Page 55 of Much Ado About Hockey

“Do I get a vote?” Jett exclaimed, raising his hand, his eyes wide with interest and excitement.

And she laughed.

“Let’s just go to the car… okay?”

“Gimme the keys,” he immediately prompted, holding out his hand. She reached into her purse, and paused, looking at him.

“Why? Are you driving or am I?”

“Heck no – we’re kissing.”

“I thought you were joking,” she chuckled as he began to pull her quickly along, making a beeline for the car.

“I don’t joke about kissing you.”

“But your poor bruised face, your busted lip, your…” her words died as Jett turned on her the moment they exited the building, almost bumping directly into him.

“Just so you know,” he began in a hushed voice, his eyes intense and searching hers. “I could break every bone in my body, and I’d still want you to kiss me, touch me, or hold me against you. Don’t ever hesitate or hold back because the pain of you not being close to me is far worse than anything I could ever deal with.”

Karen’s lips parted in surprise at his open admission and the raw emotion in his words as he continued, speaking straight to her soul with an intensity and passion that was telling as his voice broke.

“I would rather my lip split and ache if it meant that you gave me a sudden kiss straight from the heart,” he uttered, taking her wrist and putting it on his chest. “If you wanna kiss me, then do it – but don’t ever hesitate, wonder, or look back wishing things were different. Live in the moment with me – and savor everything that this feels like, that we feel like when we are together...”

His words were everything.

“Now, I’m going to the car and taking you with me,” Jett whispered passionately, his eyes glittering with emotion. “And prepare yourself, woman, because I’m about tokiss the stuffin’outta you for hours – because if we dared to go home right now, there is no coming back from that particular ‘cliff’ in our relationship. You got me?”

Her heart slammed into her chest at his words, and the ones she was about to utter directly to his bruised face.

“Then let’s jump.”

Her words echoed between them and she saw the effect it had. He swallowed, his eyes holding hers, searching.

“Are we doing this?” he whispered hoarsely. “Because if you are joking, it’s notevenfunny and…”

Karen moved forward and kissed him. Her fingers sank into his hair, pulling his face to hers, and she understood what he meant about needing, craving, or wanting something so badly that it was worth any discomfort.

His arms wrapped around her as he made a small noise in his throat before kissing her back. She was choosing them, choosing him, and this weird man was the one partner she wanted to walk the road of life with – except, knowing him, he’d make a scene.

Jett would probably sashay or strut, making a display of himself along the ‘road of life’ just so everyone knew that the Actons had arrived. She broke the kiss, only pulling back slightly, needing to say the words burning within her soul.

“I choose you…” she breathed against his lips. “And I’m choosingus.”

And relished his response as he trembled in her arms, nodding erratically, putting his forehead against hers as he tried to calm himself.

“My soul chose you the moment I laid eyes on you,” he admitted emotionally, his breath ragged. “The second I saw you, I knew nothing was going to be the same.”

“Same,” she confessed, baring her heart to him. “I need this. I need you in my life…”

“I can’t function without you anymore.”

“Can you function long enough to drive us home?” she teased, chuckling tearfully as his words burned their way into her heart and soul.

“Duh, Nutella,” he drawled and held up the keys, wiggling them – and then chuckled. “Why do you think I have the keys?”

Karen melted against him, laughing. He tightened his arms around her, hugging her close. She felt him dropping little kisses on her hair, her temple, her shoulder like he couldn’t get enough of her, and she knew this was the right decision, the right moment, and the right time to step forward once more.

Together.

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