Page 83 of The One With the Mountain Man

"Nothing until the book is turned in. We'll start planning after that."

That was good. "And this stalker? Should I be worried?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. No one knows she left Tampa. Obviously, it'll be all over that she came to Atlanta for this event, but we'll keep doing what we've been doing to make it look like she's at home."

I didn't know what that meant but I was grateful. "Then we should be good." But something sat wrong with me. Even without the events and Cristobal far away from us, there was still something not quite right. My instincts were fine tuned to the outdoors. I knew when a large animal was close by, or a storm was blowing in. I could read those signs and react appropriately. But this? All I knew was thatsomethingwas coming and the best I could do was keep my eyes wide open.

Marley signed books for two hours. By then, the crowd outside had dwindled to a handful of hopeful fans. She asked Jessica to let them in one at a time and signed even more books and took pictures. Her generosity blew me away. I wasn't sure I could smile and talk to people who'd hounded me on the sidewalk.

She shook out her right hand, flexing it several times.

"Sore?"

"I haven't signed books in a while. I used to sign a hundred without blinking. What are you doing?"

I took her hand and gently massaged her fingers, wrist, and forearm. Seeing her shoulders visibly drop as I worked over her muscles loosened some of the tension in mine.

"That feels amazing. Thank you."

I pulled her in for a hug, breathing in the scent of her. "You good?"

"I am. Surprisingly. Today was a good day. I finally feel strong enough to get back to work." She turned to look up at me. "A lot of that is because of you. Thank you."

I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you, Marley. Today did nothing to change that. I'm not going anywhere. Not without you." I had never told a woman I loved her before, and it shocked me how easy it was to say now.

Marley jerked back, eyeing me like I'd lost my mind. "Did you seriously just drop that now, after this mess of a day?"

I cupped her face in both my hands so she had no choice but to see how much I meant it. "Not taking it back. And this is the perfect time. You've been convinced that when I saw what your life can be like that it would be too much for me. It isn't, Lee. I'm good. I'm in love with you. You make me incredibly happy and I'm trying so damn hard to do the same for you."

"Jackson," she whispered. "You make me so happy I'm not sure if it's real."

I hated that answer as much as I loved it. "It's real." I kissed her lightly. "Very, very real. And just beginning."

"I think we should skip the restaurant," she whispered.

I liked the sound of that. "Not hungry?"

Her eyes flashed. "Not for food. I love you too, Jackson."

A low growl came from my chest. "God, I love hearing that." I pressed a quick, hard kiss to her lips and then spun us for the doors. We had a hotel room to make use of.

Twenty-Six

Jackson

Guess we better love each other real hard then

The only thingsexier than Marley walking around naked, was Marley walking around in my shirt. As we unpacked from our trip, I slipped my white dress shirt on her and yep, it was hot as hell.

She fingered the expensive fabric, all that wild hair a stark contrast against it. "I have a question like the cowboy hat question."

I tossed my dirty clothes in the hamper and turned. "Thought you might."

Her eyebrows rose with the unspoken question.

I grabbed the open shirt and pulled her closer to me. "Where did I get an expensive suit on short notice?" I slid my hand beneath the fabric to caress her skin. Blood shot straight back to my dick like I hadn't been inside her three times in twelve hours.

"Don't get me wrong. It's gorgeous." Her eyes rolled back in her head when I gently tweaked her nipple.

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