Jesse's Soul (2) (36 page)

“Excuse me?”

“He kissed her. In front of all of us. Momentary insanity, I guess, and now he’s embarrassed, so she went to find him.”

Reid sat down in a chair close to Jesse with a nervous chuckle. “I knew you were laid back, but
damn, Frost, someone kisses your girl and you don’t get worked up?”

“Na. Not in this situation.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He’s young, and I know he’s idolized her since the night she walked in. I get it, she’s beautiful, smart, funny, and she knows more than any man about a bike.
That’s hot. Now, don’t get me wrong, if it’d been anyone else, I’d probably popped ‘em, but he’s seventeen. He couldn’t even look me in the eye, Reid. I actually feel bad for the kid,” Jesse said with a chuckle. “But if I’d been in his situation, I’d probably done the same thing.”

“Jess, come here please.”

Turning, he saw Emery. She jerked her head, motioning for him to come closer. He stood, clasped Reid’s shoulder as he passed and followed his girlfriend behind the trailer and out of ear shot of the rest of the team. She’d found Lance and apparently talked to him, but made him stand waiting. Jesse held in the grin seeing Lance flash fifteen shades of red and incapable of holding his head up straight.

“Jesse, will you please tell Lance how you feel? Reassure him a little?”

He grinned at Emery then put his arm around Lance’s shoulders, only to feel him flinch. “It’s all right, let’s take a walk.”

“With no witnesses?” Lance’s voice went up three octaves.

Jesse shook his head at the panic stricken face. “You’re fine. Let’s go, bud.”

~

Emery knew Jesse well enough to know he wasn’t upset and would be understanding given the circumstances. Plus he would be able to calm Lance down more than she could. With her, he was just embarrassed. With Jesse, he was terrified of getting his ass kicked, and had even come right out and admitted it.

She walked back around the trailer now that she had a couple of minutes to threaten her team to within an inch of each of their lives, but
she didn’t realize it was her own father she was going to have to control.

“Damn, honey.” Reid shook his head in mock disapproval.

Her chin came up and her finger was in his chest before he could get the rest of the statement out. “Don’t. You keep your damn mouth shut.”

Reid chuckled. “Ah, sweetheart, if you’re going to cheat on Jesse, could you at least have the decency to not do it right in front of him? That’s just cruel. Us men are more sensitive than we get credit for. That hurts, honey.” He said placing his hands over his heart in a very bad attempt at acting
, with an even worse stab at mocking Jesse’s southern accent.

“I ought to knock the
shit out you. Now shut up,” she said through gritted teeth. Her voice lowered, hoping he’d get the hint and follow suit.

“I finally got him calmed down and ready to come back to the trailer and move on, and I have you to worry about. Look at the rest of my boys.” She motioned the rest of the team, who she knew were listening to her every word, but at least had the brains to be secretive about it. Not one looked up, they just bit their lips, tongues, cheeks—whatever they had to just to keep their laughter in check so she didn’t rip their asses next. They’d all seen what happened when someone crossed her, and they were seemingly doing their best to keep quiet.

“I’m sorry, I gotta stick up for Jesse, he’s a good guy, Em. I love him like a son, and he deserves better than this.” Reid motioned with his palms up.

“Go away. You’re in my space. Go away.” She pulled him to standing and pushed him toward the trailer doors. “Go do…whatever
the hell it is you get paid to do and don’t come back out.”

“You are a very pretty girl, Em, I can see—”

“Shut up, Dad.”

“Wow. You’re pissed. You never call me dad in front of the guys.” He taunted with a laugh as she gave him one last shove in his back.

With that, she shut the trailer door in his face, and not a moment too soon. Jesse came back around the trailer with his hand on Lance’s shoulder, pushing him somewhere he very obviously didn’t want to go.

“Just go back to work, bud, it’s all good.” He patted Lance’s shoulder and sat back in his chair by Emery’s stool.

“Sorry, Emery,” Lance said quietly as he passed her, unable to look her in the eye.

“It’s okay, Lance. No big deal.”

She sat back down and let out a breath, and lowered her voice when she spoke to Jesse. “You okay?”

“Oh yeah, we’ll talk later.”

She nodded and went back to work, adding in fresh oil to Jesse’s bike. A few minutes went by, and she snorted to herself, then looked at Jesse.

“You know, just for future knowledge
...” She watched his eyebrow rise and his warm grin appear. “If another woman was to do that to you, I’d kick her fucking ass.” Her words came out deliberate and overly enunciated. Maybe Jesse wasn’t jealous, but there was no way in hell another woman would get away with touching her man. A noise inside the trailer caught her attention, and she looked up to find her dad’s laughing face. She stood up, narrowed her glare, and flipped him off, which was the last straw for the rest of the team. They lost it and couldn’t quit rolling. Emery threw her arms up in the air, pursed her lips as she glared at her dad, and then slammed her hands into place on her hips with her head cocked to the side to drive home her point. “What’d I tell you?” She asked loud enough for him to hear through the door.

L
ooking over at Lance, who was again five shades beyond red, she shook her head. “Sorry, Lance. I guess you better just laugh it off, honey, otherwise it’s going to be a very long night.”

Jesse stood up, pulling her into his arms
. “So back to you kicking ass…you’d fight over me?”

“
Oh yeah.”

“That’s my Irish girl.” For the first time in front of the team he kissed her, on the lips, heat on heat, slipping his tongue over hers and without stopping at the hoots and hollers coming from behind them. Jesse finally let the kiss go, and pulled Emery tight to his chest.

What in the hell?

“Hey, Lance,
that’s how you kiss a woman. But don’t practice on mine anymore, okay bud?”

Between herself and Lance, Emery couldn’t decide who was redder. She knew her jaw was on the concrete floor, her heart was racing
, and her eyes were wide with shock. The sin in riding pants standing in front of her had the nerve to wink. The roar of laughter surrounded them all, but for once, she had no come back or witty remark, and that obviously made him even prouder of himself. Jesse patted her butt and hugged her tighter to him as she tried to bury her face in his chest.

She was embarrassed as all hell, but she was so in love, she would actually forgive him. Laughing, she breathed in his cologne and pulled him tighter to her.

Chapter Seventeen

Jesse’s nerves were a jumbled mess of dynamite. During the last five months, he had gone from being completely lonely and on the edge of depression, to head over heels in love. To ice the cake, finishing second this season was the best he had ever done as a pro. He couldn’t ask for more.

Well, maybe for just one more thing. He winked at Emery beside him as he made the last turn.

“I can’t believe it’s really done. They still had so much left to do when we came up at Easter.” Emery began bouncing like a little girl in the front seat of the motorhome as Jesse drove up the driveway.

Their driveway. The one that would have maple trees planted along both sides come fall.

“Oh, Jesse, it’s beautiful,” Emery said almost wistfully as if she couldn’t believe they were finally there. “The pictures Karen kept sending just didn’t do it justice.”

Jesse took a deep breath, beaming with pride and trying to contain his own excitement. “We’ve got a lot of shopping to do over the next week. Hope you’re ready for a marathon. We have less than two weeks before we head for our first outdoor race and we have no furniture. Not one stick. I mean it, Em, it’s going to be a whirlwind. I guess we’ll have to sleep out here tonight.”

“No way,” Emery said in utter determination.

Jesse slid a sideways glance over at Emery to see her face so full of joy and excitement it made his heart melt.

“We have blankets from our bed in here. We can make a bed on the floor of our bedroom. Our bedroom, Jesse.”

Jesse watched Emery’s expression as they pulled up the circle drive to the front. Her lips were parted, her eyes wide as she took in the front of the house, the porch lights lit, the swing slightly moving in the soft spring breeze. They both got out slowly, as if they didn’t want to wake up from the dream they were surely having. It was done, completely finished, and ready for them. He walke
d around the front of the motorhome to her outstretched hand, and they stood staring, savoring the moment just a little longer.

The cream-colored farmhouse
was exactly what he’d always dreamed of. A farmhouse in the country with a wrap-around porch and trimmed Craftsman details. She had assured him a thousand times that it was perfect. Construction had already begun by the time they were officially a couple, but he’d made damn sure he involved her in every decision that came after. Even if it did take some convincing on his part for her to open up.

“It’s huge, Jesse.”

“Yeah. It is, isn’t it?” he answered, a proud, uncontained grin forming on his mouth. He pulled her toward the stone steps to the hallmark Craftsman, heavy wooden front door. “Come on, honey, let’s go home.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Jesse unlocked the door and turned on the lights.

“Wait.” He put his arm out to stop her from pushing it on open and walking through.

Emery didn’t even give an eye roll as he picked her up.

“I have to carry you over the threshold.” He walked them through the door to their home, chuckling as placed her on the hardwood floor to take in the fifteen-foot vaulted ceilings with wood beams running through the middle. The beams continued on as columns instead of walls, giving the house a wide, open, rustic aspect. Warm creams and golds painted on the walls, mixed with the rich wood trim and beams, made the house glow in the lights.

They didn’t want anything in the house to feel formal or unwelcoming. Even without one piece of furniture or any pictures on the walls, the house felt like a home that had been treasured and passed down from previous generations. They had worked together, painstakingly picking out every element with that in mind.

“Wow. Oh, Jesse.” Walking further in, she turned in a slow circle. “It’s so beautiful.” Emery cringed, giggling. “Oh, it echoes.”

“See, we need furniture. Get some stuff in here and on the walls, and that’ll hopefully not be so bad. Oh, wow, these built-in bookcases along this wall turned out beautiful. I’m so glad you thought of the beveled glass doors on the two ends of the bookshelf, Em.”

“I love the stained glass in the transom. You’re right. It does remind me of my dad’s house.” Emery hugged Jesse. “That was really sweet of you to think of it.”

He pulled in a deep breath, smelling her perfume mixed with all the smells of new paint, lumber and stain as he rubbed her back. Jesse was thrilled to be able to give her pieces and elements that would remind her of her childhood home in Oklahoma. More so though, he was ready to drop down on his knees. Knowing that he was going to share it all with her, that it wasn’t just a house he had built, but that it was their home, made every dream, prayer and wish he’d ever made come true. Because for Jesse, Emery was the answer to all of them.

They continued to wander through the wide open space that was the sunken living room, then stepped up the single step to the dining room and kitchen. Not watching each other, they both ran their hands over the smooth granite counter tops and gleaming cherry cabinets. Turning around
, they realized they’d both done it, making them laugh like giddy young children.

It was all so new. Not only physically, but being out on their own. Emery had gotten sick before she’d had a chance to move out of her father’s house. Jesse lived in a motorhome the majority of the year, so it would have been a mistake to have an apartment or house prior to this one. So here they were, getting to experience th
e huge stepping stone together. Jesse grinned as he glanced beside him at Emery as she continued to open drawers and the fridge doors. He couldn’t have been luckier if he tried, so thankful it was her by his side experiencing all of it with him. Both the excitement and the nerves of truly being out on their own.

They wouldn’t get to spend as much time at home as they’d like for a handful of years, but knowing it was there to escape to on breaks, knowing it would be there when he retired made it an oasis he’d never give up. The s
erenity of the secluded countryside, being surrounded by only their closest friends and Mother Nature was his idea of heaven on earth.

Emery stopped at the oven. He couldn’t help it. His heart was so full of pride as her fingers hovered above the burners, barely able to touch one, seeing her appreciate it so deeply it brought tears to his eyes. She shut her eyes for a second
, and he quickly encircled her with his arms. She laid her head back to rest against his shoulder. It was a stove. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was the gesture behind it, and Emery knew it. Jesse knew enough to hang on to a woman that found joy in simple gestures, because they weren’t all like that. Emery saw him for more than a man that had a little bit of fame and st
atus with his name and saw beyond the pretty face. She saw what others didn’t and for that he would be eternally grateful.

“Thank you, Jesse.” It was a barely audible whisper, but he heard her loud and clear.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you. More than you could ever know.”

“No. I do know. You show me every day, and I intend to do the same.” He turned her in his arms to hug her tightly to his chest.

Both of them gazed over the island to the wide space that would be filled soon with the farm table they were having custom built for twenty. It was a necessity, knowing family would be there to visit as much as possible. Not to mention their close group of friends that was considered family and would be at their table as much as Jesse and Emery were at theirs.

The south wall that ran the entire length of the living and dining rooms was all glass, and they both sighed at the view. It was dark out, but he could only imagine the view in the daylight. Standing on a piece of ground was one thing when trying to visualize it, gazing at it while snuggled up on a couch beside Emery with a fire going was going to be a whole other experience.

The windows spanning almost floor to ceiling were encased in the gorgeous Craftsman woodwork that Jesse was so in love with. Although the space was wide open, there were two sets of French doors, one off the living room, and the other off the dining area.

Jesse kissed her knuckles and winked as he walked around the large island in the kitchen and through the doors off the dining area, leaving them open for her to follow.

“Oh, Em, come here, babe.”

The construction had included putting in their in-ground pool, sunken hot tub, and a concrete court and basketball hoop so they didn’t have to tear up the yard doing it later. They had talked about it, and while they would use the hot tub, the pool and court were really in hopes the school would do well and they would need them for the kids. Jesse was still teasing her on a regular basis about the fact that they put in those things based on hope, despite her superstitious side.

Jesse watched Emery walking around the slate patio, soaking it all in, pure joy on her face. He bent down to turn on the gas fire pit, and she turned around, grinning.

“It is kind of chilly here, huh?”

“Well, it’s only May, and now that the sun has gone down, I’m getting kind of cold. But I didn’t want to go in yet.” He held his hand out for hers, an invitation for her to join him by the fire on the stone bench. “What do you think, Em?”

“I love it, Jesse. It’s more than I could have ever imagined.”

“Do you think you’ll be okay? It’s a long way from
Oklahoma?”

Emery kissed his lips sweetly as she ran her palm to his whiskers. Her emerald eyes shined, full of love for him. “I’ll be fine
...more than fine. You’re here, and that’s all I need. Like you said, we’ll visit.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “And besides, I just spent five months on the road with my dad. It’ll be nice to have a week of peace before we leave again.”

Jesse chuckled. They’d had privacy for the most part, but it was going to be really nice to just be in their own little world for a short while. He took a deep breath, gearing himself up for the turn in the conversation. Running his hand up her shoulder, Jesse sifted his fingers through her hair, letting the silk soft waves drift back to her shoulders.

Emery sat up, not scared, but questioning him with her eyes. “Jess? Is everything all right? You seem…I don’t know. Nervous or something? Is it the house?”

“I love you, Em.”

“I...love...you too, Jesse,” she replied hesitantly, the crease between her eyebrows deepening.

She started to pull away, probably so she could see his face better. He let her but took her both of her hands in his. “Emery.”

Her eyes flashed wide before narrowing, and it suddenly dawned on him that he almost never called her that except for the few times he’d slipped and lost his temper with her. Jesse quickly continued before she panicked.

“You’ve shown me how to
really love a person. In good times and bad, or more accurately, in sickness and in health. I feel like I am a better man with you, and I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

His nervous half-
grin started to peek out, giving him away. Seeing the dawning cross Emery’s face tripped him up. The green of her eyes intensified as they started to pool and made him forget where he was in this speech he worked on for weeks. He blinked trying to find his place again.

“I love you, Emery, more than anything in the world.”

He let go of her hand to wipe the single tear from her cheek, then he stood up, leaning down to cup her face as he kissed her. Here he was, a man that rode dirt bikes for a living. That sailed through the air and at times was forty or more feet off the ground. Risking his life to do a sport he loved, one that could have him in a hospital with just one wrong move.

Yet…here he was, about to take the biggest risk of his life.

His hands slowly fell from her face, seeing her blink, watching him with wide eyes and waiting, Jesse knelt down on one knee in front of her.

“I told you a long time ago, I knew you were the one for me, Emery, and that you would be my wife.”

She bit her lip, then swallowed hard and smiled through the tears. Pulling the little square out of the pocket of his jacket, he heard her quick intake of air, but no exhale.

“Emery Kincaid,
please…will you marry me?”

He opened the small black velvet box to reveal the two carat solitaire. On a thin platinum band it was simple, understated, and classic. Perfect for her.

“Oh, Jesse!” She lunged forward and started to kiss him without even glancing at the ring he was holding. “Yes!”

“Yes?” Jesse felt a wave of relief wash over him.

“Yes. Yes, I want to marry you. I want you, I need you, Jesse, I love you so much. You’ve taken ahold of my soul, and I’m not whole without you.”

He hugged her tight before pulling back. “You’re my Irish girl, huh?”

He wiped the tears that were falling from both their eyes, and took the ring from the box as she held out her shaking left hand for him. Jesse cradled her neck, bringing her lips to his once more, then stood up.

“You saved my life, Jesse.”

He pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her. “No, Em. We saved each other.”

“You didn’t need saving.”

“Oh, honey. I’ve told you before, you just have no idea how lonely I was. I needed you so much more than you’ll ever know. So yeah, you saved me too.”