Jill Shalvis: Room Service

“You look great, Em.”

She had black circles beneath her eyes, she’d forgotten to put mascara on that morning, and her hair…she couldn’t bear thinking about her hair. She was wearing her last pair of panties because she hadn’t had the energy to do laundry, and she thought that if he said one more nice word, she would do the unthinkable and burst into tears.

“I’ve missed you,” he said quietly.

Oh, damn. She blinked hard.

“I was a fool.” He took a step toward her. “A complete fool to let you go. A cowardly one, too.” Another step, and then another. “All my life I’ve walked away from commitment, from relationships, from anything that was more than skin-deep.” One last step put them face-to-face, only inches apart. “But when I was with you, Em, I realized something.”

She could scarcely breathe. “What’s that?”

“I don’t want to be that guy anymore.”

It was painful, so painful, to look at him because she knew she couldn’t keep the hope out of her voice. “What are you saying?” she whispered.

“I’m saying there’s a lot more between us than passion, though that’s pretty damn great. I’m saying I love you back, damn it.”

Oh, God. “Jacob-”

He put his hands on her arms. “And I know you’re here and I’m there, but I’ll take the executive chef position if I have to and only work once a week at Hush. Or I’ll start over somewhere else, somewhere here-”

She put her fingers over his mouth, and then because words failed, she just looked at him for a minute. “That you’d even do that for me…The show is a success, Jacob. It doesn’t need me every day anymore. I’ll have to come up with a new show now to produce, of course, but I can do that anywhere.”

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and gently pulled her hand from his mouth. “Keep talking.”

“I loved New York. Enough to maybe give the city a shot. I’m sure there’s something I can do there, because I know how much you want to be at Hush. That is…if you’d like.”

“I don’t care where we are, as long as we’re there together.” His eyes glittered. “So, yeah. I’d like.”

“So.” She held up his résumé. “The job of holding my heart. You seem uniquely qualified for that.”

Slowly his tension seemed to drain. And for the first time since he’d stepped inside her office, he let out a slow smile, one infused with obvious relief. “You think so?”

Nodding, she smiled. “And I am hiring you on the spot for all the above, to be my lover, my friend and the bearer of my heart. As long as I get to be the bearer of yours.”

“Always,” he whispered fiercely, his arms banding tightly around her as he lifted her up. “Always.”