“Whatever you want. But does that mean you say yes?”
She nodded, unable to stop the flow of tears. “Yes. Oh, hell yes. I love you. Of course I’ll marry you. But are you sure you want to put up with me?”
He laughed. “’Til death do us part. And believe me when I tell you this, Jenna. When I walked out on you before, I was hurt and angry and needed some space, but I never had any intention of letting you go. I’m not my parents and I don’t give up that easily. I’m in this forever.”
She nodded. “So am I. I’ll fight for you—for us—no matter what. We Rileys never give up.”
Tyler had no idea love could feel like this—this overwhelming urge to protect, to want someone so badly they could hurt you. But he also knew he never had any intention of walking away from Jenna. If she hadn’t come to him, he would have gone to her in a few days and told her he wasn’t giving up on her.
He’d never give up on her.
Now all he wanted to do was show her how much he loved her.
“Do you have some tissues in that purse?” he asked as he held her while she finished crying.
She dug them out, blew her nose, and laughed. “I don’t make the prettiest picture of a woman you wanted to propose to, do I? My nose is red and runny and my eyes probably look like something out of a horror movie.”
He looked at her face. She was beautiful. “You’re right. I should reconsider.”
She punched his arm. “Smart-ass. You’re going to be waking up to bedhead and this face for the rest of your life.”
“This was not in the disclosure agreement.”
“And you are not funny.”
“Yes, I am.” He drew her against him and kissed her. “That’s one of the reasons you love me.”
She threaded her arms around inside his coat and snuggled against him. “You’re right. You make me laugh.”
“Is that all I do for you?”
“No. You do a lot of things for me.”
He looked around at the space, already envisioning the future, what this place would look like when it was fixed up. “You know, now that you’ve decided this is the place for you, we should officially christen it.”
She tilted her head back to look at him. “In what way?”
“You know what way.” He shrugged his coat off and laid it on top of the bar. “I’ve always wanted to have you on top of the bar.”
“One of these days we’re going to have to do it in the bed.”
He turned to her and held out his hand. “What fun would that be?”
She followed him to the bar. “You’re right. We’ll do it in the bed when we’re old and our bones are creaky.”
He laughed. “I doubt that.”
“What? That we’ll ever be old and creaky?”
He pulled her coat off and slid his hands down her arms. “No, that we’ll be doing it in the bed then, either.”
When he kissed her, she sighed against his lips.
Yeah, he knew the feeling.
It was fucking perfect again, because she was back in his arms again. He moved his hands over her body, roaming all over as if he hadn’t felt her against him in years rather than days.
He’d missed her. Being without her left a void in his life, an emptiness he never wanted to feel again.
Torn between wanting to linger and wanting to be inside her, he pressed his lips to her neck and inhaled her scent, then dragged his tongue across her throat, loving her shuddering response. She clutched his shoulders and fell against him, limp as he pulled down her loose sweater and pressed kisses to her collarbone and the swell of her breasts.
He scooped her up in his arms and sat her on top of the old bar.
“When we get this place fixed up,” he said as he pulled off her shoes and socks, “I’m going to put you on the shiny new bar and make love to you again. And on the stage, too.”
She smiled down at him, brushed his hair away from his eyes. He undid the clasp on her jeans and pulled them off her hips, drew them down her legs, then swept his hands up, loving the silkiness of her skin. His hands were scarred and rough, so different from her buttery soft body. But she didn’t seem to mind his hands, especially when he palmed her sex through her panties.
She gasped and arched against him, clutching his coat in her fingers when he rubbed her * back and forth, using the barrier of the silk to tease her. She was wet, her musky sweet scent making his dick throb.
He pulled her legs to the edge of the bar and pressed his nose against her panties, drowning in her fragrance. He drew her panties aside and licked her, and she moaned, leaning her palms down on the bar for support as she thrust her * against his face.