“Not mine, sweetie.” Snapping the visor closed, he turned to face her again.
Her mouth was pulled into a frown, and tears misted her eyes. “You got hurt because of me.”
“Hey, kiddo.” He stretched his hand into the back seat to hold her much-smaller one. “Do I look hurt to you?”
Her bottom lip trembled, but she shook her head.
“No, I’m fine. None of this is your fault, you got it?” What he wanted to say was it was her bastard of a father’s fault, but he kept that shit to himself. “You did nothing wrong, Emmy. You should be having fun like any other kid, not worrying about me. All right?”
She nodded, but a tear slid down her cheek. She wiped it away. “Okay,” she said, forcing a smile.
He squeezed her fingers. “Let’s get something to eat. We’ve got another big day of flying.”
When he turned to face the steering wheel, he caught Laine wide awake. Sunlight spilled into the window, accentuating the delicate slope of her nose and the perfect, kissable lines of her mouth. A small, shaky smile pulled at her lips. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
He knotted his fingers with hers. “Don’t mention it. Ready to eat?”
She nodded and pulled her seat into its upright position.
But not before he caught the tear lingering in the corner of her eye.
Laine blinked.The bright light pouring through the window shade of their short-term rental in Pittsburgh was enough to make her plop the pillow over her head.
The shade’s material was anything but blackout. At least she’d slept until now. Somehow, they’d made it onto their flight without incident.
It was hard to believe she was back in her home city. She’d left her father’s house vacant all these years. A property management company checked on the house and kept up the yard. Her heart wrenched. She wished she could go back there.
She’d love to show Emmy her childhood bedroom and the treehouse in the backyard that her father and Ollie had spent countless hours building.
She’d moved a lot of her family’s important belongings to a storage unit, and she’d do the same with their things from London until she decided what she and Emmy were going to do next.
Cameron wouldn’t give up.
She sighed, pushed the pillow off her head, and rolled out of bed. She padded into the hall and down the stairs toward the sound of a cartoon.
Emmy sat at the living room table with markers and paper. “Hi, Mommy,” she sang, as she popped the lid on a green marker.
“Morning, sweetheart.” She stroked Emmy’s hair.
Roarke stood behind the kitchen island with a phone pressed to his ear and his expression tight. Her stomach sank.
“Yeah, man. ’ppreciate it.” He ended the call as she approached him.
“What’s wrong?”
He threaded his fingers with hers, pulling her to his side. “Nothing. Just figuring out my next steps.”
His words were like a chokehold on her throat. They’d been in Pittsburgh only a few hours and already he had to prepare to leave.
Which wasn’t his fault. She had no right to feel abandoned or affronted. Roarke led a very different life now—one she had to respect if she wanted to be part of it. “I see,” she managed to say.
His mouth quirked at the corners. “I wasn’t planning on leaving you guys so soon, but there’s something I’ve got to take care of. Striker’s coming here tonight to stay with you and Emmy, and I’ll catch a red-eye.”
Acid filled her belly, and her fingers slid away from his. She’d wanted more time. Hell, anything more than just hours.
His hazel eyes scrutinized her. She tried to turn away so she could school her expression, but he was too quick. He caught her biceps and gently hauled her back to face him. “Lainie, we need to talk.”
She nodded absently, but her pulse skyrocketed. “Uh, yeah. I understand you have work to do, and a team. A life to get backto. You’ve spent so much time and resources on us already, and I don’t expect?—”
