He pulled her off her seat and between his legs. He took her mouth and held her face with the watch pressed between her cheek and his hand. Her breasts pressed against his bare chest and he wanted to take her upstairs and make love to her. He settled for kissing her socks off. He pulled away and rested his hand on her chest, feeling her heart thunder under his palm. “Never again. We’ll be together always.” He kissed her forehead, released her, and turned to his son. “And you, my little man. I love my presents. You’re the best.”
“Mommy helped me carve my name. She held my hand and the chisel and we did it together.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Mommy helped me spell my name.”
“You did a great job. Now, I have another job for you, and we need Mommy to cooperate with us by not asking lots of questions.”
“What are you up to? You’ve got mischief written all over your face,” she said, grinning.
“I have something special planned. Will you go out to the barn and, I don’t know, do something for a little while. I have to get a few things set up.”
She took his injured arm in her hands and kissed his swollen fingers again. “I’ll be in the barn. Do you want me to take Will?”
“No. He’s my accomplice.”
She laughed and his gut tightened at the lighthearted sound.
“I like seeing you like this,” she said. The bright smile on her face did his heart good after what his parents did and the night she spent in jail worried about him.
She cupped his face in her warm hands, kissed him quickly, and left him and Will to conspire against her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
* * *
JESSIE SMILED TO herself, thinking of Dylan, his eyes dancing with mischief. He’d practically bounced on the balls of his feet when he sent her out to the barn. He didn’t say how long she had to stay here. Not that it mattered. She had a lot of things to work on and had even finished a couple pieces already. She decided to use the time to start on a new idea she had for a side table for a bed or sofa.
She ran the wood through the table saw, sawdust spewing out the bottom onto her shoes. She flipped the switch to turn the blade off and stepped back and right into Dylan. He’d showered and changed. She glanced at her watch, surprised she’d worked for a couple hours.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, yourself. You did all this in two hours?”
“Did you think I’d just kick back and wait?”
“I didn’t think you’d build an entire table from scratch.”
“Well, see, there are still a few things you need to learn about me. I’m not good at doing nothing. Unless I want to,” she qualified.
He shook his head. “Come with me. I have something else I want you to do.”
“Are you kicking me off my property altogether?”
“No. I want you to go and get ready for something special. I have everything for you to wear upstairs.” He ushered her into the house and pushed her toward the stairs. “Do your hair and makeup. This is a very special occasion.”
People worked in her kitchen, wearing black slacks and white coats, fixing trays of food. “Caterers? What’s going on?”
“Just ignore them. You don’t see them, or anything else. Go upstairs and do yourself up all pretty.”
“Are you kidding me? What’s going on? Dinner isn’t for hours.”
“This is different. You’ll see.”
She took another look at the people milling around in her kitchen. Important enough for him to risk her wrath by ordering her around, Dylan swatted her on the butt and pointed his finger up the stairs. She headed up to do what he asked. She hated to disappoint him on his birthday. If he wanted her to fix herself up for something special, she’d go along.
She went into her room and found a garment bag hanging on the door to the bathroom. A shoebox sat on the floor. She opened the shoebox and gaped at the jeweled-strap high heels. They sparkled beautifully. She unzipped the garment bag and found a beautiful strapless white gown inside and gasped. “He didn’t.”
Excitement made her smile so big her cheeks hurt.
She came out of the bathroom a half hour later with her makeup done. She put her hair up on the sides and let the rest fall down her back in thick waves. A couple of crystal-encrusted combs held her hair up. They sparkled like stars in her dark hair. The simple but elegant style complemented the dress.
Time for the moment of truth, she slipped the dress from the hanger and tried it on, pleased to see it fit perfectly. The white dress fit tight across her breasts and dropped to her feet. Soft, see-through material mirrored the dress beneath and had small pearls and crystals sewn in randomly. She felt like a princess. Once the shoes were on and she studied herself in the mirror, she held back tears. The dress, the shoes, everything was perfect. She felt beautiful. She couldn’t wait to show Dylan.