on the underside of his jaw. “How do I thank you?”
“Do you love me?”
“Always.” And his eyes flare as I vow that to him in front of the most important audience in the world—our son.
“Then take me home. I’ll tell you both the rest there.”
Stepping back, I hold out an arm to our son, who rushes back in, for once not giving us any grief about our PDA. I don’t imagine he would considering his own eyes are damp. “Why don’t you head home with your father and order dinner from Napoli’s to be delivered?” I suggest.
Kevin lets out a war whoop. “They have the best pizza, Dad.”
Jennings frowns. I cede his silent point and tack on, “In this area, Jennings. Remember, you’re in the land of humidity. You take what you can get.”
His full lips break out into a smile before he leans down and brushes a quick kiss against mine. “Sounds perfect.”
Now, Kevin gripes, “Are you two going to be doing that your entire visit?”
Giving me a wink, Jennings says, “I think we’ll be doing that a lot longer than you think. How long will you be?”
Twisting until I can see the wall clock, I’m now more determined than ever to finish up the lesson plan and test prep for the rest of the week. “Maybe another hour? But Jennings, Kevin has homework,” I warn him.
Kevin deflates right in front of our eyes. Jennings chuckles. “Grab your stuff and let’s get going. The sooner you both are done, the sooner I’ll explain everything. Deal?”
“Deal!” Kevin proclaims. He sprints over to his bag and shoves in the stuff he needs. “We have to stop by my locker on the way out.”
“Maybe you can get him to clean it?” I tip my head back with a smile.
Jennings presses his lips against mine. Hard. “I’ll see what I can do. Call when you leave?”
“Will do.” The next thing I know I’m being spun around by Jennings, who’s laughing.
“God, I can’t believe I’m holding you.” Putting me down, he grabs Kevin in a bear hug. “Both of you.”
“We feel the same way, Dad.” Kevin hugs him back just as hard. “Mom, we’ll see you at home.”
“Yeah, Mom.” Jennings eyes are sparkling. “See you at home.” They both turn to leave.
“Text me when you get in!” I shout out. After they clear my view, I lift my wrist to the light to stare at the bracelet I haven’t worn in more than sixteen years. Clasping my hand over it, I whisper, “God, Dean. Jennings is here and he brought Gran’s bracelet to me.” I close my eyes. “I don’t know what to do with this much happy.”
“I do.” My eyes snap open when I see Jennings lounging in the doorway. His smile is lazy and full of heat. But his eyes, God, they’re lit with love. “So, get behind that desk and get to work so I can show you when you get home.”
Instead of throwing a smart comment back at him, I let my lips curve and my hips sway as I do what he asks. But by the time I turn around to see his reaction, he’s already gone.
That’s when I sit down in my spinning stool and push off in circles until my head’s as dizzy as my heart. My hands are raised in the air the entire time in sheer happiness. When the stool stops, my head’s still spinning. Better yet, so is my heart, I think, picking up my pen with a smile.
Now, I hurry to get done with my work so I can get home. I need to know every last detail of what happened..
I drop my pizza on my plate with a splat. “You’ve got to be kidding?” I sputter.
When I saw the amount of luggage in my bedroom, I joked to Jennings, “Planning on moving in?” He laughed before pressing me up against the wall out of Kevin’s line of sight and showed me without words how much he missed me before he muttered, “The plans for your new house are too small. We need to do something about that.”
After, I went to the bathroom and yep, whisker burns and a dreamy smile on my face. I didn’t bother to hide either from Kevin.
Jennings saved the big news for over dinner. “Not kidding at all.” Standing, he walks into the living room a few steps away to pull out a folder. Bringing it back to the table, he hands it to me. “It was Jed.”