Page 91 of The Love Interest
She tenses up, gripping my hair and sucking air through clenched teeth. Then she says, “Get over yourself.”
“I’ll be getting a leg overyousoon enough—future wife.”
“Not if I get on top of you first, future husband.”
That’s all we have to say to each other for a while.
We’re both good with words, but we’re even better at this.
Fiona Walker has a very promising career as a romance author ahead of her, and I plan to keep her inspired for the rest of my life.
EPILOGUE ONE – Jack Irons
The Departure by Emmett Ford (The Jack Irons series, Book Six) – Epilogue
It had been a year since Jack last saw Catalina and nearly two hours since he last thought of her. In that year, he’d been all across the country. He’d been all across Europe, and he always came back to Oceanside. He never went in search of her, exactly. It was his policy to never look for trouble because trouble always found him. He sought Catalina out on some level that went beyond cities and countries—or perhaps it was more that he sought her somewhere deep inside himself. But he always hoped to find the disarming woman in his bedroom when he returned.
A year ago, he had cut the palm of his hand when he was cleaning up broken glass from that beer bottle she’d sent flying across the room. The cut hadn’t been deep enough to form a scar. But it had amused Jack to think of how appropriate it would have been if Catalina Calida had indirectly left a scar on the palm of his dominant hand. He often contemplated her while using it, after all.
He was using that hand to put his key in the front door to his apartment when he realized it was already unlocked, with no signs of tampering. Once again, he was unarmed. Once again, he was excited, and he knew he was in trouble.
He took in a deep breath because he also knew his breath would be stolen from him as soon as he entered the kitchen. He was right. But he had no idea he’d have his heart stolen again—this time by someone new and completely unexpected.
Catalina was sitting at his kitchen table. She was all woman now, her long hair swept over one shoulder. She was humming to a baby who was cradled in her arms. The baby couldn’t have been more than three or four months old, and she was laughing. He didn’t know how he knew it was a girl, but he recognized that laugh. He recognized how this girl made him feel.
Catalina glanced over at him, smiling. She didn’t stop humming, but she gestured for him to join them. Jack approached slowly and quietly, even though the baby wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t used to being around children. Even as a child, he’d rarely played with them. But he wasn’t apprehensive. He wanted to be careful around this one.
This baby had dark hair—not red. Dark, like Catalina’s. Dark, like his own.
“She’s yours.”
Jack’s instinct was to doubt her, but as always, when it came to this woman, he decided not to trust his instincts.
“Her name is Whisper,” she cooed.
“Whisper, huh?” He appreciated the sentiment but couldn’t help muttering, “Might have to talk you out of that.”
The mother of his child elbowed him in the gut. “You can touch her, you know.”
He reached out to stroke the baby’s dark hair. In doing so, he exposed the underside of his forearm to Catalina. She sighed quietly when she saw the words that had been tattooed there.What you seek is seeking you.
“Well hello, darlin’,” he said. And for the first time in years, Jack Irons felt as though he had come home.
* * *
Well, that’s sweet.
I do have mixed feelings about this, though.
A baby with Catalina—I like it. A baby named Whisper? Not so much. I’m assuming a lot of shit went down in that span of a year and we’ll be exploring those adventures in future novels. Because Jack Irons is not ready to retire to the suburbs with a wife and kid after only six books.
That joke about the palm of my dominant hand, though… Fuck you, Ford.
And enough with the heart and the feelings again—come on. I’m happy you’re getting married and I’m happy we both have our women now, but let’s stay in character. Let’s keep the voice of the Jack Irons series and our balls intact.
I am proud of you for finishing this draft. I mean, the editor will give you a thousand notes, but you finished and it’s good. Enjoy your vacation with your betrothed. You’ve earned it.
And when you knock her up, you’d better name your kid Jack—whether it’s a boy or a girl. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have left your apartment that night and you never would have met Fiona Walker.
