“Oh my god,” I whine, stifling the urge to cry and sandwiching his face between my hands. Maggie’s laughter fades into the house. I pepper kisses all over his face and he chuckles.
Jake nudges me steady, rubbing his nose with mine before launching a sweet, soft kiss. “I am home now. With you.”
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you too.”
“Hey, I should tell you something that’s been on my mind.”
Jake lifts his brows. “Okay?”
I let out a shaky breath. “I know a lot of our talks have been around whether you stay here with me, but if it came down to it, there’s a chance I’d go wherever you go. There’s also a chance I could go back to Raleigh, and you’d have better job prospects there.”
He looks stunned, eyes wide and sporting an incredulous smile. “Darcy,” he breathes. “I don’t know what to say. You don’t have to do that.”
I shrug and hold back the smile threatening to split my face. “You’re worth it. But we have time to decide.”
Jake holds me so tight it almost hurts. “I love you so much,” he says into my hair. “We should celebrate! This is a big deal. We’re back on.”
I giggle. “Okay, what did you have in mind?”
He can barely hold in his chuckle. “Some people like champagne, but I don’t think there’s anything better than my woman’s nasty coffee.”
I throw my head back laughing and he presses a soft kiss to the column of my throat. With a hand still on my waist, he leans to pick up his mug off the step. Jake takes a slug of the brown liquid, his whole face seizing up and almost spitting it out. “Christ, did you put salt in that?”
My jaw drops. “I sweetened it! I didn’t want it to taste as bad as you pick on it being.”
Jake cracks up. “If we’re going to stick this out, we’ve got to teach you the difference between salt and sugar.”
“Am I that bad? When I try to be sweet, I’m salty?”
Jake laughs, wrapping me up in his arms again. “I love you that way, darlin’.”
Our kiss is more intense this time and I resist the urge to climb up his body, knowing my aunt and uncle are just inside the house. I’m having trouble breaking the kiss, too obsessed with the joy of having him back.
Finally, Jake pulls away. “Is going to get the horses some sort of code? The auntie equivalent of a sock on the door?”
“Ew!” I say, slapping his chest to his cackle.
“What? Your other aunt had her boobs all over my face! I just figured this was a sex positive environment.”
I huff. “No, my family’s just nuts.”
“And you,” he boops my nose, “are part of your family.”
I drop my jaw. “Hey!”
He hugs me tighter and rocks me from side to side. “Wouldn’t have you any other way, boss.”
I squeal when he swoops under my legs and hitches me up to his waist. “Come on, now. Let’s go ‘get the horses.’”
I fold myself around his shoulders and enjoy his thunderous laughter against my chest.
Safe. Adored. Cherished.
I’m home again.
EPILOGUE
