“I wanted to,” he repeated.

Their eyes settled on the tree as painful silence stretched between them.

“Jack.”

“Jessie,” they both said together, and then laughed.

“Why don’t we sit down,” she suggested. “Can I get you something to drink?”

He shook his head and waited for her to sit before he took his seat opposite her.

“I’ve made such a mess of things, Jessie.” Jack leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

“You didn’t do it alone.”

His eyes traveled to the floor. “Is what Danny said true? Did you cry?”

“Women are emotional creatures.”

“I hate the thought of you crying over me.”

Jessie sat taller. “I was afraid I’d driven you away forever. We’ve kinda gotten used to you being around here. Danny hasn’t stopped asking where you are.”

“Did you miss me?”

She swallowed hard and delivered the truth. “More than you would believe.”

Jack smiled. “I can believe a lot of things. Like I believe that if I’d waited to ask you to marry me, maybe you’d have said yes. But no, I had to jump in, both feet, and have you turn me down.”

“You scared me, Jack.”

“Why?”

Why? Good question, one she’d been considering night and day since he left. “I was afraid of loving you. Of what would become of us if I allowed myself to depend on you. I’ve been doing this alone for a lot of years, and I’d love to share the burden, but I didn’t think that was fair to you.”

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but she halted him with a hand.

“Wait, I’m not done. Sometimes, when you love someone, you need to do what’s best for them. Doing what’s best isn’t always the easiest thing. I thought you’d have a better shot at all the things you want in your life if you didn’t have Danny and me dragging you down.”

When Jessie looked, she saw Jack staring at her with his mouth dropped open. “You said no because you love me?”

A tear ran down her cheek. “I said no because Danny and I both love you. Having you walk out of our life one day when you want to pursue your dreams would hurt more than saying good-bye now. At least, that’s what I thought last week.”

Jack stood, knelt down in front of her, and grasped her hands. “Do you feel the same thing this week?”

“No. This week I was miserable, desperately wishing you wouldn’t take my rejection and you’d come back.”

Jack lifted his hands to her face and rubbed away the tears with his thumbs. Leaning forward, he brought his lips to hers.

She cried against his lips and crushed him closer. Jack was there, kissing her, mending the pain in her chest that had settled there like a rock.

He leaned her back and covered her with his weight. His lips moved over hers; his hands kneaded her hair. When he pulled away, Jessie’s breath was shallow and uneven.

“I came back, Jessie. I’m not going anywhere.”

Jessie pulled him down and kissed him hard.

His hands left her hair and ran down her waist. She wanted him, loved him more than she could express. If he were to ask her to marry him all over again, she’d jump at the opportunity of being Mrs. Jack Moore. There was more to life than money. The caring, thoughtful, and honest man in her arms meant more than any amount of money could.

“Make love to me, Jack,” she told him between kisses.

His heated eyes stared down at her. The weight in his jeans spoke of his desire. “What about your sister and Danny?”

Monica wouldn’t rush home. “They’ll be gone long enough for make-up sex.”

“Make-up loving,” Jack corrected her.

Jessie laughed for the first time in a week.

Lifting her in his arms, Jack walked her to her bedroom and kicked the door shut. Jessie picked at the buttons of his shirt as he set her down on the bed.

The expanse of his chest was open to her view. Strong, powerful. “You’re beautiful,” she told him.

“Don’t go telling my friends that. Texan cowboys are handsome, rugged, but never beautiful.”

Jessie stripped his shirt completely away and tossed it to the floor. Jack was working on her apron and then her jeans. “You’re handsome and rugged, too. But so beautiful.” She ran her hands down his hips and tugged at the opening of his pants.

When she managed to spring his erection, he said, “You better not call him beautiful.”

Running her hand down his shaft and back up again, she was thrilled when Jack hummed his pleasure. “This is rugged and hot.”

“Vixen,” he said in a hoarse voice.

Jack wiggled out of his clothes and Jessie pulled her sweater from her body. Within seconds, they were both naked and he was crawling back over her body, covering her with his heat. She’d never tire of him holding her down and showering her body with his lips and hands.

Jack nibbled her chin and neck and followed a fiery path of kisses and licks until he rounded over her breast. “This is beautiful,” he said before teasing her into a hard pebble and sucking her into the cavern of his mouth. Jack nibbled, the bite playful but hard enough to shoot fire between her legs. He moved to her other breast. “And this is beautiful.” He repeated the attention to the second.

Her returned to her mouth and ravished her with his tongue.

She squirmed, wanting him inside her. They rolled over each other, fighting for dominance. Their harsh breathing was the only sound in the room.