Page 110 of Pursuing Desire

That’s my Jess. That’s my girl. Show your fighting spirit.

“I can and I will. You love me. Admit it.”

She yanks her hand back. “I will not admit anything.”

“Lana told me to give you a message. She said for you to stop being a chicken and just go for it. What do you think about that?”

“I think Lana needs to mind her own business,” she shoots back.

“Do I need to remind you what you said at the interview with the reporter? I’m pretty sure you told that reporter you love me just the way I am.”

“Maybe I was lying,” she says in a bold voice. She looks away, but I see the little smile.

“Well, you know what, Jess? I wasn’t lying. I meant every word. Look at me.” I reach for her hand again and wait until she slowly looks in my direction. “I love you. The three weeks we spent holed up in those gross hotels and motels and eating gas station food were some of the best days of my life. I’m going to say it again. I love you, babe.”

She looks down at our linked hands, and I feel her melt.

When she looks back up at me, I’m hit again by her beauty. She’s exhausted, and she’s lived out some of the most stressful weeks of her life, yet she looks as perfect as the day I met her. Yet, it’s not her outer beauty that has won me over. It’s her heart.

“You’re lying about the gas station food,” she says. “You hated that part of the trip.”

I laugh. “Possibly.”

“I have a confession to make,” she says.

I prepare myself to finally hear the words I’ve wanted her to say for what feels like an eternity.

Bracing myself, I ask, “Okay, what’s your confession?”

“I lied to you about something, too,” she says. She pauses dramatically. “I know how to drive a stick shift. My dad taught me when I first learned to drive.”

I feel the laughter bubbling up in my stomach, but I only allow the smallest chuckle to escape. “Oh yeah? Anything else you might want to confess to me?”

“I think you have a nice butt,” she says smoothly. “And nice abs.”

My lips quirk up in amusement. “And?”

“And . . . I’m hopeless, incredibly, impossibly, madly in love with you. There! Are you happy now?” she asks.

“Finally! You have to make it so difficult to get a declaration of your undying love and devotion,” I joke. “But, seriously, you have no idea how happy that makes me.”

She pokes my chest. “Now, don’t be getting a big head about it.”

“Too late. My head is so big, it’s about to explode. Now lean over and kiss me. I’ve waited long enough.”

She pokes my chest again. “I hope you don’t think you’re going to boss me around just because I admitted how I feel,” she says.

I take her hand and put it up against my chest.

“Do you always have to give me a hard time?”

I lean my head toward her, and she meets me halfway.

She sighs against my lips. “Always.”

“I have one question for you,” I say seriously.

She lays her lips on mine and then pulls back and asks, “What’s your question?”