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"You're not fucked up at all," she said. "But you are…different."

A darkness settled in his gut. "I know." He knew that Annie and Phoebe had made life come at him from a different angle, one that he was learning to lean into, but he'd never defend himself to her.

He'd learned long, long ago that trying to win over someone who didn't get him was hell. "You want to go? Let's go." He rolled to the edge of the bed, but just as he was about to swing his feet over the side, she stopped him with a light touch to his shoulder.

"Jacob."

He closed his eyes, his body going into high alert at the sensation of her fingers on him. "What?"

"I'm not ready to declare I can handle a relationship."

"That's fine."

"And living here is only temporary. It could end tomorrow or the next day."

Or never. "Yeah."

"And even if I was ready and wanted a relationship, I'd have to choose Annie over my own happiness, if it came down to that."

He thought he was pretty great for Annie, but whatever. "Sure."

"So, I can't promise anything beyond this moment."

Something in her tone made him turn to look at her. "What are you saying?"

She gave him a tiny smile. "Right now," she whispered, "all I want is to spend the next hour with you, in your arms, feeling safe, beautiful, sexy, and wanted. My daughter is safe, so I can relax. I want this, you, for myself. But beyond this moment, when this hour is over, I don't know. I can't make the promise Lucas said you needed."

Energy came alive inside Jacob that he'd never experienced before. A fierce, pulsating desire for intimacy, a need to protect, a peace that told him he was exactly where he needed to be.

He moved over to her and cupped her jaw with his hand. "I'm not the fragile puppy my family thinks I am," he said. "I just like my space."

"Except with me?" It was a genuine, worried question.

"Except with you, Annie, and Cupcake," he confirmed. Then he leaned in and kissed her, a kiss that meant more than he was willing to say in words.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jacob's kiss melted Phoebe's heart the moment his mouth took hers.

This kiss was different. It was intentional. Committed. Male.

And she loved it.

With a sigh of more happiness than she ever thought she'd feel in the arms of a man, she pulled him close and kissed him back, raising the heat level.

Delight leapt through her when he responded by rolling her onto her back and descending on top of her, his hands tunneling through her hair, his body warm and heavy on hers, pinning her to the bed in the most delicious way.

She loved the feel of his weight on her. It felt steamy and hot. Safe, as if he were protecting her with his body at the same moment he poured fire into every one of her cells.

As the kiss grew hotter, she grasped his biceps. They were hard and sculpted, ridiculously sexy. "Will you take your shirt off?" The request tumbled out before she realized it, but he didn't hesitate.

He just sat up and grinned at her. "I'd love to." He ripped it over his head, revealing a washboard stomach that was pure insanity.

"Are you kidding me with that?" She spread her palms over his stomach. "I wait all this time for a guy, and this is what I get? I feel like all the self-worth mantras about what I deserve are totally paying off right now."

He laughed. "Been keeping myself in shape for you, baby. I knew you were coming. Just didn't know when. What if I finally found you, and then you bolted because I had a beer belly, poor hygiene, and a saggy ass? I couldn't take that chance."

She put her hands on his butt and squeezed. As she did, he flexed his glutes, and she started laughing. "They're literally like steel."