“So, what happened?” Katrina asked, her tone kind and caring.
The whole incident poured out of Tara, the horrific confrontation with Brynn, the fact that Jackson’s bosses had overheard the entire encounter and now knew all about her shameful and humiliating past, and how she’d ended things because a man like Jackson deserved so much better than what she had to offer.
“Wait a second,” Katrina said, stopping Tara right there. “First of all, what, exactly, are you offering Jackson at this point in the relationship? Besides sex, that is,” she added with a knowing grin.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Tara said, trying to follow her friend’s line of questioning.
Katrina curled her fingers around the edge of the desk and casually swung her legs back and forth. “Well, you said that Jackson deserved better than what you had to offer. Is the only thing you have to offer him sex? Or is there . . . more?”
She knew what Katrina was asking, and the ache in her heart made itself known. “Definitely more, at least for me.” She swallowed hard and said the words out loud for the first time. “I love him.” Unconditionally. Irrevocably.
Katrina’s green eyes softened. “Have you told him?”
“No,” she whispered, hating that her insecurities, and the fear of rejection, had kept her from opening her heart to him.
Katrina tipped her head to the side, studying Tara too insightfully. “So, what you have to offer Jackson is love, the one thing he’s been searching for his entire life, yet you’ve decided to withhold it from him. Because he deserves better?” she asked incredulously. “Don’t you think you should put all your emotional cards on the table and let Jackson be the judge of that?”
God, Katrina was right, yet . . . “What if . . . he doesn’t feel the same way?”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Katrina said with a soft, knowing smile. “Not judging by the way he treats you and looks at you. But you won’t know until you take a chance and get your feelings out in the open. He’s a good man, Tara. We all know it and see it. Well, it took the guys a little longer to get their shit together in that department,” she said with a laugh. “But even Mason has told me that Jackson belongs in this family not because he was born a Kincaid but because he possesses all those qualities that make him a Kincaid.”
Tara already knew what those traits were, even without asking. Honesty. Integrity. Being loyal and passionate and protective. So many of the things she loved about him. Things she wanted and needed from a man in her life.
“But what if—”
Katrina shook her head, cutting Tara off. “No buts. Don’t get so caught up in the past that you can’t see the woman you are today. I almost made that mistake myself, and it nearly cost me my best friend and the man I love,” she said of Mason, her husband and the love of her life. “You’re no longer that defiant, angry girl who took drugs to cope with the shitty circumstances in her life. You haven’t been that person for six years now, Tara, and it doesn’t matter what happened today at Jackson’s office. The girl that Brynn is so bitter and angry at is not the sober, responsible, independent woman you’ve become. And I’m pretty sure that’s the woman Jackson wants in his life.”
Everything Katrina said struck a chord in Tara and calmed the chaos that had been swirling inside of her since leaving Jackson’s office. She felt more in control, more . . . like herself. Katrina was right. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life living in the past, not if she wanted the kind of future she’d always hoped for and dreamed about. A future that included Jackson in every aspect of her life—if she had her way.
She’d talk to him and put her heart in his hands. What happened next was up to him.
Chapter Fourteen
It took Jackson some time after his phone call had ended, and a whole lot of patience, to find out where Tara had gone after leaving his office. Once that business had been concluded, he’d gone straight to Walter’s office to see if the other man could sit in on the three o’clock meeting Jackson had scheduled with a client. He’d been honest about his reasons for needing to leave, and thank God Walter had not only agreed to handle the appointment but had let Jackson know just how much he liked Tara, and he promised to talk to Brynn and make it clear that kind of attack wasn’t welcome in the office.
Jackson couldn’t have been more relieved or grateful for the other man’s support. Then again, Walter, being a family man, was well aware of how bad Jackson’s previous marriage had been and just how long it had taken him to recover from Collette’s betrayal. Walter’s parting words to Jackson had been, Every man needs a good woman by his side, so don’t let Tara slip through your fingers.
He refused to let that happen, and the first order of business was telling Tara how he felt about her. That there wasn’t one thing—her past especially—that would keep him from loving her. Or being with her.
She didn’t answer any of the text messages that he sent, so he drove to the most likely place he thought he’d find her—her house. But when he arrived, she wasn’t there. His second guess had him picking up his cell phone and making a call to Clay so he didn’t run around on a wild goose chase trying to locate her.
“You looking for Tara?” Clay answered the phone without a friendly greeting, his voice gruff and direct.
“Yes.” Judging by Clay’s brusque question, Jackson’s brother knew something was going on, and he pressed him for answers. “How did you know? Is she at the bar?”
“No.” Clay’s voice remained cool as an iceberg. “Mason called to tell me that she came by Inked and that you did something to upset her.”
Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. He knew he hadn’t caused her to run. The situation had. But he wasn’t going to argue the point with his twin. “Is she still there?”
“That all depends on why you want to see her.”
Jesus Christ. He didn’t have time for this shit and decided to be blunt. “To tell her I love her,” Jackson replied, unable to conceal the frustration vibrating in his voice. “Is that a good enough reason?”
Clay was quiet for a long moment, then finally answered, sounding much less terse and more understanding. “Yeah, I suppose it is.”
“So that means I have permission to see her?” Jackson asked sarcastically.
“From me, yes.” There was a definite smirk in Clay’s voice. “But good luck getting past Mason.”
“Trust me, I can handle Mason,” Jackson replied as he started driving toward Inked, anxious to see Tara and finally set things right between them.
“I do believe you can,” Clay said with humor. He paused for a minute, then Jackson heard him release a deep breath before he added more seriously, “I know it was a rough few weeks when we first met, but I want you to know that I’m glad you contacted us and that you’re a part of our family.”
Jackson turned right on a street that led to the tattoo shop and felt his chest tighten with gratitude at his brother’s confession. Six weeks ago, he wasn’t sure he’d ever get to this point with his siblings, and was thankful to finally have their respect and acceptance. It’s all he’d ever wanted from them.
“Thanks,” Jackson said. “Me, too.”
“And you’re probably the best thing that has ever happened to Tara, so don’t fuck it up.”
Jackson chuckled, completely unoffended by Clay’s threat. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I swear I’m going to do everything in my power to make her happy.”
“Good,” Clay said succinctly. “Then we should be absolutely fine.”
They ended the call, and a few minutes later he arrived at Inked, had the car parked, and strode determinedly into the shop. Mason was standing at the front counter, and he lifted a challenging brow as Jackson approached. Oh, yeah, this guy wasn’t going to make any of this easy on him.
“Where is she?” he asked, far more politely than the demand he forced back down his throat.
“Who?” Mason asked, clear
ly feigning innocence.
Yeah, total asshole. “Tara. I know she’s here, Mason.”
His brother crossed his tattooed arms over his chest, not giving Jackson an inch. “What if she doesn’t want to see you?”
“Did she say that?” he shot back.
“She didn’t have to.” Mason gave a careless, one-shoulder shrug. “She came in here crying and upset. What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything to her,” he said through gritted teeth. “Not that it’s any of your fucking business.”
Mason arched a skeptical brow, but an accompanying smirk lifted his mouth, as if he liked the fact that Jackson had challenged him right back. “Yeah, well, it didn’t look that way to me.”
Jackson’s aggravation rose another notch. “You know what, Mason? You’re being a dick right now. You do realize that, don’t you?”
The cocky bastard grinned. “Yeah, that’s kind of how brothers are.”
It was the first time Mason had referred to them as brothers. Realizing Jackson had cracked the toughest nut in the family—so to speak—made him feel as though he’d just gained entrance into a secret society. But this was even better, because it was everything he’d ever wanted and hoped for.
Mason relaxed his stance, a glint of amusement in his gaze. “Clay already called and told me that you were on your way and not to be a dick because you love Tara.”
Jackson didn’t know what he was more annoyed at. The fact that Mason had been jerking his chain from the moment he’d entered Inked or that Clay had revealed how Jackson felt about Tara. “Jesus, is nothing private?”
“Not between siblings,” Mason told him. “Get used to it.”
It was another subtle reference to being part of the Kincaid family, and probably the closest Jackson was going to get to any kind of acknowledgement from this particular brother. “If you don’t let me talk to her, everyone in the goddamn city is going to know that I love Tara before she does!”
Finally, Mason took pity on him and jerked his head toward his office. “She’s in there talking to Katrina. And I can guarantee that if you did anything stupid to Tara, Katrina will rip your nuts off.”
Jackson wasn’t sure if Mason was joking or not. “I find it hard to believe that your wife is more deranged than you.”
Mason laughed, as if Jackson had just complimented him. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Done sparring with Mason, Jackson strode over to the office. Just as he reached for the doorknob—no, he wasn’t going to knock and announce himself and risk Tara refusing to see him—the door swung open. Katrina came to an abrupt stop right in front of him, and Jackson resisted the urge to cup his hands over his balls to protect them, just in case.
“I want to talk to Tara.” He wasn’t asking permission. His need to see her, right now, his feelings nonnegotiable.
“Okay,” Katrina replied easily, then slid past him to leave the office, while Tara was still inside.
Well, that was easier than expected, Jackson thought.
He entered the room, then closed and locked the door behind him because he wanted privacy and no interruptions. He studied Tara a moment to gauge her emotions. She twisted her hands in front of her, and her eyes were wide as she stared back at him. He returned her gaze, but try as he might, Jackson wasn’t able to pinpoint the emotions there.
He couldn’t figure out where he currently stood with her, but that was fine, because before they left this office, she was going to know exactly where she stood with him.
Never taking his gaze off hers, he slowly moved toward her, closing the distance between them.
She swallowed hard and shifted anxiously on her feet as she watched his approach, that pretty dress of hers fluttering around her legs. “Jackson . . .”
He reached her the same moment she said his name, and he pressed his fingers over her lips, cutting off anything she’d been about to say. “Do not say a goddamn word,” he said gruffly, refusing to give her any kind of possible opportunity to reject him. “Not until I’m done talking to you.”
She just blinked up at him with those gorgeous blue eyes, silently complying, and it was so difficult to ignore just how soft and warm her mouth felt. It also took extreme effort not to replace his fingers with his lips on hers and kiss her until she melted against him and all those fears that had prompted her to bolt in the first place drifted away. Until there was just the two of them and none of this tension remained.
“I just need you to listen to me, okay?” he said in a gentler tone.
She nodded, and he moved his hand away, focusing on the reason he was here. “I love you, Tara,” he said, watching the wonder and awe that shifted across her features. “I love everything single thing about you. From the moment I walked into the bar, I was drawn to you, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why.”
She stepped closer and settled a hand on his chest, right over his beating heart. “Tell me,” she whispered.
He placed his palm over hers and searched her upturned face, reveling in the open, receptive way her gaze held his. He didn’t know what had prompted this change, but he took full advantage. “Because you’re the other half of me that I’ve been waiting to find and the only woman who has ever made me feel whole and complete. I spent my entire life feeling like I wasn’t a part of my own family, and years searching for that one place I belonged. And I found it, right here with you, and I hope to God you feel the same way.”
Happy tears sparkled in her eyes. “I do. I love you, Jackson. So much it scares me.”
He groaned in relief at her declaration, and sheer joy filled him to overflowing. “Sweetheart, there’s no reason to be afraid. Ever. I’ll always be here for you.” It was a promise he intended to keep forever.
“I know. And I’m so sorry about what happened today at your office.”
“You have no reason to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. Brynn’s reaction was the problem. Not you.”
She let out a long breath. “I realize that now.”
“Good. You can’t let your past mistakes and actions define who you are now. You’re a courageous woman who had the strength to make a better life for herself, despite the odds against you. That’s the woman I want to marry.”
“Marry?” she asked, her voice high-pitched and shocked.
“Yeah, marry.” Grinning at her, he cupped her face in his hands and brushed his thumbs gently over her soft cheeks. “Will you be my wife, Tara Kent? You’re the woman I adore and love and the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I want to protect you, cherish you, and make you mine. Forever.”
“Yes,” she breathed, and gave him a radiant smile. “You make me happier than I ever believed possible. I’ve been through the struggle, and you’re the happy ending to my story.”
“Thank fuck,” he said, and brought her mouth up to his, kissing her slow and sweet at first, which quickly escalated to hot, deep, and demanding. God, this woman was his everything, and he planned to spend every single day making sure she knew it, too.
After a while, he lifted his mouth from hers, and his lips quirked with a sinful grin as he looked into her desire-filled eyes. “You know, I ought to put you over my knee and spank you for running out on me and putting me through hell.”
She bit her bottom lip, as if holding back a smile of her own. “Yes, I was very, very bad, and you should take me home right now and punish me.”
Jesus. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the office door. She didn’t have to tell him twice, not when he knew exactly what she both wanted and needed. And he intended to provide her with everything. Always.
Epilogue
Jackson was going to be an uncle. The thought made him grin as he walked into the hospital waiting room holding Tara’s hand and met up with the rest of the Kincaid clan waiting for Clay and Samantha’s baby to arrive. The past few months had been exciting ones. Two weddings—Levi and Sarah, then Jackson and Tara—and now the first baby bein
g born into the family.
“Any news on baby Charlotte?” he asked, glancing at his two brothers.
“Not yet,” Levi said from where he sat on a tweed chair with his wife, Sarah, by his side. The two of them had recently announced that she was pregnant, too, and they couldn’t be more thrilled. “Samantha’s going on six hours of labor, so hopefully soon.”
Jackson smirked and didn’t miss the opportunity to goad his sibling. “So, then we already know that Charlotte is going to be stubborn like her uncle Mason, right?”
The girls laughed in agreement and Mason flipped him off. “You just wait. She’s going to love her uncle Mason best. I’m going to be the cool uncle in the family.”
“Don’t worry, Jackson,” Katrina chimed in, her gaze suddenly taking on a mischievous glint, even as she moved closer to Mason and slid her hand into his. “There’s another little niece or nephew on the way, and I’ll make sure he or she loves each uncle equally. No playing favorites.”
Mason frowned at Katrina in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Katrina suddenly gave Mason the sweetest, softest smile as she glanced up at him in adoration. “You’re going to be a daddy.”
The startled look that passed over Mason features was comical as realization struck. “Ho-ly fuck,” he said in awe. “We’re having a baby?” he asked in disbelief, as everyone else watched as the emotional moment played out between the couple.
Katrina slowly nodded. “Yeah, we are,” she said, her voice filled with happiness. “That’s why I’ve been nauseous for the past few weeks. It wasn’t the flu after all.”
Mason wrapped his wife in a huge, exuberant hug. “I can’t believe we’re having a fucking baby!” He released her and shook his head, still seemingly in shock. “How did it happen? We weren’t even trying to get pregnant.”
“It must have been that super sperm of yours,” she said with a laugh.
“Oh, hell yeah,” he said, and sealed his lips over Katrina’s in a hot, passionate kiss that conveyed exactly how he felt about his wife and the new addition to their family they were going to have.
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