Jackson #2
Free to project-manage in a hands-on capacity, the way he loved best, Jackson was thriving. The money from the sale of his condo had ended up funding the purchase of a sprawling rundown Victorian farmhouse. With contracts already exchanged, work was due to start shortly on their first renovation.
Jackson ran rough fingers up and down her arm; he was quiet tonight. Hardly surprising after all the company. The warmth of his body surrounded her but the muscles across his diaphragm were taut, the scruff on his jaw masking a tense mouth.
Leah tipped her chin to look up at him. “What is it?”
His brooding eyes scared her a little. He rarely looked at her that way anymore. The blue of his irises fierce, even in the half-light. “I have something for you.”
“What kind of something?”
“Something I should have given you before now but it took time to prepare.” Jackson pushed himself up and swung his legs off the couch. “Give me a minute.”
She could hear him jog up the stairs and let her gaze drift to enjoy her Christmas tree while she waited. Her covetous dream that Jackson had turned into a reality. He filled her heart until every fragment of it belonged to him.
There was an envelope in his hand when he returned. Her name was written on the outside.
“What is it?”
“Open it and you’ll see.” The ghost of a smile flickered on his lips and was gone.
Clumsily, she ran her finger under the flap, pulled out two sheets of paper, and scanned the contents. It made no sense so she read it again. “I don’t understand.”
Jackson sat down next to her, elbows on his knees. He’d rolled the sleeves of his shirt up, navy cotton brushing the sexy forearms she had a full-on obsession with. Leah drank them in, even as her mind churned over the words in the letter.
“In the note Esther left with her will, she asked me to make you a gift when Amity Court sold. That’s what I’m doing, even though the circumstances have changed a little bit.”
“I’m pretty sure this isn’t what she meant.”
Jackson shrugged. “She left the amount up to me.”
Leah held up the letter. The paper shook in her fingers. “This says half of it’s mine. Half of this house . . . You’re certifiably mad.”
A disarming grin spread over his lips. His brow had cleared. He looked far too relaxed for a man trying to hand over more than half a million dollars. “I thought it was time you found out what it’s like to have a tenant you can’t get rid of. Karma’s a beautiful beast.”
She refused to be distracted. “Why, Jax? Why are you giving me half of your house?”
He lifted a hand, threading his fingers into her hair and pulling her toward him.
His lips brushed her forehead. “Because I never want you to worry about being homeless again. And so I know that if you say you want me for good, it’s really me that you’re choosing.
Not Amity Court.” Jackson dragged Leah onto his lap and bent to kiss her lips.
“I’ll give you everything I can. Anything you need.
I love you that much.” Tears clogged Leah’s throat.
They spilled from her eyes and he wiped each one away.
“It isn’t legal until we sign the official documents.
I couldn’t get it completed without your signature but the papers are all drawn up and ready. ”
She was shaking her head even as he explained. “I won’t take it. It’s yours. Esther wanted you to have it.”
“Esther wanted me to be happy. And I am. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been because of you. I would have signed it all over, but it isn’t easy to look after a property like this on your own. Handyman Stan and Hazel would be no help. It’s hard to find reliable labor these days.”
He told her about each of the requests in Esther’s letter. Leah was moved beyond words by the thoughtful perception of her old friend. She stared at him for a long minute, searching for any doubts and finding none. Just love and utter certainty.
“I guess”—Leah’s voice cracked on the suggestion—“we should do this together then. I’m in if you’re in.”
Jackson’s face lost all its tension. His eyes were fixed on hers, molten and elated. Leah’s pulse did the Cowboy Hustle beneath her jaw.
“Sounds like we have a deal,” he said at last.
His lips found hers. Their kiss whispered of adoration and need, trust and security. It made promises for the future and soothed old wounds from the past. When they broke apart, it was only by the barest inch, as if he weren’t willing to give her any more space than that.
“I didn’t understand why Esther wrote that letter. I couldn’t see the point of her requests. But I get it now. It was all about you. You were every reason why.” He dropped kisses onto her upturned mouth again and again. “I never stood a chance, Leah Raven. You’re everything I didn’t know I needed.”
“The love child of a penniless student and a bag lady?” Even as the thrill of his words tingled over her skin, she couldn’t resist teasing him.
His groan was husky. “You’ll never let me forget that, will you?”
“Unlikely.” Leah bent to kiss his jaw, tracing the stubble to the smooth skin under one ear. She ran her tongue down the cords of his neck, feeling them tighten beneath her touch. He was home, more than any house ever could be. “You know what you are, don’t you?”
“A jackass?” He winced against her lips.
Leah shook her head. “You’re my someone. My own special someone. I love the inside of you twice as much as I love the outside of you. And let’s face it, Jax, you’re really pretty.”
“We make one hell of a team, then, Raven.” Jackson’s eyes flared. He dragged her mouth back to his, their hearts beating to a shared rhythm. “I’m pretty and you’re perfect. You’ll never get rid of me now.”
“Well, damn.” Contentment fizzing like pop over ice, Leah smiled against his lips. “I guess it’s lucky I’m good at making the best of things.”