Page 70 of Close to Heaven

“Do you want them to know I spent the night?”

“I’ll say I was worried about you falling again and asked you to stay. Dakota will probably be proud of me for taking such good care of you.”

“Have you met Dakota?”

He chuckled.

“She won’t stop asking questions until she trips us up. The next thing you know, we’ll be spilling our guts about what actually happened last night.”

“What happened last night is between you and me. Nobody else needs to know.”

She heaved a sigh. “Easy for you to say. I’ve been living with your sister for the past five years. I swear she knows me better than I know myself.”

“Even if she suspects something, you’re not obligated to tell her.”

“But I never keep secrets from her.”

Jax let go of her and shoved his hands in his pockets. “This is exactly what I was worried about.”

She wished she hadn’t brought it up, because she already missed his touch. She’d known this would be complicated, but she hadn’t realized how much until now. Still, if it came down to Jax or no Jax, there was no contest.

“Never mind. I’m sure it will be fine.”

He eyed her skeptically. “We don’t have to do this, you know. Not if it’s too hard for you.”

Would it really be that easy for him to let her go? Could he be satisfied with one time only? Could she? She knew the answer to that the second she asked the question.

“If you’d rather not come over tonight—”

“No! I mean, yes. I want to come over tonight.”

He broke out in a big grin that warmed her through and through. Then he took her face in his hands, tipped it up, and looked directly in her eyes. “I’m glad.”

He always said so much with so few words. I could take a lesson from him.

“Can you take me home now?”

“Do I have to?”

She smiled. “I’ll be back later.”

The way he looked at her made her feel tingly all over, and she was afraid that if she didn’t leave now, she wouldn’t leave at all.

They put on their shoes and coats, and Jax slung her backpack over his shoulder. She waited by the door while he grabbed his wallet and keys. When he came toward her, he was smiling.

“We should probably kiss goodbye here, since we won’t be able to when I drop you off.”

They’d just kissed a few minutes ago, but she was already eager for more. She barely nodded when his lips descended on hers and his body trapped her up against the door. She melted into him just like she had the previous times, her lady parts perking up at the reminder of last night.

She lost track of time, and everything faded out as she surrendered to his kiss. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard, and that was only a goodbye kiss!

“Okay, I guess we can go now.”

“Do I have to?” she whined, repeating his question from earlier.

“You don’t want to be late to your dad’s.”

Thinking of Carl snapped her out of her dreamy state and plunked her back into reality. “Let’s go.”