He sits back on the table and bends his leg. “Nope, I was a good boy.” The wink he gives me is adorable and makes my heart swoon. Grumpy Jude is sexy, but sweet, silly Jude? He’s addictive.
Over the next hour, we somehow manage to keep the conversation focused on his knee. I put him through the full massage protocol and all of his exercises before finally walking him to the front of the clinic.
Sukhi looks at us with a knowing smirk that makes me stop. “Did you not let me know it was Jude on purpose?” I ask, popping my hand on my hip as my eyes dart from Sukhi to Jude.
“I asked her not to tell you,” Jude replies easily. “I wanted to surprise you.” My expression softens into a smile. How can it not?
He leans in and kisses my cheek before whispering loud enough only for me to hear, “I’ll be waiting for you to finish work. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
When he pulls back, I search his expression for a clue, but he’s unreadable. Then the door opens and my next patient walks in, forcing me to give Jude a nod and a smile. “Okay. See you soon.”
In comparison to the morning that raced by, the afternoon drags on at a snail’s pace. When I finally say goodbye to my last patient, I fly through my chart notes and clean up, desperate to get to Jude’s place. But as I push open the front door to the clinic, I get my second surprise of the day. The sexiest man alive is standing right there, leaning against a dark grey SUV, smiling at me. This time, I don’t freeze. I drop my bag and run at him, once again trusting him to catch me in his open arms. He does, spinning us around as I giggle, my face pressed into his neck. When he sets me back down, I peer behind him at the giant car.
“Did you rent that beast?”
He looks over his shoulder, then back at me with a wry grin. “No, I bought it. Picked that up in Victoria this morning. I figured I needed to have my own car over here.”
I try not to get too excited by what that might mean. “That’s no car, that’s a tank.”
Jude’s grin grows. “Well, can I give you a ride home in my tank?”
I point over to my much smaller — and brighter — car. “And what’s wrong with my car?”
Jude just picks up my bag, then wraps his arm around my shoulder and guides me over to the passenger side of his giant vehicle. “Nothing. It’s perfect for you. Small and cute. But I need something of my own to get to and from work.”
My hand drops away from the handle. “Work?” I ask cautiously, turning around to face him.
“You’re looking at the new head coach of the Westport Ravens.” His smile is huge now, creasing across his entire face, lighting him up. It’s obvious how happy he is.
“You’re staying,” I say, feeling my own lips turn up in return.
Jude leans down and kisses me deeply. “Damn right, I am. How could I not, when everything I want and everyone I love is here?”
My breath catches. “Wh-what?”
His one hand comes to rest on my hip, the other behind my neck, sliding just under my braid. He pulls me in flush against his body, using his grip to tilt my head up.
“I love you. And I’m here to stay, if that’s okay with you.”
Instead of answering with words, because I’m way too choked up to formulate anything meaningful, I lift up on my toes and kiss him over and over again, trying to infuse my lips with all the feelings bubbling inside of me. When I feel wetness on my cheeks and realize I’m crying, I pull back laughing, swiping at my cheeks.
“I love you, too, in case that wasn’t clear,” I manage to say right before Jude crashes his lips back into mine.
“I need to get you home and naked, immediately,” he growls, opening the door behind me. “Get in.”
I climb in and buckle up, and as soon as he slides into the driver’s seat, we’re kissing again, all the pent-up love and desire exploding around us. “Drive fast,” I whisper, making myself back away. The lust-filled promise in his eyes takes my breath away as he backs out of the parking lot to leave the clinic.
When we get to his apartment, we race up the stairs as fast as his leg will allow, our hands constantly roaming over each other. Once inside, our clothes start to fly off until we’re only in our underwear. But as we walk to the bedroom, kissing everywhere our lips can reach, I see something out of the corner of my eye.
“What’s that?”
Jude’s grumble of discontent doesn’t phase me. I break away from his embrace and pick up the book. Turning it over, I gasp. “Oh my God. Where did you find this?”
Tears are forming as my eyes roam the cover. It’s a very early edition ofLittle Women, and it’s beautiful.
“The entire time I was away, all I could think of was you. I wanted you there, watching the game with me, going out after, and sleeping in my hotel bed. I found this little used bookstore and they had a huge section of the classics. I couldn’t resist getting you one.”
“I love it,” I say, my eyes shining.
