Tennyson shook his head and stomped out of the room, my eyes following him.
What would happen with Tennyson? Being the troubled triplet on the verge of madness was sorta his niche. What happened to him if that was removed?
The more I thought about it, the more I saw his point. Accepting your fate and managing it as best you could was one thing. But fighting against it, holding on to hope and chasing after a solution . . . how long could he maintain that? How long before he crashed and burned?
A warm hand wrapped around mine. I turned, looking into Jack’s calm eyes. He smiled.
“We’ll be there to catch him,” he said, reading my mind. “We all love Tennyson too much to let him fail. We’ll find the solution.”
I looked down at our twined fingers.
“This is nice,” I said, lifting our joined hands.
Jack followed my gaze. “It is.” His eyes swung up to mine. “There is much we need to discuss, you and I.”
I swallowed and nodded. I wasn’t ready to chat yet. “First, I think we need to call Dante and Branwell and let them know what we found. My vision changes everything.”
I stood up, intent on my phone. Jack kept a tight hold on my hand.
I lurched back toward him, and Jack effortlessly pulled me onto his lap. I landed on top of him with anoomph.
His grunt of pain, not mine.
“Sorry.” I tried to push off him, but Jack’s arm was a vise around my waist.
“Stay,” he murmured, nuzzling his nose into the space between my ear and shoulder, sending goosebumps skittering down my spine.
Oh, Jack.The poor man. He deserved someone much better than me.
But I stayed. Because even though I knew he deserved better than me, I didn’t care. I was selfish and I adored him and I wanted him for myself.
I curled myself into a ball on Jack’s lap, my forehead pressed into that space between his jaw and shoulder. If my position hurt his sore ribs, he didn’t say anything.
We sat like that for a long while, the slow thump of his heart under my ear, our lungs rising and falling in synchronized breaths. Jack’s hand was a warm weight on my hip, thumb moving in an unconscious circle.
I wondered how long we would last. Me, with my psycho ways. Jack with his awesomeness and bevy of women at his beck and call.
I supposed it was only a matter of time before he threw me over for a less neurotic model. I couldn’t even say that I blamed him. Heaven knew, I was a terrible handful even at the best of times.
“Shhhhh.” Jack’s long exhale sounded next to my ear. “I can practically hear you over thinking this. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know that, J-Jack,” I whispered. “I’m just so happy you’re alive and you’re here and I know that I’m going to make a total mess of everything. I’m crazy and insane and competitive and bossy and obnoxious and you’re going to get so tired of me, I know it. And—”
Jack pressed a firm, warm finger against my lips. Silencing me.
“No.” His sexy posh accent rumbled through me. “Look at me.” He used his Lord Knight voice then.
I sat up and looked at him. That Lord Knight voice was nothing to mess with. C’mon . . . what red-blooded woman would saynoto a voice like that?
He threaded a hand into my hair and pulled me closer to him. Every sense went on high alert. The warmth of his large body around me, the air moving in and out of his lungs. I lifted my hand to his face, the bristly rasp of his whiskers under my palm. I traced his jawline, dragging my finger down across his soft lips.
That was all it took.
Jack pulled me to him, fusing our mouths in a decidedly hungry kiss. Both my arms wound around his neck, plundering his thick hair.
I surrendered to it.
My love for this man. I adored him. I would always adore him. No matter what happened with us . . . even when my crazy eventually drove Jack away and left me heartbroken and alone.
