“Damn, we could argue.”
“We hated one another like a pair of pros. No fun like I had pissing you off.”
“You still do piss me off, you know.”
“Yeah. I think it’s part of our charm.” He gave her another smile and a wink. She almost fell off the bed. Jim winking? Flirting with her? Admitting how he felt about her finally?
“Back to me as your girlfriend. The announcement in the church gazette is a bit cringeworthy of you. But I would appreciate feeling welcome if I show up there again.”
“You can come as often and as much as you like.”
She tilted her head and squinted her eyes. Was he… no, Jim didn’t make sexual innuendoes, but…?
He smiled.
And it wasn’t his usual smile. It was a brand new one. A frisky and fun one. This stranger who possessed Jim’s solemn body.
“I can’t believe you. Mr. Church is dirty now?”
“Well, I’ve been pretty good for you. I’m rusty but not wrong about such things… right?”
She took a pillow and threw it at him. He grinned as she started to stomp to her feet, but he grabbed her and pulled her back. Laughing, he pushed her on the bed, beneath him as he stretched over her. Holding her hands down with his, he pressed her into the mattress. “And I was always dirty. I just had to keep it quiet.”
He leaned down and kissed her mouth.
His kisses made her breathless. From the very first time. Which was the biggest surprise of all. Her gaze roamed over him and she was suddenly eager to take in every detail of his face. His intelligent, serious, solemn, pious and frequently pissed off face. Now he was kind, caring, and committed. She cupped his cheek in her hand. “You know, from now on, you can’t be quiet about things. Not with me, I mean. You can say and think whatever you want. You can just be.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s not how I’ve ever been.”
Amused, she nodded, letting her hand drift up to ruffle his hair. “Believe me, I know. But you finally can. The house of cards? Seeing life only as a burden? That doesn’t have to be your reality anymore.”
His face became serious and his eyeballs darted to hers and away. The thought seemed to almost scare him. “I’m really not used to that.”
“Believe me. I know. I’m not used to anyone like you. But you can trust me.” She shut her eyes for a second and winced. “Okay, I realize the one time you did, I ran off to my family. But it won’t always be like that. What you were doing was more serious than your trust issues.”
“It is. Although, I do have trust issues. All the stuff going on here will make this hard.”
“This? Meaning you admit we are dating? You can’t keep pretending I’m a mistake you need to resolve with yourself.”
He winced before he kissed her softly. “I swear I’ll do better. It wasn’t about you. I was afraid my… crap. I doubted all the things I wanted and did were normal. I feared they made me like him.”
She played with his hair that fell over his forehead and replied, “No. Nothing could make you like him. You are very normal. I am very normal. I swear to you, together we are just ordinary.”
His head leaned closer until his forehead went between her breasts. “You can’t imagine how much that means to me.”
“I can. Believe me. I’ve witnessed you from the start. You really don’t believe it yet.”
“No. It might take me awhile to be… normal.”
“Comfortable with it. You already are normal.”
“Okay. That sounds better. I’m already normal.” He lifted his face with an impish, surprising smile. “There are things I’d do right now, if your family wasn’t everywhere. Why don’t you come to my place later?”
“I would love to. How about dinner with my family? As my date and boyfriend, not Kathy’s.”
He lifted himself off her and got to his feet. “You know how astonishing this will seem to everyone in the church. I mean Kathy and me, then the shooting, and now me and you. I know we consider it logical since Kathy and I weren’t sexual or even remotely romantic. We were like two friends who got engaged and not engaged. But this will probably blow a few minds.”
“You are going to tell people about us. You haven’t sufficiently convinced me of that yet.”
He put a hand out, took hers and held her against him. “I swear I’ll claim you as mine. All the time. To anyone who will listen. And yes, that includes every sermon of mine, every sermon that you want to attend, that is. I won’t care what anyone thinks or whether or not they disapprove. We know the truth. That’s all that matters.”
“Yes. That is exactly right.”
“I think Rob might like me a smidgeon better than before though.”
“I think everyone will like you a smidgeon better. In goading me, you came across as a sanctimonious ass. Even Kathy thought so… She kept saying you weren’t like that in church or when you were alone with her, you know, everywhere but here. We figured it was owing to our hedonistic lifestyle with Zenith and all.”
“It might have been. I won’t claim I was reformed all at once. But I hated the bodyguards and security because I feared all the attention would allow Jimmy to find me. It did, but not in the way I ever imagined it happening.”
“Us either. As for Jimmy showing up, did you hear about Eric’s solution?”
“Yes. And I agreed to that too. Pretty smart. I guess my head never got clear enough to truly examine the situation. See it for what it was and know that he can’t really hurt me.”
“You just thought he could.”
“Yes. All the time.”
“I honestly don’t think he can. Not with our guards and you broadcasting a prewarning.”
He laughed. “Prewarning. That’s it.” He
