Surge (St. Martin Family Saga: Emergency Responders) Book 3: St. Martin Family Saga: Emergency Responders by Gina Watson

admit to himself that he was extraordinarily happy. It had caused some strife in their relationship early on, but she’d told him to live in the moment and get over himself. Day by day they let things play out. They didn’t attempt to quantify what they did: dating, kissing, and loving. It had freed him from worrying about the deep and unrelenting pain born of loss. He knew that pain all too well and never wanted to experience it again.
    “Jackson.”
    “Yeah?”
    “I called your name three times before you answered. Tell your brain to stop tormenting my lover. Do we need to pull over?” Her brow rose in question. “Maybe for a kiss?”
    “Absolutely for a kiss. There’s a Dairy Queen at the next exit. Can I interest you in a chocolate dipped cone?
    “As long as it comes after a kiss.”
    “It will most definitely be after a kiss.”
    Approaching the restaurant he searched for the most privacy possible and pulled into a slot, parking in front of a wooden fence. Before he could turn to her she had crawled over the gearshift and straddled his lap, her hands threaded through his hair as her powder-blue eyes looked down into his. She smiled her dimpled smile above him. “Hey, you.”
    He inhaled slowly, taking her scent deep into his lungs. “Hey.” She brought her mouth down on his and placed a kiss so sweet on his lips his eyes grew swimmy at her tender care.
    “Why do you stay with me?” He asked.
    Her brows furrowed inward as she regarded him with a look of concern. “Jackson,” she whispered. “If you don’t know the answer then I’m not a very good girlfriend.” She lowered her chin to her chest.
    “Hey”—he cupped her chin in his grip and tilted her head up—“you’re the best. You give me a reason to exist. I just don’t know what I give to you that you couldn’t get from some fun guy closer to your age. Not some intense old-timer with a ton of unsettled issues and a mountain of responsibilities and debt. How can you even have fun with me?”
    “Frankly, given that description I’m amazed we even let you out of the basement. You should remain chained there for all of eternity.”
    He cracked a smile, “Don’t I know it.”
    “You accept me and affirm my endeavors, but it’s more than that even. You make me feel wanted and needed and smart. You listen and really hear what I have to say. I feel innately connected to you by a bond that comes from something not of this world. Maybe it’s astrological.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I do know we’re supposed to be together. Neither of us could survive without the other. We are two parts of a whole. You push me like only you can”—she pointed at her bangs and smiled—“to be the best person I can in this life. You care about my wellbeing and happiness and I love your intensity surrounding all things me. I might not always understand what you’re doing, or even why you’re doing it, but I always know it’s going to benefit me and make my life better because you won’t stop until I have more than what I need.”
    She kissed his eyes, nose, and lips. “I hope that gives you a starting place for you to begin to understand why I love you. I’m a little sad that you don’t already know.” She stuck her lips out in a pout. He kissed his index finger and pressed it to her mouth.
    “I did know all of that, but sometimes it’s just nice to hear it out loud. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.”
    ≈
    He drove them to Jackson Square and they parked on the street. Something was unsettled in the air. Clara didn’t want to upset Jackson so she’d kept it to herself, but she was convinced the big reveal wasn’t going to go so well. What else was there to do? The family needed to know.
    She sighed.
    “Everything okay?” Jackson asked.
    She nodded and they exited the car.
    She stood looking at the St. Louis Cathedral with its triple steeples and thought how lovely it would be to marry there. Great wedding traditions