Page 34 of Delivery After Dark (Gansett Island #28)

She hated being a worst-case-scenario thinker, but she couldn’t rewire herself at this point.

By preparing for the worst, she reasoned, she could be ready for whatever happened.

But honestly, how could she ever be ready to lose someone she loved as much as she loved Jack?

There was no way to prepare for such a thing.

Not that she thought she was in danger of losing him, but for some reason, the idea of broaching the subject of where this was headed terrified her.

It’d been such a big deal for him to have this much with her after losing his precious wife, Ruby, to cancer.

What if the status quo was all he was capable of?

What if she pushed him for more, and he pushed back?

What would she do then? By the time she heard his key in the door, she’d worked herself into a full-blown panic.

The second she saw his handsome, smiling face and windblown hair, she felt better, even if she was still full of self-inflicted unease.

Why did she put herself through this shit?

Probably because she’d learned not to trust her own judgment in these matters.

Although, Jack had given her no reason at all not to fully trust him.

Jack pulled off his heavy coat and tossed it aside as he began quickly removing his state police uniform. Because he could never wait to shed his work clothes, she told him he reminded her of a little boy tearing off his tie on the way out of church. “How was your day?”

“Great, especially the massage.”

“Ah, right. You were looking forward to that.” Stripped down to boxers, he gave her a look that could only be called sizzling. “Are you all loose and limber now?”

“Yes, I guess I am.” That was a lie. Her muscles were tighter than ever due to the question she needed to ask him.

He came to her, rested his hands on her shoulders and gave a light squeeze. “Hey, what’s this? Why are you all tense after a massage? What’s wrong?”

He’d given her the opening she needed to ask her burning question, but now that the moment was upon her, she couldn’t get the words past the huge lump in her throat.

What they had now was more than she’d ever had with anyone—even the man she’d planned to marry, until he called off their wedding. It was enough, wasn’t it?

“Piper. You’re scaring me. Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said, forcing a smile. “I’m good. What do you want for dinner?”

He shook his head. “Nah, let’s not do that. I could tell the second I came through the door that something was off. How am I supposed to think about dinner when I can tell you’ve got something weighing on you?”

Of course he knew. He was intuitive that way. That was one of the things she loved about him. Who was she kidding? She loved everything about him, and that was what had her tied up in knots as she tried to find a way to ask him the one thing she most needed to know.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked as he sat next to her on the bed and put his arm around her. “Whatever it is, I can’t help if I don’t know what’s troubling you.”

Who was this perfect man who’d been sent from heaven to say and do all the right things? Most of the time, anyway… He was coming along with not leaving his clothes on the floor and the seat up on the toilet, but who cared about stuff like that when he got so much right?

“I… I’ve been thinking about life outside this room where we’ve spent so much time.”

“I need to take you out more often. I was thinking that same thing.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Don’t tell me you want out, Pipes. I’m not sure I could handle that.”

She loved how he’d given her a nickname that no one else had ever used for her. “I don’t want out. I want in. All the way in.”

“What do you mean?”

“That night when I went after you when you were upset… You said you wanted everything with me. I want that with you, too. Every day, I get deeper into this thing with you, and I have this knot of fear.” She put her hand on her belly. “Right here.”

“What’re you afraid of?”

“I don’t know exactly, but it’s got me wondering what you and I look like outside this bubble we’ve been living in for months now.”

“Hmm, well, let me set your mind at ease. I want to be wherever you are for the rest of my life. I don’t care where we are or what we’re doing, as long as you’re there, I have what I need.”

“Jack...”

“I love you, Piper. I love everything about you and us and how you’ve made me feel hopeful and optimistic again. I hadn’t realized how much I missed those things until you brought them back to my life.”

“I love you, too. Everything about you.”

He grinned. “Except the clothes on the floor and the toilet-seat problem, right?”

“No one is perfect.”

“You are.”

She shook her head.

“No, you really are. You took on me and my grief and made space for Ruby… Do you have any idea how special that makes you?”

“I… um…”

“It makes you very special. Not everyone could successfully navigate the minefield that comes with dating a widower, and you managed it just right. I’ll never have the words to thank you for that.

Whatever you’re worried about or fearing, don’t.

You and me are forever, if that’s what you want, too. ”

“It is. You know it is.”

“Did something happen to make you feel anxious?”

“Nothing specific. It’s just how I’m wired, especially after getting dumped right before my wedding.”

“If you stick with me, kid, you’ll never get dumped again. I promise you that much.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, feeling much better.

“Now, all that said, I have been thinking that we need to go out more and stop hiding out here like a couple of newlyweds.”

“I have no complaints about how we’ve spent our time thus far.”

“You’re very sexy when you use words such as ‘thus.’”

Piper laughed. “Is that all it takes?”

He shook his head. “You’re sexy when you breathe, too.” Leaning in to kiss her cheek, he added, “And when you blush.”

“I don’t blush.”

“Whatever you say, babe. You know what we need to do?”

“What’s that?”

“Get our own place together. What do you think?”

“Ah, well, so we’d like…”

“Live together—and not in a hotel room.”

“Laura will miss getting to see Hot Cop in his uniform every day.”

He scowled at that name the way he always did when they called him that. “I bet she’ll survive.”

“I’m not sure she will. I know I wouldn’t if I didn’t get to see that every day.”

“I’m offering you free viewings every day for the rest of your life. Are you in?”

As she gazed into his lovely eyes and saw everything she ever wanted reflected back at her, she nodded. “I’m in.”