“Why didn’t you wait for me?” His voice was low and gritty, and it made Patti shiver.
It took her a moment for his meaning to sink in. “You seriously think I would want to stay and wait for you?” she asked, incredulous. “And do what? Catch up on the morning news with your girlfriend, no, thanks.”
Jon’s mouth curved up in mild amusement. “So I was right.”
Patti could feel herself growing irritated. “Right about what?”
“Tell me, Patricia, when she opened the door, were you pissed off, or just plain jealous?”
Patti narrowed her eyes, anger suffusing her every cell. How dare he make fun of her? Is that what he had come here for, to grind it in that he had so easily replaced her? “You’re an asshole,” she told him, and spun around, determined to get the hell out of there before she burst into tears and embarrassed herself further.
Patti felt the heat from Jon at her back and felt the grip of his hand on her arm as he spun her back around and pressed her up against the side of his truck. “Not so fast,” he said, framing her in. She almost forgot how incredibly blue Jon’s eyes were. The intensity in them held her prisoner as he stared down at her. “We have some things we need to talk about.”
“I think I’ve said everything.” Patti sneered, trying and failing to break free of his cage. His arms were like steel bands, pinned to the truck panel on either side of her. She wasn’t going anywhere.
“Well, I haven’t,” Jon returned fiercely. He lowered his head so that they were face-to-face, so close that Patti could feel his warm breath on her skin when he talked. “Since you don’t have anything to say to me, I’ll talk and you’ll listen. That woman you met was my sister,” he blurted, laying it all out there for her.
Patti’s heart skidded to a halt as she tried to rework the wiring in her brain to accept his admission. His sister? How could that…Wait, was that why she felt like she had seen her before? But she knew they had never met. She racked her brain as Jon continued.
“There’s no other woman for me, Patricia,” Jon said, tucking her hair behind her ear. The gesture was so tender that Patti had to fight not to lean into his touch. “You’re the only woman I want, the only woman I’ll ever want. You’re my heart, Patricia. You’ve healed it and you alone have the power to destroy it.”
Patti looked up at him with accusation in her eyes. “You turned your back on me.”
Jon’s face twisted and he shifted to cup her face in both of his large hands. “Baby, believe me when I tell you, I had no idea when I walked away how much you meant to me. I have never been so torn apart by anything or anyone before you. I’m only sorry that it took losing you to realize that.”
Without thinking, Patti’s hands found Jon’s shirt. She gripped the soft cotton in her fists, focusing on the heavy rise and fall of his chest as she tried to sort out her thoughts. That past week had armed her with so much, from her talk with her mother to the heart-to-heart with her father, she felt like she finally had the courage to face her demons head-on.
Her father wasn’t perfect. Neither was Jon. She already knew that she loved Jon more than she had ever loved another man. It wasn’t difficult to see that if she let him walk out of her life now, she would be losing a chance at something great.
Plus, Jon was the father of her unborn child. There was no way she could let him go without first giving their relationship a fighting chance. She owed it to herself to try.
“I’m scared, Jon,” she admitted, pulling him closer. Her eyes shined as she looked up at him. “But I love you so much. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Oh, baby, never,” Jon said, his voice catching as he dipped his head and captured her mouth. “You’ve got me. You’ve got me,” he repeated.
Patti clung to him, pouring all of her love into her kiss. Jon didn’t kiss her softly or gently, but devoured her mouth in a kiss so passionate and hungry that Patti’s entire body trembled. When he pulled away, they were both breathing heavily and Jon had to keep one arm around Patti’s waist to hold her up.
“I love you,” Jon said, stroking her cheek.
“Ditto,” Patti said, smiling at him. Jon released a long, heavy breath that told Patti that he was building up to something. “What’s wrong,” she asked worriedly.
The corner of Jon’s mouth tipped up. “I was just bracing myself.”
“For what?”
“For meeting your dad.”
Patti’s eyes welled. Taking his hand in hers, she stepped away from the truck. “Come on.” She led him across the manicured lawn. When they stopped in front of her father’s grave, she gave Jon’s hand a squeeze. It was crazy, but standing there made her feel like she was a teenager again. Nerves made her voice small as she said, “Daddy, I’d like you to meet Jonathon Bradshaw.” Her gaze lifted as she fell into Jon’s warm blue eyes that shone with adoration and reflected back what she felt in her heart a hundred fold. It gave her the courage she needed as she held his eyes and told her father, “The father of my baby.”
26
Being held in Patti’s arms felt like coming home. Jon traced his finger around her dusky areola, watching as each pass caused the nipple to pucker until it became a hardened point.
“That feels good,” Patti said on a shiver.
“So does what you’re doing.” Closing his eyes, Jon enjoyed the feeling of her fingers combing through his hair as well as the heat of her body pressed up against his. He was lying on her, his arm draped over the thinnest part of her waist, his cheek pressed against her breast. It was perfection personified.
After a proper introduction to her father, Patricia followed Jon back to his condo and he’d promptly kicked Casey out for the day. It embarrassed her to have thought ill of his sister, but he and Casey both assured her that it wasn’t anything to worry about, and Casey was just thrilled that they had worked things out. Giving them her blessing and asking that they keep the action in the bedroom and not on the couch, she was out the door so fast she put The Flash to shame.
Jon didn’t waste another minute talking. As soon as the door was closed, he whisked Patricia into his room and tore their clothes off, and then he spent the rest of the afternoon worshiping every inch of her body.
Now, as they basked in the afterglow, he couldn’t imagine a more perfect reunion. Everything felt complete now that he had her back in his life and in his bed where she belonged. Now that he had her, he knew he was never going to let her go. “You’re stuck with me now, you know,” he informed her, skimming his fingers lightly down her side.
A breathy laugh left her as she squirmed. “I was afraid of that.”
She laughed outright when Jon gave her hip a playful pinch. “I’ll never let you out of my sight. I’m going to be your shadow.”
“Mm, sounds creeptastic,” she teased. “And what about work? You have to leave sometime.”
Shaking his head, Jon craned his neck back and wrapped his mouth around her nipple. Giving it a firm suck, he released it with a pop. “I’ll work from home. Teleconference. Maybe I’ll hire a stand-in. We’ll never have to leave the house again.”
“Oh really?” Patricia chuckled. “What about food? How will we eat?”
“We’ll order in.”
“What about our friends? Our family? They’re going to worry when we suddenly disappear off the face of the earth.”
“They can come here and visit us. We’ll open the door just long enough to let them slip inside, entertain them for an hour, and then send them packing.” Jon leaned up and nipped her bottom lip. “It’s the only time we’ll ever have to get dressed.”