holding on to me while we’re ridin’ a horse because he’s afraid of tumblin’ off. The man I know could spend hours playing dollies with his little girl and would give his life for her.”
“That is me. It’s who I want to be every day. I can be so hard and unemotional at work, but once I come home, it’s like I feel the sun on my face after a long cold winter. There’s nothing I love more than being a father to Stacey.” He rubbed his foot over Shea’s. “Except you. Being with you at the ranch was like living in perpetual sunshine.”
“Then we need to make sure that’s the only man we see. Find the things that bring you joy.”
“Or the person?” Jake raised his gaze to his and touched his cheek. His bright eyes glimmered. “You taught me to free myself, to accept the joy around me. Falling in love with you allowed me to love myself.”
“I couldn’t stay away any longer, knowin’ you’re here, worried about your job, and I’m not with you to help.” He held on to Jake, finally kissing that mouth he’d dreamed about and missed for a week that dragged on like a month.
They leisurely kissed on the couch, relishing their time together. For Shea, the page had turned, and the next chapter of his life was ready to start.
Jake rested his head on Shea’s shoulder and smiled with kiss-swollen lips Shea ached to feel pressed to his again. Lord, he’d never get tired of discovering the pieces of this complicated man, who drove him crazy with a desire he hadn’t known existed before they met. Sex could help make you forget, but love was something to remember and cherish, and Shea never wanted to forget what loving Jake was like.
“Where are your bags?”
“At the hotel.” Shea’s fingers caressed the angular lines of Jake’s jaw. “I didn’t want to presume to stay here, and I know it’s still new between us. Don’t want to confuse Stacey.”
Jake met his gaze with eyes filled with wonder, and smiled slightly while nodding. “You are real? I won’t wake up and find out you’re a man made of hopes and dreams?”
“Only if they’re our hopes and our dreams.”
Jake leaned his forehead on Shea’s. “Most men don’t take a child’s feelings into consideration. They’re only interested in themselves.” Jake pressed a kiss to his cheek. “But that’s who you are, right, Shea Montgomery? You’ve always taken everyone’s burdens as your own, put aside your wants and needs to make sure the other person is happy and taken care of.” He kissed him again. “You don’t have to deny yourself to make other people happy.”
“I was taught to care about other people.”
Jake cupped his cheek. “But eventually you find yourself running on empty or falling to pieces.”
“I was waitin’ for you. Long as we’re together, darlin’, my heart’s always full and I’ll always be whole.”
“Do you know what I want to do to you?” A wicked smile creased Jake’s cheeks, setting off that deep dimple.
“I do love me a good game of show and tell.” He pushed Jake down on the couch. “How ’bout we go straight to the showin’ and leave the tellin’ for later?” He reached for Jake’s zipper, when the key turned in the lock. They sprang away from each other, and if he didn’t have a raging hard-on, it would have been funny.
Terry walked in with a paper bag in one hand, and when Stacey spied them, Shea watched her eyes pop open wide. She ran across the room, and without saying a word, Shea opened his arms, and she jumped right into them. If he’d had any misgivings about whether he was ready to take on the responsibility of this child, they vanished when she buried her face in his neck.
“Shea.”
“How’s my princess? You miss me?”
She nodded and held him tighter.
“I missed you somethin’ fierce. So I told Rambo he’s gonna have to do without me for a spell because I have to come see my favorite little girl.”
Terry, who’d finished putting away the ice cream in the freezer, joined the three of them. “I’m so glad to see you again, Shea. I’m happy you came early, and I know Jake and Stacey are as well. I miss the ranch and Patty.”
“Good to see you again too, Miss Terry. And I am too, ’specially now.”
For a brief moment, Jake’s expression darkened, but his voice remained mild. “Well, we’re only about good times now.