I swallow a lump of nerves as she climbs into the elevator next to me. Her hair is messy around her shoulders, freed from her workday ponytail, her shirt hugging that fine curvy body, prompting a cascade of carnal notions to spirit into my mind.
But I need to focus.
“How do you get more beautiful every damn day?” I whisper, looping my arm over her shoulder and laying a kiss on top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair.
“How do you get more handsome?” she murmurs.
I chuckle. “Oh, I wake up three hours early every morning to exfoliate and lie under the sunbed.”
She giggles, digging into my side. We both know I’m not that sort of man by any means. The furthest I’ll go is working myself ragged in the gym, but that’s more because I enjoy the ache, the release, the unleashing, rather than any need to look better in the mirror.
“We haven’t been up here since, well, you know,” she murmurs.
Since we fell in love.
I push the thought away. It isn’t time yet. But it’s so difficult not blurting it out every moment. When she’s so close. When my hunger for her is so intense.
“Hasn’t this just been the most amazing few days?” she asks a moment later.
“The best,” I say happily. “Coming home to you every night… being with you, hanging around the apartment or giving that perfect body of yours everything it deserves… Jessie, it’s been the highlight of my life.”
My voice catches and I swallow again, trying to push the emotion away.
Jessie senses something and looks up at me, with that knowing twinkle in her eye asks, “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Never better. I mean that.”
“Me too,” she whispers.
The elevator doors open, sliding away to reveal the transformed rooftop. I’ve had a platform installed at the far end, fairy lights wrapped around the railing, raised so that it stretches above the roof and gives the observer a better view of the entire city.
I need my woman to see this.
Rose petals lead up to the dais, and there are even more candles here than last time, twinkling at us.
“Oh, Jax.” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me on the cheek. “What’s this all for?”
“Come with me.”
Taking her hand, I lead her down the rose petal path, stopping at the bottom step of the platform.
Jessie eyes it curiously. “Are we going bungee jumping?”
I grin. “We’re jumping, you can count on that. Into the future, into the lives we want. I hope so, at least.”
“You hope so?” Her voice quivers and I’m certain she knows something is coming. “Jax, what—”
“I love you, Jessie.”
I can’t hold it in anymore.
A massive weight lifts from me, making me feel like I can breathe easier, see clearer.
Her mouth falls open and tears twinkle in her eyes.
“I love you,” I say again, firmer this time. “I’ve loved you every second since I laid eyes on you. I love you more than I thought I ever could. When I used to dream about finding the woman of my dreams, I never knew how strong the feeling would be, how right. Now I do. It’s this. It’s us.”
“I love you too.” She lets out a sob as she lays her hands against my chest, staring up at me. “I’ve wanted to say it for ages now. Oh, Jax, I love you so, so freaking much. And I don’t care if it makes me crazy…”
I smile at our catchphrase. “Because if it does…”
“Who wants to be sane?” We whisper at the same time.
We magnetize to each other, our lips colliding, fueled by the revelation of our love. Her tears are warm against my cheeks as our tongues clash, as a deep heat stirs inside of me but I try not to lose control.
Forcing myself to step away, I wave a hand at the dais. “Climb the stairs, Jessie.”
She bites her lip and releases it. My cock pulses at that note of shyness, even when it’s quickly replaced with a glimmer of exhilaration.
“I guess we’re not going bungee jumping, then?”
Taking her hand, I lead her up the dais, shocked to find my footing feels a little less certain than usual. I squeeze onto her tightly, never wanting to let go.
When we reach the top, I move up behind her and place my hands over her eyes, staring across the city with satisfaction when I see it’s all gone according to plan.
“I meant it when I said I want you forever,” I whisper in her ear the way she likes. The other night she said the tickle to the breath drives her crazy, and I aim to please. “I need to claim you for the rest of our lives, to provide a home for you, a future. I’ve already spoken to your aunt and she’s said yes.”