“I’m going to go pack.”
“Pack?” Kimber asked.
“I thought y’all might like some space with Bethany home and all. I’m going to go stay with Jensen for a few days.”
“That’s sweet, Em,” Kimber said, “but not necessary. I don’t mind you staying.”
“I know, but I don’t want to be in the way when you want to bond. I’ll be right back.”
Heidi followed me upstairs and leaned against the doorframe as I stuffed clothes into my overnight bag. “Your shit is still in boxes from Austin. Are you ever going to unpack?”
“Not until I move in with you,” I told her with a grin.
“Seriously? You think I want you in my apartment?”
“Of course you do. I’m awesome.”
“Move in whenever you want, whore. But give me the deets on you and Jensen. Fighting. Not fighting. What gives?”
I shrugged. “Things were put into perspective. He went out on a limb for me, and I want to trust him and see this through.”
“Way to vaguebook. Give me the down and dirty.”
“I can’t,” I told her, facing her. “I love you—you know that—but this isn’t my secret to tell. Until Jensen is ready to tell it, I don’t want to mess up his trust. We’re kind of on new ground here…and I like him too much to lose that.”
Heidi held her hands up. “That’s fair. I’m not trying to pry. Okay, I am. But I don’t want to fuck up your relationship. Everything okay?”
“Honestly…we’ll find out in a few days.”
“Seems grim.”
“You’ve no idea.”
“Okay, okay. Well, fill me in when you can, and let’s set up a plan for you to actually move in. You’d better not be that girl who moves in with her bestie and then sleeps at her boyfriend’s house the whole time.”
“You know I’ve got time for you in my bed.”
Heidi snorted. “I love you. So, where are you going?”
“Surprise. Will you check on Kimber the next couple of days? I really don’t want to smother them, but I’ll miss my niece.”
“You know it.”
I finished filling up my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and then retreated downstairs. I hugged Kimber, who was cooing over Bethany asleep in Jensen’s arms. It was almost comical really. He was such a big guy, and she was so tiny. Yet he held her as if she were the most precious cargo.
“She’s gorgeous, Kimber,” Jensen said before passing her back. “Congratulations to you both.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling down at her daughter.
“I’ll see you in a couple of days. Call me if you need me,” I said to Kimber.
“Okay,” Kimber said, giving me a hug. “Love you.”
Jensen and I retreated back to his Mercedes.
“You going to fill me in on where we’re going?”
I grinned as we drove to his place. “You haven’t guessed?”
“Coming up blank.”
“Back to our first date.”
He smiled the first real smile all afternoon, and his eyes raked over my body. “The cabin.”
Jensen’s cabin in Ransom Canyon was exactly the way I remembered it. Chic furniture and hardwood floors. Sheepskin rugs and modern appliances. A roaring fireplace with soft music filtering in through a surround sound stereo system. It was everything I could want in a place that was both somehow high-end and old school.
It brought back memories of camping when I’d been in school yet exuded a realm of luxury I’d never understood until Jensen.
Here was where we had first had sex, giving into desire and never thinking forward from that moment. If I had known then where we would be standing now, I probably would have thought I was insane. No way would I be Jensen Wright’s girlfriend. He’d been out of my league. I’d merely been a conquest…and happy to oblige for a night. Yet…here we were.
“Maybe we should go back,” Jensen said doubtfully.
“Look, I know you’re worried,” I told him, divesting myself of my jacket and tossing it on the back of the couch. “I’m worried, too. But you need to get your mind off of things just until we know the test results. If not, all you’ll do is worry yourself to death…and probably do something stupid.”
He ran a hand back through his hair. His eyes were haunted. “You’re probably right.”
“I’m definitely right.”
His eyes slid back to me. “And how exactly are you going to get my mind off of things?”
“I had a few ideas.”
“Does the first start with you stripping in front of the fire again?”