“Maybe I wanted to sneak in your window one last time.” He winked and then leaned in, kissing me slowly as his hands slipped under my shirt.
After I had agreed to marry him, Jess loaded up my bags and drove them right back to the farmhouse. He didn’t give a damn what the town gossips said about me living at Frank’s with him. It was my father’s opinion that had plagued on his conscious. Henry Tanner was important to him. So I had lived the last few months in my old bedroom as we planned a wedding for the first warm day in March.
“Jess, we better um, stop.”
“I know. Fifteen more hours,” he whispered.
“Fifteen more hours,” I whispered back.
“Fifteen more hours and you’re mine.”
“I’m already yours, Jess.”
“I know, but tomorrow you’ll promise to be mine forever,” he whispered.
“Until you have no hair and no teeth.”
“Me?” he grinned. “What ‘bout you?”
“I’ll stay the same.”
Jess ran his fingers through my hair. “You do know that I’d love you even if it was gone.”
“Me too,” I whispered, looking deeply into his blue eyes. “I’ll love you forever, no matter what.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded, making our noses rub back and forth against each other. Sometimes when I looked at him, my feelings caused a literal pain in my chest. I loved him that much. I loved him so completely that it lacked comprehension. As we stood under moonlight, I felt that stab right behind my rib cage.
“Alex, get back in here,” Sadie hissed out the window. “It’s eleven fifty nine.”
“Bye, Jess.” I kissed him one last time before he let me go. I crawled back in the house, feeling happier than I ever thought possible.
Chapter 46
When I was twenty–five…
I followed Jess down the fancy hallway of the hotel in Dallas. Everything was dipped in high end, designer couture. Sadie would just faint in excitement if she saw the place. He unlocked the door and then scooped me up, not in the traditional walk over the threshold, but a slung over the shoulder run with my head dangling upside down. I screamed as he dropped me down on the bed.
“You better not mess all of this up. Sadie forced me to sit for two hours to look this way. It’s not happening again.”
“You plan on marrin’ me more than one time?” He winked then turned to the straight-faced bell hop with our bags. Reaching for his tip, the man in the black suit kept a crisp, thin line across his lips. I wondered how obnoxious Jess and I would need to get before a grin cracked on that guy’s face. He turned to leave without a word.
I fell backward on the soft bed; it cradled my tired body like a cloud. The high thread count massaged my shoulders and every breath I pulled into my lungs even smelled expensive. The joys of being a Mason, I guess.
Holding out my hand, I saw the flat, wide band with a dusting of specs imbedded like bits of snow. The ring wasn’t Texas-debutant-sized with a loathsome giant stone; my perfect present from Jess was simple and plain with just a spray of tiny diamonds. I smiled, remembering the wedding and moment he had placed it on my finger. I had looked deeply into those blue eyes and promised never to take it off.
The ceremony had been everything the residents of Arlis waited sixteen years to see at Sprayberry. Maybe not the elaborate gala dreamed up in the minds of the society women, but a simple wedding with sparkling touches added by Mrs. Mason. I mean Eva Lynn. She insisted I call her by her given name since I was now a Mason myself.
Mrs. Jessup Mason. Alexandra Mason. Alex Mason.
The words felt strange on my tongue. It would take time; something Jess and I seemed to have an abundance of these days. The warmth spread through my limbs as I thought of many happy, endless moments of just being in his presence. I loved being close and together without the iron claw of the past holding me back. I loved telling him exactly how I felt without my conscious hammering away. Our invisible rope grew stronger and tighter every day. I felt complete and whole, knowing Jess and I had an infinite forever.
I turned to look out the picturesque suite window overlooking the Dallas skyline. The building had a beautiful view of the city. Tomorrow, Jess and I would board a plane to Paris for our honeymoon. I picked the one place I wanted him to see. The giddy bubbles of anticipation rose up through my stomach. I would get to see Paris once again, but this time Jess would experience it too. Our trip served another purpose; tie up the loose ends with my apartment and the life I had left there.
I never felt like I’d given up a single thing by staying at Sprayberry. I had made the right decision; the feeling had grown stronger every day. Once we returned from the trip, I planned to concentrate on what to do with my new life in Arlis, which seemed to be the million-dollar question. The school offered me an art instructor position two days a week this fall. In Dallas, I found a gallery curator opening but I would need to live part-time in the city.
“You hungry?” Jess asked as he pulled off his suit jacket. “You didn’t eat much at the party. Caroline packed up some cake.”
I grinned at him, shaking my head.
He pulled out a container and shoved a few bits of Italian crème cake in his mouth. Caroline packed that for him, not me. I watched his tongue lick a few crumbs from his pink lips. Leaving the white shirt untucked from the black jeans, he fell into the fancy chair next to the bed. I felt a catch in my chest just watching him. He was mine forever.
Jess moved his hand to the front pocket of his jeans then pulled away. I knew he was itching to check his phone. “Go ahead and call.”
“Nah. I've got to just trust 'em. I know Skeeter and Bobby can do it. It’s just hard to leave.”
“I know, Jess. Try to remember a plan’s in place for every kind of emergency. And it's just ten days. Then you can go back to exhausting yourself as their dictator.”
“Yes ma’am, Mrs. Mason.” He gave me a sly grin from his chair, waiting for the crimson to appear on my cheeks. Jess moved from the chair and crawled on top of me. “No more hours,” he whispered.
Jess kissed me hard on the mouth as I tasted the sweetness from the cake. His hands slide across the silky fabric of my dress, over my waist, and cupped my right breast.
I had fought every single person on my dress; basic, plain, and simple with no train or jewels, and no lace or tulle; and absolutely under no circumstances, a damn can can. Eva Lynn and I never quite came to terms on her idea of a bride. During one of our trips to an elaborate dress store in Dallas, I gave an evil, sarcastic laugh and suggested cutoffs with a white tank top since we couldn’t agree on the style of dress. I thought I might need a bottle of good old fashion smelling salts when she collapsed in the chair. That little comment won me this satin, slip dress.
Jess rolled over on his side, pulling my body tight against him. His fingers trailed down my back and cupped the silk clinging to my rear. Heat flushed on my neck as I read his thoughts. “Are you wearin' panties under this?”
“Sadie could see the lines.” I looked back into his blue eyes, knowing I was right. I think this dress was the winner, just not in the way Eva Lynn had in mind.
“So that sweet ass of yours felt like this all night and I didn’t know it?” His fingers traced deep over each butt cheek. My heart beat fast in my chest as I nodded yes to the question. The plain silk dress was definitely worth every fight. His hand continued around and around, dipping lower down each thigh. I kissed him, matching the movements of my tongue to the pace of his hand. He pulled back; his eyes almost a solid, dark blue. Rolling away, Jess set up. He took a deep breath, his shoulders moving with the motion.
“I need to give you somethin' now, or it won’t be until tomorrow at this rate.”