He must have noticed it because his eyes dropped to her mouth and they were smiling. “Poppet, I forgave you a long time ago. Around the time I saw you resting your forehead against a toilet seat, talking to our child.”
“That’s not very romantic,” she blurted then her eyes grew wide at yet another display of her rampant rudeness and he burst out laughing.
He shoved his face in her neck and his arms went around her before he rolled them to their sides again and looked at her.
“Okay, how about when I caught you pushing Baron out of your room one of the first nights after you moved into The Point?” he suggested then went on. “Or when I saw you sleeping in the hayloft. Or when I kissed you later. Or when you tried to stop me from fighting Miles. Or when you kissed me in bed the next morning. Or, just after, when you got out of bed and tried to make rules. Do you want me to go on?” he asked.
Belle shook her head, though she kind of did but her heart had stopped beating on his first suggestion and she was having severe difficulty breathing. If he went on she might accidentally suffocate herself and then where would they be?
His face got closer. “Even if I hadn’t forgiven you, time and again, I would have done it when you told me you thanked your lucky stars when you met me.”
“Jack –” she began but her cut her off and he was using his low and rumbly voice when he did it.
“We’re not speaking of this again. It happened. It’s over. This is us moving on.”
That was nice, really nice, but Belle felt the need to apologise.
So she said again, “Jack –”
He interrupted again, “Am I understood?”
“Jack –” she tried again.
His face got even closer. “Belle, tell me I’m understood.”
“You’re understood,” she whispered and then stubbornly she went on. “But I want to say I’m sorry.”
She caught his smile right before his hand cupped the back of her head and pressed her face to his throat, his other arm holding her tight.
“My love, you already said it when you guided me into this room,” he told the top of her head and then he kissed her there.
Finally her body relaxed into his and she wrapped her arms around him.
“I need to tell you something else,” she said to his throat and she felt Jack’s large frame get tight.
“Belle, I’m feeling pretty f**king good right now, don’t piss me off.”
She thought about his warning then took another risk.
“It’s just that, I think you should know… I feel safe with you.”
His tight frame grew statue-still.
Then it relaxed.
Then he murmured, nearly inaudibly, “It’s the gift that keeps giving.”
She thought she heard what he said but to be certain, she tilted her head back to look at him and asked, “What?”
He looked down at her. “Nothing, poppet.”
She decided to let it go, got up on an elbow and looked down at him. Then she tilted her head in enquiry and watched his face grow soft when she did it.
“Do you want dinner?” she queried.
“Not right now,” he replied, rolling to his back and taking her with him, his hands going into the hair on either side of her head and holding it back. “Right now,” he started, bringing her face closer and when her lips were against his, he went on, “we’re going to work up an appetite.”
And they did.