"It's Friday. I hope you didn't take the day off on my account."

A breathy laugh accompanied Luke's grin. "I've had the whole week off. I flew to Chicago a week ago today."

Jessica narrowed her eyes a bit.

"Then I rented a car and drove to Omaha."

"What was in Omaha?"

He sipped his coffee then rubbed his lips together. "Come to find out ... not much."

"You should have looked me up. I could have given you the ten-cent tour."

"Mmm ... why didn't I think of that?"

Jessica stared at her coffee. "You came for me," she whispered.

"I came for you."

"You could have died." She looked up.

He nodded.

Setting her coffee down, she stood. "I'm going to shower then go buy a few things to wear, maybe some makeup to hide my scars and soften the appearance of my gaunt-looking face until I can gain a little weight. I look hideous."

"You're-"

"So help me, Jones ... if you even think of trying to compliment my looks, I will make sure your face matches mine."

He looked her body up and down, taking note of how much muscle ma.s.s she'd lost. "I think for the first time ever I could take you on."

Jessica narrowed her eyes. "Don't test me."

He jerked his head toward the hall. "I'm glad to see you didn't lose your sa.s.s. Go shower. I'll take you shopping."

Chapter Forty-One.

Friday.

Ryn needed a stiff drink and a merit badge for making it though the week. She went from planning a Monday elopement to confessing her past to Maddie in the most graphic way, followed by her daughter hating her, then the cherry on top-Jackson left, forever.

While she cleaned her two houses for the day, Omaha received another eight inches of snow, making the drive home a crawl through the busy late day traffic.

A needed grin crept up her face as she pulled into her driveway that was shoveled and covered in a good inch of ice melt. "Funny, Drew." She rolled her eyes at his attempt to make fun of Jackson's over-the-top ice melt incident. Payback would be fun.

After knocking the ice melt off her boots she opened the door. "Hey, baby," she said to Gunner. Then she flipped on the light.

"Oh. My. G.o.d." Her words were barely a whisper. Anything louder would have required her to have air in her lungs.

Breathless.

The walls were painted, the furniture was new, bookshelves, lamps, throw rugs. However, the shocking part was she'd seen everything before because every detail was a photo from her Pinterest boards.

She continued to the kitchen, but she knew how it was going to look before she rounded the corner-new appliances, light fixtures, even the wine rack-all from her Pinterest boards.

On the small, white, built-in desk by her back door was a new computer. The screen saver flashed photos of Ryn, Maddie, and even a few of Gunner. She clicked on the mouse, revealing a message on her home screen.

I changed my mind ... wait for me.

Ryn swallowed her heart and turned around. There he stood wearing the sharpest black suit and tie she had ever seen.

"Did you wait?"

A million words jumbled into so many questions. Why? How? Are you for real? She shook her head.

"You didn't wait for me?" Jackson's eyes widened.

Ryn shook her head again. "I couldn't. Once you left there was a line of guys waiting at my door."

"Young, no doubt?" His eyes narrowed a bit.

"Mere babes in the cradle." She smirked.

"Jude died. For good this time."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. He stood in the way of me being with you."

Ryn blinked back tears, swallowed hope, and waited for the unknown. At some point in her life she forgot how to dream ... how to imagine having any sort of lasting happiness.

But ... there he stood.

"Are you?"

With just a few slow steps, his larger-than-life presence swallowed the s.p.a.ce between them. The pad of his thumb caught her first tear.

"Are you with me?" she whispered, desperate for him to pull her out of the shadow of doubt that loomed over her.

"Forever."

"Jackson ..." Her arms flew around his neck. She held him with all her strength, daring life to try and take him away again.

His hands cupped her face and he kissed her. She didn't care how many people died for him to be with her. His touch made her selfish. She didn't care why he was there. His past didn't matter. He was her future.

f.u.c.k the past.

"You hacked into my Pinterest account and hired an army of help," she murmured.

His lips devoured every inch of her neck as one of his hands laid claim to her a.s.s and the other to her breast.

"I did." He unfastened his pants.

"Are you going to invade my privacy for the rest of our lives?"

He bit her shoulder, a grin playing along his lips. "Yes. There's not a single part of you or your life that I'm not going to invade, dominate ... claim as mine." He stood.

"What if-"

He kissed her, swallowing her words of protest.

Taking her into his arms, he backed her against her new stainless-steel refrigerator. Then leaving her breathless, he stepped back.

"Take off your clothes."

The familiar flush surfaced along her skin. She used to hate it, but no longer. It meant the beautiful man before her wanted to see her body. It was crazy, improbable, and utterly flattering.

"You first."

Jackson grinned. He reached for his tie.

"Leave on the tie ... and your gla.s.ses."

He raised a brow, his c.o.c.ky smile taking over his face.

Ryn melted to a puddle on her new floor as he undressed for her. He widened his stance and crossed his naked arms over his naked chest, with the exception of his black tie.

"Your turn."

It took a few seconds for her mind to stop chanting, mine, mine, mine ... The tattooed specimen before her was hers. That ... she would never completely understand, but for women over forty everywhere-and the greater good-she would spend the rest of her life trying to figure it out-figure him out.

Fuzzy socks, skinny jeans, a pink V-neck T-shirt-she stripped for him. He made her feel s.e.xy, something no other man had ever done. Letting her bra drop to the floor, she slid off her panties, leaving them next to her bra at her feet.

"Pick your panties up."

She stood still, only her eyes shifting with a bit of confusion.

"Do it."

Keeping her eyes on him, waiting for further explanation, she bent down and picked them up.

He stepped closer, so close she could smell his minty breath and intoxicating body wash. Ryn was certain she smelled like lemon furniture polish, but she didn't care in that moment.

"Wad them up in your fist."

"Uh-"

"Just do it." He ducked down and sucked her earlobe, biting it as if to accentuate his demand.

It had to be a fetish he hadn't revealed to her, she just knew it. Jackson would make her stuff her panties in her mouth to m.u.f.fle her screams while he f.u.c.ked her. She took a hard swallow and wadded them up, accepting her new life, a sacrifice for his body inside of hers.

The expectant look on his face said he was done talking. She knew what to do and he waited for her to do it.

Slowly ... she brought her panties to her face and parted her lips.

He narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Um ... what you want me to do?"

He grabbed the handle to the refrigerator and jerked it open a few inches, forcing her body flesh to his. "I want you to toss them in the refrigerator, hot pants."

Ryn's eyes widened in realization while her skin crimsoned with embarra.s.sment. She tossed them inside the refrigerator, attempting to act like she didn't just taste her own panties.

Jackson knew otherwise. He palmed her a.s.s and hiked her up his body. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he kissed her.

"You were going to..." he mumbled over her mouth between kisses "...stuff your panties in your mouth for me." She couldn't respond. She would never acknowledge any such thing.

"That's so f.u.c.king hot."

Ryn found her s.e.xy and owned it. Jackson Knight was the lucky recipient of it, and nothing compared to a woman h.e.l.l-bent on making up for missing out on two decades of not feeling loved, not feeling desired, not feeling alive.

He "effed" her in nothing but a black necktie and black gla.s.ses. Then he carried her to her new bed and made love to her.

"Tell me you're staying."

He chuckled into the pillow, his arms stretched over his head. Ryn's body cloaked his back, her cheek resting on his shoulder as she traced his inked skin. Naked Ryn touching him-he never wanted to leave her bed.

"I think we've been over this."

"I know, but I asked you on the verge of an o.r.g.a.s.m and you answered with half my breast in your mouth. Maybe we should go over it again now that we're s.e.xually sober."

"You're naked, on my back, and tracing my a.s.s with your fingernails. I'm not sure this qualifies as as.e.xually sober.'"

"Did you just wake up one day and think, aHmm ... I'm going to get a dragon tattooed on my a.s.s today.'?"

"No. It was more of a premonition. I knew someday it would tempt Ryn Middleton into touching my a.s.s."

She buried her face in his neck and giggled. "Is that so?"