Jasper Vale (The Edens #4)(80)

“You’re going to the gym?” she asked, her gaze dropping to her coffee cup. When she looked up again, her smile was back in its beautiful glory.

“Yeah. Foster and I are meeting in half an hour.”

“See you after?”

I nodded. “Want me to bring you lunch?”

“Yes, please.” She rounded the corner, rising up on her toes for a kiss.

I bent, sweeping her into my arms and sealing my mouth over hers. Our tongues tangled in a lazy, slow dance, kissing until she had a pretty flush to her cheeks and my cock stretched my sweats.

Another morning, I’d peel away those black slacks and fuck her while she was bent over the counter. But she’d had a hectic week, and I knew she wanted to get to work. So I eased away, holding her for just another minute to bury my face in her hair and draw in my favorite scent.

She clung to me with her arms banded around my ribs and locked behind my back. “I’d better go.”

“Yeah,” I murmured, loosening my hold. With a kiss on her forehead, I followed her outside, standing on the porch to watch as she climbed in her car and waved before driving down the lane.

The morning air was warm and the forecast was calling for another hot July day. The scent of pinesap filled my nose. The river rushed in the distance and birds chirped as they swept through the trees. Sunbeams streamed through branches, casting everything in a yellow morning glow.

It should have snared my focus. This little corner of Montana, my little corner, had become a source of peace. Instead, I looked to my hand and sighed.

If Eloise had refused to wear the ring I’d bought her, it would have bothered me. Especially now, after all we’d gone through together.

The ring she’d given me was simple. Classic. A titanium band with polished edges and a matte center.

What the fuck were the odds that she’d pick the exact style ring that Sam had given me years ago?

When she’d given it to me, I’d almost thought it was a joke. Not that Eloise would ever know that it was the same, but they were identical.

The ring Eloise had bought had spent some time in my drawer upstairs, buried beneath my socks. I just hadn’t been ready to wear a ring again. Especially when it had been so damn familiar.

I’d worn Samantha’s ring.

And it had meant fuck all.

Didn’t it mean more to Eloise that I was here? That she had me wrapped around her own ring finger?

Eloise Eden owned me.

I loved that woman.

I loved her in a way I hadn’t even known existed. A soul-deep, undying love.

Wasn’t it more important that I showed her how I felt? Every day. Every night. From the food I cooked, to the way I worshiped her body.

For fuck’s sake, I cuddled. I let her sleep on top of me every goddamn night, didn’t I?

It was just a ring.

With or without it, I was hers.

But she needed the ring, didn’t she? She needed that symbol. So today, I’d drop it at the jewelry store to get resized. It was a little too tight.

Leaving the porch, I went inside to swap out my sweats for shorts and a clean T-shirt. Then I drove across town to Foster’s gym.

“Hey.” Foster sat in the center of the ring, stretching his hamstrings.

“Hi.” I jerked up my chin, toeing off my shoes before joining him.

Stepping through the ropes always centered me. MMA fights were held in a cage but Foster had always preferred his daily training in a boxing ring, even when we’d lived in Vegas. I felt the same.

Something about the ring, the four corners, the smaller size, grounded me. It allowed me to shut out everything and everyone beyond these imaginary walls.

“How’s it going?” he asked as I took a seat across from him, beginning the regular stretch routine.

“Good. You?”

“It’s good. But I got an interesting call this morning. From that new kid making a name for himself in Vegas.” Foster didn’t need to clarify. We both knew it was the kid who’d tried to hire me. “He told me he approached you about a job. That you turned him down. I think he thought you were staying because of me. He must not know about Eloise.”

When I’d gone to Vegas for that interview, I’d let Foster believe that I’d talked to the kid before Eloise and I had gotten married. That my trip to Vegas was more a courtesy than a serious inquiry.

“I told him I’d train him. He just had to relocate.”

Foster grinned. “I’m glad you’re staying. If you and Eloise had decided to move to Vegas, the Edens might have set up a roadblock on the highway.”

I chuckled.

Maybe someday, if Eloise was all right with it, I’d tell him the whole story. I’d tell him about Vegas. About how Eloise and I had agreed to fake it.

Or maybe not.

Part of me liked that this secret was just ours.

“I need a job,” I told Foster. Not for the money. I could live comfortably off my inheritance for the rest of my life. But I needed something to keep myself occupied.

“You have a job.”

I gave him a flat look. “You’re retired.”

“So?” He shrugged, shoving up to his feet. Then he smacked his stomach. “Talia likes my abs. You can help me keep them.”

I hopped up, reaching out a hand. “How about we just train as friends?”