She widens her stance when Cougar presses her back against the counter, making space for him to step in between her legs so there's nothing between them but their clothing.

"I wanted to prove it," is her response, and she looks suddenly shy, her eyelids lowering slightly and her chin tipping down so that she's looking at him from under her lashes. "That I'm yours. That I love you too." She hadn't said it before because she hadn't been able to dredge up the words. Jake's relationship with love has been rocky and tenuous at best, and she wasn't sure if what she felt for Cougar really counted.

Eventually, she realized she was being an idiot. Of course she loved him too. It had seemed paltry just to say that, though. She had wanted to make a grand gesture. Two small tattoos seemed like a good grand, albeit restrained and easily hidden if necessary, gesture she could make.