Page 114 of Stay for Me
“We all know where you’re heading off to,” Connor says with a snigger.
I feel the heat flood my cheeks and stand, allowing Jacob to cocoon me. “Be jealous.”
Unable to look at them, I lift my hand as a goodbye and allow Jacob to escort me away.
As soon as we’re out of view, he starts to laugh, and I look at him as if he’s crazy. “What?”
“Just that I’m fucking happy, Brenna. I’m truly and sincerely happy. It’s . . . funny because I never expected to be happy again.”
I understand exactly what he means. I’d been so sure that loving someone and being happy was a dream. Something that was possible but ultimately unobtainable. Jacob has given me the hope that I might get to be happy again. When I lost Luke, I thought that maybe I would like a man, maybe love him in some capacity, but never like this.
Never did I think I’d meet and love with my whole world.
Jacob has given me more in the few months we’ve been together than I had in all those years.
I push up on my toes, wanting to kiss him so much that I can’t stop myself. His hands move to my hair, tightening around the strands as the kiss grows deeper and more urgent.
We start to move, Jacob walking backward, guiding us to the tiny house he’s staying in. It’s become where we meet, make love, and part ways before the sun rises.
Tonight, I don’t plan to leave. I want to roll over in his strong arms and feel safe in his embrace.
He smiles against my lips when he can’t get the door open, and when he does, he scoops me up, my legs wrapping around him as we both laugh softly.
“Impatient much?” I ask.
“For you? Always.”
He moves into the very small space, dropping me onto the bed before standing back and letting his eyes roam over me.
“What?”
“I keep waiting to be told this isn’t real.”
I lift up onto my elbows. “Why do you think that?”
“Because when I look at you, I see light and beauty.”
“And are you going to drag me into the darkness?” I say with a grin.
“Is that what you want?”
I squirm under his gaze. “I want you in the light or the dark. I like you at dawn and dusk. It doesn’t matter when or where so long as you’re with me.”
His hands move down my neck, pulling the straps of my dress down as he reaches my shoulders. Jacob’s lips touch the sensitive skin right below my ear. “You could tempt a man to promise anything.”
My eyes shut as his deep voice vibrates through me. “Says the man who every woman fantasizes about.”
“And what do you dream about, beautiful?”
“You,” I say without hesitation. “I dream about your eyes watching me. Your lips touching me. Your hands on my skin and how I can’t . . .” His finger moves to my breast, making a slow circle around my nipple.
“You can’t what?”
“I can’t think.”
And I can’t. My brain is total mush every time he touches me. Jacob continues the motion before going to the other breast. “Want to know what I think about, Brenna?” he asks as his head moves down to where his hand is. “I think about your skin on my lips. I dream about how you look at me as though I’m worthy of you. I think about how I want to wake up next to you and feel your warmth and be able to see your smile.”
I’m a puddle of mush. “Jacob.” I sigh his name.
