Page 63 of Texas Made
The following dayin between appointments Jaclyn pulled up the email files Megan Clark had sent her on apartments. There were only two complexes that Megan had thought she’d like. There were also a few house rentals mixed in. They were going to look at both residential and commercial today, although the commercial would take more time since there were more possibilities. As for apartments, there weren’t a whole lot of places to rent in the town.
She was sitting in the kitchen while Ruthie made lunch, making notes about her possible choices. Marshall came in the back door and sniffed the air. “Ruthie, are you making what I think you’re making?”
“If what you think is hero sandwiches, then yes.”
“One of my favorites,” he said, crossing the room to give Ruthie a smacking kiss on the cheek. “How did I rate that?” He went to the sink to wash up.
“Jaclyn says she’s moving down here. I’ve always liked that girl.”
“Me too,” he said.
“Not true,” Jaclyn said, looking up. “You didn’t like me when I first started coming down here with Damaris.”
“Wrong. I liked you too much and didn’t want to rob the cradle.”
Ruthie snorted out a laugh as she piled toppings on Italian rolls split in half.
Marshall dried his hands and came to the table, leaning down to kiss her. “How did the bank meeting go?”
“Good. Randall said there shouldn’t be a problem at all. He actually knew more about Divinity than I thought he would but I guess he looked it up after I made the appointment.”
“Great. So you’re looking at office and manufacturing space this afternoon?”
She nodded. “That and some apartments and rental houses.”
Marshall stared at her. “Why are you looking at apartments?”
“Because I need somewhere to live.”
“You can live here.”
“I’m not going to move myself in here when we haven’t even discussed it. Much less being asked to live here.”
“I thought it was a given.”
“You thought wrong.”
“Sandwiches are ready,” Ruthie said.
Too busy glaring at each other, neither Marshall nor Jaclyn responded.
“I’ll just leave them here. The others should be in shortly.” Ruthie left the room, chuckling under her breath.
Marshall was still staring at her as if she were crazy. “What part ofI love you, I want to live together, I want to marry youdid you not understand?”
She waved a hand. “That was before. When we thought there wasn’t any way we could do it.”
“Did you think I was just blowing smoke? That I didn’t mean it?”
“No, but—”
“But what?”
She shrugged. “You might have changed your mind.”
His expression altered, his features softening. He reached for her hand and pulled her up. He framed her face with his hands and locked gazes with her. “I love you, Jaclyn. Will you please come live with me?”
Her heart nearly burst. “I would love to live with you.” He kissed her, his mouth claiming hers, his tongue making forays inside, the sexual tension between them hitting astronomical levels. He pulled her closer, hands on her butt, pressing her against him so that she could feel, even through their jeans, how much he wanted her.
