Page 130 of Dallas

He dropped the blanket and walked out of his room on unsteady feet, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her up against his body, his breath hot on her neck. “I want it too,” he said against her skin. “The way you kiss me and make me feel like I’m finally home. I want your mess in my house. I want you to take some of the control from me. I want your dog and your dishes in my sink to frustrate me. I want you so that I can feel that kind of happiness only you make me feel. You’re my smile, Sam. You always have been. Until you walked into my life fourteen years ago, I’d forgotten how. And when I walked out last night, I thought I would forget all over again. But now you’re here.” He tilted his head back, and he smiled. “It feels easy now.”

“I love you, Jace.”

“I love you. Forever. No matter what. Do you believe me?”

She nodded. “Yes. I do.”

His heart on the verge of bursting, Jace looked at Sam standing outside of his hotel room door, backlit by the early morning light, snow piled high behind her. She looked like an angel.

“Now why are you standing out there doing a dramatic reenactment of the Little Match Girl?” he asked, his smile widening.

“I thought my best friend might take pity on me. Because I was an idiot, and I hurt him. And he was rightabout me. I was a coward. But I thought standing in a snowdrift looking pitiful might earn me a little compassion.”

“I’m all out of pity. How about love? The deep, everlasting kind?”

“I would take that.”

“And a place in my house, permanently.”

“You know, Jace, every other time I’ve thought about putting down roots with someone, or, until recently, even when I thought of putting them down alone, I panicked.”

“Are you panicked now?”

She shook her head, hazel eyes glistening with tears. “No. I’m home.”

“You’re at a motel.”

“No, silly. I’m with you. And that means I’m home. I think that’s why you always felt like my foundation, why I could never settle anywhere else. Because I was supposed to be wherever you were. With you.”

“Welcome home, baby,” he said, kissing her nose. “I’m so glad you came.” A hard knot loosened in his chest, emotion flooding through him. Joy. Contentment. Love.

“Me too.”

“So come in and stay a while.”

“Eek. Can’t.”

“Why?”

“It’s cold and I have Poppy in the van. And a cherpumple.”

“The pie cake thing?”

“Yes. I have to deliver it.”

“Give me a minute.”

He joined Sam out at the van a moment later, fully dressed, his hat doing something to keep the sun from making his headache worse. Really, his heart felt so good the hangover didn’t seem that bad.

“Okay, Sam, let’s take that sugary abomination to its rightful owner.” He got into the van and closed the door.

“What about your truck?”

“I’ll come back for it.”

“You seem so relaxed about all this spontaneity. We’re practically being unruly! Disorganized, in fact.”

“The most important thing in the world is in place, Sam. Nothing else seems to matter that much.”

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