Page 56 of The One With the Mountain Man

It really did. But I had trouble believing this was the same burger everyone else was eating. "You're telling me Big Al is eating this?"

"Fuck no!" Scottie laughed. "He's got cheddar on his. And he probably used an entire bottle of ketchup. I learned my lesson last time. He grumbled about my special sauce and fancy bacon for weeks. Big Al and all the other old timers get boring food. Everyone else gets the special."

"Well, I am grateful to get the special. You can test recipes on me any time." Marley sank into her burger with a moan that made me grateful I was sitting down in a dark bar.

Scottie smirked. The asshole knew exactly what my problem was. "If you come to book club you'll get plenty of options, but if I need an opinion outside of that, I'll hit you up. Mack wouldn't mind food testing with someone new. Joanne doesn't have the palate for the job and it's driving both of us up a wall."

"Don't tell Travis that. Those two donotneed any more ammunition. What the hell is going on with them anyway?" Every time Joanne was around, Travis went out of his way to annoy her. Way more than usual.

"The sooner we find out, the sooner we can end it." Scottie rapped his knuckles against the table. "We'll talk soon. When I'm not slammed."

We quietly ate our burgers while listening to the band. As the beer made its way into her system and the room heated with all the dancing, Marley took off her sweater, showing off her bare shoulders and more. My mouth watered and to keep myself from mauling her I needed a distraction. "Want to dance?"

Another gorgeous blush. "Sure."

I led her out to the dance floor, not caring how many eyes were on us. She stepped into me, putting one hand on my shoulder. I moved it around my neck, hiking her body against mine with the hand I planted on the small of her back, holding her in the only way that felt right.Possessively."This isn't middle school, Lee." The nickname came out of nowhere, but I instantly liked it.

Her eyes flared. "Lee? Charley is the only person who calls me that."

My fingers flexed, digging into her skin. "Charley better be a girl."

"She'smy best friend."

I hated how strongly I reacted to every passing thought of another potential lover in her life. I wasn’t that kind of man.

Except, apparently, I was.

At least when it came to Marley.

I lowered my lips to her ear and whispered. "I can call you anything you want, but I figured something short and sweet would be easier to say when you get me excited." Mad, hard, happy, it didn't matter. Today I learned I could barely say her name when my heart was pounding.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

I pulled back to see her face and confirm that was a goodoh my godand it was. I shrugged. "Told you I can't pretend. Is it too much? I can try to—"

She pressed her fingers to my mouth. "Don't change who you are. I like you, Jackson, I'm just catching up."

I kissed her fingers, so focused on her that I almost forgot where we were and sucked them into my mouth. "We’ve packed a whole lot of livin’ into a few short days. This," I waved our hands between us as we kept dancing, "isn't a first or second date between total strangers. I've seen you down, you've seen me lose it. We know more about each other than my parents do and they've been married for damn near forty years."

She gave me a look. "I doubt that."

"I'm serious. My parents cohabitate. They're codependent. But they never take the time to actually understand each other, which is why they spend most of their time fighting. You've gotten to knowme. Quality, personal, real things."

"There's so much you don't know about me, Jackson." She tried to pull away, but I held her tighter.

No way I was letting her run. "I know what I need to know. You're a kind, empathetic person who genuinely cares about other people. All those things you confessed today? How you worry that people aren't being genuine? That they're manipulating? You're the opposite. That's why it concerns you so much. Tell me I'm wrong."

She gazed up at me, blinking slowly. The lights of the saloon made her amber-brown eyes glow. It was like an entrancing magic trick designed to lure me deeper and deeper into Marley.

"You're not wrong."

"I know I'm not. We're the same when it comes to that. It's why I feel so comfortable with you, and I hope, why you're comfortable with me."

She nodded once, and then tucked her cheek against my shoulder. I held her tight while she took several deep breaths before settling against me. Something inside me relaxed too. Something, I realized now, that had never felt right until this very moment.

I wasn’t searching for a way out or a quiet corner to get away from the noise. I was right here in the middle of a packed dance floor and nothing about me was vibrating out of control or scratching to be released.

I was at peace. Having Marley in my arms calmed me. Not just because I found her physically soothing but because she accepted me for exactly who I was. I was safe with her. And I wanted her to feel just as safe with me.

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