Page 59 of Crimson Love

Then she forced us to take home an entire apple-cherry pie. Jett didn’t even try to explain his diet. He said thank you, took the pie, and said he’d be back in a day or two.

“You don’t have to do that, but they’ll eat anything. Who knows how long they were strays before they found me. They have their quirks, but they don’t pass up food.”

“I’ll add it to my list of to dos. And next time, bring them with you when you come for dinner. Harold pretends he doesn’t like pets, but he does.”

“I don’t!” Harold yells from the kitchen. He comes back into the family room with a half-eaten cookie and talks with his mouth full. “Don’t listen to her. I don’t like pets.”

Felicity waves him off. “He doesn’t mean that. Bring your fur babies. It’ll make dinner more interesting.”

Harold sighs and tosses the rest of the cookie in his mouth. “See y’all next week. I’m headed to bed.”

Jett takes my hand and pulls me to the front door. “Thanks again for dinner.”

I grab my purse off the front table after putting on my jacket. “And thank you for doing it today. I don’t know what I would’ve done had I missed a weekly dinner. We’ll see you Monday!”

Felicity stands in the doorway and waves one more time as we get in Jett’s truck. “Careful going home!”

He climbs in and shuts his door. “Home. That’s an odd concept for us.”

I don’t waste any time and turn to him before he has the chance to back out of the driveway. I grip his arm and demand his attention. “Thank you for tonight.”

He turns to me. “Why are you thanking me?”

“I’ve never known anyone like Harold and Felicity. Not in my entire life. They’re important to me. I get that they’re not everyone’s thing, so the fact you came tonight and acted happy means a lot to me.”

He tips his head. “Baby, I didn’t act happy. I am. And it’s been a long fucking time since I’ve danced anywhere near the realm of happy, let alone be it.”

Emotions bubble within me. “I feel the same way. Or I did before Andrei found me.”

“One more day and he’ll be taken care of.” The way Jett says that it’s like a promise. One I’m not sure anyone can make.

My voice drops to a whisper. “I’m tired of running. I want to stay in Winslet.”

He shifts in his seat to lean in close. His fingers dip into my hair and he pulls me in for a deep kiss. There’s a different passion behind this one. I feel his desperation mingle with mine.

I sink into his touch. If we weren’t sitting in Felicity’s driveway, I might think about climbing over the console to get closer to him.

Jett has become an obsession I have no desire to break. When he finally ends the kiss, he blows my mind in another way. “I’ve been so focused on you, I haven’t been completely open about me. I’ll do that tonight. I owe you that after demanding that you trust me with everything. Harlow wants me to give Winslet a try. I was doing a half-ass job of that just to appease her. I don’t give a shit where I live—or I never have before.”

I pull back a little. “What haven’t you told me about you?”

He leans in and presses his lips to mine once more. “It’s not nearly as exciting as your life. Let me get you home, and I’ll tell you everything.”

I settle back in and reach for my seatbelt. “I’m jealous.”

He does the same and backs out of the drive. “No one’s stalking me or tossing my shit to look for the stolen treasure. It’s not a big deal, but I do need to decide on where I’m going to settle. I gave up my rental when I left Iowa to come here for the transplant. I owed it to Harlow to give it a try.”

Harold and Felicity live in town, just a few streets from town square. When I actually lived in the library basement and felt safe there, I would walk to their house for dinner.

I have no idea where I’m going to go if they don’t put Andrei behind bars soon. I can’t stay in Jett’s room at the manor forever. That’s going to be a problem, but I can’t focus on that until tomorrow. “Now I can’t wait to get home. Something to look forward to.”

He throws me a glance, and even through the dark I can see the heat in his eyes. “I can give you other things to look forward to, but I’m afraid it’s too soon.”

“Soon for you? Did you forget that I lost six years? I’m not sure anything is too soon.”

He reaches over and claims my hand to bring it to his lips. “Never for me. But for you?”

I may regret acting on impulse, but I’m also ready to start living my life. Right now, nothing seems too soon when it comes to that.