Page 121 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
"Hey." He glanced up and slipped his hands into his jeans pockets.
I wasn't going to get through another tense, emotionless conversation with him. I loved him too much. He'd stolen my heart and after the way we made love the week before, he'd stolen the rest of me too.
"I'm sorry," I whispered and reached for him as I closed the car door.
He pulled me into his arms and buried his face in the side of my neck, breathing softly and holding me tightly against him. "Me too."
"No," I mumbled and pressed my cheek to his as I closed my eyes. "I'm sorry for pushing you away. I was just scared. Fuck, I still am scared."
"I am too." He turned his face and brushed his nose by mine. "But you're worth every minute of that fear to me, Becca. I shouldn't have pushed you toward moving in together. I just figured after nine months that it was time. Seems like a small step to me, but I-"
"It is a small step." I kissed him softly at first, but shifted a little to better hold on to him as he tilted his head and brushed his tongue against my lips. I opened up and let him in, groaning at how good it felt to have his strong hands on me, his mouth pressed tightly to mine.
I could lie to myself all I wanted to, but I belonged to him. And I wanted to risk everything to keep things that way.
The sound of the door opening in the distance caused me to pull back. Jason's eyes were hooded, his breathing off, lips swollen and red from kissing me so hard. "Let's get out of here. I want to strip you down and touch every inch of you."
"You guys coming?" The girl sounded young.
I moved a little to the left and smiled. "Hi. I'm Rebecca."
"I'm Natalie, but you can call me Nat." The girl walked toward me, her hand extended, a smile on her pixie-like face. She was cute, but much smaller than Jason. "I'm Jason's sister."
"I figured that. It's really nice to meet you." I shook her hand, and half-expected her to drag me into an awkward hug. Jason had said the girl was touchy-feely. My mom was the same, and would hug a stranger if she felt like doing it.
Much to my surprise, the girl shook my hand and released it. "Nice to meet you too."
Jason reached out and took my hand. "Come on, let me introduce you to my father. He just cooked up a bunch of fried catfish. Hopefully you like seafood."
"Well, lake food in this case." The girl laughed, and I couldn't help but smile. I liked her already, but I wasn't sure why.
"I love it." I wrapped my arm around his back. "You gonna get your sister and Adam to help us get your stuff moved out to the house?"
"When you're ready for me to. Yeah." He smiled and moved back to open the door for me. "You sure about this?"
"Positive." I stopped in front of him as he held the door open. His sister had already gone inside. I pressed myself to the front of him and kissed his chest before looking up into his warm brown eyes. "I'm in love with you. I want to wake up every morning next to you."
"What if we just don't go to sleep?" He touched the side of my face softly.
"I like that too." I moved away from him and walked into the house to find a large older man standing by the table. He was Jason's height, but twice his size. His smile was tight like he was nervous or unhappy about me being there.
I stopped and waited for Jason to move up beside me. "Dad, this is Becca. She's, well, hell, she's my boss and my girlfriend."
"Nice to meet you." He extended his hand. "Charlie."
"Rebecca. Nice to meet you too, sir."
"You kids come on and sit down. We'll eat and then I'm going to put you to work."
I shook his hand and moved to sit down next to Jason as I let my eyes move around the dining room. The house was warm and comely. It reminded me of my grandmother's house, and I found myself relaxed with the idea of truly belonging.
"This looks great, Dad." Natalie sat down across from me and smiled. "You want to say grace or you want me to do it?"
It took me a second to realize she was talking to me. "You go ahead."
I bowed my head as Jason's hand gripped mine under the table. Something about the scene was so right. I'd made a good decision coming to find him. Parker would be proud of me, as would my momma.
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