Page 51 of Finding Carly
The woman beneath him was precious. She washis. He’d bend over backward to be the man she needed him to be. The problem was, Jag knew she could do so much better than him. On the outside, he seemed like a catch. Inside, he knew otherwise.
For now, he planned to make sure Carly knew what an incredible, desirable woman she was. But when the day came that she realized how brokenhewas, he’d give her up without a fuss, if necessary. He only wanted her to be happy, and if that meant watching her walk away, so be it.
In this moment, he was going to be selfish.
Time had no meaning as they made out on his couch. Jag lost himself in her. Her soft body under his hard one, her tongue twining with his, the feel of her breasts against his chest, her soft moans…she was perfect.
The annoying sound of a buzzer in the distance made his brows furrow as he finally managed to peel his lips off Carly’s.
“The lasagna,” she said in a shaky voice.
Jag felt as off-kilter as she sounded. He brought a hand up and smoothed her hair off her forehead. Her lips were now slightly swollen and a deeper pink than they’d been before. Glancing down, he saw her tight nipples even through her bra and the material of her T-shirt. Some men might be turned off by the oversized top she was wearing, but not Jag. He knew it was one ofhisshirts—which made her even sexier to him.
“You good?” he couldn’t help but ask. “Not too much?”
“Not too much,” she breathed, eyeing him. “You can definitely do that whenever you want. I won’t ever complain about being kissed stupid.”
“I’ve never been that into kissing,” Jag admitted.
“No?” she asked. “But you’re so good at it.”
“Only with you,” he said.
“Flatterer,” she teased.
He was being serious, but if she thought he was giving her a line, he wasn’t going to correct her. He wasn’t hungry in the least, would prefer to lie on his couch and make out with Carly all night, but she needed to eat. He couldn’t help but remember how bare her own cabinets had been back at her apartment, how she’d been eating ramen because it was cheap and she was too scared to go to the store.
He sat up and pulled her into a sitting position next to him. “Come on, let’s rescue dinner. You worked hard on it and it smells delicious.”
“It wasn’tthathard,” she protested, but blushed a little at the same time.
Damn, Jag loved the effect when he complimented her. He pulled her to her feet and kept hold of her hand as they headed for the kitchen. He was still wearing his uniform, but didn’t want to let go of her long enough to change. He’d put on a pair of sweats or something after they ate.
She grabbed some plates and he dished up a huge slice of the ooey-gooey pasta dish on each. She poured them glasses of lemonade and they headed to the table to eat.
“Carly?” Jag said after they’d sat down.
“Yeah?”
“I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I’m proud of myself.”
And that right there was one of the many reasons Jag loved her.
Wait, shit…didhe love her?
He thought about it for two-point-two seconds…then admitted that yes, what he felt for her was definitely love. She’d changed his life, and in return, he’d do everything in his power to give her back the confidence Shawn Keyes had stolen from her.
What was the saying, if you loved someone, set them free? If it was meant to be, they’ll come back to you? That was how he felt. That was how he knew this was love. Whatever Carly needed, he’d give to her. Even if it broke his own heart.
“There you go thinking again,” Carly teased.
“All good things, promise,” Jag told her. He’d taken the seat next to hers, instead of sitting across the table, and he was very glad for that now, as he leaned in and kissed her hard and fast on the lips. “Eat,” he ordered, nodding to her plate.
“Yes, sir,” she quipped. “And I have to admit,” she added under her breath, “I’m loving the kissing thing.”
Smirking, Jag said, “Me too, angel, me too. You can probably expect a lot more of that, now that I know you’re okay with it.”
