Joe is driving, and in the front passenger seat is another man, one of the new security additions to my staff. I’ve assured Rachel his presence means nothing. It’s a necessary lie. I don’t want her to be apprehensive about my safety.
Except, it doesn’t work. As the car moves through the busy streets, she’s studying me, her eyes tinged with concern.
“What are you worrying about now?” I ask, smiling to put her at ease.
She smiles back. “Am I so transparent?”
“No, but I’ve made it my business to memorize your every expression.”
She sighs softly. “Stop saying lovely stuff to me. It’s hard enough to leave you as it is.”
“Then don’t go.” For all my relief about her being out of Evan’s reach, it’s still killing me that we’ll be apart for a week. “I want to turn the car around, take you somewhere, and hide you away.” I chuckle wryly. “I love Laurie and I know she’s your family, but I’d rather steal you away than lose you for a week.”
“You’re not losing me. I’m just going to be halfway across the globe.” She laughs softly. “Does it help that I feel the same way you do?”
“No. That just gives me more incentive to want to steal you away.” The tender expression in her eyes makes me catch my breath. “I know I’m being selfish.”
“You’re not selfish. I’ll miss you too, terribly. It’s just…however tempting it is, we can’t lock ourselves away forever.”
“Why not?”
“You know why not.”
Her laughter soothes me. “I don’t want to go a day without you, not ever, if it can be helped at all.”
The car stops. Not far away on the tarmac is the jet I provided to take her family to Barbados.
“I love you,” she whispers. Her eyes go to the front passenger seat and her face falls. She looks at me. “I need you to be safe.”
“I will be.”
She sighs. “Landon…” Her eyes are on mine. “Will you at least think of talking to someone about your nightmares? Whatever you’re afraid of…”
I swallow. My nightmares have been getting worse—another thing we haven’t discussed.
“The only thing I’m afraid of is losing you.”
“You won’t.”
“How about you start thinking about the kind of welcome you’re going to give me when I do get to Barbados.”
“I’ll give you the tourist treatment, show you the sights.”
I grin. “I know the sights I want to see, and I don’t have to fly miles and miles to see them.”
“You have a one-track mind.”
“You make me unable to think of anything else.”
She sighs. “I hate that I have to go now.”
I nuzzle her lips, memorizing the feel and taste of her. “I hate that I have to let you.”
Her phone rings, interrupting us. It’s her mother.
“I love you,” Rachel says, pressing another kiss to my lips.
I grab her arms and kiss her properly. “I love you too. Call me when you land.”