Once at home, I discovered I was nervous. Jace arrived ten minutes sooner than expected, which didn’t help with my nerves at all. I was too caught up in the smile he was flashing me to notice that he was carrying a small paper bag.
“What’s this? What are you doing?” I asked.
“Apologizing.”
My heart gave a mighty sigh as I took the little bag from him.
“You’ve... wait... where did you get this?” I asked once he’d stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
“Pulled some strings.”
“Used your charm to find a store open so late?”
“Something like that.”
“Dad wasn’t really giving you a speech, was he?”
“No, but it seemed like a good excuse.”
I took out the small box of chocolate truffles, immediately popping one in my mouth. It was delicious.
“Jace, thank you.” My voice didn’t sound quite right.
“I’m sorry about earlier.” He tugged my earlobe between his thumb and forefinger, kissing my cheek, then just resting his nose against my skin, bringing his arms around me. “I didn’t mean to make things difficult for you. I just saw you and... I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to catch you alone after the meeting, and I didn’t think it through. Forgive me?”
“You’re so good at apologizing. How can I say no?”
I felt him smile against my cheek. “I really did well with the chocolate, didn’t I?”
“You didn’t have to buy me a present. I love the truffles, don’t get me wrong. But I wasn’t expecting—”
“Brooke, I didn’t buy these because I thought you were expecting them. I just thought they’d make you happy.”
Oh, wow. Jace could make me swoon.
“They do.”
“I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
He blinked a few times before looking away, but not before I noticed the surprise in his eyes. My heart clenched for him. Why wouldn’t he think I missed him too?
“Yeah? How much?”
My next words were unintelligible, because Jace was kissing my neck, torturing all my sweet spots.
“Didn’t hear that clearly,” he said on a chuckle. I playfully pinched his arm. Jace gasped in surprise. A few seconds later, he lifted me off my feet.
“Jace, what are you doing?”
“Moving on to the second part of the evening. Showing you how much I’ve missed you.”
“Ah, you think you’re done apologizing?”
“I’ll do both at the same time. I’m a great multitasker.”
“Braggart.”