Page 55 of Saving Jennifer
A slow smile spread across Noah’s face, transforming his features in a way that made her heart skip. “I want that too,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “All of it.”
“Do you think you could…love me?”
“Sweet Jen, I think I fell in love with you the minute I saw your picture, in a file asking me to watch over you. I think that old man in there,” he gestured toward Gator, still surreptitiously watching them from the kitchen window, “set this whole thing in motion, because he knew I wouldn’t be able to resist you.” Taking both of her hands in his, he gazed deeply into her eyes. “Jennifer Baptiste, I love you. I love your strength. I love that no matter what life has thrown into your path, you keep going. When you’re knocked down, you get back up, ready to face whatever challenge is thrown into your path. You’re strong in ways you don’t realize, and you’ve got a heart that cares about others.”
She shook her head. “I wish all that was true. Noah, you’ve only seen the me that’s trying to make amends, the me who’s trying to do better. I’m not a good person. I let Tarik—”
He placed a fingertip against her lips. “The person you were before isn’t important. The person you are now, the person you’ve grown into, that’s the woman I love. I am so in love with you I can’t see straight. I don’t care who you were. I love you.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks at his words. “I love you too, Noah. I was so afraid once your job was done, you’d realize the truth about me, about the person I’d been, walk away and never look back. And I think it would have broken me. Broken my heart. Broken my spirit. I’ve never felt like this, never loved anybody. It’s overwhelming. I…I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” Her words broke off with a ragged sob.
Noah leaned forward, his intentions clear in his eyes. Jennifer met him halfway, their lips coming together in a kiss that felt like both an ending and a new beginning. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer, and for the first time in months, she felt completely safe.
When they finally broke apart, breathless and smiling, she rested her forehead against his. “You know,” she whispered, “I think I might know what I want to do with at least some of that inheritance.”
“Oh?” His eyebrows lifted in question.
“Buy a place like this,” she said, gesturing to the peaceful waterfront setting around them. “Somewhere quiet, somewhere beautiful. Somewhere I can finally stop running.”
“Will I be with you at this place?”
She nodded, not bothering to hide her grin.
Noah smiled, his fingers threading through her hair. “Then it sounds perfect.”
“Except…maybe in the mountains? Think you might know someplace like that?” She watched his smile grow huge before he laughed, and she joined in, letting the peacefulness of the moment fill her with a quiet joy.
As darkness settled over the bayou and the first stars appeared in the sky, Jennifer felt a sense of peace wash over her. The nightmare was finally over. Sayifa and Rashid would spend the rest of their lives in prison. The family that had hunted her would no longer be a threat. And the man beside her—the man who had protected her, fought for her, and ultimately fallen in love with her—was no longer bound by duty to stay.
Yet he was still here, his hand in hers, his future entwined with her own by choice rather than obligation.
Tomorrow would bring new challenges: decisions about the inheritance, potential trips to Dubai, figuring out what normal life even looked like after everything they’d been through. But tonight, sitting on Gator’s deck with the sounds of the bayou surrounding them, with Noah’s steady presence beside her, Jennifer allowed herself to simply be.
For the first time in longer than she could remember, she was not afraid of what tomorrow might bring. Because she’d found her forever home. In Noah.