Page 71 of Undeniable Love
He’d been obsessing over that moment for nearly a month and, as much as he thought he was just being crazy, obviously it had hit a nerve with Lucy as well.
“I’m crazy about you, Lucy,” he told her. “And I don’t care who doesn’t like it. I want to be with you without having to sneak around. It feels wrong for it to be this way.”
“Jax, I…” Her laughter was nervous and there was a slight flush to her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say.”
What he wanted her to say was that she was crazy about him as well and that she wanted to see where this relationship went. But she was hesitating and he didn’t take it as a great sign. The urge to let go of her hand and wait for her to tell him she didn’t want more was almost as powerful as the urge to hold her tighter and beg her for a chance.
Ultimately, he simply held his breath and waited for her to say anything.
“You know Ty and Wyatt are going to freak out, right?” she asked with a soft giggle. “I mean, they never liked any of the guys I ever dated. But being that it’s you? I think it’s going to add a whole other level of awkwardness that I don’t even want to think about!”
That made him sit up a little straighter. “Are you saying…?”
The smile she gave him started out shy, but then blossomed beautifully. “I’m saying I’m crazy about you too, Jax. I don’t know how any of this is going to work because…”
He never let her finish. Kicking the chair out from under him, he hauled her up and into his arms, kissing her soundly. It was hard to believe how happy he felt. He’d won Super Bowls, had met almost every childhood hero he’d ever had, and was living his dream. But hearing Lucy Dawson say she was crazy about him beat all those moments.
This was real.
This was everything.
Wrapping herself around him, Lucy kissed him back with so much passion that he knew dinner—and anything else for that matter—could wait. He wanted to keep kissing her, he wanted to talk about the future, he wanted to make love to her…he wanted everything and he wanted it all right at that moment. With his arms banded around her waist, Jax lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom.
Making love would come first.
In her room, after laying her down on the bed and covering her body with his, he lifted up on his forearms and smiled down at her. “How did we get here?” he whispered in awe. “How did I get so lucky to have the most beautiful girl in the world looking up at me?”
Smiling shyly, Lucy shook her head. “We got here in those massive arms of yours. And as for the most beautiful girl in the world?” Another head shake. “Hardly.”
“It’s true, Luce. You don’t have to see it, but I do.” And suddenly, making love didn’t seem nearly as important as…this. Swallowing hard, Jax slowly lowered himself, resting his forehead against hers. “There are so many things I want to say, but…words don’t come easily to me. But I want you to know how I feel. I need you to know that I’m all in with us. I don’t know how we’re going to make it all work because the whole long-distance thing is definitely a drag.”
“Jax…”
“But if we can get through the rest of the Warriors’ season, I know we can figure something out. Just…be patient with me. Please. There are going to be times when I can’t come here or it won’t be convenient for you to come to Wichita, but…I was already thinking of retiring, so…maybe I just make the announcement now so I know this season will be my last.”
And even though his heart was racing like mad at that admission, he found it wasn’t out of fear, but out of excitement. He’d been on the fence about when the right time to retire was, but…now he had his answer.
“Promise you’ll be patient with me,” he whispered before placing a soft kiss on the tip of her nose.
Reaching up, Lucy caressed his jaw. “I do promise,” she said with equal softness. “But there’s still my…”
Jax quickly placed a finger over her lips. “Later. We’ll deal with that whole aspect later. Right now, I’d like to get back to the reason I carried you in here.”
Her smile grew. “I was hoping we’d get back to that.”
“That was always the plan. I just needed to tell you what I was feeling.” And before either could say anything else, he was kissing her and she was kissing him back.
And he showed her how he felt in a whole other way.
“I know it’s last minute, but any chance you can get Friday off and fly out?” Jax asked several hours later. They had eaten dinner and were now relaxing on the sofa.
“Believe it or not, I already took that day off,” she sweetly replied. “Granted, it wasn’t because I was planning on flying out to see you, but…”
“Oh, so you already have plans?” The disappointment he felt was strong, but he would deal with it.
“Not really. I’ve just been feeling scattered lately between not being home as much and then working longer hours to make up for the time I’ve been taking off. I feel like I’m neglecting some things around here and planned on doing some spring-cleaning.”
“It’s fall.”