I force out the words. “I was engaged to Clark not long ago. I was trapped. Miserable. Now I’m here with you, and it feels like a completely different life.”
Jack nods. “And that scares you.”
I nod, barely breathing. “A little.”
He shifts to face me, green eyes searching mine. “Beth, I knew you were the one the day I met you.”
My heart stutters.
He caresses my cheek. “I knew it when you sat in my truck, holding back tears but refusing to break. When you organized my disaster of a garage like you’d always belonged. When you kissed me and made me feel like I was flying and falling at the same time.”
My throat tightens.
His voice drops, raw. “Sometimes, things move fast because they’re meant to. When you know, you don’t wait.”
I meet his eyes. “And you know?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “I’ve never been surer of anything.”
The last of my fears crumbles. “Jack—”
He doesn’t let me finish. His lips find mine, fierce and certain, banishing every doubt and shadow.
I gasp. My fingers tangle in his hair, pulling him closer. He pushes me gently back against the couch, his body solid and warm. His hands trace my sides and hips. Possessively. Reverently.
I arch into him, a soft moan escaping as his mouth finds my neck.
He groans, breathless. “Tell me you’re mine, Beth.”
I cup his face, holding him still. “I’m yours.”
His eyes darken, hungry. He kisses me again, deeper, hands sliding under my dress. He pulls away just long enough to help me out of it, his gaze devouring every inch of me.
“You drive me crazy,” he whispers as he unhooks my bra and rips off my panties. “You make me lose all sense. I want to claim every part of you.”
I smile, reaching for his shirt, tugging it over his head. “Show me, Jack. Show me I belong to you.”
He makes love to me on the couch—urgent, intense, everything I never knew I needed. His words are a promise in my ear. “You’re everything. You’ll always be everything.”
In that moment, lost in him, I know the truth.
I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BETH
A week after the baby shower, I still haven’t answered one of Mom’s calls. Five times in three days. I watch her name flash on my phone, then turn it over every time.
I don’t need updates, but Lori gives them anyway.
“Guess who finally got fired?” she blurts as soon as I pick up.
I let the question hang because I know. Plus, I don’t want to ruin hersurprise.I know how badly she wants to tell me.
“Clark.” She’s practically purring. “Skipped work too many times for his precious fiancée, and now he’s out on his ass.”
I let out a short laugh. “Can’t say he didn’t earn it.”
