Page 94 of The Last Second Chance
“You know what would make this even better?” Joey asked wistfully.
“What’s that?”
“Another bowl of chili.”
Downstairs they found their bowls licked clean under the coffee table. Waffles wouldn’t meet Joey’s gaze and Valentina looked guilty. Meatball was still licking his chops by the fire.
“I’ll get clean bowls,” Jax volunteered.
Joey went to the back door and opened it. “We’re up to a foot already,” she said, gauging the depth of the snow. The dogs roused themselves to trot through the door for an impromptu potty break. Jax watched as Joey tugged on a pair of snow boots and stomped her way to the edge of the deck to watch the dogs tear around the backyard.
He ladled chili into both bowls and popped them in the microwave.
“Jax, come see,” Joey called from the deck.
Every time Jax thought he couldn’t love her more, he fell just a little bit further. This was no different. She stood bathed in the spotlight mounted on the back of the house. Fat flakes floated down to land in hair the color of chestnuts. The dogs raced a zigzag pattern in the yard in front of her, barking and yipping, sending clouds of snow up to mingle with the falling flakes.
Behind him, the warmth of fire and home. He’d never wanted anything more than this. This was where he belonged. Her world was his and he needed her to understand that, to believe that. But now was not the time for declarations or ultimatums. Joey didn’t respond to either of those. He would find a way to make her see, that he belonged here with her.
Joey laughed as Meatball took a turn too tight and tumbled, sending snow in all directions. She looked back at Jax, her hair tousled from his hands, her color high. Her legs bare between the hem of his shirt that she’d pulled on and the tops of her boots.
“I think we’re going to need some towels for these idiots,” she said jerking a thumb at the dog action behind her.
“I’ll grab some as soon as I do this,” Jax said, crossing the deck to her. One hand wound around the back of her neck. The other gripped her hip. Her lips parted as if she was going to ask a question, but he silenced her with his mouth.
He kissed her under the porch light, under the sky of snow. He moved both hands to cup her jaw, gentling the pressure. He poured his love for her into the kiss so there could be no doubt in her mind. Flakes fell silently, landing in their hair and on their shoulders, and still he kissed her, claiming her mouth in a gentle prison of breath and taste.
When he felt her knees buckle, he steadied her and broke contact with her mouth.
She laughed nervously. “What the hell was that?” Her voice was a whisper.
Jax grinned and tapped her nose with his finger. “I’ll go get some towels. Come inside before you get frostbite on that perfect ass of yours.”
When she only nodded, he felt he’d won a victory of sorts.
He went back inside and found some rough looking towels in the bottom of her linen closet.
“Are you ready for us?” Joey called from the backdoor when Jax came down the stairs.
They let one dog in at a time and scrubbed them down with towels until they were dry enough to turn loose on the house. Meatball repeatedly licked Joey in the face while she tried to dry his paws.
“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” she asked as the beagle scampered off to check his food dish.
“Even his farts have a certain charm about them,” Jax admitted.
“Well I wouldn’t go that far.”
They reconvened to the couch with loose muscles and second supper. Jax put his feet up on the coffee table and Joey tucked hers into his lap.
They ate in companionable silence, ignoring three pairs of brown beggy eyes. And when the dishes were done and the leftovers tucked away, they returned to the couch, Jax with his laptop and papers and Joey with her romance novel.
His phone signaled from the coffee table. He glanced at the screen and snorted.
“What?” Joey asked, stretching lazily.
“Carter wants to know how many inches we have here. They’ve got six inches in the hotel parking lot.”
“Tell him that’s what we have here. Otherwise he’s going to text us both incessantly.”
