She rolled off the bed, tucked her feet into her slippers, and slipped on her bathrobe.

Walking out of her room, she heard the sound of the television running some type of cartoon. In the living room, Danny lay on the couch with a blanket tossed on his lap. In his hands was a bowl of cereal. She didn’t usually let him eat while on the sofa, but he looked so comfortable. After the night he’d had, Jessie didn’t have the heart to encourage him to move to the table.

“You’re up.” Jack smiled as he walked toward her, greeting her with a cup of coffee. The expression on his face told her he wanted to kiss her, but he glanced over at Danny.

The fact that he was worried about Danny, or at least that’s what it appeared to be to Jessie, expressed how very much Jack understood her. “Thank you,” she said as she brought the coffee to her lips. He’d even put cream and sugar in the cup.

Thoughtful. Always thoughtful.

“Good morning, Mommy.”

Jessie stepped to the couch and placed her cup on the table before touching Danny’s forehead. “How are you feeling this morning, buddy?”

His cheeks and nose were still rosy, and his eyes were droopy. But his skin wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been the night before.

Danny coughed a couple of times and then said, “Better. I think I could go to the park later on.”

Ah, yeah, right. “I don’t think that’s a good idea today. Maybe by tomorrow.” Or the day after.

“I checked his temperature when he woke up,” Jack told her. “It was 101.2, so I gave him the Motrin like the doctor said to.”

Jessie glanced between Jack and Danny before brushing Danny’s hair away from his eyes. Danny watched the TV, hardly glancing at her. She stood and walked into the kitchen, where the smell of toast filled the tiny space.

“Thanks for helping Danny out.”

“I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind? Jack, please, I appreciate it.”

He leaned a hip against the counter and sipped his coffee.

“I can’t believe I slept in. How long have you guys been up?”

“About an hour. I heard Danny in the bathroom and thought I’d sneak out to check on him and let you sleep.”

Jessie stepped around Jack and pulled him out of direct sight of Danny. She leaned up and kissed him. “Thanks,” she said before he pulled her down for a more satisfying kiss.

When he let her go, she smiled and felt her cheeks warm. Jessie stared into the warmth of his gaze, unable to pull away. What is he thinking? She looked a mess. Hair brushed by her pillow, sleep in her eyes, but still he smiled at her as if she were dressed for the ball.

“You’re beautiful,” he told her softly.

“I’m a mess,” she corrected. But the fact he saw through her messy state first thing in the morning was a huge plus.

He brushed his hand against the side of her face and stared directly into her eyes.

“Marry me.”

At first, Jessie thought she’d imagined his words. When Jack kept staring at her, a slight grin on his face, she knew she’d heard him correctly.

“W-what did you say?”

He laughed and wrapped a hand around her waist. “I said, marry me.”

No, not this. Not now.

The air in her lungs started to push through with difficulty, and not in a good way. From the expression on Jack’s face, she knew her face showed her confusion.

Her smile fell, and her hands began to shake. Jessie’s head started to shake. “Jack,” she said breathlessly.

“I want this, Jessie. You, me. Danny. I know you have reservations—”

She pushed out of his arms. “No. Don’t do this. Please.” Dammit. He knew how she felt about dreamers and forever.

Jessie glanced around the corner and saw that Danny had laid his head on a pillow. She grasped Jack’s hand and pulled him into her bedroom. There, she shut the door behind them and spoke in a hoarse whisper. “Why are you doing this? You know I can’t marry you.”

Jack’s smile started to fade. The reality that she was turning him down started to sink in. “Because I’m not rich?”

“N-No.” She spun away from him, away from the cold that started to penetrate his eyes. “I care for you. Really. Last night was amazing…”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Think about it, Jack. We get married, you move in here. Then the newness wears off and the bills are making us snap at each other. Or you remember how much you love Texas, but then realize you can’t afford to move back there. You’ll want to run off and I’ll be here, holding on.” She was rambling. Barely making sense. Why did he have to do this to them? Couldn’t they just enjoy a physical relationship? Why make promises he’d want to break later on down the road?

“That’s not going to happen.” He reached for her arm and she pulled away.

“It will. You need to find someone who can run off with you to make your dreams come true. You don’t need me and a kid holding you back.” And he’d regret her and Danny before a year was out. Dreamers hated it when reality slapped them in the ass.

“What if I told you I had money?”

“Stop it! Just stop!” She hated this. Hated that she felt her heart breaking after it was so full of life only minutes before. “We’re friends, Jack. I don’t want to regret last night, because for a moment there I thought maybe we could be ‘friends with benefits’ or something stupid like that. Obviously that’s not the case.” She still saw hope in his eyes, and Jessie knew she needed to say something to get him to find his forever with someone else. “It was just sex, Jack.”