. It’ll make it easier for me to be here more often now that they know.”
I smile at that sentiment. “I’m going to like you being around more.”
He kisses the top of my head. “Remember you said that after you find out I ate all your ice cream.”
I think I’ll say that always, ice cream or not. Here, it’s just Brenna and Jacob. There’re no fears of people finding out about us or wondering if what we’re doing is right or wrong. We’re us. We’re content. We’ve had a good meal, laughter, and we’re winding down together.
“Are you hiding some flaw that will make me immune to your charm?”
“Don’t you wish you knew?”
“Are you going to answer the question?”
Jacob chuckles. “Are we playing the who answers the question with a question game again?”
I tilt my head so I can look at him. “I don’t know, are we?”
We both laugh softly, and he adjusts us so I’m now lying on his leg. “It’s just that we went from casually hooking up with no expectations to dating in a world where there are cameras and intrusive people. The fact that I haven’t had a girlfriend in over ten years is going to be a big deal. Add in that you’re a single mom in a small town, and it’s going to be an even bigger story.”
