Page 24 of The Last Love Story (Baker Girls #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

JUSTIN

I wake up to the feeling of Jade’s pillowy curves pressed against my body.

This must be what heaven feels like. I could live like this forever.

When she went to bed alone last night, I was kicking myself. I’ve never slept better than I did with her body tangled with mine. But it felt weird to say, hey, can I sleep in your bed with you tonight? It could come off needy or creepy, and those aren’t the vibes I’m going for.

But this cozy comfort? I could wake up to this every day and never get tired of it.

Jade rustles, slowly waking up. When she sees me, she smiles happily.

“Hi.”

“Morning.” Pushing boundaries, I press a kiss to her forehead. Sure, we kiss during sexual stuff, but we haven’t talked about what happens in between, and I’m not sure exactly what she wants.

I know what I want.

Everything .

Hopeless bastard, party of one.

But then she sighs contentedly, and maybe I’m not so hopeless after all.

“What time is it?”

I glance around her at the clock. “Almost seven.”

She grimaces and looks at her hand. “I guess it’s time to get up and get ready then.”

Pushing the covers off, she moves to stand, but I grab her arm. “Hey, wait a minute.”

“What?”

“I know you’re stressed, so just… come back. Lay here with me for a few more minutes.”

She stares at me for a moment, eyes growing sadder until I’m sure she’s about to cry. But then she lies back down and rolls to face me. I move closer, wrapping my arms around her.

The ways we’ve made each other come have been incredible, but they pale in comparison to this. I want more of it. The emotional connection. The snuggles. Yeah, I’m a cuddlewhore, and I make no apologies for it.

The problem is, I don’t know what Jade wants. She used orgasms as her reasoning last night, though with how her body is molded to mine now, it seems like she likes this too.

Or maybe she just needs some comfort this morning.

“It’s going to be okay,” I whisper.

“I know,” she says, but I can tell she doesn’t really believe it.

That’s fine. She doesn’t have to. Because I’ll be here every step of the way to make sure she’s okay.

“Kiddo, you need to take a deep breath or you’re going to give yourself a heart attack, and I guarantee you, that’s going to be worse to recover from than this surgery,” Papa Jackson says from Jade’s other side as we sit in the waiting room.

Her procedure will be done while she’s awake, and from everything I’ve read, it should be relatively quick. Recovery looks frustrating, but not terrible. I think Jade has built it up in her head to be worse than it actually will be.

“I’m scared,” she whispers.

Running my hand over her back, I wish I could relieve her stress. “I know this is scary for a lot of reasons, but it’ll be over before you know it, and we’ll be here to make sure you have everything you could possibly need. We’re going to get through this together.”

Papa Jackson gives me a nod and an approving smile.

“Jade Jackson?” a nurse calls.

“That’s me,” she squeaks.

I lean in and kiss her cheek. “You’ve got this. We’ll see you soon.”

She squeezes my hand and rises from the chair.

“Love you, sweetheart.”

She smiles weakly at her dad, then makes her way over to the nurse.

My stomach knots. I hate that she has to go in there alone. I wish I could be with her so I could distract her, make her laugh. Something. Anything.

“She’s going to be fine.”

I turn to look at her dad, who smiles at me.

“You’re almost as much of a basket case as she is. But I like seeing how much you care for my daughter.”

“I do,” I say genuinely.

He shakes his head and laughs. “I figured that out when you offered to marry her. I’m not an idiot.

It was your way of taking care of her and building something with her.

Whether she admits it or not, she feels the same way for you.

The way she smiled when she was texting you—before you ever met—was unlike anything else.

You make her happy and bring out her joyful side.

I’m glad she has you, and I’m glad you’ll be with her while she recovers.

I’d do it in a heartbeat, but she’ll be happier with you. ”

He goes back to reading his magazine like he didn’t casually drop all that on me.

I love that he sees it all, and I hope he’s right that Jade does too. That she sees me and wants it all.

God knows I want her.

A nurse escorts me back to the recovery room where Jade is resting, so they can monitor her before she goes home. The nurse said the procedure went well and Jade did great.

When she pushes the door open, Jade’s relaxing in a big, comfortable recliner, her arm wrapped up and tucked in a sling. Her eyes pop open, surprise filling them.

The nurse shuts the door behind me, and I walk over to Jade and kiss her forehead.

“Hi.”

“Hi. I… wasn’t expecting you. They said they were calling someone back. I guess I just assumed it would be my dad.”

My heart drops, but I keep a calm face.

“If you want me to go grab him?—”

“No. That’s not what I meant. I’m glad it’s you. Sometimes this still feels like a dream. I’m glad it’s not,” she breathes. “I like having you here.”

“Then this is where I’ll be.” I drop into the chair beside the recliner and wrap my hand around her good hand. “How are you feeling?”

She sighs, her exhaustion palpable. “Okay. Tired. They gave me some medicine to relax me a little, then numbed me up and did the thing.” She grimaces at her hand. “I’m mostly fine now, just hungry and need a nap.”

“Your dad brought a cooler of food with him for us to take home. We’ll be well fed, and I will make sure you have a nice, comfortable spot to sleep.”

“Might have to be on the couch. I’m worried I’ll roll too much in bed.”

“We can make that work.”

She closes her eyes as she leans back against the chair. “Good.”

I stroke my thumb over the back of her hand, and she smiles, not opening her eyes.

“I like when you take care of me.”

I lift her hand to my lips and kiss it. “Then I always will.”

She brushes her thumb over mine, then lets out a long breath. Hopefully, this is a good sign that everything is going to go smoothly.

“You need to take the hydrocodone.”

Jade sniffs and wipes at her face with her left hand.

Her right hand is perched on a stack of pillows while she sits on the couch.

The doctor said the worst of the pain would be in the first forty-eight hours, and about an hour ago, it hit her.

The ibuprofen she took earlier didn’t help, and she’s been sitting in the corner of the couch, crying for the last half hour.

I can’t take it anymore. Seeing her cry makes me want to kill someone .

“Baby, I’m worried about you.” I kneel in front of her. “Please just take it. If you don’t rest, you can’t heal.”

She didn’t want to take any narcotics if she could avoid them, but she needs something to get her through this.

“Okay,” she whimpers. “I thought I could handle it.”

“Some things aren’t meant to be handled alone,” I say as I walk to the kitchen.

Finding the prescription, I read the label carefully, then pull out one of the pills and cut it in half before taking it back to her.

“This is the lowest dose. It still might make you a little loopy, but it shouldn’t be too bad. And if, for some reason, it doesn’t take the edge off, it’s perfectly safe to have the other half.”

She nods and takes the pill followed by a big glug of water.

Sitting down next to her, I sweep some hair off her face.

“Can you turn your head?”

“That’s not what’s broken,” she says with a pathetic laugh. Then she turns her head toward me.

“Other way.”

She squints at me, but does it.

Gently, I run my fingers through her soft hair, then take a few strands in my hand and fumble through braiding them together.

I looked up tutorials online, and they seemed easy enough.

I figured having her hair out of her face would be a must, and she told me in the past that she didn’t like to wear her hair in a ponytail for too long because it hurt after a while.

Painstakingly slowly—and probably really poorly—I French braid her hair.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting your hair back. Just relax.” Holding all the strands in one hand, I grab the remote with the other. “Here, put something on.”

I get back to braiding, and to my surprise, she doesn’t put on Once Upon a Time .

“ Virgin River ?”

“Have you ever seen it?” she asks .

“Nope.”

I swear she snickers under her breath. “Well, get ready for all the drama. This makes my books look tame.”

Somehow, I doubt that’s possible, but I’ll take her word for it.

After another few minutes, I finish the braid. “Okay, all done.”

She turns so her back is against the couch again, then reaches up to feel her hair.

“Thank you,” she whispers, then shakes her head. “I can’t believe—” Her voice breaks again, and I move closer.

“What?”

“I can’t believe you did that for me.”

“I’ll do whatever you need, darlin’. Now, teach me about this show.”

Jade fell asleep halfway through the first episode. After making sure she was breathing okay, I took a quick shower, grabbed some extra pillows and blankets for the couch, and warmed up some more food.

After eating and watching more of Virgin River —which is terrifyingly addicting—I put our bowls in the sink and start making a little bed for myself on the other side of the couch.

“What are you doing?” Jade asks. “Aren’t you going to sleep on the couch with me?”

She’s loopy from the pain meds and still a little emotional.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m doing.”

“No. Not there.” Emotion swells in her voice again, and I stop and walk over to her. “Will you sleep here? Next to me?”

Oh.

I cup her cheek and sit down next to her as tears spill from her eyes .

“Of course I will. I’ll be wherever you want me to be.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders, fingers curling into her messy braid.

“Stay here,” she whispers, leaning into me. “Just stay with me.”

Her eyes close again, and no matter how loopy she is, I’m still taking her words seriously.

If this is where she wants me to stay, then this is where I’ll be. If she wants me by her side, I’ll stay here forever.