The door slammed shut. The big V8 fired up and rumbled toward the security gate at the front of the compound.
Boone was curious to know what Caleb said to her, but it was none of his business. If she wanted him to know, she’d tell him. Well, he didn’t have to wait long.
“Caleb said he’s happy for us.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “That’s what he whispered in my ear.”
“I’m happy for us, too.” He held her close and breathed in the sweet smell of her shampoo.
She placed a kiss to the center of his chest, gave him a quick squeeze, and stepped back.
“My key fob is in my backpack.” Luna waited for him to lift it off his shoulder.
He held it while she unzipped the small front pocket and lifted out a keychain with a small canister of pepper spray dangling from it.
“I’m glad to see you’re carrying your weapon.” Pepper spray was fine in a pinch, but an attacker would have to be relatively close for it to be effective.
“You’ve met the guy my sister married, right? And you’ve met all of his very large brothers and the very dangerous people they work with, right? People like you.” She waved her hand up and down his body. “Believe me, personal safety has been drilled into me ever since I became a part of the O’Halleran family.” She tapped her backpack. “And you’ll be really happy to know that I have pepper spray in my car and stashed all over my house, too.”
“That does make me happy.”
“Good. I’ll follow you to pick up the food, then to your place.” She unlocked her car and set her small tote bag on the floor behind the driver’s seat. “You can just set my backpack on the floor with my suit.” After he tucked it behind the seat, she swung the door shut and opened the front door.
He crooked a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up to him.
“Drive carefully.” He gave her a nice long kiss to tide him over until they got to his place.
“You, too.”
Boone kissed the tip of her nose and waited until she was in the car with the engine running before closing her door.
He checked the area again as he hurried around to climb into his truck. He pressed the button on the dash to start it and backed out of his spot.
He loved the new self-confidence he was seeing come alive in her. It was helping her accept and embrace the internal strength that had been stifled by distrust—in herself and others. And heloved that the guilt she’d been harboring for what happened in the past was slowly dwindling.
Boone lovedher.
Luna wasitfor him. She was his person, the half he hadn’t known he was missing. A future without her in it was something he refused to accept.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Youwereright.Thechow mein was amazing.” Luna set her chopsticks down and took a long swallow of water. “There’s a place near where I went to college that was pretty good but not as good as that.”
“What school did you go to?” He dug his chopsticks into the white box, scraped around, lifted out the last piece of shrimp and popped it into his mouth.
“Stanford.” She forced her gaze away from his mouth and set her glass on the table. “I double-majored in computer science and electrical engineering.”
He stopped mid-chew and looked at her.
“Wow, impressive.” He finished chewing and swallowed the shrimp. “But I’m not surprised.” He pointed the tip of the chopsticks in her direction. “I’ve seen firsthand how brilliant you are.”
“Thanks.” Her cheeks heated at his sincere compliment. “I was in their honors co-op program, which allowed me to work for OSI while I earned my degree.” That was something she typically didn’t share with anyone.
Double-majoring in two difficult specialties had been a big part of why Tyler had become such a dick to her. That and thefact that Caleb made no secret of how much he disliked him from the first moment he met him.
Boone’s response was a stark contrast. He wasn’t threatened by her accomplishments. On the contrary, he was proud of them. That was the difference between a selfish boy and a well-adjusted, confident man.
“Great way to gain a lot of practical, real-world experience, too.” He set the empty box down.
“Tyler, that’s the guy I dated in college, was a business major. He used to say petty stuff like, ‘Engineers work for people like me.’” He’d had a sort of passive-aggressive resentment toward her—getting mad and pouting whenever she wouldn’t go to some silly party with people she didn’t know because she had to study for an exam.
