that way. To let Chad all the way in.
“I love you, Chad,” Jennie said. “I think I always have.”
She felt his head nuzzle her neck and he held her even tighter but didn’t say anything for a long time. Just when she thought he wasn’t going to say anything at all, he finally spoke.
“I’ve loved you forever, Jen. I always have and I always will.”
“You’re gonna marry me, right Chad?”
This got a bark of laughter from Chad.
“No.”
“What?” Jennie sat up and put both hands on his face, pulling his head up to face her. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not allowed to propose to me, Jennie. That’s my job. Besides, you did it wrong. You don’t have a ring or anything. You’re supposed to be down on one knee with a ring when you propose.”
“I’d look silly if I did that.” She leaned back and looked at him. “You chauvinist pig. That’s, that’s... You can’t do that. You’re turning me down? You’re not going to marry me?”
“Nope.” He smiled and touched her lips with his finger, gently, then brushed his lips to hers. “I’m turning you down.”
“What! You can’t do that. You love me. I’m having your baby. You have to marry me!”
He grinned and shook his head.
“I’ll let you help me name the baby if you marry me,” she said, opening the negotiations.
Chad laughed and flipped Jennie under him, coming down on top of her. He kissed her long and hard, erasing her indignation. Erasing all thoughts from her head, ending all negotiations.
He quickly stripped her of her clothes, following with his own. He turned her on her side and lay next to her, slipping easily into her wet folds, plunging slowly but deeply into her. He drew gasp after gasp of pure pleasure from her as he took them both to climax in the gentlest lovemaking Jennie had ever felt.
And, Jennie felt whole again. The pieces of her life that had been so torn apart had been put back together. The end product didn’t look the same as it once had, but that was okay.
She knew she would love this life as much as she’d loved her life with Kyle. And she knew Kyle would want it that way.
Chapter 36
Jennie watched Chad get ready for the fake meeting with Burke and Mike. After hearing about the arson attempt, Agent Burke told Chad he planned to fly up and take Jennie’s statement personally.
Chad and Mike weren't sure whether that made him seem more or less guilty. It was possible he wanted to be here to make sure his witness was safe or it could mean he wanted to be here to be sure Bandon got the job done and took Jennie out.
Either way, they decided not to take any chances. Jennie would be nowhere near the meeting. She’d stay locked away in Chad’s condo while they went to see Burke.
They considered moving her to a hotel, but the condo had doormen on twenty-four-seven who wouldn’t let a soul up into the condo without Chad or Jennie’s permission, and none of the stairwells or elevators could be accessed without an electronic keycode. It would be much harder for anyone to access than a hotel where people could come and go and blend in with ease.
Jennie felt tears burn behind her eyes as she kissed Chad good-bye.
“Hey,” he said, tilting her head to force her to meet his eyes. “I’ll be right back, Jen. I promise. A couple of hours and all this will be over.”
She nodded, but she was about to lose her battle with the tears. When she tried to speak the tears fell.
“I can’t lose you, too, Chad. I can’t go through that again,” she said, panic rising in her lungs, threatening to suffocate her if she didn’t get it under control. Her heart was beating so fast, she wondered if it would hurt the baby if she didn’t find a way to calm down, but she couldn’t.
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the floor, holding her tight.
“You won’t lose me,” he whispered in her ear, his voice husky. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’ll be back here, forcing you to eat healthy meals and bugging you about having too many pastries before you know it. Hell, you’ll be so tired of me, you’ll probably be kicking me out of my own house by tomorrow night. I promise.”
She nodded but held tight for a few more minutes, wrapped around him, memorizing the feel of