She gaped, wordless, and Prescott gave her another tug toward the door. After ushering her through the opening, he turned back in the doorway, no doubt to make some final pronouncement regarding his ungrateful children, but Lurch slammed the door shut in his face.
“I’m buying you a drink!” Addy said.
Stella grimaced. “Now, don’t you go trying to steal one of my men, girly, just because I like the look of yours.”
She gave Finn another of her long, lingering looks, making him edge a little closer to Addy.
Then Jack was turning Maisie around, looking down at her with those deep, dark eyes. Reminding her of the night of Diego and the petting zoo and them. She hoped that had only been their beginning, and that this wasn’t their end.
But it struck her that his sisters were over there with his brother, and he probably needed to help them work out whatever craziness was still unfolding.
“We have to talk,” he said, squeezing her hand.
“Don’t you need to deal with the fallout?” She gestured to the gathering at the front of the room. Stella was waving around a paintbrush she’d retrieved from her bag, going off about promises being promises while Addy lectured her about consent and Lee teetered some more. “If you’re worried about Stella, I can go with you. But I don’t promise I’ll protect you from getting your face painted.”
“I’m only worried about getting things settled between us. Everything else can wait. I shouldn’t have let the party get in the way in the first place.”
“You know the world is falling apart around us, don’t you?” she asked, gesturing to the rest of the party. People were gawking openly, some taking pictures of Stella and her guys. If this wasn’t on all the local news reports in the morning, it was only Christmas that had saved them.
“The world fell apart this morning, and I’m not doing anything else until we make it right.”
As far as words went, they were perfect. It felt like someone had taken a big dishrag to the cloudy window concealing her future.
“There’s somewhere I need to take you,” she said.
The park was quiet and cold, its beauty lost to the dark and the winter. But she took Jack by the hand and led him to a wood bench. Christmas lights twinkled from houses in the distance, adding a little holiday sparkle to the view. They sat next to each other, sides pressed together, and he looked at her, waiting.
He probably wanted to know why she’d brought him somewhere outside rather than back to the warmth of her house. Which, fair enough. She was cold, despite having put on her dog-hair-covered coat. (He’d already seen the dress, she figured—might as well avoid freezing). But he hadn’t asked questions in the car. They’d just sat in companionable silence, soaking in each other’s presence.
No one had questioned Jack for leaving the party he’d put on. If anything, everyone had seemed pleased to see them go. She might have made a joke about that, but she wasn’t quite ready to laugh yet. Not until they talked.
“This is where I found Ein,” she said. “I was sitting on this bench, feeling more lost than I ever had. Molly had been getting into a little trouble at school, and I felt like I didn’t have it together enough to take care of myself, let alone her.” She looked down and smiled. “Then I felt something nudging my leg. I almost screamed, thinking it was maybe a bear, but I looked down and saw a filthy, starving, little dog. His skin was raw in patches, and he just looked…he looked like I felt.”
“You found Einstein out here?” Jack asked in surprise. “I thought people bought corgis from breeders.”
“They do,” she said, “but there are plenty of people who buy dogs from fancy breeders and end up with buyer’s remorse. They abandon them like they’re nothing. Ein had a microchip, so I was able to contact his owners. They weren’t even looking for him. I think they were relieved he ran off.”
“That’s why you started the shelter,” he said. “It happened after you found Ein out here.”
He was a good listener. It was one of the things that had endeared him to her from the beginning—the way he really listened to a person, both what they were saying and what they weren’t. “Yes. I saved him, and he saved me. He gave me another purpose. Of course, I had a massive assist from Beatrice, plus my inheritance from my parents. But I knew from the beginning Einstein and I were soul companions, and he was going to change my life. It was what you could call a pivotal moment.”
Something glimmered in his eyes, almost as if a string of twinkle lights had lit up inside him.
“I didn’t think beyond one night when I took you home from Dottie’s party. But it was another pivotal moment, Jack. Just like when Einstein found me.” She smiled up at him, feeling tears in her eyes. “Dottie always told me I needed to find a human soul companion, and I did. I found you.” A tear trickled down her cheek, and he traced it and wiped it away. “But I can tell you that I love you every day, and you might still wonder if I have feelings for River…because he’s my friend and Georgie’s your sister, and they’ll be in our lives. I get that. I just don’t know what to do about it. That’s why I didn’t say anything before I did. I was worried you’d push me away.”
He was silent for a long time after that, and her heart thumped painfully in her chest. She could offer to give up her Bro Club dinners with River and Finn, or to avoid hanging out with River alone, but that was the kind of thing she’d end up resenting Jack for. She didn’t want that for them.
“Did you just say you love me?” he asked, staring into her eyes. He took her hands, and the warmth of his fingers, the familiarity of them, grounded her. His eyes weren’t expressionless, the way they got sometimes when he was overwhelmed. They were wells of raw emotion.
“I guess I did,” she said with some amount of sass, and then she said it again, her tone completely serious this time. “I love you. And Jack, I know what you thought earlier, but you were wrong. River is my friend, and he’ll always be special to me, but I’ve never wanted him the way I want you. He’s not my soul companion. You are.”
One moment he was looking into her eyes, and then he was pulling her onto his lap, claiming her mouth. His kiss was fierce and insistent, and it touched something deep at her core. When he pulled away, she was panting, no longer chilled by the cool air.
“I love you,” he said. “I shouldn’t have run away from you—I should have listened—but I let my past get between us.” His brow furrowed with anger she knew wasn’t for her. “That’s how I always dealt with Genevieve, by taking off, but I don’t want to do it anymore. That’s not who I want to be.”
She smiled at him, running a hand through his thick hair. “Well, you’re in luck, because I can give you plenty of lessons about snapping at people until they quail in submission. Except I’ve been told that doesn’t work out too well either.”
“I’ll hold you to it, Red.” He reached up to caress her face and wiped away another tear that had escaped her eye. They were silent for a moment, just taking each other in, like they had in the car. Then he said softly, “I didn’t know what I was looking for when I came here, not really, but I never imagined I’d find this. I always felt like I had to do everything alone, but you made me realize that I don’t want that anymore. I want you. And if you really feel the same way, then the River thing isn’t an issue.”
She kissed him, a slow, sweet kiss meant to tell him that he was the one in her heart and he didn’t have to be alone anymore. He had her, and they had each other, and that was enough to get them through this crazy life.
Then she pulled back and grinned at him, letting her sassiness roll out again. “Is this a good time to tell you that I think you should adopt Ruby?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Jack woke to the warmth of Maisie’s soft body next to him. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and she was still asleep. He told himself not to wake her. They were up late the night before, professing their love with both words and their bodies.
She rolled over and released a contented sigh a
s one eyelid cracked open. “You’re not watching me sleep like a crazy stalker, are you?”
He grinned, his heart warming. “And if I said I was?”
Laughing, she pushed him onto his back and crawled on top of him.
“Merry Christmas,” he said, staring into her eyes. The happiness he saw there made his chest puff with pride that he’d put it there.
Her smile softened into contentment. She lifted a hand to his face, and gently cupped his cheek. “Merry Christmas.”
He kissed her then, because his lips hadn’t covered hers for nearly six hours, and that was five hours and fifty-nine minutes too long.
She lifted her head a few inches and smiled. “What about morning breath?”
He wrapped his arms around her back. “Worth it.”
He glanced over to the bedroom door and saw Einstein and Chaco watching them.
“Question,” Jack said, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. “Can dogs be taken from their owners for being exposed to live porn?”
Maisie laughed and lifted up on her elbow to check them out. “They probably have to pee.”
When she started to get up, he pulled her back down. “I’ll take them out. You go shower, and I’ll join you when I’m done.”
“Okay,” she said hesitantly. “But maybe put them on leashes. In case they decide to bolt.”
They didn’t run off for her, but he knew her dogs were her babies, and he’d follow whatever rules made her feel comfortable. He put on his dress pants and shirt while she ogled him. Grinning, he slipped his feet into his dress shoes.
“You look like you’re doing a walk of shame,” she teased.
“There’s absolutely not one ounce of shame from sleeping with you,” he said, leaning over to give her another kiss. “I’ll proudly wear this all day long.”
“We should have given this whole morning situation more thought,” she said, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Especially since you volunteered to go to the shelter with me.”
He’d barely had the presence of mind to text Iris to tell her he’d be home late. She’d replied that if she saw him before brunch at the Buchanan house, which Finn and Adalia were optimistically calling the First Annual Christmas Brunch Extravaganza, she’d kick him in the rear end. “The only thing I was capable of thinking about was getting you home so I could strip that sexy dress off your gorgeous body. Promise me you’ll wear it again.”
“It’s not mine. It’s Blue’s.”
“Then I’ll buy it from her.” He kissed her again. “Just tell her what we did in the car while you were still wearing it.” He cocked a brow. “She might not want it back.”
She laughed. “You’re terrible.”
“You love every moment of it.”
“Obviously,” she said. “Now take those dogs out before I drag you back to bed and they pee on the floor.”
Poor Ein looked miserable, so he hurried downstairs and clipped on their leashes to take them out, not that he was worried about them running off. They were so excited he was there, he could barely get them to focus on the task at hand.
“Come on, Ein. I really want to see your mommy naked again. Let’s take that poop already.”
It was another five minutes before they finally finished their business, and while he would have loved nothing more than to race up the stairs, stripping off his clothes as he took the stairs two at a time, he knew how much Maisie loved her morning coffee. He started a pot, then headed up to the bathroom, telling the pouting dogs, “I’ll feed you later. I’ll give you extra if you promise to stop trying to make me feel guilty.”
The water was still running when he opened the door, the dogs sitting in the hall behind him, and he quickly dropped his pants and parted the shower curtain.
Maisie was standing under the shower in all her naked glory. “I was about to send a search party.”
“Turned out Ein wanted time with me too.”
She pulled the curtain to the side and laughed at the sight of Ein wagging his tail in the doorway. “It looks like he still doesn’t feel he’s had enough.”
“Too bad,” he said, picking up a bottle of body wash and squeezing some into his hand. He slid a hand over her shoulder.
“I already washed. Somebody took too long.”
“You can never be too clean,” he said as he glided his hand down to cup her breast.
She sharply inhaled. “I guess they do say cleanliness is next to godliness.”
“I think that makes you a goddess.”
She laughed. “It’s about time.”
They got dressed, then headed down to the kitchen, and Maisie kissed him senseless again once she realized he’d made coffee. She poured to-go mugs for both of them while he fed the dogs, and then they took off for the shelter. They took all the dogs out to pee and let them have some playtime before bringing them back in for breakfast. He was surprised when he saw so many empty kennels, and she told him they’d had a surge of adoptions after his Instagram photos.
Ruby was overjoyed to see him and covered him with kisses.
Maisie gave him a pointed look, which made him sigh. “I would…you know I would, but it’s not a good idea right now with Lee staying at the house and everything up in the air. Plus, Jezebel doesn’t like most dogs.”
She huffed a laugh. “No kidding. I know, I just feel bad for her. A family was interested a couple of weeks ago, but they changed their mind.”
“What can we do to find her a home?”
“Honestly, the Instagram posts have made a huge difference.” She gave him an ornery look. “Quite a few women have specifically asked for you. I may need you to make celebrity appearances from time to time.”
“You don’t mind?” he asked.
She grinned. “First rule of running a shelter: tug the heartstrings. Second rule: do anything you can to seal an adoption.” She gave his arm a tap. “Well, within reason. As long as you come home with me, they can look all they want.”
Maisie was torn about when to give the dogs their stockings, but they worried they’d be late for brunch since they’d gotten a late start.
“Let’s just come back later,” Jack said. “You know Iris is going to want to be part of it. She can take pictures for Instagram.” His lips tipped up. “Maximize the heartstring pulling.”
“Okay,” she said. “But let’s make sure we do it this afternoon. I don’t want to keep them waiting.”
“Deal.”
Maisie drove them to the Buchanan house, and Jack couldn’t stop looking at her, her hair like a fire in the sun. He reached over and took her hand, shocked all over again that this gorgeous, feisty redhead was his.
“If you look at me like that at brunch,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, “Lee might take us out back and hose us down.”
“I think he’ll be feeling his hangover too much to notice me lusting after you.” But the thought of Lee was sobering. The guy was in serious trouble, and he was going to need his siblings to help him through it. Would he want Jack’s help too?
Everyone had already arrived by the time they walked in the door. Christmas music was playing, and the delicious smells made his stomach growl. Finn was sitting on the sofa with Addy on his lap. Tyrion lay on the floor at his feet, but he was staring up at Addy as though she’d hung the moon. Iris was in the overstuffed chair next to them, reading something on her phone, but her face lit up when she saw Jack holding Maisie’s hand.
“This is the best Christmas present ever!” she exclaimed, launching herself out of the chair and into his arms.
He gave her a tight hug. Then she moved on to Maisie, whispering loud enough for Jack to hear, “I’m happy he’s in good hands. Now I won’t have to worry about him so much when I go to college.”
Maisie laughed. “I’ll make sure he’s fed and watered.”
Iris pointed a finger at her. “I’m holding you to it.”
“Dottie says we can eat now that Jack and Maisie are here,” Georgie sa
id as she emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron, River on her heels. She shot Jack a look. “And don’t let the apron fool you. Dottie cooked it all. We only got to arrange it on the counter.”
“At least you were allowed to go into the kitchen,” Addy complained. “She shooed me out.”
“Too many cooks in the kitchen makes the soufflé fall,” Dottie said, appearing behind River. “Besides, I had to pass all of my Christmas brunch traditions down to River’s future bride.”
Georgie’s face flushed with happiness, and Jack was relieved the mess with her father hadn’t stolen her joy.
They all headed into the kitchen, where Georgie and River had set up Dottie’s food on the counter—under her watchful supervision—buffet style, next to a stack of plates. Jack wasn’t surprised to see tented papers with labels next to every dish. A bowl of Jell-O salad said “Comfort,” and a casserole dish with an egg casserole said “A hearty new year.” A plate of banana muffins read “Prosperity,” and a pitcher of mimosas was labeled “Peace,” along with several other dishes and notes.
Jack wanted a jumbo-sized mimosa for all of them.
He was starving, but he made sure Iris and Maisie got plates first. He was about to make his own when he realized he hadn’t seen his brother.
“Where’s Lee?”
“Out back,” Addy said, wincing. “He said the smell of food was making him sick.”
He shot Maisie a pointed look, then said, “You all start without me. I’m going out to check on Lee.”
“That’s a good idea,” Dottie said. “First let me make him one of my special cures.”
Adalia pulled a face. “I can still taste it in my nightmares,” she said, backing out of the kitchen. “I recommend that you all clear out of here for a minute. The smell alone might make you lose your appetite.”
She was right. It looked disgusting and smelled even worse, but Jack had seen firsthand that it was a miracle drug. Once it was done, Dottie called him in, and he took it out back, holding the cup as far away from him as possible.
Getting Lucky Page 33
