‘Togetherness.’ Jennifer repeated the word as though an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Jasper eased back and looked into her eyes, smoothing his fingers through her glorious locks once more. ‘I know it’s not easy to take a step forward, Jen, but—’
‘Shh,’ she whispered, and placed her finger on his lips again. ‘I’m fine, Jasper. I wanted you to kiss me just as much as you wanted to. I wanted it last night and I wanted it now. In fact, I’ve been wanting it for so very long—even before you teased me by kissing my cheek the other week.’ She shook her finger at him. ‘And may I just say it wasn’t nice to torture me like that. Sent my imagination into overdrive.’
‘You and me both.’ He took her finger and brought it to his lips, kissing it tenderly. Jennifer closed her eyes at the mildly erotic touch and was surprised that another wave of longing flooded through her. ‘You were saying,’ he murmured.
‘Uh…’ Jennifer licked her dry lips.
‘Here. Let me do that for you.’ The line was corny, yet perfect as he pressed his mouth to hers again, running his tongue over her lower lip, causing her to shudder with delight. Jasper accepted that shudder, taking the opportunity to enjoy the sweet sunshine that surrounded her.
When he was done, Jennifer laid her head on his shoulder and waited for her breathing to calm down. ‘You’re…potent.’
Jasper smiled at her word. ‘Thank goodness you didn’t say “lethal”.’
Jennifer sighed and looked up at him. ‘I like this.’
‘This?’
‘This. You and me.’
Jasper tightened his arms about her. ‘Me, too.’
She giggled. ‘You sound like the girls.’
‘Bound to happen eventually,’ he quipped. They enjoyed a few minutes’ silence, both completely comfortable to just sit there and be together, absorbing the essence of each other.
‘Are you comfortable?’ he finally asked.
‘You know, I think I am. I mean, I may have been concerned about this attraction—even a little conflicted—when it first started, but now it’s different.’
Jasper’s laughter rumbled joyously, surrounding them with warmth. ‘That’s fantastic to hear but I meant literally, not metaphorically.’
‘Oh. Well, yes. I’m comfortable.’ Jennifer looked up at him, her eyes intense. ‘Thank you.’
‘For?’
She smiled at his fishing attempt. ‘For ensuring my comfort.’
‘Is that all? That didn’t feel like a throw-away “Thank you” to me.’
‘That’s because it wasn’t. I guess I’m grateful that you’ve shown me that I can move forward with my life.’ She shifted slightly, edging closer. ‘That I need to reach out.’ She gently urged his head towards hers. ‘That I need to let go and venture out of my comfort zone. So here I go again.’ At that, she pressed her mouth to his and where he’d been reining in the fire, Jennifer let it go, opening her mouth and teasing his lower lip with her tongue.
Jasper groaned and hauled her against his chest, eager to let her lead, eager to reciprocate the pace she was setting, eager to let her know he was with her all the way. ‘You make my head spin,’ he muttered against her mouth, both of them breathing heavily.
‘Good. At least it means I’m not alone on this ride.’
‘No chance of that, lady.’
‘Really?’ She smiled at him.
‘None whatsoever. I’ve been fighting this attraction, trying to keep my distance, trying to give you the space I felt you needed, but now that we’ve passed those points, now that I’ve finished fighting, the only thing left for us to do is to continue moving forward.’
‘To where?’
For the first time since the day had begun, Jasper heard hesitation in her voice. Was she thinking about the girls’ earlier question? Did she think he wanted to marry her? He hadn’t even questioned himself that far yet.
He shifted, repositioning himself on the lounge and pulling Jennifer towards him so she could rest her head more comfortably on his shoulder. As she moved, she gasped in pain, then stuck her hand down the back of the cushions and pulled out a pencil.
‘Oops. Sorry. I thought I’d removed them all.’
‘Never mind.’ She leaned forward and put it on the table, and it was as though as she eased away from him in a physical capacity Jasper could also feel her easing away on an emotional level, too. She picked up her teacup and took a sip, hoping the warm liquid would give her the answers to the question now flooding her mind.