“Come on,” Jasper said, suddenly standing in front of me. “You’ve been staring at that wall since we got here. Time for a bath.”
He helped me to my feet and led me to the large bathroom where the freestanding tub was filled with steaming water and the air smelled like jasmine.
Slowly, he turned me around and unzipped my dress. “Just get in the water. It will help.”
I nodded, helpless, and let him gather my hair and sloppily secure it in a claw clip.
It was sweet, how much he cared. But I was too numb to appreciate it.
My muscles screamed as I lowered myself into the tub. I felt like I’d climbed Everest.
The tears kept coming, bringing with them all the built-up anger and shame that had been gnawing at me since the moment I’d seen my father.
“I’ll order cheeseburgers and find a rom-com to watch. Sound good? This is our first trip as a family. We can’t let toxic assholes ruin it.” Jasper plucked my clothes off the floor, pulled out his phone, and tapped at the screen until classical music began to play. Then he left the bathroom.
Damn my father for ruining such an incredible day. I’d networked and met some of my heroes, and dozens of young women had asked me questions about my career. After months and months of second-guessing my decision to leave my job in New York, I was starting to take pride in my new position. I was building something special at Sugar Moon, and it was about time I owned it.
But my father had the uncanny ability to dissolve my self-confidence with nothing more than a look. Add in his tone and the way he’d looked at Vincent, and I was sick.
Then Jasper had to witness it all. God, it was gross.
My fingers had wrinkled by the time Jasper returned and sat on the closed toilet.
“I’m proud of you,” he said. “Breaking generational cycles is hard, but you’re doing it.”
My chest felt hollow. “I think my desire to protect Vincent is stronger than the conditioning or the shitty feelings my father evokes.”
“Exactly. I’m so proud of you.”
He leaned over the edge of the tub, nuzzling my neck. The man was maybe the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. The smile, the dimple, the muscles, and the arms covered in ink.
The emotion that stirred inside me as his warmth soaked into me was more than lust. It was longing. To touch him. And need. To feel him and possess him and be part of him.
I looked up at him, surveying the stubble on his jaw, the glimmer in his eye, and couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth. “I love you.”
His body went stiff, his eyes widening.
“I love you,” I said again. It was too early for this kind of declaration, but I didn’t care. The words would not stay in my mouth, and I was too exhausted to fight them.
Without a word, he pulled me out of the tub. He toweled off every inch of my skin with care and then wrapped me in the fluffiest of robes.
As he tied the belt around my waist, his head bowed, I cupped his cheek.
“Jasper,” I whispered, my heart pounding.
He looked up at me, his eyes shining with tears.
Exhaling, I brought my other hand to his face too. Then I kissed him, desperate to ground myself to this moment.
Before I could get totally lost in him, I pulled back and searched his face. “Are you okay?”
He ran his hands through his hair. “Yes. I’m just in shock and can’t really think right now.”
“Do you want me to say it again?”
With his lip caught between his teeth, he nodded. The action was so damn sexy that I was tempted to drop to my knees right there on the bathroom floor.
Instead, I untied my robe slowly and let it fall to the tile. “I love you, Jasper.”
