“You’re going to get more than that.” Yes, she was crazy to spend another night with him knowing she could no longer separate her feelings for him from the physical act of being with him, but she didn’t care. She wanted him, even if it was for the last time.
They walked hand in hand to the door. On the porch, he looked around. “Where’s Cat?”
“It’s a surprise. Do you have a minute?”
He cupped her face and smiled. “For you, I’ve got all the minutes.”
Her heart squeezed, which she tried to ignore. She unlocked the front door with her own key—smiling when Levi looked surprised at the fact she didn’t knock first. Still holding his hand, she tugged him into the living room and turned to the couch. “Levi, meet Zoe and Mariella, two of my roommates.”
Zoe and Mariella sat up straight. Zoe dusted some chip crumbs off her shirt and Mariella pointed at Jane. “Hey, you do know our names,” she teased.
Jane felt her face heat up and heard Levi’s soft laugh, but then there was a loud, demanding meow and they all looked down at the large gray cat unfurling herself from where she’d been lying in front of the woodstove. Chirping in happiness, she ran over to Jane.
“You invited her in?” Levi asked, crouching down to smile at Cat, who bumped her head against Levi’s thigh, demanding to be petted.
Levi obliged and Jane found herself rubbing her aching chest as she stared down at two of her favorite living creatures. She no longer had any idea how she was supposed to do this and then leave at the end of the season. But she did know it was going to hurt like hell.
“Saw your name painted on your door,” Zoe said. “Congrats.”
“For what?”
Zoe smiled. “For coming in out of the storm along with Cat.”
Damn. She felt her face heat up again, but not from embarrassment this time. It was an overload of something she almost didn’t recognize—contentment. Which meant, of course, she was doomed. She didn’t have a lot of experience with contentment, but she knew one thing for absolute certain.
It never lasted.
“Show me your door,” Levi said softly in her ear.
Which was how she found herself taking his hand and leading him up the stairs.
Levi smiled at the prominently painted JANE and the landscape. “Nice. You going to invite me in too? Like you did Cat?”
“It’s a little messy.”
“I like a little messy,” he said and kissed her softly. Letting her know he liked her just as she was.
A powerful realization. A little flummoxed, she pushed the door open and walked in. Levi followed, nudged the door closed with his foot, then turned her in his arms to face him. He let his smile fade as he looked into her eyes. “You’re an enigma, Jane, and I love that about you. You have all these secret compartments and hidden locked boxes, and there’s no instructions or manual. It’s been a thrill of a ride, the not knowing what’s around the next corner, but you know what’s an even bigger thrill?”
Speechless, she shook her head.
Cupping her face, he slid his fingers into her hair, the pads of his thumbs brushing her jaw lightly. “Being on the inside.”
Her breath stuttered in her chest. “You think you’re on the inside?” she asked lightly, going for a teasing tone.
“I do.” He paused. “I hope.”
She dropped her head to his chest to muffle her startled laugh. Because when he was right, he was right. “You are,” she said. “In, I mean. But we no longer have to pretend anything for anyone, so . . .” She shook her head. “What are we really doing here?”