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He looked between us. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he said.
I laughed. “It’s not. It’s a good thing. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
I saw Renee’s smile grow at my use of the word “love.”
“Mom,” Jace said as we were eating, “you’re not coughing. What did the doctor do?”
Renee sighed and looked between us. “I owe you a debt of gratitude,” she said. “Both of you, for so many things. But for sending that doctor over, especially.” She shrugged and put her fork down. “It was an infection.”
“Why does that surprise you?” I asked.
Renee blew out a breath. “I actually thought I was dying. And I wanted to see Jarred straight again before Jace had to deal with that too. And I didn’t want him to worry about doctor’s bills if I was, and I knew he’d find some way to get me treatment if it was cancer or something … I just didn’t want to do that to him.”
My admiration for this woman grew, knowing she understood her son so well, that she had an innate understanding of the way Jace’s mind worked—something I’d just figured out this weekend. And I thought only a mother would be that selfless, to decide she’d rather die than put her son into debt.
“So you’re better?” I asked her.
Renee nodded. “The doctor called in a prescription, and it only took a few days.”
Jace’s shoulders visibly lowered, as if knowing his mom was better took a heavy weight off of them.
We finished dinner, scooped up Elvis and all of his belongings, and after saying thank you, we were finally headed home.
* * *
Jack and Christianwere already there, and assured us that the perimeter and house were secure. The additional guards would arrive the next day, and we all agreed they’d rotate on external shifts.
Jace and I went inside, and settled Elvis, who pranced from room to room, checking to make sure each of his Elvis jumpsuit-themed dog beds was in its proper place.
“All set?” I asked him, and he gave a little body shake to tell me yes.
“What about you?” Jace asked, leaning on the railing at the foot of the stairs. “Are you all set? Everything good?”
I walked toward him, happy for the quiet comfort of my own home, ecstatic to have Jace inside it—not as my bodyguard, but as my boyfriend. “Yes. I’m all set.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek to his chest, gratified to feel his strong arms slide around me to pull me closer. “Good,” he purred.
“I’m so happy, Jace,” I said, breathing in the scent of him, letting him fill my senses. “It feels like I’m finally getting my own happily ever after.”
“We both are,” he told me. And then he scooped me over his shoulder and carried me upstairs to my bedroom, where he showed me exactly what happily ever after was.
Epilogue
Jace
Juliet had been right—it was a little silly to get my own place, since I had spent most of the nights over the last six months at her house. That said, there was a good reason to have an apartment nearby—Jarred.
Once he was released from rehab, he moved in with me, taking the second bedroom in the apartment I’d found equidistant between Mom and Juliet’s places. For the first two weeks he was back, I didn’t spend the night at Juliet’s, though she did come visit us at my place a couple times.
The first time Juliet had come over, Jarred had answered the door. When she’d introduced herself and come inside to see me, Jarred had pulled me aside, beckoning me into his room.
“Bro,” he said, rubbing a hand through his close-cropped hair. “Is that the actual Juliet Manchester? Like the movie star?”
I hadn’t filled him in on quite everything right away, figuring he needed time to just adjust to being in the real world again. “Yeah. It is.”
“Why is she here again?” He shook his head.
“We’re dating,” I’d told him.
