place because you didn’t stop at Hudson’s after the baby shower. Taylor said you were going home because you had something you needed to do. You didn’t answer the door, and there were no lights on in your apartment. You also haven’t answered your cell phone. I was getting worried.”
My heart melted as I saw the stressed expression on his face.
I threw myself into his arms, and he held me so tightly I could barely breathe.
“I’m sorry,” I said contritely as he finally loosened his hold. “I put my phone on the do not disturb setting when I got to the baby shower. I usually get bombarded by telemarketers that time of night. I must have forgotten to take it off. I chatted with Mom for a while, but I used your landline. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
I could feel the tension in his body slowly ebb as he said huskily. “I’m just glad you’re okay. You didn’t tell me you’d be here.”
“It was kind of a surprise,” I said carefully.
He grinned. “A very pleasant one for me.”
“There’s more,” I informed him as I motioned toward the other side of the breakfast bar. “I don’t plan on leaving this time. Ever.”
He looked at the suitcases, and then back at me in surprise. “You’re finally moving in?” he asked slowly, almost like he didn’t believe it.
I nodded. “I was waiting for you to say something, but I finally realized how ridiculous it was that I couldn’t just say it first.” I went to him and wrapped my arms around his neck as I looked into his gorgeous eyes. “So, I’m just going to throw my heart out there and say that I love you, Jaxton Montgomery. I love you to a depth I never even thought was possible. My heart is yours forever if you want it.”
His arms tightened around me in a powerful grip as he hugged me close to his body. “Jesus, baby,” he rasped into my ear. “I hope you already know that I love you. I’m sorry if I never said those words. I should have. I didn’t know how damn good it would feel to actually hear you say them.”
I shook my head. “I knew, and it wasn’t fair for me to expect you to say it first. You show me that you love me every day. You’ve been there to support me, and I know how important my happiness is to you. I could at least be the one to say the words first.”
He pulled back a little so he could search my face. “Hell, if I’d known that all I had to do was say those words to get you here with me, I would have told you a thousand times a day. I didn’t want to do anything else to make you feel pressured. I also wanted the final decision of whether or not you wanted to live together to be yours, without me badgering you about it. You’ve owned my heart since the day I asked you out for dinner over two years ago. I guess I just didn’t want to admit that to myself because I knew I was fucked since you obviously weren’t interested.”
“Oh, I was interested, handsome,” I told him playfully. “But even back then, my intuition told me that you could break my heart.”
“Never would have happened, beautiful. You already had me by the balls,” he said huskily. “Christ! I love you, Harlow. I almost lost it when you weren’t at your apartment and you weren’t picking up your phone. Don’t you know that I wouldn’t be able to live without you anymore?”
My heart clenched as I heard the vulnerable note in his tone. “I wouldn’t either,” I confessed readily. “I want to stay right here with you. I want your handsome face to be the last thing I see every night, and what I wake up to in the morning. I missed you when we weren’t together.”
I barely got time to finish my sentence before Jax’s mouth came down on mine.
Every damn time this man kissed me, my heart exploded with so much love that it was almost painful.
And when he kissed me like this, with so much tumultuous passion, I knew there would never be a day when my soul and my body wouldn’t respond with the same fierceness.
I wasn’t afraid of the crazy way we loved each other.
I reveled in it.
I craved it.
I wallowed in it, immersing myself in a love I’d never even