“No,” she said, turning to him, shaking her head.

He put his hand over hers, feeling how cold she was even though it had to be at least ninety degrees outside.

“Let me finish,” he insisted. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions and made that comment about you going home with him.” Giving her a look as filled with love as he could pull off considering she was the last person he wanted to love, he said, “I should have known you wouldn’t walk out on me like that.” He couldn’t resist a little dig. “Not again. After all these years.”

Instead of falling into his arms, Emma was staring at him, looking more confused than anything. Oh shit.

Had he gone too far?

“Are you sure?” she asked, in a tentative voice. “You seemed so angry when you came out of the kitchen and saw him.”

“Knee-jerk reaction,” he said with a shrug. “He’s not exactly my favorite person in the world,” he said, thinking,And neither are you.

Jason knew revenge was going to be worth it in the long run. Too bad it was such a pain in the ass in the here and now. Because there was only so much lovey-dovey acting he could do before he hit his limit.

Still, just because he was going to be smart from here on out and firmly shut his heart off to her forever, didn’t mean he was going to say no to any further seductions she had in mind. Seduction, of course, was all part and parcel of his plan.

Besides, sleeping with her was the only perk he had left and like hell if he was giving it up.

Emma could hardly believe the way Jason was acting. Rather than kicking her out of his life after seeing her with Steven, rather than mistrusting her motives—which he had every right to do, she supposed—he was acting more the devoted lover than ever.

But why, she wondered, should she be surprised by his support? Who in their right mind would want to go back to a cold sham of a marriage with a guy like Steven? Jason had always been more perceptive than anyone else she’d ever known.

She was trying to put her swirling emotions and newly budding happiness into words, when he said the one thing she’d dreamt of for so long.

“Move in with me Emma. Stay with me. Permanently.”

Oh God, she was going to cry now. But only because all her dreams were coming true. She’d thought her world was falling apart when Steven walked into Cravings, but evidently this was only the beginning. She couldn’t speak, could only put her hands on the hollows of Jason’s cheeks and kiss him softly, lovingly.

As her lips touched his, she almost thought she felt him flinch, but then he was taking her lips so passionately, so completely that she knew she’d been mistaken.

“Are you sure about this?” she said against his lips and when he said, “I’ve never been more certain about anything,” she gave back into his kiss and made a decision.

From this point forward she needed to put her own fears away and stop imagining worst case scenarios.

Ignoring her fears about the bubble bursting, Emma decided that she really was going to try to live her life one day at a time. Jason was offering her a miracle. And she was going to seize it—and him—with both hands.

“You don’t have to rush back to the restaurant, do you?”

“Not for a couple of hours.”

Her expression grew wistful. “Take me to bed, Jason.” For once she didn’t want to have sex standing up or on the floor. She wanted to feel like they were a couple, a real couple.

Certain he knew what she was asking from him, she held her breath as she waited for him to respond. It wasn’t until he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom that she finally felt secure.

Laying her gently on the bed, he stared down at her, his eyes intense. For a moment, she thought he was going to speak, going to say something important. Was it too much to imagine that he was going to say,

“I love you”?But the moment passed and instead of making a passionate declaration of love he claimed her mouth. Ignoring a flash of disappointment that came from deep within, she wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him, desperate for his touch.

Every time they made love she felt out of control, but knowing he wanted her to live with him took their sensual relationship to a whole other level.

“I want you so badly,” she said, thrilled when he slid his hands beneath her skirt. Taking her mouth again in a hot kiss he found her slick and aroused.

“You’re always so ready for me. So wet.”

With a moan she broke away from his mouth. “I need you inside of me.” She reached for him, trying to unzip his jeans even as she pulled him on top of her.

Moments later their clothes were off and he was poised over her naked body, her legs spread wide for him. And then he slid into her pu**y and she arched her hips, wrapping her arms around his strong back, pulling his lips to hers. When the explosion came it rocked her to the core.

All of her dreams were coming true. Now the most important thing she could do was not chicken out.

And the only way to make sure she didn’t do that was to confess the deepest feelings in her heart.

“I love you, Jason. I never stopped loving you.”

Seventeen

Jason lay completely still in the dark, forcing his breathing to be shallow and even. Emma’s head lay in the crook of his shoulder, one of her arms wrapped around his chest.

His lungs felt like they were going to burst. He wasn’t getting enough oxygen in. He wanted to sprint around the neighborhood until he was too tired to think, pound Jack Daniels shots until he was completely numb. Do anything, anything at all, to get to the place where he could stop hearing her words. Stop hearing her say,I love you, Jason. I never stopped loving you. He needed to pull free of the web she continued to weave around him, binding him to her.

Using every ounce of self-control he possessed, he waited until he knew for certain that she was asleep.

Making the minimum of movements, he extracted himself from her clutches and grabbed his jeans and T-shirt on his way out the bedroom door.

He left the house without a second glance. Even his yard, his vines, which had once been his sanctuary, weren’t enough distance for him now. Emma followed him like a ghost through his house, onto his front porch. He headed out his front door in his bare feet, out down the road, in no particular direction.

Right now he didn’t care where he went. He just needed space.

No, he needed to never see Emma again. He needed to have never sought her out at the reunion. Why couldn’t he have let sleeping dogs lie?