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air feels heavy, like there's a storm in the distance. Jack looks out to sea while I speak, his eyes fixated on the waves. His arms have been wrapped around his knees the entire time. I drape my arm over his shoulder and pull him to me. Jack rests his head against my shoulder. His arm slips around my waist and he says, "I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine."

"Are you quoting pretty poems to get into my panties?" I say, jokingly.

Jack laughs and turns to me. The grin on his face is the only forewarning I have. Suddenly I'm on his lap, in his arms. He's tickling me. "That smart mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble, Mrs. Gray."

"If this is trouble, I'm all in." He tickles me harder and I fall back into the sand. Jack is on top of me, looking down into my eyes. Something changes, and when he kisses me, it feels like a cry for help. I kiss him softly; and thread my fingers through his hair, holding the back of his head. I act much braver than I am. I don't know what's coming, and maybe they do. The other part is this fierce girl that lives inside of me and takes control of my mouth periodically. She likes to kick ass. I wish I could hold onto her more often.

"I need to bring Kate home. She's probably asleep, drooling on your desk."

Jack's eyes glitter, like he's thinking something naughty. "Sometimes I wonder what would make you salivate like that, what would render you so incredibly filled with lust; that you would drool all over yourself." He presses a kiss to my neck.

"I suppose you intend to find out?" I ask, looking up at him through my lashes. It feels weird talking about something I've been trying to avoid for most of my life.

He nods. "You know I do. Tonight, after dinner, I want to make you feel like you're the only person in the world and the only thing you want is me."

My stomach does a delicious dip when he says those words. "That sounds perfect."

Chapter 16

ABBY

As I ride back with Kate, she doesn't say much. I practically have to twist her arm to get her talking. "So, nothing at all happened while I was gone?"

"Aside from the obvious, no." She's gazing out her window, leaning away from me. I'm driving Jack's car. It handles like a dream.

"Why didn't you let us know?" I ask, a little annoyed with her. They could have told us what we were walking into.

"Gus did," Kate looks at me funny. "He called Jack the last night you were there. We didn't want to mess up your entire trip."

Ah, that makes more sense. Jack seemed like he wanted to stay in the room that night, but then he changed his mind. I'm upset that he didn't tell me, but glad at the same time. He let me have our last night there without the stress. "He didn't tell me."

"I guess he wanted to keep you in honeymoon mode until the last second. Speaking of which, how was it? Amazing sex all week? Do you have sand in horrible places now?" She waggles her eyebrows at me.

Glancing at her, I squeal, "I can't believe you asked me that!"

"Of course you can. Now spill. How was he?" Kate leans toward me on the armrest and stares at the side of my face.

"I don't - "

"You don't what? You can't say you don't have sex anymore, because I know you do. You have that glowing, I-just-got-fucked-like-crazy look about you. So, is he rough? Does he do weird things with paintbrushes?" Now she's just trying to get to me.

I start laughing and give her little bits and pieces. "I never thought this would be my life. I mean, I can't believe Jack is mine."

I pull up in front of our old apartment in Port Jeff. It looks exactly the same. God, I love it here. Before we get out of the car, Kate grabs my wrist. I look up at her. "Listen," she says, tucking her hair behind her ear, "I was talking to Gus about this before you came back. He's really worried about Jack. If he didn't have you, Gus wasn't sure what'd he'd do."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Abby, think about it. Jack's an idealist, like you. What happens when the ideal shatters? What happens then?"

"I don't know." That's where I am, floating