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Her jaw slackens a little as the smile falls off her lips and her eyes widen. “What?”
“Move in with me. You and Jonah.”
She gasps when I say her son’s name. “Are you serious right now?”
“We’ll create a home studio at my place so we can record any time we’re both home together. It’ll be perfect, Jo. Jonah can have his own room, and we can wake up and eat cereal together and watch Minions. And once he goes to bed, you and I can have time together. Every night except when I have to travel. I’ll come home to you. You’ll come home to me. Say yes.”
Her mouth opens and shuts a few times as she thinks it over. “Oh, God,” she finally says. I can’t tell what’s going through her mind, but I do know she quit her job today and she was already living with her friend. If I can take away rent for her and help out in that regard, I want to.
“Look, Jo. I want you to do the podcast because you love it and you’re passionate about it, not because you need the paycheck. This is something I can do to help, and I want to. Not because I don’t want you to have to worry about rent or whatever, but because I want you in my bed every single night. I want to wake up in the morning with you in my arms. I just want you.”
“I, uh…I wasn’t expecting this,” she admits. “I need to think it over.”
“I’ve been thinking it over for a while now, and you and me…” I grab her back into my arms. “We’re inevitable, Jolene Bailey. We’ve fought our way back to each other, and other people can try to do their worst, but we will always end up right here. This is our future, and I’m ready for it to start.”
Her eyes sparkle with more tears, and she finally snags her bottom lip between her teeth. “Okay.”
“Yeah?”
She nods, and I grin as I swing her around in my arms.
“Yeah,” she says, and I swallow the word when I plant a kiss on her lips.
She sighs softly into me, and it really makes me feel like despite it all, everything is going to be okay.
If only I had a little warning about the destruction that was brewing in the background and about to head our way.
CHAPTER 25: LINCOLN
When I pull into my driveway, I’m feeling pretty damn good—like everything is actually going to work out for Jolene and me. But reality quickly plows into me when I realize I’m going to have to confess to my mother that I’m about to move in with the enemy.
I’m not quite sure how that’s going to go over, but I suppose I’ll find out soon.
She pulls into the driveway behind me, and I wait for her to get out of her car and take her suitcase out of the back after giving her a hug. I grab the food from my front seat and we head inside.
“How have we been here three months and this is only my second time visiting?” she asks as she twirls around my kitchen while I grab plates out of the cabinet.
“I guess I’ve been busy,” I offer.
“Yeah, with the Bailey girl.” She pauses awkwardly as she eyes me. “What’s going on there, anyway?”
I set the plates on the table and grab some silverware next, and I nod toward the food to indicate she can open it as I draw in a deep breath.
I guess this is where we’re starting.
She lifts out a salad first and chicken piccata second, and she finds rolls and butter at the bottom of the bag. “This smells delicious.”
She dishes us each a plate while I grab her a glass of wine and some water for myself, and then I join her at the table.
“Where were we?” I ask.
“You were about to tell me what’s going on with Jolene.”
I chuckle, and heat flares up my back as I glance at the kitchen counter where I made a meal of her not so long ago. “I doubt that.”
She presses her lips together with a twinkle in her eye. “Tell me anyway.”
“You aren’t mad?” I ask. Seems most everyone in my family took the news better than I had expected—except for my father, of course, who is only making things worse and worse at every turn.
