His arms came around her waist and pulled her back against his body.His firm body.Rigid, one might call it.
“We do not have time to mess around.I told you that last night.Our little suckle fest was the—”
He whirled her and slammed his mouth against hers, something she didn’t fight.The desperate way he clutched at her was welcome because it mirrored the way she felt about him.
Silly lifted a leg and hooked it around his thigh.
“Pick me up, big guy.”
The words were scarcely out of her mouth before he’d recaptured her lips while grabbing her ass and lifting, settling her core against his belly.
The kiss settled into a less frantic pace, waning and renewing until they were both left breathless and gasping.Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she threw her head back on a howl.“But I don’t wanna go.”His palm met her ass with a thwack, and she giggled.“I gotta go, baby.”
Jock sighed, letting her body slip down his front.“I know.And yeah, I’m taking you to the airport.Paying parking doesn’t make sense when I’m right here.But we gotta get a move on it if I’m going to be back in time to pick up Maynard this afternoon.”
“In that case, we need to leave.”She leaned over to pick up her suitcase, only to find it plucked away from her hands.“Jock.”
“I can do it, Jock,” he mocked her lightly, and they both grinned.“I know you can, baby.But take advantage of having me around right now.Once you get to the show, you’ll have to haul your equipment around by yourself.”
“Done it before.Likely do it again.”She grabbed her keys off the table and put them in the slim cross-body purse before she slung it on.“Tankie, come and get some love.”The sound of heavy footsteps preceded Tank’s arrival into the room.He trotted over and leaned against her legs, nearly knocking her over.Silly bent at the waist and folded her arms around his head, giving him a loud kiss on the nose.“You gotta take care of Daddy while I’m gone.Help him take care of Maynard too.”
“Case is in the truck.Let’s get a move on, baby.I know you don’t want to be fighting crowds to get to your gate.”
They talked over logistical things on the way to the airport.About halfway through, Silly unbuckled and slid over to the middle of the seat, then buckled her seatbelt there.Jock’s hand quickly settled on her thigh, thumb stroking up and down.She relaxed into him, letting her head land on his shoulder.
“Gonna miss you, Jake.”
“Backatcha, baby.A month ago, five days didn’t seem that long.Today it’s like I’m looking into a train tunnel, stretching out and out.”
“You’re going to be okay.And if you aren’t, you’re going to call someone.I won’t be able to answer or talk all the time, but we’ll find windows of time to connect.I’ll be home before you know it, Jake.Not an instant longer than I have to be away.”
“Yeah, I’ve already let Wildman and Ace know I might need a midnight call or two to keep me from spiraling.I’ll have Tank, plus Maynard.My garage work is ahead for a change, so I can spend time with the new guy, getting him settled.I’m going to be okay, Silly.Promise.”
She leaned harder against him as he swung into the exit for her terminal.“Almost there.”
“I’ll get the bag, and we can do curbside check-in.That way you just have security to navigate.”
Pressing a kiss against his shoulder, she said, “Sounds good, big guy.”
“Are you going to be okay?It’s gonna be hard for you to be away from the awesomeness of my presence, you know.”
As he’d intended, she laughed and lifted a hand to his cheek.“No, baby, I won’t be okay until I’m home.”
“Backatcha.”
He pulled the truck to a stop just past the curbside kiosk, turned to look at her, and dipped down to capture her lips in a quick, hard kiss.Which was exactly what she needed to be able to walk into that terminal, knowing the plane at the end of the path would be taking her hundreds of miles away.
“Love you.”
His arm encircled her shoulders, and he pulled her against him.The “Love you too” was half rumble from his chest, half whisper from his lips.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
Jock gave her a squeeze, then stepped from the truck and turned back to catch her waist as she was about to slide to the ground.He set her down light as a feather before turning to handle the suitcase.She had to show the boarding pass on her phone, and a tag was printed and slapped on her luggage before she could blink.
“I gotta get off the curb, baby.”
Silly turned and leapt at him, trusting that he’d catch her.As he always did.Legs around his waist, she clung to him and buried her face against his neck.Eyes burning, she told him, “You gotta go.”
