“Then your mind and I are going to need to have a serious talk, because I’m not going anywhere.”
He stared into my eyes for a long time. “I want to get some help,” he finally said. “I want to be worthy of you.”
When I went to respond, he covered my mouth with his hand. “I know I am, here,” he said as he removed his hand from my mouth and placed it over his own heart. “But I’m not so sure up here.” He pointed to his head. “I know you’re right… that the things people love about me can’t be lost, but I want more than that. I want there to come a day where I don’t have to ask you the question that I’m going to ask you today and probably every day for the foreseeable future. Not because I think you’ll get tired of answering, but because I shouldn’t have to ask it. I need my own voice to be the one I listen to first. Does that make sense?”
I nodded, since I was struggling to find my own voice. I finally managed to say, “Ask me the question, baby.”
“Promise me you’re not leaving me, Jace,” he whispered.
“I promise, Caleb. Martha Stewart couldn’t drag—”
He let out a watery laugh and kissed me before I could finish. “I love you, Jace.”
I tucked him against my neck and settled my lips against his earso that there was no doubt he’d hear me. “I love you, Caleb. I’m so fucking proud to call you mine. Promise me you’ll never leave me.”
“Never,” he croaked, his words almost getting lost on a warm breeze. “And if Martha Stewart ever makes a play for you, she better watch her back because I’ll kick her ass.”
I let out a bark of laughter and then wrapped my arms even tighter around him. “Everything will be okay, Caleb,” I murmured. “Do you believe me?”
He nodded against my neck. “I believe you, Jace.”
Chapter 22
Caleb
“Finally!”
I jerked at the sound of Jace’s voice at the same time that a blast of cool air went through the shower as the door was pulled open. I was about to protest the interruption when my eyes fell on Jace’s body.
Jace’s naked body.
Jace’s gorgeous, naked, ripped body.
He stepped into the shower and pulled the door shut, then pressed up against me, stealing some of the water from the spray.
“Finally, what?” I asked. “Did you have trouble getting her down?”
“No, she was out before I even put her in the crib.” He nuzzled the back of my neck. “Finally, we get a shower that’s bigger than a phone booth.”
“A phone booth? What’s that?” I joked.
Jace’s teeth closed over the lobe of my ear. “You’ll pay for that, whippersnapper.”
“Promise? Because I don’t see any Sno Balls in here, and I’m not sure you can top what you did with those.”
Jace’s hands slid up and down my sides. “Challenge accepted,”he murmured, then he turned my head and sealed his mouth over mine. I moaned into the kiss, then turned around in his arms and practically attacked him.
We’d been back in the U.S. for only three days and things had gone into overdrive. The pre-trial hearing I’d been scheduled to testify at had been pushed back by a week so that the lawyers could do yet more legal wrangling. I’d already been stressed about the whole thing, but also eager to get it over with so the actual trial could get scheduled and the entire ordeal would finally have an end in sight. So I hadn’t exactly taken the news of the delay well. Especially when I’d learned the very same day that Jace was returning to Germany to claim his sister’s body.
We’d ended up having our first real fight as a couple when I’d insisted on going with him and he’d refused to budge on the matter. We’d gone to bed angry, but when I’d had a chance to get past the irrational fear of losing him, I’d recognized how selfish I was being. I’d apologized to Jace and we’d spent several hours talking about his sister and family. It’d been a way to grieve her loss and still celebrate her life. The next morning, I’d helped Jace plan the funeral, which would happen when he returned. He’d decided to bury Maggie in Vermont with the rest of his family, so the plan was for me to fly out there and meet him for the service. Ronan was going with Jace to Germany, and Memphis and a couple of Ronan’s other men were going to accompany me to Vermont. We’d decided to leave Willa with Mav and Eli so that Jace could focus on saying his goodbyes to his family.
That conversation had eased the way for others about our future. I’d been worried Jace would want to return to D.C. – something I would have done if he’d asked me to, despite the relationship I was finally starting to build with Eli – but Jace had been the one to suggest that we make our home in the Seattle area. We’d already started the process of looking for a house near Mav and Eli’s, something I’d fully expected my brother and his fiancé to oppose with arguments about Jace and I not knowing each other well enough to make that kind of commitment. But they’d surprised me by being on board with the idea and letting us stay with them until we founda place. Of course, everything was contingent on the danger to me being eliminated.
Which wouldn’t happen until my father was convicted.
I didn’t even know what would happen if he wasn’t.
Jace returned my desperate kiss as he maneuvered me back against the wall. The tiles were cold against my back, but it actually felt good because my entire body felt like it would go up in flames.
