Mine is in his too. Right where it belongs.
"I love you," I whisper when he rolls us over, pulling me on top of him. I sprawl out across his sweaty chest, listening to the thunder of his heart.
"Good," he murmurs, brushing my sweaty hair back from my forehead. He touches his lips to my crown. Smiles. "Cause I'm not goin' anywhere, cowgirl."
Chapter Six
Jason
"What are you thinkin' about so hard, Minnie?" I ask, running my hand down Miranda's back. She's cuddled up on my lap in my office, a deep crease between her brows. She's been quiet all morning, distracted. We held hands when we got here this morning, and then I kissed her before leaving her office to make my rounds through the building. Half the staff saw us entering together, hand in hand. The other half probably saw her come into my office half an hour ago. I'm a little worried she's having doubts about taking our relationship public. But I won't hide it. Couldn't even if I tried. It's pretty obvious that I can't keep my eyes off her. When she's near, I'm watching her.
"My dad."
"What about him?" They talked this morning while I was getting ready for work. I don't know if she told him about us or not. I'm trying not to rush her, but I want him to know sooner rather than later too. I don't want him trying to send her on any more dates. Fuck that noise. She's not going anywhere with anyone who isn't me.
"He wants to meet you."
I freeze, my hand hovering over her back. "You told him about me?"
"Of course I did." She tips her head back to look at me, a frown on her face. Uncertainty flickers in her chocolate eyes. "Did you…not want him to know?"
"No."
She flinches.
"I mean, no, I'm glad you told him. I want him to know." I smirk at her, leaning forward to brush my lips against hers. "I want everyone to know that you're mine. But I wasn't sure how you felt about tellin' him about me."
"I want everyone to know too," she whispers, reaching out to brush her hand over my hair. Like that'll keep it in place. It does what it wants. I just live with it. "I love you, Jason. And I'm tired of hiding from the world."
I let her soft declaration work its way through me, awed all over again that she loves me. I wasn't sure I had a chance in hell of winning her heart, but she handed it over to me willingly. Thank God. Because mine has been in her hands since word one. I'm not good enough for her, but I'm keeping her anyway. No one is taking her from me now.
Not gonna lie though, I'm more than a little worried that her daddy might try.
"What did your dad say about us? Is he still pissed about the bar?"
"No." She shakes her head. "He doesn't stay mad at me for very long. He's not very good at it. He's happy so long as I'm happy. He does want to meet you though." She eyes me warily. "He may threaten you. He never got to do that when I was younger."
"I can handle him," I promise, not afraid of her dad. For her sake, I hope he doesn't try to stand in the way. But make no mistakes about it, she's mine now, and she'll be mine for the rest of our lives. He's just going to have to accept that. Fuck. I hope he accepts it. I don't want him breaking her heart if he hates me. "He knows what I do?"
She nods.
"How does he feel about it?"
The little crease between her brows reappears. "You think he won't approve?"
"Didn't say that."
"You're thinking it," she says, narrowing her eyes. Hurt flashes through them, her body stiffening in my arms. "My dad isn't like that, Jason. He doesn't care what you do so long as you make me happy."
"Minnie, I didn't—"
"If you want me to trust you, then you have to trust me too," she says, wiggling for me to put her down. I try to hold onto her, but she slips out of my arms, landing on her feet in front of me. She straightens her skirt, smoothing out invisible wrinkles, and then puts her hands on her hips to scowl at me, anger stamped across her face. And fuck if that doesn't make my dick hard. "You said you don't care about the fact that I'm rich, but then you act like my dad is going to judge you because you aren't. You're being a classist."
"A classist? What the fuck?" Part of me wants to laugh, but I can tell by her expression that she's serious about this.
"You're judging him without even knowing him, just because he's rich."
"Miranda, that's not what I was sayin'."
She sniffs at me, clearly not appeased. "Then what were you saying?"
"I…" I blow out a breath. "Hell, I don't know." I stare at her, baffled how this turned into an argument when she was practically purring on my lap not even two minutes ago. "I'm just worried I'm not the kind of guy he would have chosen for you, pretty baby. That he won't think I'm good enough for you." I wave a hand in her direction. "Look at you. You're intelligent, beautiful, kind…"
"Rich," she whispers when I trail off.
I grind my teeth together, frustrated because…yeah. She's rich too. She's the total package. She could have anyone she wanted, and I'm betting her daddy knows it as well as I do. I wouldn't blame the man for not thinking I'm good enough, but Miranda would.
"I'm going back to my office," she whispers, her bottom lip quivering.
"Miranda, dammit," I growl, hopping up from my desk as she storms toward the door. "Wait a minute."
"Don't curse at me," she says, turning to look at me. The sheen of tears in her eyes stops me dead in my tracks. So does the betrayal burning in the depths. "You told me that my family's money doesn't matter, but now you're acting like it does. You can't have it both ways, Jason. You either want me like I am or not at all. My family is important to me. It's not fair for you to judge my dad before you've ever even met him."
She turns and storms out of my office before I can say anything. I tip my head back and curse up at the ceiling. She's got it all wrong. I may never be able to give her all the shit he can, but I can take care of her. That's not what I was worrying about. I know fuck all about what a man—billionaire or not—wants for his daughter, but I'm guessing it's not a former cop who is closer to his age than her own. I don't want him trying to keep us apart because he doesn't approve of me. That'll just hurt her.
Which I just did well enough on my own, apparently.
"Son of a bitch," I growl, heading out to track her down and fix this. Her being mad at me is intolerable. Her thinking I don't trust her or that I can't handle loving every piece of her is even worse than that. It's pure torture. My heart is mangled, my stomach all twisted up in knots. I don't ever want her crying over me.
She's too beautiful to be sad.
"Jason!"
"Dammit," I growl, spinning around to face Lauren as she hurries across the lobby toward me.
"Lily's uncle just dragged her outside. She said everything was okay, but he looked crazy," she says, breathing hard. Her eyes are wide and worried.