collected front any longer. And he also couldn’t spill his guts while he was driving. So, he quickly signaled and pulled off onto the shoulder of the road. When he’d come to a complete stop, he turned in his seat to face her.
“I think you should stay with me,” he blurted.
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open a little. He’d shocked her. But he couldn’t stop now. “Look,” he said, “I know we haven’t known each other that long. But I can’t remember a time when I ever felt like this about someone. And the thought of you leaving and heading back to LA makes me want to puke, frankly.”
Way to go, loser. Talk about puking. That’s real fucking romantic.
But the verbal diarrhea went on, completely unchecked.
“I care about you. I love having you around, and I want to be with you—as much as I can be for as long as you can tolerate me. And since you said yourself that you can work remotely from just about anywhere, why not from the ranch? I’ll still need PR help, the shelter still needs PR help, and I’m sure every shelter in the country is going to want to work with you soon, not to mention all the other charities out there. So, you can pretty much write your own ticket. I want to be there, supporting you when you do it. And if you don’t want to live with me—because I know this all probably sounds crazy to you—you can get a place in town. The rent there will be less than half of what you’re paying in LA. Or we could always—”
Whatever he was going to say next was lost (which was probably for the best because he was rambling like a blithering idiot) when Kendall grabbed the front of his shirt in her fists, yanked him towards her, and slanted her mouth over his, kissing him hard.
When she pulled back and rested her forehead against his, she said, “I care about you, too. I’d love nothing more than to stay with you and see where this thing between us goes.”
He let out a deep breath. “Thank God, because I was about to start begging and that would’ve been damned embarrassing.”
Her answering smile lit up her entire face. “Now, get me back to the hotel because I have no intention of talking for the rest of the night. I have far, far better things to do with my tongue.”
Jackson about swallowed his at that point.
But, several broken traffic laws (and possibly a few land speed records) later, they made it back to the hotel, and indeed didn’t talk about anything for the rest of the night.
Chapter 29
Kendall rolled over in bed and stretched, smiling as a few sore muscles made themselves known.
She was fairly certain she’d used muscles last night that she’d never used before.
Totally. Worth. The. Pain.
Kendall had never felt this level of sheer, unadulterated happiness. She finally had a direction she wanted to take her life in, and as if that wasn’t monumental enough, she also had someone by her side who wanted to travel that road with her. A real partner—someone who saw her as an equal.
Also didn’t hurt that he was smokin’ hot and gifted her multiple orgasms like it was his damn job.
And surprisingly enough, she wasn’t terrified anymore. If this thing with Jackson didn’t work out, sure, it would be devastating, but she’d recover. Because as it turned out, she wasn’t nearly the hot mess she’d always taken herself for. Jackson had helped her see that, but he hadn’t ever done anything to try to “fix” her, like Kyle had.
Kendall Quinn was now officially well on her way to becoming a settled, happy, optimistic woman.
Whoever could have predicted that?
She reached over and grabbed her phone, noticing that Jackson had sent her a text.
Be back soon, beautiful. Going to the gym on the ground level. I’ll bring the coffee when I’m done.
Then there was a GIF of a Minion blowing kisses that made her burst out laughing. The tattooed, sexy-as-hell rock star of her teenaged dreams (and current reality) had sent her a Minion GIF.
He was gorgeous, smart, kind, loved animals, was an absolute god in bed, and he was goofy as fuck.
She loved Jackson Hale. It was just as simple—and as complicated—as that.
A knock on the door interrupted her emotional epiphany. Jackson probably forgot his keycard or couldn’t open the door while he was carrying the coffee or something.
Jumping out of bed,