“What will that mean for when you get home?”
I shrug. “No idea. But I’m not going to worry about it until then. I want to enjoy our first trip together, plus my first time in New York.”
“I’m going to support you, baby. In whatever way you need. Emotionally, physically, financially…”
“I have a job, I can pay my own bills, but I may need to impose on Jude and Chloe if they kick me out before we find our own place.”
“Like I said, they’re fine with that. And my money is your money.”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t want?—”
He puts a finger over my lips. “It’s not about what you want. It’s the way it’s going to be. Once we’re married, everything I have is half yours.”
“I want a prenup,” she says. “For real. I don’t ever want to be the woman who married you for?—”
“Stop.” He shakes his head. “We’re not signing a prenup.”
“We are.” I glare at him, but the doors open so my defiance fizzles out as we walk toward the room.
“Where’s your stuff?” he asks.
“In Chloe’s room. I think they were going out to eat, though. She’ll text me when they get here.”
“Okay.” He unlocks the door to his room and I walk over to the bed, perching on the edge. “I’m tired. It’s been a long day.”
“Well, we probably need to stay awake long enough for them to get back to the room so we can get your stuff, but then you can go right to sleep.”
“Not yet,” I protest, crooking my finger at him.
He walks over to me and stands between my legs, looking down at me with a devilish smile. “Did you need me for something?”
I laugh. “Maybe.”
He leans down and softly kisses me. “I’m down for anything you want to do, but I thought we’d talk first.”
“Isn’t that what we did in the taxi?”
“It is.” He sinks down beside me, taking one of my hands and lacing our fingers together. “I just want to come up with a plan. I feel like there are still some potential misunderstandings between us.”
“No, there aren’t. Not really. It was all me, letting my parents make me feel guilty.”
“Well, I probably should have been more proactive in showing you that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win over your parents. Season tickets to the Marlins for your dad, a cleaning service for your mom—what will make them like me?”
I hesitate. “Now that I’ve had some time to consider a few different perspectives, I don’t think it has anything to do with you, specifically, so there are no gifts or favors that are going to change how they feel. They just don’t want to lose control over their babies. But that’s not realistic, and that was the epiphany I had. You’re my future, and as much as I would love my family to embrace you, I can’t control what they do. Only what I do. And I love you, Jordan.”
His lips find mine and my mouth opens for him hungrily. I’ve missed him but the way my body responds to his touch tells me it’s more than that. It’s a physical need that transcends sex. It’s a connection I’ve never felt with anyone else, one of many reasons I know he’s the only one for me.
Jordan is the only man who makes me feel this way.
Wanted.
Sexy.
Loved.
Somehow, we sprawl on the bed, losing pieces of clothing as we go. When we’re finally naked and he’s rolled on a condom, it’s like everything pauses. He’s on top of me, our bodies pressed tightly together. I feel his cock poised at my entrance, but instead of pushing in, he just lies there watching my face. He reaches up and brushes some hair out of my face.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he says in a gruff voice. “I would dream about you sometimes and it used to piss me off, that you were the only one I could think about. Dream about. The one I would picture when I jerked off.”
