Page 53 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
He scrubbed his face roughly and groaned into his palms. Lifting his hands to the sides of my face, he said, “Please, baby. Please listen to me.”
Tears escaped from both my eyes but I managed a small nod.
“Do I seem like the type of man who would get with you for your house?” he asked.
“Well . . . no.”
“No. I’m not. If I wanted a house like that, I’ve got the money in the bank to have them start construction tomorrow. Build a place twice as big, twice as nice on twice the land. I’m with you because you are you. Not because of your fucking house.”
“It doesn’t make sense, Jess. Why you’d be with me. I’m just me. And you’re you. The whole town knows you and loves you. You’re perfect. So handsome it takes my breath away. And I’m just plain old me. Of course you’d be with me for the house. That makes sense.”
A few more tears started to fall. He stared at me for a minute with a blank face, but then his eyes softened. Gently he swiped my tears with his thumbs.
“I love the farmhouse, Georgia,” he said. “Ben giving me that place to look after gave me a purpose. Kept me from getting into trouble. And I’ve been looking after it for a long-ass time. Turning that responsibility over to someone new was always gonna be difficult for me. But not so difficult that I’d choose to be with a woman just to try and keep it. How could you think I was that type of man?”
“I’m sorry, Jess. I just . . . I didn’t mean to insult you. But the house—” I started but he stopped me, gently shaking me still in his hands.
“Listen. To. Me,” he said. “I’m with you because you’re who I want to be with. Because to me, it makes perfect fucking sense. Even if you don’t see it yet. You’ve got beauty like I’ve never laid eyes on before. It was the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw you in the ER room with Milo. You’re not plain. Get that shit outta your head. You’re my girl because I want you to be my girl.”
“But—”
“No. We’re not going over this again. You gotta get it right in your head. I choose to be with you. Just because of you. Can you please try and process that?” he asked.
I sniffled and blinked fast to stop my tears. I wanted to believe him. Down to my bones, I wanted to believe every one of his words and to trust what he was telling me was the truth. But I needed more time.
My brain just could not comprehend why he’d want me.
He sighed and lifted his palms off my face to hold my hands. “Three weeks ago, I was feeling pretty fucking lucky that the person who took over the responsibility of the farmhouse turned out to be my girl. So not only did I get her, but in a way, I get to keep the farmhouse too. And my girl, she’s my responsibility. She gets bit by a fucking rattlesnake, she gets a garage where that shit will never happen again.”
“It’s too much money, Jess. I’m the one who should pay for it,” I said.
“Baby, this is something I need to do. Let me.”
“Jess—”
“I’ve got fifty thousand dollars sitting in my checking account I have no intention of keeping. I always planned on getting it back to you somehow. Paying for a new garage will make that happen a hell of a lot quicker than buying you coffees and dinners. Even when those coffees cost a fortune.”
My shoulders sagged. “Ben wanted you to have that money.”
“And Ben asked me to take care of his girls. I think he’d be okay with that money going to a new garage. Don’t you?”
Ben would absolutely want me to have a garage. And he would have done the exact same thing as Jess. Made arrangements for the barn that terrified me to disappear.
Damn.
“I feel like I’m always losing our arguments,” I said.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, baby. Someday, you’ll probably win one.”
I shrugged and looked down at our linked hands. His joke didn’t make me feel better.
Fighting with Jess was not how I’d planned to spend my evening. This was miserable. Sure, we were getting to know each other and an argument here or there was bound to happen. But tonight was supposed to be about us taking our relationship to the next stage. Instead of being together and happy, here we were in my car, wrapping up a fight.
We needed to move forward. To connect. Literally.
And I didn’t want to delay any longer. Jess would never push to have sex with Roe at home but at some point that was going to happen. We couldn’t limit our sexual activities to only the nights when she was gone, so we might as well start tonight.
“I really want you to stay the night tonight. No more waiting,” I blurted.
