“That was some walk you just took, huh?” Arron smiled at her sadly.
“It was.” Reaching out, she clasped his hand, trying not to cry.
“I can’t believe they paid off your student loans just for considering the position!” Charlie’s square-jawed face was awed beneath his Adonis curls, interrupting Layla’s moment with Arron. “You wanna hook me up with a job when you get to this Hotel? Maybe security like the big guy?”
“If this goes through the way John said it will, I’m going to pay offallyou guys’ student loans. And Luke’s. And I’ll have plenty of time to come visit, in just a few months.”
Gazing up, Layla saw Luke standing at the top of the stairs, arms crossed as he leaned on the wall. Their eyes connected and the raw pain she saw in Luke’s gaze nearly made her throw her suitcase in the closet and retract her decision. Her heart reached out to him, and he gave a sigh at the top of the stairs as if he could feel it. Stepping slowly down, he came to stand before her. Gazing down at her, mixed emotions rioted upon his face.
At last, he drew her into a deep hug. Their bodies twined together in a way that felt so right, yet too foreign to Layla now. His nose was at her ear as he breathed, “Please be careful. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”
“I will be, Luke,” she breathed back. “I’ll call just as soon as I get settled in. I swear.”
“Please.”
He said nothing more, just moved his lips to press a kiss to her forehead. It was sweet and kind, and full of the Luke she missed. Pushing back, he hitched a hard breath, and then a honk came from the driveway. Glancing out the window, Celia said, “It’s your driver,” and then Layla was giving rounds of hugs. She’d have plenty of vacation time – this wasn’t forever.
Just for now.
She hugged Luke again after everyone else. It lasted a while and before she could get away, he pressed a kiss to her lips. Holding her there; making her feel it. Making her feel how much he still cared for her despite everything – despite their horrible tempers that would never in a million years get along. And Layla did feel it. She melted into him one last time, sharing a deep, fierce sweetness they might never share again.
When he pulled away, his green eyes were full of fire. “If they harm you, Layla – I swear I’ll kill them all.”
She nodded. Something fierce and good filled her heart, watching him, feeling his vicious love for her. And even though she’d said she didn’t love him anymore, she realized that wasn’t true. A part of her would always love him, just like this – the fire and the rage and everything else.
A honk came again but before Layla could get her suitcase, Luke swiped it up, heaving it down the front porch stairs. Layla followed, hugging everyone one last time before she went down the steps. She watched Luke turn her suitcase over to John, who placed it carefully in the trunk with his effortless, muscular grace.
“You better watch out for her,” she heard Luke growl to John.
“You better believe I will.” John was slightly hostile back, though in a pleasant bouncer-type way. “Ms. Price? You ready to roll out? They’ve already got the jet warming up at the field.”
“I’m ready.”
Turning to Luke, Layla gave him one last hug, and then John was opening her car door and she was slipping in to the firm black leather of the seats as the door shut. John slid in the front and fired up the car and Luke stepped back, watching with fierce eyes.
And then they were out, rolling back out of the driveway and onto the lamplit street.
CHAPTER 11 – ROLL OUT
Seattle was gone. They were at the airport, and John had driven the Bentley to a private section of Sea-Tac, right on to the tarmac with practically no security checks at all. A Learjet waited, the interior lit bright in the heavy dusk, its electrics already humming with the pre-flight. Turing over the Bentley’s keys to a lean fellow who dashed down the plane’s stairs, John got Layla’s bag from the trunk, plus a number of other shopping bags which he hefted over his shoulder, then nodded for her to precede him up the jet’s steps.
Once inside, his gaze coursed over every inch of the jet’s interior before he set the bags down. Beginning to stow items in hutches for the flight, he motioned for Layla to have a seat in the plush tan leather chairs, and she selected one at a glossy wooden table. John ducked into the cockpit and Layla heard him have a few words with the pilot before he ambled back to the rear of the plane past a partition. Presently, he returned, seeming more relaxed as he went to a mini-bar built into a cubby in the plane’s hull and mixed a few drinks.
“Bourbon on the rocks for me,” John chuckled, moving back to Layla and handing over a drink, “and an Old Fashioned for the lady.”
“Thanks.” Layla nodded, not finding it surprising that Adrian Rhakvir would have researched her favorite drink as she sipped her Old Fashioned. It was delicious; she couldn’t have made it any better. “Good skills.”
“Thanks. You learn a thing or two about mixing drinks when you work for international business moguls. Lucky you got that under your belt already. Took me a hell of a time to learn.” John smiled, settling into the seat opposite Layla’s at the table. “We’ll be taking off soon. Better buckle up until we hit cruising.”
Layla nodded, securing her lap buckle. “So when do I see Adrian?”
“He’ll make contact at some point after you get settled into the Hotel in Paris,” John spoke genially, sipping his bourbon. “He’s got a tight travel schedule, but he won’t let you go too long without getting some questions answered. Until then, you’ve got me. So fire away, and I’ll answer as much as I can.”
“First question: where’s my Nutella?” Layla raised an eyebrow at John.
“Coming right up!” John laughed in his jubilant way, then rose from his seat and claimed one of the shopping bags, retrieving a jar of Nutella and a long crusty French baguette, true to his word. Layla unscrewed the jar and dug in, ripping pieces off the baguette to dunk. She offered the Nutella to John, but he lifted a hand, declining. “Pretty muscles like mine don’t stay that way on their own. I gotta watch the sweets. Got the diabetes in the family, too.”
“No problem.” Layla tucked in again, the sugary chocolate hazelnut snack going perfectly with her drink. “So tell me, what’s Adrian really like?”
