28. Chapter 27 #2
He trailed her to the kitchen. Moving around it together, the small amount she let him before she shooed him to a chair, was something he could get used to, but he chased that thought away, too.
She’d been staying with them ever since his near drowning.
Charles was more than fine with it, probably because they’d been able to gang up on him and force him to rest.
His brother came in as Jesse swallowed his antiviral pill and some Tylenol to help with the fever. He frowned at him in worry. “You look worse than yesterday.” He crossed the kitchen, doing the same forehead check Julia had done.
“Just a bit,” Jesse admitted. “I’m going to take another day off.”
“Smart. There’s no reason to push it.” Charles crossed the kitchen, taking the coffee mug Julia held out. “I didn’t schedule any surgeries until this afternoon. Want to spend the morning here with him?”
She smiled at Charles. “Best boss ever.”
“Hey, I don’t need a babysitter,” Jesse mumbled.
Julia lifted an eyebrow. “Are you telling your girlfriend you don’t want her around?”
Jesse couldn’t get used to her calling herself that. She seemed so happy about it, not hesitant at all. The hope from earlier spread. “I’d never tell you that.”
“Good.” Julia crossed to the table to sit beside him.
Charles rummaged in the cabinet for his typical breakfast bar. “I’ll leave you to it, then.” He slipped it into his bag that held his laptop and tablet and any papers he’d brought home. “These last few days have been nice. I’ll miss it when you’re back at your apartment.”
Julia shook her head. “I can just imagine what people at the hospital would say if they found out I was having sleepovers at my boss’s house.”
Charles frowned.
Julia waved him off before he could argue. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t care what people say, not when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Charles nodded, but his face didn’t clear. “I’ve been considering some changes. There are a few other private practitioners with separate surgical facilities in town. State-of-the-art, too.”
Julia shrugged. “I go where you go, but don’t change things for me.” Her eyes found Jinx again. “There’s someone I wouldn’t mind running into on our days at the hospital.”
A smile tugged at Charles’s lips. “I never thought I’d see the day when you would get all serious about someone like this.”
Julia’s ears turned red. “Don’t start.”
Charles chuckled, moving to the table to ruffle her hair. “Still the same Julia.” To Jesse’s embarrassment, his brother kissed the top of his head as he passed. “Sometimes I think my brother is actually one of the luckiest people around.”
Jesse blushed.
Charles closed the door behind him.
“Like hell,” Julia muttered, scowling. “Did he forget that the universe just proved it was out to get you?”
Jesse reached over, his fingers brushing over the red shell of her ear. “But I’m here. People were close by to fish me out of the pool, quickly too. Maybe that is a form of luck.”
She leaned into his hand. “Luck would be it not happening at all. Though…” she trailed off, staring at the table with that embarrassed look he’d caught her wearing more than once over the last few days.
Jesse’s pulse throbbed behind his ears. “There’s something you haven’t been saying.”
“Yeah.” She turned toward him, her hands lifting to cup his face, making him grow still as his heart thudded. “I love you, Jinx.”
The racing inside only got worse. He stared at her, taking in the softening of her eyes and her spreading smile.
“I’m such a cliché. At the hospital, it hit me hard, how much I would lose if you were gone. You’re important to me, Jinx. I love you. No, I’m in love with you.” She leaned forward, kissing him and taking away even more of his air.
She pulled back, still so close her breath fluttered over his damp lips, her sparkling emerald eyes laughing at him. “Breathe, Jinx.”
Her words allowed him to gasp in new air. “Are you sure?” he asked.
Her hand shifted, brushing back the curl that flopped into his face. “I wouldn’t tell you if I wasn’t sure.”
“Oh God. I love you, Julia. So much.” Then he was kissing her, brief, frantic kisses because the adrenaline shooting through his body demanded it. He was floating again. “I’m so happy. I didn’t know it was possible to feel this happy.”
She laughed against his lips. Her hands settled on his face again, drawing him still so she could kiss him deeper. Her tongue stroked inside his mouth and pulled a whimper from him. He reached for her, trying to drag her closer.
She ended the kiss with a soft nip at his bottom lip. “Adorably sexy, like usual.” Her hands left his face to curl around his, tugging him up from the table. “Come on. Back to bed.”
Jesse swallowed, trying to focus. “We shouldn’t.”
“I’m taking you to bed to rest, with maybe a bit of snuggling.
” She smiled back at him as he followed her into the hallway.
“No matter how much you try to tempt me.” Her smile faded as her eyes strayed to the healing gash on his head.
“I want you to heal more than anything. I know things happen, there are no guarantees in life, but the worst thing I can imagine is going back to a life without you in it.”
He sat gingerly on the side of his bed. “I’m sorry about the missed years.”
Her finger found his lips, pressing over them. “You can make it up to me from now on.” She climbed onto the bed, urging him to lie back and curling up behind him. The way her body spooned his soothed his lingering regret. Her arm curled over his waist, pulling their bodies tighter together.
Julia loved him and wanted to be with him. The reality of that made even his headache less painful.
“I wanted to ask you something,” she murmured in his ear.
“Anything,” he mumbled, his eyes closing. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to sleep, not after sleeping away the last few days, but her warmth made everything within him relax.
“Move in with me?”
His eyes popped open. He turned so he could search her face. “I don’t want to rush you.”
She huffed out a breath. “If anything, I’m the one rushing you.
Do you hate the idea? You haven’t experienced much dating, so I should probably give you more time, but I don’t want to wait.
” She leaned in, kissing him again. “I can, though, if you’re not ready for this step.
Going back to my apartment alone will be hell, but we should both want it. ”
“I want it,” he rushed out. “I just—are you sure, Julia?” He wanted to cling to her, but breathed through the need, his mouth going dry as he waited for her answer.
Her forehead pressed against his as her arms wrapped around him, holding him close.
“I’m sure about you moving in. I’m sure about loving you.
” Her eyes slid shut, and she shifted, burying her face in his neck.
“I… I might not say it that often, though. The words feel foreign when I say them. Is that going to hurt you? If I don’t say I love you all the time? ”
“No.” His nose pressed into her hair. Her strawberry scent had faded since she’d been staying with them, but there were hints of it. “Is it going to make you uncomfortable if I say it all the time?”
She let out a snorting chuckle that slid right into his heart. “I think I can handle that.”
“I really do love you, Julia. Just how you are.” His hands slid to the small of her back, rubbing there.
“You’re straightforward, strong, but also really kind.
You know what you want and aren’t shy about going after it.
I should have remembered that. Of course I want to live with you.
” His eyes closed as he absorbed the moment.
The morning light streamed through the window and across his face, adding a soothing warmth.
“There’s no one I trust more than you. I know you love me now, and I won’t doubt it, even if I don’t hear the words again for years. ”
“It won’t take that long,” she muttered, tightening her hold on him.
He laughed. “We’ll see.” His body loosened as fatigue drifted over him. He was going to fall asleep in her arms.
There wasn’t anywhere else he wanted to be.