Page 20 of Never Let Me Go

“I think I can handle it,” he croaked. Already, he wanted her again.

Marisa was giddy with happiness. The way Jeff looked at her made her breasts tighten and her body move restlessly. “Shall we adjourn to my room?” she asked. “I’m getting sleepy.”

Disappointment clouded his gaze. “Sleepy?”

“Well, I’m not blasé enough yet to say that other word.”

His lips twitched. “You mean the one that rhymes withthorny?” He stood and helped her up, pausing to kiss her lazily.

Marisa felt every inch of his body pressed against hers. “You are so bad,” she whispered.

They walked arm in arm down the hall. In her tiny bathroom, they washed up and then tumbled into her bed.

Jeff leaned on one elbow, looking down at her. “We’ll redo my place together,” he said. “I want it to beours. Or if you want, I’ll sell it and we’ll find somewhere else.”

“No,” she said firmly. “I love that bank building and the way you kept so many special features. Preserving the past makes sense to me. You’ve made it a showplace.”

His grin was rueful. “Well, until a tornado knocked it around.”

“We’ll bring it back,” she said. “I promise.”

His gaze darkened. “I’ve never been part of awebefore,” he said. “I think I like it.”

She snuggled closer. “Don’t forget. We still have the gazebo project ahead of us. If you’re not too busy. With all the repairs you have to do, maybe the town council will need to find another contactor. I’m sure they would understand. You have your other clients, too.”

Jeff pretended to scowl. “No other contractors,” he said firmly. “I don’t want youcollaboratingwith any guy but me.”

“I’m sure I could find a female version of you,” she said, laughing.

“That’s still ano. I want to do this projectwithyou.”

“I’m glad,” she said.

He stroked her hair, feeling the weight of everything that had happened catch up with him. He yawned. “Give me a couple of hours and I’ll be ready to go again.”

She rolled over in the bed, so he was spooning her. “Go to sleep,” she said. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

“That’s true,” he murmured, already imagining it.

He’d seen his best buddy Lucas Carter find love. It hadn’t been a smooth, easy path. Lucas and Leah had gone through a lot.

Maybe the best things in life required work.

Jeff was ready to face that with Marisa. He wasn’t naive enough to think everything would be easy. They were two grown adults, likely set in their ways. Living together would require compromise. Understanding.

And if he eventually married her—whenhe eventually married her—the challenges would be greater still.

But, damn. She would be his. For always.

He closed his eyes, letting the peace of this bed, this room, this woman soothe his soul. Blossom Branch had always been his home. Now, it would be even more. It would be his future.

God willing, he and Marisa would grow old here.

He was a lucky man...

Maybe it had taken a tornado to knock some sense into him. But the picture was clear to him now. He’d found the woman meant for him.

And this time, he wasn’t letting her get away...