He gently untangled himself from Emma, covering her with the duvet and planting a tender kiss on her forehead. “It’s Steele’s business manager.”
Emma’s heart sat heavy in her chest as the clock counted down on their time together.
He pulled on his boxers and sat back on the bed, turning on the wall sconce. “Okay, Tara, go.” Grabbing a notepad and pen printed with the hotel logo, he took notes. “Perfect,” he said. “Yes, I appreciate that. Listen, thanks for all of your help. Tell Kurt to give you another raise.” He laughed softly at her response, and Emma tried not to wonder if he and this woman had ever been intimate. “All right, tell Jeff I apologize for fucking up your evening. I’ll babysit Evan for you guys next time I’m in town.”
Okay,God, could he be any more flipping perfect?
He cradled the receiver and turned sideways on the bed, looping a strand of her hair around his finger as he stared down at her, all naked muscle and hungry brown eyes. “My parents land in Zurich at seven, my rental car is booked, and there’ll be someone outside to drive me over in thirty.” He planned to meet them at the airport to make their journey to the hospital smoother, less stressful.
Reality was already intruding on their time. Emma’s throat thickened. “You have to get moving then.”
He nodded, but didn’t rise. “I don’t know how to say goodbye to you.”
“Don’t.” Tears stung the backs of her eyes. “Just kiss me and tell me you’ll see me later.”
He caressed her face, so much love in the gesture that her heart hurt. “I have to take a quick shower. I’d ask you to join me, but…”
She smiled sadly. “But then you’d never make it.”
With a quick kiss, he rose and disappeared into the bathroom. She got dressed, and then washed her face and brushed her teeth when he was done in the bathroom. She would come back up and shower after he left, before catching her train to Paris.
There were informants for the Warner case there that Gretchen wanted her to interview before returning to the States.Back to work.
Once Jason was ready, he pulled her into his arms. “My car will be here in ten minutes.”
She squeezed him tight, trying to memorize the feel of his hard body, the scent of his warm skin, the press of his lips. “You did the right thing, you know. It probably won’t make it easier for you, not for a while—if ever—but you did therightthing. Stopping Renfro and the people working for him has made the world safer, and I couldn’t have done it without you, or your team.” He stiffened, but she held on tight, rubbing her palm up and down his muscular back. “I’m sorry about how I got you involved, but I want to thank you for being the incredible man of integrity that you are. I’m grateful for your help.”
He leaned back far enough to look down at her, something unreadable flickering in his rich brown eyes. With a little shake of his head, his expression lightened. “Okay.”
Her stomach turned hollow. When she finally revealed her secrets, would it drive him away? “I’ll miss you,” she said, eager to leave the touchy topic of Byron—and her concerns—behind. “I already can’t wait to see you again.”
“Me too.”
Disengaging from his hold, she wrote her US number on the hotel notepad and placed the folded piece of paper into his hand, unwittingly reminded of all the women and men before her who’d done the same. “I know we’re both operating without our phones right now, and you’re going to be busy for a while, but will you get in touch when you’re back in LA?”
Hopefully, she’d be too busy wrapping things up with the Renfro Warner story to miss talking to him until then.
Yeah, right.
A small crease appeared between his brows. “Of course.” He sounded so sure right now, but she didn’t want to be the one to cause a rift with his family. “Let me know when you have a new phone.” He was close to his parents and his grandmothers, and if he was forced to choose between Emma and them, he’d pick his family.
As it should be, but the thought made her feel like someone was crushing her heart between their palms.
God, she loved him so much.
“You still have my card?” he asked.
She nodded. “In my bag.”
“My cell’s on there, but if you need anything before you hear from me, you can call the office. My assistant Tyler is new, but he’ll know how to find me.”
She went up on tiptoe for a quick kiss that left her aching for more, for everything.
They left the room and quietly made their way to the lobby, which was full of bleary-eyed tourists wearing name badges, their suitcases with chalked-on room numbers piled up on the sidewalk just outside the glass doors.
She spotted a couple of familiar faces in the crowd. Hiding behind Jason’s bulk, she said, “Keep your face turned toward me. PJ and Amy are at our eight o’clock.” The couple shouldn’t recognize them without the wigs, but it paid to be careful. Not that it mattered, but she didn’t want to have to explain her and Jason’s change in appearance or anything else to the pair.
Outside in the dark, a black Mercedes sat at the curb, exhaust rising from its tailpipe under the glow of a streetlamp.
