Page 49 of The Stud Next Door (Frisky Business 3)
“Really?”
“Really.”
A shadow of disappointment falls over her features. “I’m going to miss taking care of Marley.” Her eyes meet mine with a desperation I know all too well. “Not just Marley. I’m going to miss you too. But staying in Chicago means I need to find a new apartment—”
“Move in with me.”
She sighs softly, turning away with a scoff and shaking her head slowly. “No, Connor. You’ve been kind enough already, offering to let me stay here for a few days.”
“I’m not being that kind. I’m actually being incredibly selfish.”
“Come on . . .”
“Jessa, I mean it. Move in with me. With us. Permanently.”
She blinks, turning back toward me with a curious look in those big blue eyes. “Permanently?”
With the hand not securing Marley, I take Jessa’s fingers and bring them to my mouth to brush whisper-soft kisses against her knuckles.
“Jessa . . . this is all new to me. I haven’t felt the way I feel about you with anyone else. You could be leaving for El Salvador as planned, and I’d still feel the same damn way. But you’re not leaving, and maybe that makes me greedy, because I don’t want to let you go. I don’t want to spend a single day away from you. So, please, move in with me. With us.” I meet her eyes, the blue orbs filling with tears. “I don’t want you to let me go either. I don’t want to let you go.”
Tears fall freely down her freckled cheeks now, so I capture them with tender kisses. And when her lips meet mine in a passionate, gasping kiss, all that matters is the touch of her skin against mine.
We part only when my daughter, now predictably wide awake, begins pulling at Jessa’s hair. While we attempt to pry a tiny fistful of curly locks from Marley, she laughs gleefully, a laugh so contagious we can’t help but join in.
Jessa leans down to plant an adoring kiss to my baby girl’s forehead, and I press my lips to the crown of Jessa’s head, sharing one of many priceless moments to come.
I’m certain of it.
18
* * *
JESSA
Let’s just say this isn’t how I expected my summer to go. Today couldn’t be more perfect. Connor at the grill, Marley in my arms, all our closest friends laughing and eating in our backyard.
That’s right. Our backyard. I’m still not quite over that one yet. It’s a big upgrade, going from renting out a room in someone else’s house to sharing a home with the man you adore. I’m not quite over that part of all this either. How perfectly everything’s worked out with Connor. Some things in life are just fate, I guess.
“She’s getting bigger every day, isn’t she?” Scarlett scrunches her nose and coos at Marley, who smiles back at her.
Penelope, Scarlett, Maren, and I are huddled in a circle on the deck, drinking rosé and admiring the men from afar. I’ll be honest, I appreciate my new friends even more now that I almost left them all for Central America. We were just starting to get close right before I was about to leave, and I feel so lucky to have this time with them to gossip and giggle and talk about life.
I nod and kiss the top of Marley’s head. “She’ll be wearing clothes for six-month-olds in no time,” I murmur, shaking my head. “I wish there was a way to make time stop, just for a little while.”
“Well, it sounds like you kind of figured that one out. Weren’t you supposed to be in El Salvador like, yesterday?” Scarlett asks with a sly, questioning grin.
“Yeah,” Penelope says, crossing her legs and nodding toward me. “Connor gave me the basics, but I feel like we need the whole story from you.”
My lips curl into a half smile, and I shrug. “A new position opened up here in the city, and they needed someone to stay behind to fill it. I jumped at the chance, really. If you’d asked me a few months ago, I would have told you I was ready for a big change like moving to Central America. Turns out that big change was something else entirely.”
My gaze wanders across the yard to Connor, who’s laughing, the heat from the grill making him appear to shimmer. His eyes meet mine and his smile softens a little, sending my stomach into a series of backflips.
I really am a lucky girl.
“You two are adorable,” Maren says, nudging my side with her elbow.
I can feel a blush warming my cheeks. “Thanks. It’s fast, I know, but trust me. It’s more real than anything I’ve ever felt before.”
“I know what you mean,” Penelope says, giving me a smile that reminds me a lot of her brother. “I’m really happy for you both.”
Scarlett sighs and claps her hands together loudly. “All right,” she says, rising from her seat. “As thrilled as I am for the new lovebirds—and don’t get me wrong, I really am happy for you, Jess—I’m starving. Please tell me the boys are done with those burgers already.”
