He put his hands on his hips. “Do you know how hard it was to get a corporate jet at such short notice?”
My voice rose with surprise. “You came straight from Boston?” My heart was squeezing with the realization of what he’d done for me.
“Yes, and if I don’t get back, I’ll get fined, so I need an answer.”
His hair was mussed. His T-shirt untucked from his faded jeans. The heavy boots were haphazardly tied. He looked like he’d traveled all night.
I glanced over his shoulder at Margo and my colleagues. Most of them just stared in shock and silence. But Margo had pulled her lips between her teeth to keep from laughing. Mostly because she already knew I’d made plans to come to the game. But also, I knew, because she would think this was incredibly romantic.
“Brett…”
“Don’t Brett me!”
My mouth dropped open. I closed it. I whispered without laughing, “I can’t just leave. I have responsibilities here.”
He stepped forward and took my face in his calloused palms. “Elizabeth.” He sounded almost pained.
Adrenaline surged through me. Love for him filled my heart. Just as quickly as he’d grabbed my face, he dropped his hands, took hold of my left hand and headed for the door. I had to jog to keep up with him.
He was marching towards the hotel lobby with me in tow. “Brett, I don’t have any shoes on.”
He stopped briefly to look down, and then he scooped me up and carried me. When we reached the same alcove where I’d told him I wouldn’t date him, he placed me against the wall and held my face. “Elizabeth, this is it for me. I’m retiring after this run. Please don’t say no.”
I relaxed into him. A wave of peace and a sense of rightness settled over me. I put him out of his despondency, whispering, “I’ll be there.”
He looked momentarily confused. “You’re coming?”
I nodded. And then he kissed me. A deep, all-consuming kiss that told me he would never let me go. He pressed up against me, the hard length of him dizzying me, making me desperate to touch him. Memories of our time together tangled in my mind with the reality that we were in a public place.
Placing my hands on his chest, I casually pushed him away. “Not here.”
“You know I can’t stay. I have to get back to Seattle or they’ll bench me. I have to go.”
I held his hands. “I can’t believe you came here.”
He dropped his forehead to mine. And then kissed me again. Quick. “Where are you staying?” Before I could respond he added, “Stay with me. Please stay with me.”
I nodded and he kissed me again.
He groaned. “I just want to keep kissing you.”
“Tomorrow.”
He kissed me again before I started laughing. “I need to get to work.”
“I can’t believe I have to go.”
He lifted me up and carried me back to the patrol office. “You did this to yourself.” I teased.
“Maybe I could stay for lunch.”
We stopped just outside the door where he put me down. “You need to go. And I promise, I’ll stay as long as you want me to after tomorrow.”
“Forever.”
I tilted my head. “That’s a long time.”
“It will never be enough with you.”