The Back-Up Plan (17 page)

She grinned. “I broke into your house today.”

“You have the spare key, Kris. It’s hardly breaking and entering if you can unlock the door and walk in.”

“Breaking in sounds cooler. Besides it’s not like it was lying out in plain sight. I had to search for it.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “You went rifling through my stuff?”

She laughed. “Not really. It was in the first place I looked.”

He tilted his head. “You knew it would be in my sock drawer?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. I remembered you saying once that was where you’d hidden all your most precious treasures when you were a kid.” She didn’t add how touched she was when she realized he considered their plan as something of value.

“So you got the cocktail napkin. Good for you. What’s that accomplish?”

“My birthday is in four days. We’ve really pushed this insane scheme right to the wire, but I think it’s time we stop pretending.” She tossed the napkin into a metal bowl she’d set out, and then picked up a pack of matches.

Jason frowned, his hand wrapping around her wrist as she set to strike one. “Wait. What are you doing?”

“Burning it.”

He flinched and she fought to restrain her grin. He didn’t get it. Yet. Hopefully once he understood, he’d be happy.

Please let him be happy.

He released her, dropping his hand to his side in a way that looked wholly defeated. She lit the match and tossed it onto the napkin. Both of them watched it burn in silence. Soon the flame flickered out and all that was left was a pile of ashes.

“So I guess that’s it.” He put his hands in his front pockets, looking miserable.

Kristen couldn’t stand it a moment longer. “Yep. You’re not my back-up plan anymore.”

“This is a nice little seduction scene you’ve set up. I think Matthew will really like all the effort you’ve put into it.” He started to walk out, but she halted him with her exasperated groan.

“This isn’t for Matthew, you jackass. I turned him down three seconds after he offered me that marriage proposal.”

Jason frowned. “You did?”

“Yes. And if you’d stuck around two nights ago, I would have told you that.”

Jason glanced at the bowl once more. “Then why did you burn that napkin?”

“Because you’ll never be my back-up plan, J. I don’t want us to be together because of a bargain struck during a moment of desperation and drunkenness. I want us to be a couple because we want to be together.”

Silence fell around them as Kristen watched her words, the significance of what she’d done, sink in. She didn’t bother to fill it with chatter. Instead, she gave him the time to come to the same conclusions she had. They were meant for each other.

Then he narrowed his eyes, pretending to be annoyed, but she knew his mischievous look too well to be fooled. He was going to make her work for this even though there was no denying he liked where things were going. “What about our law practice? Thought you said it would destroy everything we’ve built there.”

“This is worth the risk. You’re worth it.”

He obviously liked her answer, but he wasn’t finished playing with her yet. She didn’t care. She enjoyed their cat and mouse games as much as he did. “Yeah, well, you also said we argue too much. That we’d kill each other within five minutes.”

She grinned. “I figure there are worse ways to go.”

He nodded slowly, pretending to consider her response. “That’s a valid point. But I sort of think there’s one insurmountable problem.”

Her smile faded as she realized there truly was one thing they’d never discussed. “Oh no. You want kids, don’t you?”

Jason’s eyes widened with shock. “Good God, no. Can you see me with kids? I fuck my own life up on a daily basis. There’s no way in hell I’d do that to some innocent baby.”

His words sounded sincere, but she needed to be sure. “Jason, I—”

“I’m forty years old, Kris. If I’d wanted kids, I would have done it way before now. Trust me. I’m not just saying that for you.”

She believed him. Jason had never hedged or lied about anything and he clearly didn’t intend to start now. “Okay. Good. So what’s the problem?”

Jason took her hands in his, tugging her closer. “You don’t think sex is important. I’m afraid I can’t agree with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “I suppose this is your attempt to get me to admit I was wrong?”

He shrugged casually. “Hearing something like that might go a long way toward persuading a man to get married.”

She laughed and pulled her hands free from his. “Oh, I see. So you still need more persuasion?”

He groaned when she cupped his cock, squeezing with just enough pressure to let him know she was up to the job. He cleared his throat roughly, the husky sound telling her she’d struck just the right nerve. “I wouldn’t be opposed to a little more convincing.”

She grinned as she dropped to her knees, tackling the button and zipper on his pants. Jason’s hands flew to her head when she freed him. The significance of their position wasn’t lost on her.

“I want to be with you, Jason Mitchell. Want to spend the rest of my life nagging and laughing and singing karaoke and drinking cheap beer and dancing at Buffett with you. I don’t want to be your back-up plan. I want to be your first and only choice. I love you and I want to be with you. Forever.”

Then for good measure, she put her money where her mouth was and continued with the persuading. She’d only taken the head of his cock into her when Jason’s hands tightened in her hair, tugging it with just enough strength to send her body into orbit.

“Yes, Kris. God. Yes to everything.”

She laughed around his cock, the vibrations making him moan again. She drew him in deeper then, reveling in the moment, in the calmness that descended as time took on new meaning.

There was plenty of it now. A lifetime, in fact.

Unfortunately Jason didn’t seem to feel that same relief. “Dammit, woman.” He gently pulled himself free of her mouth, then helped her back to her feet.

“What’s wrong?”

He gave her a rueful grin. “You’re leading again.”

She patted him on the cheek. “Aw, it’s okay. You would think after all our years of working together, you’d be used to me being in charge by now.”

Jason shook his head, then paused. “Shit. Just had an image of you dressed in black leather, standing over me with a whip in your hand. Trying to figure out how my cock can still be hard when my balls just shriveled into my body to hide in fear.”

Kristen laughed. “And you call me the freak.”

“Would you stop distracting me? I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.”

She put her hands on her hips. “I’m not the one who always goes off on these stray tangents.”

Jason sighed, as he tucked his cock back in his pants, buttoning them back up.

She frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“No. For the first time in a long time, everything is right. But we have this bad habit of skipping straight to the good stuff without managing to say what needs to be said.”

He took her hand and led her to the couch. She started to sit next to him, but at the last minute he tugged her onto his lap.

His cock rested against her hip which took her mind straight back to the gutter. While she understood his need to talk—sort of—she really just wanted to twist to face him and pick things up where they’d left off. She wasn’t sure where this horny woman had been hiding for most of her life, but Kristen didn’t see her disappearing again any time soon.

Unfortunately Jason didn’t share her inability to concentrate. “When you didn’t come in to work today, I sat down and seriously tried to contemplate what my life would be like without you.”

She was taken aback by his thoughtful, almost pained tone. For years, she’d thought of him as a bit shallow, too irreverent and completely incapable of taking things seriously. In the past few months, he’d knocked every single one of those misconceptions out of the park. “Jason, I’m sorry. I should have told you right away that I’d turned Matthew down, but…” She faltered, suddenly not liking her reasons for holding her tongue.

“But you wanted to test me.”

She bit her lower lip. “You realize I always sort of come out of these conversations looking like an insecure bitch.”

He laughed. “I don’t blame you for wanting to make sure I was sincere. I haven’t exactly proven myself to be stellar boyfriend material in the past.”

“So what did life look like without me?”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “Fishing for compliments?”

She nodded. “You owe me a few. You left too quickly the other night. I was still horny. Had to play with my magic bullet all by myself.”

His eyes narrowed. “You used a toy without me?”

“Don’t give me that tone. It was your fault.”

He kissed her cheek lightly. “I’ll make up for it later. Promise.”

Kristen wrapped her arms around his shoulders, soaking up the light scent of his cologne. It was still so hard for her to believe they were here, together like this. Then she wondered why in the hell it had taken them so long. They’d been standing right in front of each other for years. Talk about blinders.

“I love you, Kris. More than I’ve ever loved anyone. You’re my best friend, my partner, my conscience and my freaky lover.”

He lifted her off his lap, then reached into his pocket. Kristen gasped when he dropped to one knee in front of her and produced a ring.

“Jason,” she whispered.

“You beat me to the punch. And you said it all a hell of a lot better than I could, but the fact is you’ve never been my back-up plan. You’ve been the center of my universe for well over a decade and I can’t believe it took me this long to realize it.”

He lifted her hand and held the ring up.

She nodded, then felt a tear slide down her cheek as he put it on her finger. “Wow.” It was the most beautiful diamond Kristen had ever seen.

“It was my grandmother’s. Well, the diamond part. I had the jeweler add the sapphires to match your eyes.”

“That’s so romantic.”

He grinned. “Yeah. I know you hate that mushy-gushy shit, but I’m going to try to change your mind on that as well. Figure I already managed to correct your unreasonable stance on that
sex isn’t important
issue, so I’m pulling out all the stops now. Going for broke.”

She didn’t call him to task for being a cocky bastard. She’d do that later.

Instead, Kristen leaned forward, kissing him. Jason deepened the embrace. She wasn’t sure how many hours passed as they simply held each other, content to take things slowly this time.

When they parted, she rubbed her cheek against his rough one, loving the prickly feel of it.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “I tossed and turned until nearly four this morning. Then I overslept. Didn’t have a chance to shave.”

She stroked his face, then let her fingers drift along his upper lip. “That’s okay. This is a hot look for you. Have you ever considered growing a mustache?”

Jason stood up quickly. “You little hussy. Come on. That’s enough romance for now. I think it’s time we got down and dirty.”

“Finally! Just give me a second to find my whip. I know it’s around here some—”

Her jest ended midstream as Jason picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. “Later. I promise at some point we can
discuss
the possibility of you chaining me up and doing all sorts of unspeakable things to me. Just discuss.”

“I love it when you talk dirty.”

“But for now,” he said as he carried her upstairs to her bedroom, “I want to make love to my fiancée.”

Epilogue

“Did we seriously just do that?” Kristen asked Jason, laughing as he spun her around the dance floor of Blue Moon. It was New Year’s Eve again and this year’s celebration was the polar opposite of the previous year. The wine girls had escaped the quiet security of Laura’s townhouse and ventured out into the real world.

“If you’re asking if we just stood in front of the justice of the peace and said, ‘I do,’ then yeah. You and me are hitched.”

He kissed her softly. Kristen tried to remember a moment when she’d actually thought this was a mistake, but that outrageous concept wouldn’t come back to her. She’d been proven wrong time and time again the past few months by her romantic, dirty-talking, easygoing playboy of a boyfriend.

No…husband.

He was her husband now.

“It’s been a crazy year,” she said as they swayed to the music. “I sure as hell didn’t see myself here when I made that resolution at Laura’s house last year.”

“Sometimes I can’t quite believe just how much I feel for you. You’re my whole life. I love you, Kris Mitchell.”

She smiled, certain she’d never get tired of hearing those words. “I don’t think I’ll ever love you more than I do at this very moment.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “Hey. Who said I was taking your name?”

“Oh, you’re taking it.”

She stiffened her spine, letting him know she wouldn’t go down without a fight. Despite their new status, the one thing that hadn’t faded in the face of their love was the bickering. Thank God. Kristen loved sparring with her beloved partner. “Wow. You still haven’t learned it’s never wise to issue orders to me, have you?”