Page 64 of Meant to be More

She moaned and pushed into a sitting position. “I hate when you’re right.” She reached for her top and held it to her chest. “Any chance you’d be able to come home and get a shower before heading back to work?”

“Damn, you’re insatiable.” He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder before hopping off the rock to locate both of their discarded clothes. “But I think my wife’s little surprise lunch necessitates getting cleaned up before going back to the ranch and pretending like absolutely nothing just happened.”

Jillian hastily tugged on the undergarments he tossed her direction and searched for her shoes. “I meant so that you could be presentable for work. And good, you can help me pack up what food hasn’t made its way to the ground.”

Once they were both fully dressed, they worked efficiently to load everything into his car. Just as she turned to get one of the final loads he caught her in his arms and held her firmly against his body. “We’re going to need to talk and figure…a lot out.”

She tilted her head and looked up at him. “Like what, Sparky?”

Holding her without stupid secrets between them was like the one gift you get at Christmas that you never knew you wanted. “Like what this will mean for you. I don’t want you to give up doing what you love, but I have a responsibility to manage Recovered Hope and work with Mat.”

Jillian fitted herself to him slightly tighter. “I took the job Sam offered me. Working out in the field was amazing and I wouldn’t trade a moment of it for anything.” She cupped his face in her hands. “But right now I love what I do with Sam and I’m hoping my husband will teach me more about the program he started.” Her voice dropped an octave. “And hearing you get all passionate about something is sexy as hell.”

Dean groaned and pushed her slightly away from him. “You’re not helping when I’m trying to have a serious conversation here.” He took a step back and purposely ignored the saucy grin and lifted brow coming from the redhead. “Are you going to be good and listen?”

She rolled her eyes then tossed him a wink. “Only if I have to.”

He stuck out his finger. “You have to.” The last remaining piece of the puzzle rotated in his mind. “You need to know something.”

All the mischief evaporated from her face and she sobered. “Okay, I’m listening.”

He took a deep breath. “I met with your dad and explained my program to him and I invited him to participate to…to try to get him some of the help he needs. I didn’t think he was going to show up. I mean, he damn near kicked me out of his house, but—”

Jillian launched herself into his arms and stole his words with a soul-rending, breath-stealing kiss. He staggered slightly from the unexpected force, but held her to him, losing himself once more in everything Jillian.

“You really don’t need to try to make me love you more, Sparky.” She sniffed between tears rolling down her face. “I’m already crazy about you. Even though I’ll still punch you if you tell anyone I was crying.”

He chuckled and kept a tight grip on her. “Never, Jillybean, never. You’re downright terrifying.”

***

Jillian

Present Day

As soon as she turned the corner leading to their home, the sun glinted off the long black town car parked in their driveway and Jillian sucked in a breath. Dean’s hand immediately appeared on top of hers from his spot in the passenger’s seat.

“I’m guessing that means you didn’t know they were coming.”

She shook her head mutely and threw the car into park along the curb. Hastily she ran trembling fingers through her hair and cast Dean a disgusted look. “I’m damn near thirty and married, and yet I am still terrified my parents are going to know I just had sex.”

Dean winked, which did absolutely nothing to lessen her nerves. “Don’t worry. As long as you’re only having sex with your husband it’s totally allowed.”

A sleek head of hair the same shade as Jillian’s, now liberally streaked with gray, emerged from the backseat as soon as the driver pulled the door open. Her father followed with a drawn, resigned expression on his face. “Jillian,” her mother’s clipped tones prickled Jillian’s skin, “we’ve been waiting.”

The instinctive urge to duck her head and apologize for making them wait washed over her, but she pushed it back and lifted her chin a notch. “Why don’t you come inside, Mother?”

She blindly reached to her side for Dean and let out a small exhale of relief when his palm slid into hers and gripped firmly. Somehow she managed to unlock the door without dropping the keys in her shaking grasp.

Helena marched in behind them with Edward in tow, her gaze sweeping over their small apartment, and Jillian could practically feel the judgement radiating from her mother. “Very quaint, my dear. I’m certain this must be an upgrade compared to the tents you’ve been living in.”

The zing of offense that shot to her spine and straightened her posture evaporated as she realized there was a…teasing note to her mother’s voice. Something she hadn’t really believed the woman capable of.

“I like it.” Jillian nodded and slid her arm around Dean’s waist. “It works for us.”

The older woman knitted her fingers together in front of her. Helena shot a quick look over to her husband standing at her side. “You were right.”

A feather could have easily sent Jillian toppling to the carpet at the power of the three words her mother spoke. “Excuse me?”

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