I froze and took a deep breath.

A smile slowly crept to my lips as Jace leaned against the door shirtless, arms resting at his sides, as he smiled at me. He looked so beautiful. He always did. "Good morning." He grinned.

I softly bit my bottom lip and ran a hand through Lucky's soft fur. "Good morning, Jace," I whispered.

I patted Lucky's back and watched him as he jumped off the bed and ran through the hall. I looked up at Jace and shook my head. "What was that all about?"

Jace pushed away from the door, smiled, and stepped out of his snug boxer briefs. My eyes hungrily scanned his naked body as he stepped up next to the bed and grabbed me by my sides. "I knew he had to be just as hungry as I am," he breathed. "He'll be occupied for a while.

I let out a soft moan as Jace's hands tightened around my body, pulling me close to his warm chest. I gently placed my right hand over his heaving chest and smiled. "If you're hungry, then maybe you should cook us some breakfast." I laughed.

Jace's eyes wandered down to my legs as he chewed on his lip ring. "Nothing can satisfy my hunger, quite like the taste of you." He ran his hand down the front of my camisole, before yanking on my hips, pulling me back down to the bed. "I'm not letting you leave."

I threw my head back and giggled as Jace pressed his soft lips to my neck. It tickled, but at the same time, felt so damn good. "Never?" I questioned.

Jace pressed harder into my neck while gripping onto my right thigh. "Never." He paused to look at me. "Okay, well maybe not never. That could be a little creepy." He laughed and then pressed his mouth against mine.

My fingers lightly tangled through Jace's messy hair as he hovered his body above mine, barely brushing mine, and gripped the back of my neck. His touch was so caring, yet strong at the same time. He made my whole body want to melt into his and get lost.

"Jace," I whispered. "I meant what I said."

Jace's body stiffened as he pushed me down into the soft pillow. His beautiful eyes studied mine, before he pressed his body into mine and cupped my face. "I know." He smiled, his finger grazing over my lip, as he squeezed my hip with his free hand. "I believed you the first time."

I playfully pounded my fist into his chest as he grinned at me. "You jerk," I shouted. "You were messing with me?"

Jace's hand gripped my flying fist as he pulled it around his shoulder and kissed my arm. He ran a finger down my belly and then yanked my top off. He stared down at my bare body and then into my eyes. "I felt that it was real, but I was too afraid that I was wrong. I didn't want to get my hopes up and then lose you." He bent down, pressing his lips to mine. "I wanted to wait until you said it again. I wanted to hear it, when it came from here." He pointed at my heart. "That was when I was sure that the first time was real."

A tear rolled down my cheek at the thought of that night. I was so afraid that I had lost Jace, that he was probably right. I would have said anything at that point. Not to mention that the medicine didn't help me think more clearly either.

"I was so scared." I looked up, but set my gaze on his lips. "The thought of never seeing you again made me... it made me…" I got the courage and looked him in the eyes. "It made me feel as if I was dying. I suddenly couldn't picture a life without you in it and I wanted to die with you. You were the only thing that was keeping me breathing. I had nothing before I found you. I was nothing-"

"Don't say that, Avery," he cut in, his voice soft. "You were always something special. You were just too blind to see it. You were brought up to believe that you were nothing. Like no one could ever care for you." He grabbed my hand and kissed it. "That was all wrong. Do you hear me? You are… everything to me."

My heart fell to my feet. I shifted on the bed and looked down at the floor. "Jace-"

"No, Avery," he blurted out.

He stood up from the bed and walked over to the window. "You have been everything to me since our first kiss. I felt something that I had never felt with anyone else. Suddenly, the only thing that mattered to me was your happiness. I wanted you to be happy and I wanted to be a part of that happiness." He turned away from the window and brought his eyes up to meet the ceiling. "You're all that I think about. When you left... you..." He bit his lip in frustration. "You broke my fucking heart. I looked everywhere for you. Everyone told me that it was fine. That you would return when you were ready. What nobody knew... was that I was afraid that you would never be ready. It scared the shit out of me."

His words broke my heart. The pain in his voice was almost enough to bring me to my knees it hurt like nothing else before.

I scrambled from the bed and jumped to my feet. I needed to show him how much I loved him. I threw my arms around him and roughly pulled him to the bed. I stared him in the eye while pushing him onto the soft mattress. "I love you. I fucking love you so much that it hurts." I placed my finger to his mouth and leaned down so that my face was inches from his, his heavy breathing tickling my lips. "I want you more than anything else in life and I will do anything to prove that to you. Please don't ever give up on me. Please," I pleaded, looking in his eyes.

Jace grabbed my head, closing the distance between us, as we made love. What I just experienced with Jace was love. True, undeniably, passionate love.

~•~

An hour later, I found myself standing outside of Jan’s Place. Jace had dropped me off and offered to come inside with me, but I felt as if it was something that I had to do alone. Knowing that I was about to start a new job, made me so nervous that I didn't know whether to laugh or run away.

I took a long, deep breath and reached for the handle.

I stepped inside to a quiet, dark restaurant. At first I thought that maybe I had arrived early, but after checking the clock, I saw, that I was only ten minutes early. I took a few steps inside and looked around. I didn't see Jan anywhere in sight. "Hello," I called out. "Is anyone here?"

It was silent for a few moments until finally I heard tiny footsteps behind me. I turned around to see Jan standing there with a frown on her face. She reached out and placed her hand on my arm. "Come on, girl. Let’s get started.”    

I smiled and nodded my head as Jan explained everything that I needed to know to get started.