Page 83 of The Encounter
They hung up, and she drove the fifteen minutes it took for her to get to Jace’s part of town. She opened the gate to the garage using the opener he had given her. When she parked near Jace’s car, she hopped out and hurried to the elevator that would take her up to his place. Despite it being a secure parking garage, it still made her nervous walking alone inside one.
She pressed the button for the elevator to open and stepped inside, used the key card to give her access to his floor, and rode the short distance to his place. When the door opened, Jace waited on the other side and pulled her into a hug.
His arms wrapping around her made her feel safe, and she relaxed into him, inhaling his spicy scent.
“I’ve been waiting all day to do this,” he said into her hair.
She sighed. “Me too.”
When they finally released each other, Jace took her purse from her and set it on the little table near the door before taking her coat and hanging it in the coat closet.
“So tell me about your day,” he said, taking her hand and walking with her toward the living room.
Roxy jumped up from her bed and ran over to greet Maddie, who dropped and scratched her ears.
“Kailynn surprised me today. A good surprise, of course.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me about it.” He led her over to the couch, and they took a seat.
“She’s going to pay me commissions for all the orders she receives because of my referrals. So I received a check today for a percentage of all the gowns your mom and friends ordered.”
“Wow! That’s really great. I’m happy for you.”
Tears sprang to Maddie’s eyes again. “Guess what I’m doing with my first check?”
He squeezed her hands. “What?”
“I’m going to have a replica of my mom’s necklace made.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
She sniffled. “You don’t think it’s irresponsible instead of paying down my loans?”
“Absolutely not. Do something for you. You earned that. Now treat yourself.” He tugged her onto his lap and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Or you can just let me pay for the necklace and you can put your check toward your loans.”
She laughed. “As tempting as that is, this is something I need to do for myself.”
“I know. So how about I just pay off your loans?”
She giggled. “Jace, you know I could never accept that.” She put a hand to his cheek and stroked it. He leaned into the touch and closed his eyes.
“Doesn’t mean I won’t offer.”
“Besides, we’ve only been together for just over a month. That’s far too generous of a gift to offer.”
He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I don’t think so. Especially not for you.”
“But what if we break up? Then you would regret it, and I’d feel guilty and be scrambling to pay you back.”
“I would never regret it, Maddie. Nor would I ever expect you to pay me back. It would be a gift.”
“Why would you do that for me?” She genuinely wanted to know. Despite Jace having billions and her loans being mere pocket change for him, it was still a grand gesture and money he didn’t need to spend on her. She didn’t earn it, and they hadn’t been together long enough for him to really know her and decide he wanted to be with her. It would be different if they were getting married.
He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and she shivered at the touch, eliciting a smile from him.
“Because I love you,” he whispered.
Tears sprang to her eyes.
