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“Jamie, it wasn’t, and it’s horrible for Marie and anyone else to suggest it was.”
“I think they blame me for not letting her break up with me when she first tried to.”
“So they blame you for being a nice guy? Well, fuck them.”
He laughed then grew serious. “I thought you viewed my niceness to my detriment.”
“You have a lot more to who you are. You’re super smart, and super funny and sexy and fun to be with…”
Jamie put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. He held her there for a few minutes before he said, “So, would you ever consider overlooking my “niceness” because of all my other redeeming qualities and actually being with me…for real?”
“I’ve been considering it a lot lately.” She was going to say more. She was going to say but...
But before she could, Jamie kissed her, making her toes curl, and not in just a sexual way. The kiss was akin to an overwhelming expression of emotion that made her chest swell and her head spin. The kiss was akin to a declaration of love, one that was unnecessary because they’d already told each other they loved one another.
The problem was, she still didn’t know what they should do about it.
Lucy kept her thoughts to herself because she didn’t want to upset Jamie anymore than she had. What he’d said had struck a chord for her. She was being cowardly, afraid to commit herself completely to him because she wasn’t willing take on anyone or anything that would dare try to come between them. Yet she was strong. Stronger than Sierra, she told herself, if only because she was older and more experienced.
And bottom line, Jamie was…well, Jamie.
If ever there was a man worth fighting for, a man worth making compromises for, it was him. She knew that.
She knew it. But she still couldn’t get the words out to tell him that.
After a few minutes, likely sensing the internal struggle she was having, he said, “You hungry?”
“I am,” she said, hooking her arm through his.
“There’s a really cute little restaurant on Main Street that has the best hamburgers I’ve ever tasted.”
“Mmm, sounds good,” she said. “Let me change.”
Lucy put on a pair of jeans and a Harley Davidson T-shirt she’d bought when they were in Vegas. It was fitted, red, and showed just a hint of cleavage.
They walked hand in hand through the little town. As they strolled past the town library, Lucy glanced in the window. “Oh my goodness. Look.”
There was some kind of reading circle going on, with kids ranging anywhere from two to about seven or eight years old. Standing in front of them was a man that looked like he’d just walked in from the Outback. He was holding a giant, yellow boa constrictor and there were multiple cages behind him with various other animals inside.
“Let’s go in,” she told him.
“I thought you were hungry.”
Lucy rolled her eyes and said, “I’ll live. Come on.”
* * *
Lucy’s enthusiasm was contagious. They stood in the back of the room behind the parents of the children and listened to the man talk in a strong Australian accent. He told the kids about the snake and answered their questions. When he finished his talk, he said that if anyone in the audience wanted to hold the snake, he or she should raise their hand. Jamie wasn’t the least bit surprised when Lucy raised hers.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I thought my snake was the only one you liked to play with.”
She elbowed him in the ribs and actually shushed him, making him laugh.
After the difficult talk they’d had back at the inn, he felt light years better. He hadn’t missed the fact that Lucy had failed to answer his question about being with him for real. But it was definitely a topic he planned on raising again. Soon.
Hell, he still couldn’t believe it. She’d said it. She’d admitted she loved him.
That, he could work with. That, he could be patient for.
