Epilogue
A MONTH LATER, JILL came home to Michelle and Steve fighting. Again.
She’d hoped that their breaking up would bring an end to the fights, but it hadn’t.
The problem was they were still living together.
It was early spring, a terrible time for apartment hunting in Blacksburg. So they’d agreed that Steve could stay in the loft for a few more months so he could have the chance to look for another place to live in the summer, when there were more places available.
Lucas had moved into Jill’s room, so Steve had been able to take Lucas’s. It was workable as a temporary solution but definitely not ideal.
Jill wasn’t excited about Steve moving out. She would miss him a lot. But she definitely wouldn’t complain when these fights finally came to an end.
She did a quick scan of the common room to discover that Lucas wasn’t around. He’d texted her that he had a job this afternoon and wasn’t sure when he’d be back. She headed to the bedroom after a quick wave at Michelle and saw that Lucas wasn’t there either.
She closed the bedroom door and groaned softly as she flopped onto the bed, too tired to even take off her boots.
Work had been stressful lately with another big project on a tight timeline, and she really didn’t need to hear this fight on coming home today.
Occasionally she thought about maybe getting a new place. One just with Lucas. There was a lot she liked about that idea.
But she still loved living here. She loved the loft apartment, and she loved Michelle and Steve. Plus she and Lucas had only been seriously dating for six weeks.
She wasn’t going to jump the gun.
Her phone chimed, and she picked it up, wondering if it was Lucas.
It wasn’t. It was Laura, sending a couple of pictures of the kids.
Smiling, Jill texted back a response.
Laura and the rest of Lucas’s family were treating her like she was part of the family now, and Jill didn’t mind.
She didn’t mind at all.
She was thinking about that and still lying on the bed twenty minutes later when the bedroom door opened. Lucas came in, closing the door behind him.
He wore khakis and gray T-shirt, and he had shaved that morning. He was handsome and masculine and familiar and giving her a look of close scrutiny.
“You okay?” he asked, approaching the bed.
“Yeah.” She gave him a tired smile. “Just tired. They were fighting when I got home.”
His face relaxed, and he lowered himself to the bed beside her. Unlike her, he toed his shoes off before he did. “They must have retreated to their separate corners now since neither of them were around.”
She turned her head to look at him. “Good.”
He reached over to take her hand, rubbing her palm with his thumb. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Tired. I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here too.” He was still caressing her hand, and it was generating all kinds of pleasant sensations. Not just in her hand but running through her whole body.
“How was your job?”
“Good. Just tax prep. Nothing too complicated. What about you? Is Patrick being obnoxious again?”
“No. He’s trying to be good. It’s just a lot to do.” She let out a sigh and turned on her side to face Lucas. “I shouldn’t complain. I love my job.”
“I know you do. But you can complain to me about anything you want.”
She smiled at him, scooting over to kiss him gently on the mouth.
To her surprise, he took her head in his hands and deepened the kiss.
She was feeling affectionate rather than sexy, but she didn’t mind his urgency, even when he rolled her over onto her back and moved on top of her.
“I guess working on taxes makes you hot,” she murmured against his lips when she felt hard evidence of his arousal rubbing against her hip.
“Definitely.” He straightened up and reached down to unzip one of her boots.
She smiled with warm leisure as he pulled both of them off.
His eyes were hot as he gazed down at her body, and she felt the deepest combination of responses to his look—feeling both desired and loved.
“I love you,” she whispered.
His eyes moved to her face, and his expression softened as he met her eyes. “I love you too. So much.”
“So much.” She reached for him to pull him down into another kiss.
After he’d kissed her, he lifted his head a few inches, still so close she could feel his breath. “I was thinking...”
“What were you thinking about?”
“I don’t want to leave Michelle in a lurch or anything.”
Her breath hitched as she started to follow this line of thought.
Lucas continued, “But it might be nice to live just with you.”
A warm wave of joy washed over her. “That would be nice. Not right away though. It’s already hard enough for Michelle with the breakup. But maybe Chloe could move back in here in a few months, now that she’s finally found a better job.”
He nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. Maybe at the end of the summer, when there are a lot of places on the market.”
“Yes,” she breathed. “I’d love that. We can still hang out with the others a lot.”
“Definitely.” He kissed her again. “And maybe we could think about some other things.”
It was too much—too close to what she’d been secretly dreaming about. Her eyes widened. “What things?” she rasped.
“Other things.” He was smiling as he kissed her again. “I can wait. I don’t want to push too much or go too fast. I know we haven’t been together for very long. But I’m serious about being your forever man, and I’d kind of like it to be official.”
His voice was almost sheepish, and a quick look at his face revealed that he was slightly nervous and trying to hide it.
He was nervous. Which meant he was serious.
He was serious.
The joy swept over her, warming her cheeks, tightening in her throat. She managed to say, “I’m not in a hurry either, but whenever you’re ready, I’ll be ready too.”
She saw the acknowledgment of her words pass over his face. She saw the quick flash of something deeper than joy, something bigger than happiness. But all he said was, “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”
He kissed her again, and she kissed him back, and they made love right there on top of the covers, without even taking off their clothes. It was deep and full and eager to the point of clumsiness.
It was what Jill had always wanted. Love. Roots. The beginnings of a family. It hadn’t happened the way she’d thought it would. It was harder and slower and messier—built on need and tears as much as desire and laughter.
But she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
***
THE LOFT SERIES WILL continue with (about Michelle and Steve), which will release on July 3rd. My next book is , the first book in a new series, which will come out on May 29th. You can find an excerpt from Part-Time Husband on the following pages.
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