“Do you think about having children someday?”

The conversation took a whiplash turn.

Jillian pulled back onto the road. Running the GTO through the gears made her feel in control and eased her nerves.

“Sometimes. I didn’t used to so much before I met Luke. And when I did, it was more like mourning something I would never have.”

“You were his patient?”

Of course she didn’t know for sure. Luke would never break that confidentiality … except with her parents. Traitor.

“I was. I’m not now. Well…” she shrugged “…not officially. He’s brilliant, he really is, but I’m an extra special, pardon my French, fucked-up case. I’m not sure anyone could ‘cure’ me. I want to believe I’m better, but I’m afraid I’m better with Luke, not necessarily because of him. He’s even said it himself. If tomorrow he were to just disappear from my life, I wonder if the woman I’ve become with him would still exist, or if I would slip back to the woman I was before him.”

“Can I ask who you were before him?”

Jessica huffed a small laugh. “I’d tell Thelma I was a monster, but I think that might frighten Luke’s mom so I will tell her that I was simply a woman afraid of herself. A woman who longed for this exact moment in time, but never felt worthy of a future beyond work and physical exhaustion.”

They continued to drive. Jessica knew Felicity needed to get back for the guests who were staying at their bed and breakfast, but Felicity never said a word. She let Jessica have her drive, her moment of quietude with the comfort of knowing she wasn’t alone. Jessica loved the same thing about Luke. They could be together and feel the closeness without the need to fill the space with words. They could spend hours in bed or on the couch at night with her on her laptop studying and him reading or working on a crossword puzzle. Sometimes they’d share a flirty smile, but it was never awkward or boring.

Only in complete silence can the whisper of true love be heard.

Felicity rested her hand on Jessica’s arm as they pulled into the drive over an hour after leaving Luke in a world of dismay. “My son is a smart boy.”

Jessica stared at Felicity’s hand on her arm. “I don’t think his brain is responsible for us being together.”

“That’s why I said he’s a smart boy. He’s following his heart.”

Jessica looked up at Felicity’s loving smile. “Thank you,” she whispered.

*

Luke and Tom were out back chopping wood. Jessica gazed out the window to determine if Luke was mad or if the pained expression on his face was from physical exertion.

“Tom’s always smiling.”

Felicity started cleaning potatoes for dinner. “Most of the time, yes.”

“Chopping wood is not easy work, but Tom is sweating with a smile on his face.”

“He loves working. If he ever stops that’s how we’ll know he’s dead.”

“Can I help you with dinner?”

“You could go ask Tom if he’s grilling or if I’m broiling tonight.”

Jessica could do that. It didn’t require any preparation or actual cooking. “No problem. Of course I risk getting the ax for the grand theft auto.”

“Send them my way. I’ve got your back, Louise.”

Jillian walked around the side of the house. “Hey, baby boy,” she rubbed Jones’s ears after he ran to her, alerting the father-son-lumberjack duo of her arrival.

“Hey, Mario.” Tom smiled or continued smiling.

“Tom Jones.” She grinned, not yet risking a glance at Luke. “Felicity wants to know if it’s grilling or broiling tonight.”

He nodded and handed her his ax. “Here. I’ll go talk with her. Don’t kill each other.”

She watched Tom walk toward the house then turned to face Luke. It was an eerily weird stare off. She wasn’t mad at him anymore, but she also didn’t feel remorseful for what she had done. His face seemed expressionless as well.

“I was going to let you drive her.”

Jessica nodded. “I know … that’s the vibe I got from the trunk earlier.”

“You know I just put new tires on her.”

Another somber nod. “I know … that’s why I was a little surprised she didn’t grip the driveway better.”

“Did you let my mom drive too?”

“No, she didn’t ask, and I didn’t know when I’d get to drive her again so I was a little selfish.” She pulled the insulated flannel shirt she’d grabbed from the garage around her body tighter as a cool gust of wind made her shiver.

Luke nodded with a slow inhale. “Smell that?”

She rolled her eyes up, nose scrunched. “Smoke?”

“My dad’s up front grilling.”

“O-kay …”

Luke motioned toward the shed with his head. “We’ve got time for a quickie in the shed before dinner.”

Both of their grins grew as they dropped their axes on the ground. Bodies and mouths crashed together while attempting to hobble as one to the shed without stumbling.

Once inside, they wrestled with each other’s pants, not caring that they both were in flannel tops. The immediate need was for him to be inside her.

“Oh dear God …” Her head fell back against the wall as he lifted her against it and thrust into her with one desperate move. He felt warm, and hard, and deliciously filling inside her. She made claim to his hair, using it for support as his hands dug into the muscled flesh of her ass moving her up and down.

“I adore you,” he moaned into her neck as she closed her eyes.

Jessica rested her cheek on his head. “My God … you give me life.”

Chapter Thirty

Knight

If Mrs. Baker didn’t die soon, Ryn would leave Jackson. He felt certain of it. There was only so much nervous energy he could release in the form of sex before possibly scaring her off completely. She nearly died when he implied the intention of putting his dick in her mouth instead of her pussy—vagina—because she made the assumption he meant her ass, not her mouth.

When he told her to get on her knees, he saw relief wash over her face. He watched her mouth “thank God” to herself before happily accepting his cock. Although she sucked him like a champ, even swallowing every last drop, she expressed her preference to that over having it shot on her face or breasts. Jackson couldn’t help but feel a jab of disappointment that her ass was off limits—in her words “forever.” Nothing ruins a good blowjob quite like an anal sex ban.

Jackson: Where are you?

Jillian: Texas

Jackson: I have to remove someone.

Jillian: I’m on my way home. DON’T DO ANYTHING!

Jackson: Don’t come home. It might not be safe for you here.

Jillian: Who? Why?

Jackson: One of my students.

Jillian: God you’re sensitive about that damn piano.

Jackson: She knows your name. I never told her your name.

Jillian: Maybe one of your other students did.

Jackson: I always refer to you as my “sister.” Period.

Jillian: It’s not enough.

Jackson: I followed her. She wears a wig and dresses in expensive clothes, but lives in a shack and she lied about her husband being dead or maybe ever having one.

Jillian: Still not enough. I’m coming home.

Jackson: It will be too late.

His phone vibrated with a call. Sliding the mother of his unborn children from his chest, he slipped out of her bed. He’d taken her to dinner as an apology for his recent neurotic behavior. Ryn had thought it was a reward for the blowjob. That worked too.

Afterward he’d insisted on staying the night with her, which earned him the hairy eyeball. She couldn’t imagine why he’d want to stay if they weren’t going to have sex. The tears in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed when he told her how lonely his body felt at night when it wasn’t wrapped in hers.