Page 104 of Dallas

So, in all honesty, she’d spent a long time avoiding domestic bliss. That she was liking it now, with Jace, was more than a little disturbing. Because Jace didn’t want it. And making any move toward it might alienate the one constant in her life.

The simple truth was, she loved Jace. Not that she was in love with him or anything, but she loved him. He was like a part of her. So deeply ingrained she didn’t know what she would do without him.

Which was maybe the root of some of her relationship trouble. Jace was the most important person in her world. That meant her boyfriends always came second. And they didn’t like that.

And a husband couldn’t come second to a friend. So that made things…impossible.

Just dating was almost impossible. David and Jace had not been each other’s biggest fans. And it wasn’t entirely Jace’s fault. Or David’s really. But David had been understandably iffy about his girlfriend going to another man’s house, alone, late at night to watch movies. And Jace had been understandably pissed that David had suspected they would fool around behind his back.

And she’d been understandably pissed about it too, butif she’d been in David’s place she would have been a little suspicious as well.

That had just been a big mess. And while her attachment to Jace hadn’t ended the relationship, it hadn’t helped either.

She shook off her decidedly downbeat musings and headed toward the Crock-Pot, filling a bowl with chili, cheese and corn chips. “Nom,” she said. “Thank you. It’s kind of nice to have someone cook for me.”

“Has anyone ever cooked for you?” he asked.

“Not really. Mrs. Brown used to bake for me. And she made us both cheese sandwiches for lunch.”

“Oh...I remember those,” he said. “Mayonnaise and cheese on white bread.”

“It was nice to have someone care enough to feed me.” She swallowed past a rising lump in her throat. “Anyway, it was nice then, and it’s nice now.”

“It’s nice to have you here.”

“I’m been making your life hell, but thanks for saying that.”

“No. Really. It reminds of me of how things were. I mean, the good things. Because Lord knows there was a bunch of crap. But...there was good. And you were a huge part of that.”

“Thanks. You too. For me, I mean.”

“Tomorrow we should have cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise,” he said.

“I’ll pack them for lunch. I really do want to follow you around while you work for a while.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m proud of you. Of what you have here.”

“I had help getting it.”

“And you were smart enough to take help. You shouldbe proud of that too. Neither of us had anything growing up. I had whatever tiny apartment my mom could get us into. Whatever food we could cook on a little individual burner in one pan. And hey, sometimes we just lived in cars. And then there was your house...”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve come a long way, baby,” she said.

“I know.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing how things have changed since the last time I did an extensive tour. Normally I just come sit on your couch.”

His whole face changed. Pride. Contentment. Oh, she loved to see all that there. He deserved it. “You’ll love it. I’m experimenting with the best time of year to calve. These babies were born in October.”

“And they’re probably mad at you since you stole their testosterone.”

“That’s how it works,” he said.

“You wouldn’t be so cavalier if it was your testosterone we were talking about.”

---