Jasper Vale (The Edens #4)(82)

I chuckled, setting it and lunch beside the empty cup on her desk. Then I leaned in to drop a kiss to her cheek. “How was your morning?”

“Fine. How was Foster?”

“Good.”

She looked me up and down. “No blood? No bruises?”

“Not today.”

“Then Foster gets to live.”

Only Eloise would take on Foster Madden, the Iron Fist, because he’d dared punch her husband.

Fuck, but I loved her. More and more each day.

“How about dinner tonight?” I asked.

“Don’t we eat dinner every night?”

“Smart ass.” I tickled her ribs, earning a yelp. “How about we go out to dinner?”

Eloise’s jaw dropped. “Jasper Vale, are you asking me out on a date?”

“Well, you are my wife. Maybe it’s time we went on a date.”

Her eyes softened. “Say it again.”

“Will you go out to dinner with me?”

“Not that. Call me your wife again.”

“Wife.”

Eloise put her hand on my cheek, leaning in for another kiss. “About this dinner.”

“Knuckles?”

“Or . . . my parents invited us to the ranch.” She tensed, probably expecting an instant rejection.

It was there, on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I held it back.

“We haven’t talked about . . . you know,” she said. The fight. “I’ve been thinking about everything you said. You made a lot of valid points. And I heard you. But, babe, your parents suck. Mine don’t.”

I arched an eyebrow. She was right about my parents. Her own?

“They aren’t perfect.” Eloise held up her hands, probably because she knew exactly what I was thinking. “They don’t claim to be. But they love me.”

The Edens and I had that in common.

Son of a bitch. I was going to have to figure out how to live with them, wasn’t I? No way I’d make her choose between us.

“Would it be so hard?” She placed her hand on my chest. “Unlocking your heart for my family?”

This woman.

She really didn’t understand, did she?

This imaginary lock to my heart? I didn’t have the key.

I’d handed it to her weeks ago.

“Okay. We’ll go to dinner at the ra—”

Eloise launched herself into my arms, moving so fast I almost didn’t catch her.

Almost.

“Thank you,” she murmured against my neck.

“Say it like you mean it, El.”

She giggled, catching my drift. Her lips found mine, and I got the thank you I wanted.

I was sucking on her lower lip when some outside awareness made me pull away. That same feeling crept beneath my skin, raising the hair on the back of my neck.

“What?” she asked, following my gaze toward the windows.

There was nothing but sunshine and smiles beyond the glass.

“Nothing.” I shook the feeling away, then kissed the corner of her mouth. “Put me to work.”

She gave me that adorable mock salute. “Sir, yes, sir.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE





ELOISE





Jasper was asleep on his stomach, one knee raised as he hugged his pillow. Exactly how he’d looked when I’d slipped out of bed this morning to take a shower. The covers barely covered his ass, revealing those dimples above his cheeks and the rippled muscles of his back.

Warmth spread through my chest as I watched him sleep. It was still hard to believe this was really happening. That he was mine.

As much as I wanted to strip off my clothes and curl up against his naked body, work was waiting. So I padded across the bedroom, my feet sinking into the rug beneath the bed. Then I brushed the hair from his forehead.

“Bye, babe,” I whispered.

His eyes stayed closed but he stretched out an arm, blindly reaching for me. When his hand skimmed my shirt, he fisted it, drawing me closer. A silent request for a kiss.

I was learning to read Jasper. To hear him even when he didn’t speak.

So I kissed his stubbled cheek.

I love you.

Every day it got harder and harder not to say it aloud. Last night, after dinner at the ranch, I’d been so proud of how hard he’d tried that I’d almost said it on the way home.

Why hadn’t I? Why was I holding back? Because I wanted Jasper to say it first? Because he still wouldn’t wear a stupid wedding ring?

How many people had told Jasper they loved him?

Not enough. Shame on me for waiting.

“I love you.”

Jasper’s eyes popped open. A myriad of emotions flew through those dark irises. Happiness. Hesitation. Regret.

He wasn’t ready to say it back. If the only person he’d said I love you to had been Samantha, then I didn’t blame him for being scared.

That was okay. I’d wait.

For Jasper Vale, I’d wait until the end of my days.

I brushed that hair off his forehead again, then kissed his temple. “I gotta go. See you later.”

“El, I . . .” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His fist in my shirt tightened.