The moment she finished saying yes, Jace scooped her up and carried her back to the bedroom again.
“You need rest,” he insisted.
She laughed at that. She knew that look in his eyes.
And then he started kissing her. She kissed him back, of course. Making love with Jace was a lot more fun than sleeping anyway.
They stayed in bed until eleven or so, which was checkout time. She called the front desk and asked about extending her stay. The clerk said the suite was hers until Thursday. After that, she would have to change rooms.
She hung up the phone and asked, “What now?”
He was still in bed, braced up on an elbow, looking sleepy and sexy and wonderfully manly. “We need to try and reserve a room for the wedding.”
So they showered and dressed and went down to the front desk, where the weekend manager was happy to help them out.
As it turned out, the smaller of the resort’s two ballrooms was available. They booked it. The manager told them it would be a simple matter to set up the ballroom for the ceremony first, and then bring staff in again to add tables and reset the room for the reception afterward.
That seemed a little complicated to Joss. Would they have to ask everyone to leave and come back later? Jace said they could talk to DJ, maybe see about having the reception at the Rib Shack, if she wouldn’t mind the casual atmosphere.
She grinned. “Our first date was at the Rib Shack—sort of, more or less. Remember?”
He laughed. “How could I forget? It was just last week.”
“I love that,” she said.
“You mean that our first date was only a week ago?”
“No, that our first date was at the Rib Shack, which means it’s the perfect place for our reception because it has special meaning for us.”
He faked a scared expression. “It makes me nervous when women start talking about special meanings.”
She poked him with her elbow. “Get over it—and okay. Speaking more...practically.”
He made a big show of looking relieved. “I’m all for ‘practically.’”
“Got that, loud and clear. Where was I? Oh, yeah. We can dress up the ballroom really pretty for the ceremony, and then everyone can just go on over to the Rib Shack for the party after.”
He agreed. “I’ll get with DJ and see what we can do.”
They also wanted to arrange for a consultation with Shane Roarke, the Gallatin Room’s new chef, to plan a special menu for the reception after the ceremony. Jace said that since the Rib Shack was right there in the resort, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Rib Shack and Shane Roarke to work together.
Joss clued him in that top chefs didn’t, as a rule, work all that well with others. However, she was willing to go with it, talk to Grant Clifton about the idea. If Grant said it wouldn’t be an issue for the resort, then they could approach Roarke about the idea.
They went to the Rib Shack for lunch. And then they made a trip to Bozeman to drop off her rental car at the airport.
Jace insisted on stopping at a jewelry store next. They picked out a ring. It wasn’t a hard choice. One look at the one-and-a-half carat marquise-cut solitaire on a platinum band and she gasped. The price brought a second gasp.
Of course, Jace made her try it on, and then decided it was perfect for her. He handed over his credit card and laid claim to the velvet case. The case still held the matching platinum wedding band, which was channel-set with diamonds.
Back in Thunder Canyon, they drove out to Jackson and Laila’s house to share the news of their engagement with his twin. As it happened, DJ and his wife Allaire were there. They’d brought their little boy, Alex. Ethan and Lizzie were there too. So was another of Jace’s brothers, Corey, and his wife, Erin.
And Laila’s single sisters had come. She had three of them—Jasmine, Annabel and Jordyn Leigh. Laila’s other sister Abby, who was married to a local carpenter, couldn’t make it that day. Neither could her baby brother, Brody.
Everyone was wonderful, Joss thought. They congratulated Jace and really seemed to mean it. They all told Joss that they were so happy to welcome her to the family. The women made a big deal over Joss’s ring. She showed it off proudly.
She also spent some time chatting with Laila’s sister Annabel, a librarian who owned a therapy dog named Smiley. Annabel and Smiley spent a lot of time at Thunder Canyon General Hospital, working dog therapy magic on emotionally needy patients. Annabel said how great it was to see the last of the Texas Traubs and headed for the altar.
Yeah, okay. Joss felt a little guilty when Annabel said that. Everybody seemed to think that she and Jace had found true love.
But really, what did it matter what everyone else thought? She and Jace had a great thing going. They would have a good life together. A full, rich life, a life they both wanted.
DJ said he’d be honored to host their reception at the Rib Shack. And if Shane Roarke was up for creating a special menu, DJ would see that his staff assisted the chef with whatever he might need from them.
Lizzie insisted that she would bake their wedding cake personally and they agreed to visit her bakery the next day to put in their order. And then Erin launched into a story of how Lizzie had saved the day for Erin and Corey the year before. Ethan’s wife had created a fabulous emergency wedding cake at the last minute when the bad-tempered French baker who was supposed to provide the cake skipped town.
Dinnertime approached. Laila insisted they all stay to eat. She had two Sunday roasts slow-cooking outside on the barbecue. There was plenty for everyone.
After dinner, they lingered over coffee and Lizzie’s strawberry-rhubarb pie. Joss enjoyed every moment. It was still a little unreal to her that she and Jace were actually getting married at the end of the month. But she could get used to hanging around with Jace’s brothers and cousin and their wives. They treated her like one of the family already.
Before they left, Jace went upstairs and packed up his things. From now on, he would be staying with Joss.
He thanked his brother and Laila for their hospitality. Jackson grabbed him in a hug and said again how happy he was for them. She and Jace drove back to the resort in a happy fog of good family feelings.
Kenny called that night.
It was late. Joss and Jace had just finished making slow, delicious love. She’d cuddled up close to him with his warm, hard chest for her pillow and she was fading slowly, contentedly toward sleep.
The phone by the bed rang.
The sound startled her.
Jace wrapped his big arm around her and whispered into her hair. “Don’t answer that...”
She kissed his strong, tanned throat. “I have to.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do. It’s ingrained. The phone rings, I answer it.”
He chuckled. With some reluctance, he let her go. She reached for it, cutting it off in mid-ring. “Hello?”
“I called your cell twice,” Kenny accused. “Aren’t you checking your messages?”
She sat up. “Leave me alone, Kenny.”
Jace sat up, too. He wasn’t smiling. “Can’t that jerk take a hint?”
“Who’s that?” Kenny demanded. “It sounds like a man’s voice.”
Jace instructed flatly, “Tell him to get lost.” She reached out and silenced him with two fingers against his lips.
He kissed those fingers. “Tell him.”
“It is. My God.” Kenny was outraged. “There’s a guy with you—in your room? Jocelyn, what’s happened to you?” He fired more questions at her. “Why is there a man in your room? Why aren’t you home? You missed your flight, didn’t you?” He heaved an outraged sigh. “This is ridiculous. I’ve had enough. I thought if I...indulged you a little, you would come to your senses. But this is beyond it. I’m calling my credit card and denying any charges you might incur.”
“Go ahead. The bill’s already paid.”
Kenny sucked wind. “What do you mean paid? I refuse, do you hear me? I’m not paying for you to have some strange man in your room. I’ll call my credit card company and tell them—”
“I didn’t use your credit card.”
“What? But—”
“I decided I couldn’t stand the idea of taking your money after all.”
Kenny made a sputtering sound. Meanwhile, Jace had captured her wrist. He sucked her index finger into his mouth and then ran his tongue around it.
She giggled, mouthed, “Stop that.”
He shook his head and sucked some more, using his tongue in a lovely, wet caress. Amazing, really, the things he could do with his mouth. With that tongue...
Kenny demanded, “What is going on with you, Joss? Are you having some kind of breakdown? I don’t get it.”
She pulled her finger free of Jace’s grip—not because it didn’t feel really good. It did. But because he made her breathless and she needed all her wits about her to make things perfectly clear to Kenny. “What is going on with me, Kenny, is that I’ve met someone.”
Jace grinned. It was an extraordinarily sexy grin.
“What?” Kenny practically shouted.
“I said, I’ve met someone. He’s fabulous. He’s asked me to marry him and that is exactly what I’m going to do.”
“Joss, you can’t. That’s completely insane.”
Was it? Maybe so. She told herself she didn’t care. “Your opinion means exactly nothing to me now, Kenny. I’m getting married the twenty-eighth of this month at five in the afternoon, right here at the Thunder Canyon Resort. As a matter of fact, I’m going to be living here in this beautiful little town with my new husband. We’re buying a bar and grill and running it together.”
“Wait. No. You’re making this up. Just come home. We’ll talk. We’ll—”
“You’re not listening, Kenny. The past couple of years, you never listened. I am home. This is my home now. I’m never coming back to California, except to get my stuff out of storage and, on occasion, to visit my mother.”
“Joss, please—”
“Uh-uh. Forget it. Enough said. Leave me alone. Do not call me again. Goodbye.”
“Joss, wait. Don’t—”
She hung up the phone. And then she put her hands over her face and let out a groan.
Jace touched her shoulder. “Hey.”
She made a vee between her middle and fourth fingers and peeked at him, groaning again. “That was awful. Don’t you dare try to cheer me up.”
He reached out and pulled her close and settled her head against his shoulder. His beautiful, big body felt so warm and good cradling hers. He even stroked her hair.
She let her hands drop away from her face and allowed herself to lean on him. All of a sudden, she felt totally exhausted. “Ugh. And that reminds me, I should call my mother.”
“In the morning.”
She let out a short burst of laughter that felt a lot like a sob. “Or maybe never...”
“You just need some sleep,” he said. “A little rest and in the morning, you’ll feel better about everything.”
“What is it with you and all this optimism?”
He chuckled, the sound warm and deep. “It’s all going to work out. You’ll see.”
Was it? Oh, she did hope so. Because seriously, married in twenty days? To this amazing man whom she’d met barely a week ago? Maybe Kenny was right. She’d gone off the deep end—not that she had any intention of backing out of her most recent engagement. No way. If she was crazy, so be it. She wanted to marry Jace.
She sighed. “It’s just that we have so much to do.”
He captured a swatch of her hair and began slowly wrapping it around his big hand. “Later for all that.”
Her mind just kept racing. “And you know, I was thinking that I really need somewhere to stay—we both do, until we find the house want.”
“We can stay right here.” His voice had gone husky. She knew that dark, hot look in his eyes.
And in spite of her anxious thoughts, a little spark of excitement bloomed low in her midsection. She tipped her head back, kissed his manly square jaw, and insisted, “No way can we stay here.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s ridiculously expensive. Plus, the suite is booked starting next Thursday, remember?”
He unwrapped her hair from around his hand only to raise the strands to his face and rub his cheek against them. “So we’ll get another suite.”
“Jace.” She pulled away enough to catch his dear face between her palms. “It’s almost three more weeks till the wedding. And it could be months before we find our place. Months at these rates? Forget about it.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re worth it.”
She lifted up to lightly bite his ear and whisper, “I like the way you say that, but come on, there has to be another option.”
He made a low, growly sort of sound. “I’ll see what I can do, okay? But now, you should kiss me.”
She caught his earlobe between her teeth again and teased it with her tongue. “I know what you’re planning....”
“Kiss me.”
She blew in his ear. “I thought you said I needed to get some sleep.”
“A kiss,” he said gruffly. “Then you can sleep.”
So she kissed him.
And that, of course, led to more kisses.
Which led to another thoroughly satisfying hour of lovemaking.
It was after three when they finally went to sleep, and six in the morning when the phone rang again.
“Don’t answer that,” Jace grumbled in her ear.
More asleep than awake, ignoring her hot new fiancé’s wise advice and not stopping to think that the call would probably be someone she didn’t really want to talk to without advance preparation, Joss groped for the phone.
“’Lo?” she answered groggily.
“Kenny just called me,” her mother said tightly. “He is devastated. He tried not to drag me into this, but what could the poor man do? He spent a sleepless night after he talked to you. And in the end, well, he just couldn’t help himself. Jocelyn Marie, you have broken a good man’s heart. How could you? I ask you, sincerely, what is the matter with you? Have you lost your mind?”
Joss had dragged herself up against the pillows by then. She must have had a stricken look on her face because Jace was fully awake and watching her, a frown of concern between his brows.
She put her hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, “My mother.”
He must have been holding his breath because he let it out slowly. “You want me to talk to her?”
“Oh, no. Uh-uh. I don’t think so...”
“Jocelyn, hello?” Her mother’s voice grated in her ear. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”
She took her hand away from the mouthpiece. “I’m here.”
Her mother huffed. “I asked you several questions. You didn’t answer a single one of them.”
“Yes, well, Mom, I didn’t know where to start.”
“Start by reassuring me that this all just a terrible misunderstanding. Tell me you’re not marrying some stranger you just met.”
Joss swallowed, sucked in a slow breath and counted to five. Jace held out his hand. Gratefully, she took it and wove her fingers with his.
“Jocelyn, will you please answer me?”
“All right, Mom. No, I am not marrying a stranger. I’m marrying a wonderful man named Jason Traub. Jace and I are buying a business together and staying here in Montana to make a new life for ourselves.”
Her mother made a tight, outraged little sound. “So it’s all true then, what poor Kenny said? You have gone over the edge, lost your mind completely. This is pure craziness. Now, you listen to me....”
“Mom, I—”
“Jocelyn, I’m begging you. I want you to pack up your things and get a flight home. Now. Today. This instant. Call me as soon as you have your flight number and I will meet you at the airport on your arrival. We can—”
“No!” Joss pretty much shouted the word. By then, she was clutching Jace’s hand for dear life.
“What did you say?” her mother demanded.
“I said no, Mom. No. I am getting married right here, in Thunder Canyon, Montana, on the twenty-eighth of July. That’s all there is to it. I hope you’ll come for the wedding. But if you don’t, well, that’s your choice.”
Her mother scoffed outright. “But this is ridiculous. Impossible. It’s just all wrong.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Mom. I’m sorry that lately we seem to be unable to communicate in any constructive way. The wedding will take place here at the Thunder Canyon Resort at five in the afternoon, with a reception in the Rib Shack restaurant, also here at the resort, afterward. I love you and I hope you’ll come. Goodbye.”
As usual, her mom was still talking frantically as she gently set the phone back in its cradle. “Oh, my Lord....”
“Come here, come on.” Jace pulled her close.
She wrapped her arms around him good and tight. “Why couldn’t I have a normal mother—say, one like yours? That would be so refreshing.”
He pressed his lips to the crown of her head. “Your mom will come around in time.”
“I hope so. I truly do. She’s not all bad, you know?”
He answered gently, “I know she’s not.”
“She really does love me. I think she truly believes that she’s doing the right thing. She just can’t let go of the idea that Kenny Donovan is a knight in shining armor and I have to be out of my mind to walk away from him.” She let out a low groan. “I honestly have no clue how to get through to her.”
He tipped her chin up and pressed a quick, hard kiss on her lips. “I know a copy place on the east side of town, in the mall in what we call New Town. We’ll put some invitations together today to send out to the family. We’ll send one to your mom, too.”
“You think sending her an invitation is going to make a difference with her? Frankly, I can’t see how.”
He kissed her again, lightly this time. “I just think it’s good to remind her that we do want her here for our wedding. By the time she gets the invitation, she’ll have had a few days to think it over, to change her mind about coming on so strong. I think once she settles down, she’s going to realize that you’re what matters to her. She’ll want to mend fences by then, to make peace with you.”
“Oh, if you could only be right about that.”
He stroked her hair. She snuggled in even closer, reveling in the warmth of his body, the strength in his big arms, the scent of him that was clean and manly and managed somehow to excite her and to comfort her simultaneously. He asked, “You want try and get a little more sleep?”
“Hah, as if that’s an option at this point. I’m so hopped up on adrenaline, my ears are buzzing.”
“So okay, let’s get some breakfast.”
Over bacon and eggs at the Grubstake, they planned out the day.
It was a busy one.
First they went to the New Town copy shop and ordered some simple, attractive-looking invitations. The clerk said their order would be ready the next day, which was Tuesday.
From the copy shop, they moved on to Lizzie’s bakery. Aunt Melba was there, just leaving after enjoying a muffin and morning coffee. She chided them for missing church and then congratulated them on their upcoming wedding.
“Lizzie told me the news and I couldn’t be happier about it.” She insisted on hugging them both and seized Jace first. Holding him tight against her considerable bosom, she announced, “I am so pleased you’ll be making your home right here in Thunder Canyon.”
“Uh, thanks, Melba,” Jace said, easing free of her grip.
She grabbed Joss next. “Oh, I know you two will be very happy here.” Joss managed a noise of agreement as Melba crushed her closer. “And we need more nice, hardworking young people in this town.” She took Joss by the shoulders and held her away at last. “Our youth, after all, are our future.”
“So true,” Joss agreed. “We’ll be sending you an invitation. I hope you can come.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, my dear.”
Melba waved as she left them. They ordered a couple of large coffees. Lizzie joined them and they chose the cake they wanted and learned that the two-bedroom apartment over the bakery was vacant.
Lizzie said Joss and Jace were welcome to it until they found the house they were looking for. She took them up and showed them the place, which was charming and fully furnished, right down to the linens in the bathroom, the pretty old-fashioned floral-patterned dishes in the kitchen and the impressive array of pots and pans.
Lizzie explained, “I lived here for a while before Ethan and I got married. It’s all pretty much as it was when I stayed here. I keep meaning to have a big garage sale, get rid of everything and put it up for rent. But then, you know, it’s kind of nice to have it available, just in case someone in the family needs a place to stay....”
“I love it,” Joss told her. “It’s perfect.”
Jace whipped out his checkbook, but Joss told him to put it away. He gave her a dark look.
She didn’t back down. “Come on, let me cover this at least. Please?”
He wrapped an arm around her and they shared a quick kiss.
After which Lizzie informed them that she wouldn’t take money from either of them. She waved a hand. “No way. You’re family. I have a successful business and a rich husband. I don’t need the money. Just take good care of the place, that’s all I ask.”
Both Joss and Jace promised that they would.
The three of them sat in the apartment’s bright living room overlooking Main Street and chatted for a while. Jace told Lizzie about their plans to buy the Hitching Post and a new home. Lizzie suggested Bonnie Drake for their Realtor. She said that both she and Ethan had worked with Bonnie before.
But Jace told her that the Drake woman was representing the owner of the Hitching Post and he would rather use someone else. Lizzie whipped out the business card of a guy who came in the bakery every morning early for breakfast.
“His name is Milo Quinn,” she said. “An older guy. Seems nice. Steady and dependable. I think you’ll like him.”
They went to the county courthouse next to see about getting their marriage license. It was a relatively simple procedure, although in Montana, the bride was required to have a test for rubella before the license could be issued. Jace had the solution to that one. He called the family doctor—his brother Dillon—and they drove over to Dillon’s clinic to get the test done.
That afternoon, they met with Milo at his office. Tall and white-haired, he wore a Western-cut sport coat, dark brown slacks and tooled boots. He set up an appointment for them to see the Hitching Post the next day. He also said he would find them some houses on acreage.
After that, they returned to the resort and spoke with Grant, who congratulated them on their upcoming wedding and said that he was certain Chef Roarke would be happy to cater their reception. He took them upstairs to meet with Shane. He was agreeable. They set an appointment for 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday to get the menu planned.
And then they went back to Dillon Traub’s clinic to pick up the expedited rubella test results. They made it to the county clerk’s office again before it closed. When they left the courthouse, they had their license.
That night, they were so tired that they made love only once.
And they were up bright and early Tuesday morning. They grabbed a quick breakfast and went down into town to meet Milo Quinn at the Hitching Post.
Joss loved the bar and grill from the first moment she stepped through the front door. It was as rustic inside as out and had an old-timey feel about it, with the dining room on one side and the bar on the other. There was plenty of space for a dance floor on the bar side and a small stage in the corner where a band could set up. No wonder the place had always been a hit with the locals. It was a great venue. As long as she and Jace provided good food and good service, they probably couldn’t go wrong.
Jace was relieved to discover that the painting of the Shady Lady still hung in the place of honor above the gorgeous antique bar. “She is lookin’ way hot as always,” Jace said with a grin.
Milo assured them that the painting and all the furnishings and equipment were part of the very reasonable asking price. Lance O’Doherty’s daughter, it seemed, really wanted to sell. The place had a full, if somewhat dated, restaurant-style kitchen. And off the long hallway in the back, there were restrooms and three smaller dining rooms for private parties.
The building could use some updating—of the kitchen and of the restrooms. The main bar and restaurant could stand a little sprucing, too. The idea was to keep all that old-time Hitching Post charm, but freshen things up, make it brighter and more inviting.
All three of them went for lunch together at a pizza place in New Town and then they followed Milo out to see a trio of four-to five-acre properties. None of them were quite what they were looking for.
That evening, they met Lizzie and Ethan for dinner in the resort’s Gallatin Room. Over thick, perfectly seared filets, garlic potatoes and curried spinach, they discussed the potential purchase of the bar and grill. Lizzie and Ethan both offered advice.
Shane Roarke emerged from the kitchen while they were devouring a to-die-for dessert of carrot cake and sweet pea ice cream with lavender caramel sauce. The chef greeted Joss and Jason, who introduced him to Jace’s brother and his wife. Shane stayed to make small talk for a few minutes and then moved on.
Ethan stared after him. “That guy reminds me of someone....”
Joss and Jason both laughed. Joss said, “We had the same feeling the first time we saw him. We just can’t figure out exactly who he reminds us of.”
The food for the reception, they decided when they met with Shane the next morning, would be buffet-style. They went with mostly finger foods. From the resort, they drove to Milo Quinn’s office. After lengthy discussion, Jace offered the asking price on the Hitching Post.
Once they signed the offer, they picked up their invitations at the copy place and returned to the resort, where they spent a few hours scrolling the address lists stored in their smartphones, filling out the envelopes and sticking on stamps. Joss stuck a little note in the invitation to her mother. The note explained that she and Jace had found an apartment to live in until they chose a new home. She gave her mom the address and the phone number at the new place, although she really wasn’t expecting to hear from her mother anytime soon—and not expecting her to come to the wedding either.
Every time she thought of her mom, a gray, sad gloom descended. It was a giant rift that had opened up between them over that jackass Kenny Donovan. Joss appreciated Jace’s positive attitude about the situation, but she doubted she and her mom would be making peace for a long time to come.
Jace looked up from the envelope he was addressing. “That was a really sad-sounding sigh.”
She pulled a face. “It’s just, you know, my mother...”
He reached across the table and put his hand over hers. “Hey, she’ll come around.”
She turned her hand over and clasped his. And then she got up from her seat so she could lean close to him and share a slow, sweet kiss.
Later, they took the finished invitations down to the front desk where the clerk promised they would go out with the morning mail. Back in the suite, they ordered room service. Shandie Traub called. She invited them to dinner the next night, which was great. They wouldn’t have to worry about stocking the cupboards at the apartment on their first day there.
It was their final night in the king-sized pillow-top bed. They made the most of it, enjoying slow, lazy love for hour upon hour.
As always, it was the best. Better than ever, Joss thought, as she sat in his lap, facing him, her legs wrapped around him, holding him deep within her.
Oh, yes! Better every time. Who knew it could be like this? Really, she’d had no idea.
He surged up into her. And she took him. Deeper. All the way. He filled her up so perfectly.
She cried his name. He kissed her, his mouth claiming hers so hungrily as she felt his climax take him.
Seconds later, she joined him. They went over the edge of the world together.
This, she thought. Yes! Nothing like this. Ever. Not ever in my life before...
Grant had told them they didn’t need to be out of the suite until noon, so they stayed in bed later than usual Thursday morning.
At nine-thirty, as they were lazily dozing and Joss was telling herself they really needed to get motivated and get their stuff packed to move over to the apartment, the phone rang.
Jace said what he always said: “Don’t answer that.”
And she did what she always did. “’Lo?”
“Is this Jocelyn?”
She sat bolt-upright.
Jace sat up, too. “What the—”
“It’s Milo,” she whispered excitedly. Then she cleared her throat and tried to sound composed. “Hi, Milo. What’s up?”
“You’ve just bought the Hitching Post,” the Realtor announced.
Joss let out a yell and pumped her fist toward the ceiling.
“Give me that.” Jace took the phone. “Hey, Milo...” Milo said something. Jace listened and finally answered, “Great. We’ll be there.” He handed her the phone back.
She put it to her ear, but the Realtor had already hung up. “He’s gone.” She dropped the phone back on the cradle. “So?”
“We’re meeting him at his office at three today to sign the final agreement, give him the earnest money check and talk about inspections. He also said that if everything goes as planned, we close on the property August fifteenth.”
“So fast!”
“It’s a little over thirty days. That’s about right.”
She sat there, mouth agape, heart racing with excitement. “Jace, we did it. This is happening. It’s really, really happening.”
He chuckled, “No kidding.”
She swayed his way and planted a big, smacking kiss in the middle of his broad, handsome forehead. He tried to reach for her, but she ducked back, giggling.
“Get back here,” he growled.
“No way. I can’t sit still.” She shoved off the covers and leaped from the bed.
Jace started to go after her, but then changed his mind. He laced his hands behind his head and grinned—possibly because she was totally naked. “All right,” he said. “Have it your way. I gotta admit I’m lovin’ the view from here.”
She let out another joyous shout and then she grabbed her robe from the floor where she’d dropped it the night before. Quickly, she tugged it on and tied the sash. Then she ran around the room chanting, “We did it, we did it, we bought the Hitching Post!”
He just sat there, beaming. “Gee, Joss. You could show a little excitement, don’t you think?”
With a long trill of laughter, she ran back to the bed, grabbed her pillow and began hitting him over the head with it. “Oh, this is fabulous! Oh, I just can’t believe it....”
“Hey,” he protested, still laughing. “Knock that off.” He grabbed for the pillow and snatched it away from her. Then he used it against her, trying to bop her a good one.
She played along, leaning in as he took aim, then jumping out of the way when he delivered a blow. “You missed! I’m too fast for you.”
He clutched the pillow against his rock-hard, gorgeous chest so she couldn’t steal it back from him and threatened in the raspy voice of a villain in some old-time melodrama, “That’s it for you, beautiful.”
“Hah!”
The bad-guy leer vanished. He gave her the bedroom eyes and crooked his index finger. “Come down here. Nice and close...”
“Forget that noise, mister!” Breathing fast, her heart racing with giddy excitement, she started laughing again.
And then, just like that, out of nowhere, her breath caught.
She could not breathe and her heart had stopped stock-still in her chest.
Twin lines appeared between Jace’s dark brows. “Joss, you okay?”
She was actually. More than okay.
The breath came flooding back into her chest and her heart started beating again and the hotel bedroom seemed so beautiful suddenly. It seemed to glow with golden light. Happy, she thought. At this moment, I am so perfectly, gloriously happy. Never in her life had she felt exactly like this. Everything just paled next to this.
She saw it all, her life up till now: her lonely childhood with her brave, determined, damaged mother. Her adolescence, during all of which she’d felt awkward and different; she’d never managed to fit in. And later, through a couple of years of college and her first job in the restaurant business, which she’d discovered she enjoyed. Through her search for a good guy who could help her make the big, loud happy family she’d always dreamed of. To Kenny, who was supposed to be the one, her guy forever, and had turned out to be anything but.
All of it. The whole of her life until she met Jace. It simply couldn’t compare to her days and nights with him, to this one shining, perfect moment.
She didn’t stop to consider. She just opened her mouth and let the scary words pour out. “I love you, Jason Traub. I love you so much. I never knew that it could be like this, that it could feel like this, could fill me up like this, I...” Her throat clogged and the words ran out.
He didn’t look happy.
Not in the least. He looked...stunned maybe?
And very uncomfortable.
She felt her face turn blazing red. “Oh, wow.” She winced. “More information than you needed, huh?”
Because seriously, hadn’t he made it painfully clear upfront that he had no clue what love was, that he just didn’t get it and didn’t care to get it? That he only wanted to start a business and settle down. That he liked her a lot, but for him, love didn’t enter into it.
How had he put it last Sunday when he asked her to marry him?
I have no idea what love really is and I’m better off not kidding myself that I do....
Oh, God. Way to go, Joss. What had possessed her to just blurt it out like that?
He set the pillow aside and sucked in a slow breath. “Uh. Well. Good.” And he actually pasted on this fake, too-cheerful smile. “That’s great, Joss. I mean, thank you.”
“Thank you?”
“Aw, Joss...”
“I say I love you and you say ‘Thank you’?”
“Joss...”
She put up a hand. “Okay. Yeah. Bad. Really bad.” And exactly what she should have expected, if she’d only had the presence of mind to keep her mouth shut until she’d thought the whole thing through. Duh. Double duh in a big, big way.
“Come on, Joss...” He looked so embarrassed, so totally out of his depth.
And she? Her mouth felt dry as a handful of dust. Her heart felt like a shriveled husk in her chest. She swallowed. With care. And she made herself ask him, “So then, is this going to ruin it for you? Do you want to back out? Because if you do, I would appreciate knowing that now.”
“Back out?” He looked totally dazed, beyond confused. And so handsome, she hated him.
Almost as much as she loved him.
Because seriously, he was much too good to look at. It wasn’t fair, now she thought about it, how really hot he was. “Excuse me,” she said carefully, “are you saying you didn’t understand the question?”
He started to push back the covers. “Joss, I—”
“Uh-uh.” She leveled a look on him that had him sinking back into the bed. “Do you want to back out? Just say so. Just answer the question.”
“No, then. Okay?”
Okay? As a matter of fact, it wasn’t. It wasn’t okay in the least. “No,” she echoed with excruciating care.
“No,” he repeated yet again. “It’s what I said.”
“No, you don’t understand? Or no, you don’t want to marry me? What are you telling me, Jace? Just do me a big favor and be straight with me about this.”
His handsome, square jaw was set. He said, with heavy emphasis, “I do want to marry you. I don’t want to back out.”
Relief flooded through her. Yeah, it was tinged with the weight of sadness and mortification and a host of other not-so-fun emotions. But still, it was something. “You mean that? You really do still want to marry me?”
Now he was the one swallowing. She watched his Adam’s apple bounce. And then he nodded. “I do. Yeah, it’s what I want. You and me. The life we planned. I still want that.” He paused. She waited. Finally, he began again, haltingly, “It’s just that, well, the whole love thing—”
She cut him off. “Stop. I don’t want to hear it, you know? I sincerely do not.”
He blew out a slow, cheek-puffing breath. “Wow. Well. Whatever you say.”
She wrapped her arms around herself in a meager attempt to give herself the comfort he couldn’t—or wouldn’t. “It was...a mistake. To even bring it up, the whole love thing. I know that. I don’t know what I was thinking. After all, I understand how you feel about it. And it’s my bad. It’s not like you didn’t set me straight right from the first, not like you didn’t make yourself perfectly clear.”
“Joss...”
She shook her head. Hard. “No, I mean it. Can we just stop talking about it? Can we just let it go?”
Was that relief she saw in those beautiful chocolate-brown eyes of his?
So what if it was? She could relate. They were both relieved—he that she was giving up the love talk, she because he claimed he still wanted to marry her.
Now her mouth tasted like sawdust. And the luxurious bedroom, aglow with golden light moments before, was all at once dingy and dark.
“Joss, you know that I care for you.”
She looked away. “Just don’t, okay? Just stop. I said I understand. And I do. There’s nothing more to say about it.”
The covers rustled as he pushed them aside again. “Damn it, Joss...”
Someone knocked on the outer door.
It was perfect timing as far as Joss was concerned. “What now?” she asked bleakly, turning to look at him again. “You think that’s your mother?”
He swung his feet to the floor. God, he was so beautiful. “I hope not,” he muttered. “I’ll get rid of her.”
“No, I’ll get it.” She tied the belt of her robe more securely.
He didn’t say anything. He was looking at her sideways, a concerned kind of look.
Well, he could take that look and shove it. She didn’t need his concern. He didn’t want to go there—and neither did she. Not anymore. They got along great and they knew what they wanted and that was enough for him.
And it would damn well be enough for her. To show him she was fine with the way things were, she sent him a big, defiant smile, after which she whirled and headed for the other room, pausing only to shut the bedroom door firmly behind her.
The knock came again as she reached the foyer. She ran her hand back through her sleep-mussed hair and peeked through the peephole.
Her heart sank. It wasn’t Jace’s mom out there in the hallway.
It was hers.