Page 61 of Sunset

“Okay, I know this isn’t why you’re here. Spill it.” She says.

So, I do. I tell her about Jasper’s surprise dinner on my porch; our talk on the beach. I tell her about our date yesterday; our trip down memory lane. The kiss. About finding her in the lobby, and Jasper taking me back to my room. I tell her about the sex, and Jasper’s I love you. I tell her all of it, and her eye grows a little wider at each new thing I throw at her.

When I’m done, I take a big breath of air and blow it out.

“So, what do you think?” I ask her.

“I don’t even know where to start. Do you love him?” She asks.

Leave it to Lin to go right to the jugular. I’m glad I thought about this, before I came over, because I know she won’t let it go.

“Yeah, I never stopped,” I whisper.

“But you’re too scared to tell him.” She says. Sometimes, it’s kind of freaky how well your best friend knows you.

I just nod.

“It’s okay. You’ll tell him, when you’re ready. I know Jasper, and he will wait. He’s been waiting all this time for another chance, so he’ll continue waiting.” Lin says.

His face, when he says those three simple words, flashes through my mind. Though, he may be saying it with his mouth, it’s his deep, brown eyes that show me he means it. Desire is written all over his face, as he stares at me unblinking, when he says it. It’s so intense that I know he means it.

“Okay so, how are you?” I ask, needing to change the subject.

“Well loved.” She says, and we both burst into giggles.

There’s a knock on the door, before it opens, and Kade and Jasper peek their heads in.

“I love hearing that giggle, Goldie,” Kade says to Lin.

“I second that, Firefly,” Jasper says to me.

Both men have on matching crooked smiles that would melt the heart of every female across the county.

“We brought you lunch.” Jasper says, as they pull in a cart of food. Enough food to feed all four of us, plus, a few more.

“All this is for us?” Lin says, reading my mind.

“Well, we wanted you to have choices. These two are for us, and we’re going to eat in the office. There’s dessert, too. Eat, and take your time. We have been keeping you away from each other, so we want you to catch up.” Kade says.

“And get so fat that we can’t get another guy ever again.” I joke, which earns me glares from both guys. That only makes us both burst out laughing all over again.

The guys take their food and go back to the office. We dig into burgers, fries, loaded potato skins, and chocolate cake. There’s also Jasper’s sweet tea, so it’s basically a perfect lunch.

“Okay, talk.” I point my fork at her, and we start on the chocolate cake.

“Well, Kade wanted to make sure I was okay, so I had to strip, and of course, where I had the marks on my shoulders were red and a little sore. So, Kade took me to the bathroom, and we bathed together. He scrubbed every ounce of me clean three times.” She says.

Flashes of the time Jasper washed me down in the tub in Raleigh flash through my mind, but I try to focus on Lin.

“So, then there was tub sex and talking and more sex and talking, and then shower sex and talking. I passed out at one point, and he woke me up twice, like he couldn’t get enough of me, and he needed to know I was okay.” Lin smiles.

“That’s so sweet,” I say.

“It is. He got up early to make sure the staff was doing their jobs, and everyone had breakfast and brought us breakfast in bed. Letting me sleep in, is one of my favorite things about him. He gets up early every day and tells me to go back to sleep. Most days, I get up with him, but some nights, he just tires me out too much.” She giggles.

Watching Lin, I take in the huge smile on her glowing face. She looks more relaxed and so much happier with Kade around, and even more so now that they’re married.

“So, how’s married life?” I ask.

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