I’d drifted in and out of sleep comforted by the fact that Jax wasn’t going anywhere. Caroline, Rainbow, and Charlie had looked in on me. I remembered hearing their soft voices. At one point, I thought I heard them grilling Jax. His chest vibrated as he explained to them how he’d lied to me to keep me away from him, thinking that it would be the best for me. Their voices were like velvet hammers admonishing him for hurting me with lies and, at the same time, understanding that he’d wanted the best for me. I’d felt his warm lips kiss the top of my head as he promised never to leave my side again.
At one point, I thought I’d heard Greg. All I could remember was Jax’s chest rumbling with laughter as he held me tighter.
Penny shuffled to Jax’s feet. She tilted her head toward the thick white socks and immediately jerked it back.
I laughed, remembering what Caroline had said about his stinky feet.
“Sorry, Penny. I should’ve warned you about that,” I said.
She clucked then quickly pecked his toe.
Jax jumped out of bed as if he’d been hit by a jolt of electricity.
“What the hell?”
He stared down at Penny, his eyes bleary. It was annoying how he could look so sexy with his hair all messy like that. My hair on the other hand was pretty much a tangled mess. And I was pretty sure I had morning gunk in the corners of my eyes.
“There’s a chicken in your bed,” he said.
“That’s Penny.”
“She’s wearing a sweater.”
“Well, she’s cold,” I snapped.
“Why is she looking at me like that?”
Penny’s head tilted as she studied him. “She’s doesn’t know what to make of you and neither do I.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Why are you still here anyway?”
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”
“I’m not. I’m just curious.”
Penny squawked as if laughing, flapped her wings, and flew off the bed.
“Traitor,” I hissed as she left the room.
“Hey, Nicole, I heard your voice and wanted to—”
Greg popped his head in the room and stopped midsentence when he saw me. I must’ve looked annoyed because he gave me that holy-shit-Nicole’s-pissed look he got whenever he did something that made me mad. He spoke so fast, he sounded like an auctioneer.
“Uh, just wanted to see if you were feeling better and from the smoke coming out of your ears, I see that you are. Carry on. Good luck, dude. Uh, Professor Cooper. Jax. Bye.”
He dashed out, shutting the door.
There was a moment of awkward silence. Slowly, Jax turned to face me. He swallowed.
“He looked scared.”
“He’s known me for a long time.”
“I want to know you for a long time too.”
His voice was so soft it almost broke me right then and there.
“Oh, really? Well, I don’t want to hold you back from your career or anything like that. Feel free to leave any time, like right now. You’re not getting any younger you know.”
“I made a mistake. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just thought you’d be better off without me and maybe you would be, but I’m too selfish to even let you get a few miles away from me.”
“Well, maybe I’ve changed my mind. There’s nothing like a near death experience to get a girl thinking. Make that two near death experiences. Don’t forget about the tornado. Maybe I don’t want to push your old sorry ass in a wheelchair in a few years. Although going out to dinner would be cheap since you’ll be getting the senior citizen’s discount soon.”
He chuckled. “All right, all right. So, I was exaggerating about our age difference.”
“I don’t think so. I admit you’re well-preserved for someone so old,” I said as I gazed at his stunningly handsome face. “But those fine lines around your eyes are getting deeper by the minute.”
There weren’t any.
“And you might want to think about shaving your head soon,” I added. “You know, to disguise the thinning hair you have on top.”
“I’m balding?”
I bit my tongue, holding back a laugh as his hand flew to his head and he dashed to the mirror.
“I don’t see it.” A muscled arm flexed as he ran a hand through his hair, looking for the imaginary balding spot. The man was utter perfection. It was so cute watching him freak out.
“You’re laughing at me.” His scowling reflection gazed back at me from the mirror.
“No, I’m . . . yes, I’m laughing.” I giggled. “Look at yourself, Jax. You’re utterly gorgeous. Inside and out.”
I climbed out of bed. It was so hard staying mad at him.
“Even at your worst, you couldn’t bury that kind heart of yours.” I turned him around to face me and wrapped my arms around his warm body. “You’re a bad liar by the way.”
“I shouldn’t have done that to you. I’m sorry. I told you I went after you the minute you drove off.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.”
“I know that. I mean, why at that moment. What made you change your mind?”
He gazed lovingly into my eyes. “The moment you accused me of being juvenile, I saw the woman in you, a strong woman. You shouldn’t have to lose yourself to love me, and I don’t ever want you to stand behind me. I want you to stand with me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”
Dipping his head, he pressed his lips against mine. I fell into his kiss, thanking the heavens that I’d found a love like Jax.
“Okay, well, you need to stop with this alpha man nonsense and start talking with me, not at me.” I took a step back and looked him straight in the eye. “You went Fred Flintstone on me.”
“I won’t do that to you again. Promise.”
“Good. So where are we moving to. I need to see if I can transfer some of my classes. Oh, and how am I going to break it to Greg? It’s going to kill him.”
“We’re not leaving.”
“We’re not?” I smiled, excited.
“I got an email late last night from the provost begging me to stay. Apparently, my department head and Gianna made the front page of the newspaper. Too bad it was of them sneaking out of a hotel room. Funny how university administration suddenly believes your side of the story when things like that happen. Though I have a sneaking suspicion that my little sister had something to do with that photo mysteriously appearing out of nowhere.” He grinned. “And it does help that my phase two study got funded by NIH.”
“Oh my god! Really?”
Caroline, that little sneak. I loved her to pieces.
“This is what you’ve been waiting for,” I said excitedly. “You’re going to do it, Jax. I know you’re going to find a way to beat cancer.”
“And you’ll be by my side every step of the way.”
“You bet.” Just as I was about to kiss him again, my stomach gave out a loud embarrassing rumble.
He laughed
“Somebody’s hungry. I meant what I said; I’ll do anything to show you how much you mean to me, and I’m starting right now by cooking you breakfast.”
“Jax, you don’t have to—what are you doing?” I squealed when my feet left the ground as he scooped me into his arms.
“Taking you back to bed so I can serve you breakfast.” Placing me gently on the bed, he hovered over me and he kissed me deeply. My body ignited into a flame.
Screw breakfast. I drew him closer, my hands traveling down to his toned body. I didn’t care who was in the house. I wanted him. Now.
He pulled back with a silly grin on his face. Wagging a finger at me he said, “Nu-huh, breakfast first. Dessert later. Besides I have a surprise for you. Wait here.”
Listening to the loud clanging of pots and pans and the open and closing of cabinet doors, I laid back in bed, elated that my Jax was back.
As I waited impatiently, Rainbow and Charlie poked their heads into the room.
“You look happy,” Rainbow sai
d as she sank down on the edge of my bed.
“I am.”
“Rainbow and I are having breakfast at Jitters. Greg is with Travis, so you’ll have the house all to yourself.”
“Thanks, Rainbow.”
“Are things okay between you and Jax?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah. We talked it out.”
“That’s a relief,” she said. “You know, he may be a man, but it was the boy inside him that made him do stupid things.”
“He told you what he did?”
She nodded. “While you were sleeping, we talked. He loves you very much.”
“So you were grilling him yesterday while I was sleeping. I thought I was dreaming.”
Rainbow’s face turned pink. “You heard that?”
“Yeah.”
“I know we’re not your parents, and I hope you don’t mind—”
I placed a hand over Rainbow’s, stopping her.
“You’ve done more for me than my parents ever have. Thank you.”
Her kind brown eyes grew moist. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her.
There was a loud crash and Penny squawked.
“Are you sure you want to leave? He might burn down the house,” I said.
They laughed as they headed out the door. A couple of minutes later, I smelled bacon frying. My stomach rumbled. I was about to get up and attack whatever food Jax had managed to cook when I heard familiar music.
“Jax?”
The pounding piano chords filled the house again and suddenly Jax skated across the hall in front of my opened door.
“Oh my god!” I squealed when I heard “Old Time Rock and Roll” playing down the hall. Suddenly, Jax slid into my room, his shirt collar up and in his boxers. With a huge grin, he placed a plate of pancakes and applewood-smoked bacon on my lap.
With spatula in hand, he started singing. I laughed so hard, tears spilled down my eyes.
I clapped along to the beat, whooping when he jumped onto the bed and swayed his hips to the music. Then, in Tom Cruise fashion, he fell beside me and spazzed out, flopping his arms and legs around like a fish out of water.
“You’re crazy!” I squealed.
He flipped over, panting, “Crazy for you.”
He pulled me to him and kissed me deeply. Putting the plate of food on the nightstand, I snuggled into his arms.
“Funny, it’s seems like only yesterday that I was here in your bed holding you,” he said.
“For me it was yesterday . . . almost.” I kissed him. “You never told me what drew you back here.”
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like something was drawing me back, like gravity. After all these years, that feeling never left.”
“I think that’s how I went back in time. I always thought it was an accident. It was meant to happen. It was like your gravity pulled me through time so that I could be with you. We were meant to be together. Does that sound corny?”
Those sapphire eyes that had followed me through time gazed at me, holding all the love in the world, my world.
“It sounds just right.”
His lips pressed against mine, making the final connection that I knew would never break because our love, our gravity, held us together.
Also by L.G. CASTILLO
Strong & Wilde Series
Secrets & Surrender Series
Your Gravity Series
Broken Angel Series
www.lgcastillo.com
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Your Gravity: Part Three Page 9
