Page 64 of Forever Fickle

“Massachusetts can get really cold in November and there’s a chance of snow. I would pack layers and definitely bring a heavy jacket. I don’t think you’ll need snow boots yet…”

“I don’t have snow boots anyhow,” she countered, laughing.

“Sounds good,” he chuckled, shrugging, before glancing at her. “We won’t be going many places nor am I going to have my girlfriend shoveling snow. I might have to shovel Mom’s driveway while I’m there, but you can warm me up with a sweet kiss when I come inside.”

He winked at her.

“Now, I like that plan,” she smiled playfully at him, leaning forward to kiss him. “Kinda like that?”

“That might thaw me… slightly,” he taunted. “I was thinking something a little more intense?”

“At your mother’s?” she asked in mock dismay, laying a hand over her chest dramatically.

“Fine,” he said emphatically, rolling his eyes. “I guess I can make sure and enter through the mudroom or the garage, so no one sees us… and then you can really warm me up.”

The playful grin on his face and the way he wagged his eyebrows at her, made her burst out laughing, causing the two of them to hug immediately as she rushed into his arms, needing to hold him.

“Gosh, I love you, Tink…” he breathed, chuckling in amusement… and they both froze.

She pulled back from his arms, as if everything was moving in slow motion, and met his alarmed gaze. He hadn’t meant to say it, but the words were just out there now – hanging between them.

They just stared at each other, and for a moment she wondered if he had let the words slip – only to have them replay in her mind repeatedly.

Hehadsaid it!

… Because he called her Tink, her nickname he’d given her. It wasn’t her letting something slip. It had been him – and she was shocked. That wasn’t a phrase you casually threw about. It was the ultimate three little words that could never be taken back once they were out there.

“Uh… hi?” he whispered nervously. “You look like you are about to throw up - or put a stake in my heart.”

“Jace… did you just…?” she mumbled, her mind reeling as she looked at him. He stood up tall, squaring up his shoulders as if he was preparing for a battle, and met her eyes, unflinching.

“I said it,” he replied openly, not hesitating. “I’m not sorry – nor am I taking it back. I think you are incredible, and I love everything about you. Surely you know that already, don’t you?”

“Isn’t this all too fast?” she whispered painfully, feeling her heart thump nervously in her chest.

“I never expected it, but it doesn’t change how I feel – nor am I pressing you for more. I just felt it, felt like saying it, and it slipped out. It doesn’t change a thing between us, nor my flight tomorrow.”

“Itdoeschange things between us,” she breathed, looking at him in shock. “It changes a lot of things between us.”

“I still have to fly out tomorrow – and I still want you to meet my family in November… and I still think you are the best person I’ve ever met.”

“You need ‘the chase’to be interested,” she hissed, feeling panic take hold of her. If he felt like the chase was over, he would be done with her… and she couldn’t handle having her fragile heart crushed.

“Maybe I used to – but you know what? I’m done chasing,” he said tautly, looking at her with real fear in his eyes. “I don’t want to chase after random girls anymore. I want you, Karen. I want you to hold my hand and run beside me, because you are the most incredible woman I’ve ever met.”

“And when you are done?”

“You are asking for answers I can’t give you,” Jace whispered truthfully. “Neither of us can see the future, Karen. I can tell you how I feel now, where I am mentally and emotionally, and that I truly believe in forever. That much I can assure you of in this moment.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“It means that I believe in the sanctity of marriage and do not believe in divorce, so when I talk about a future with the woman that I love… I’m talking long term. Is that a good enough answer?”

She stared at him, realizing her hands were trembling with fear, and seeing the turbulent emotions in his face. His eyes looked ragged as he watched her silently, waiting for her response.

Instead of answering, afraid to say the wrong thing, she stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him, needing the secure feeling in her soul that he brought to her.

He might be ready to say it – but she was terrified.

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