"Jess?" Summer asked later as they ate breakfast.

"Hmm?" he asked between ravenous bites. Jesse had, in fact, worked up an appetite.

"I guess, I should have really asked before. I mean, that's what they say. I never really have done this sort of thing before," she said nervously.

He looked at her concerned. "What?"

"How many... how many girls have you been with?" she asked hesitantly.

Jesse shifted uncomfortably. "You're worried about STDs?"

Summer looked away. "We didn't...we didn't use anything...we should have, right?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I guess. But look, I've been with two girls. One was a virgin, one wasn't, but I knew the guy she was with before and they were each others first. Everyone was clean. No one did drugs. Don't worry about that. As for getting pregnant..." he said looking at her seriously "as for getting pregnant; I'll just have to marry you sooner than planned," he told her and leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Summer's jaw dropped."You plan on marrying me?"

"You got anything against that?" Jesse demanded.

She smiled from ear to ear. "Not at all."

"Good," he answered and turned back to eating.

Summer grinned and turned back to her cold pancakes.

****************************

"So, who were the girls?" she asked later when they were taking a shower.

"What girls?" he asked, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair.

"The ones you slept with," she prodded, putting her arms around him.

"Does it matter?" Jesse asked, looking at her with a slight frown.

She shrugged. "I'd like to know."

Jesse nodded and moved around her to let her go under the shower stream. He lathered his face with shaving cream and began to shave.

"I was nineteen; Jenny and I had been dating for over a year. We thought we loved each other, would get married, and all that. Second year together, I don't know, things just didn't click anymore. We wanted different things out of life."

"And the second?" she asked, shampooing her hair.

"Erika. She was a friend. I knew her through her ex-boyfriend. We had a bit too much to drink one night," he answered with a shrug.

"Doesn't bother you that you slept with her when you were drunk?" she asked frowning.

"It did at first. But what can I do? It was a mistake. We both knew it. We learned from it. That's life," he answered, rinsing off his razor blade.

"And me?"

"What about you?"

"Am I a mistake? Or am I someone you like, but a year from now won't?" she asked softly.

Jesse looked at her horrified. "How can you think that?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"I don't know," she said looking away, fighting back tears.

"Summer. Summer, look at me," he said taking her chin and turning it to him. "I love you," he told her. She looked at him not believing. "I love you," he repeated firmly.

"But..." she started.

"No damn buts. Summer, I've loved you ever since you picked up the damn phone junior year of college."

"Really?" she asked, touching his face.

"I wasn't kidding in that letter. I wanted you in my bed. I wanted to keep you warm at night. And I gave you my heart."

"The necklace." A tear slipped down her cheek.

"No, my actual heart," he answered, wiping her tear away. "You were involved with someone else then. It killed me. But I stayed away. I had to. You needed that time to be with who you wanted to be with. I wasn't going to interfere. But I loved you. I never stopped. I tried to keep you out of my mind, out of my heart even. But I couldn't. You were always there."

"Why...why didn't you call me later? I broke up with Luke after we graduated."

"Because you had your own life. What was I to do? Ask you to move to California? You wouldn't have understood. You didn't know me. You would have laughed in my face. I wanted to come to Florida. So I could see you. So you could get to know me. But I couldn't. I'm obligated to the family business. I couldn't leave my family. It was hard times for awhile, but we made a better business. When Dana told me you were moving here, that you would stay here, God, I can't describe how I felt. I was so happy that you were coming; I was scared that you wouldn't like me. I was scared you wouldn't feel for me what I feel for you."

She kissed him on the lips. "I do."

"You do what?" he asked with a smile.

"Love you," she told him, "very much."

He smiled and picked her up kissing her. "Say it again."

"I love you, Jesse James," she said laughing.

"Then marry me," he said, holding her.

"What?" she gasped.

"Marry me. Marry me today," he said urgently, pulling her closer to him.

"Today?" she asked not sure she heard him right.

"We can go to Vegas. An hour away by plane," he told her.

"Jesse," she said breathlessly. She didn't know what to say. Wasn't it too soon?

"Any reason you don't want to marry me?"

"No, but..." she protested.

He shook his head and kissed her. "There are those pesky buts again."

Author Note:

Want to find out what happens next?

Will Jesse and Summer get married?

What will Dana think of Jesse and Summer being together?

Want to find out more about Dana and Colt's lives?

Read Book 2, Fallin' For You.