“The fuck you will,” he laughed gruffly.
The puzzle was forgotten. Cheesy as it sounded, I just wanted to look at him. His sleepy grins ranked high up there. Especially with the silvery scruff, the laugh lines, and those sexy blue eyes on display.
He let out a breath and scratched his chest absently. “I miss you, Kiera. I’m not gonna lie—I hope you’ll wanna stay with me. For all the selfish reasons, aside from the extremely altruistic ones.”
And he says things like that.
I grinned and rested my elbow on my thigh, and I planted my cheek in my hand. “I miss you too, pilot. And I don’t wanna go anywhere. As I started saying before you became more concerned about my puzzle—” I snickered at his playful scowl. “I want to stay, James. But I’ve been thinking about this a lot today, and I think the reason I’ve been on the fence is… I miss having something that’s just mine.” I paused, remembering all the months I’d hidden away behind Noura’s house. The concrete walls and nothingness. “I spent six months staring at cracked concrete and hiding in clothes that covered me from head to toe. I could barely leave. I had no belongings. My phone, my TV, just being able to go to the bathroom and see my own shampoo bottle, my own toothbrush—none of that.”
He nodded with a dip of his chin. “The little things we take for granted.”
“Exactly.” I knew he would understand me, given his line of work. He gave up his comfort all the time. “So, here’s my suggestion. I’ll rent your second bedroom.”
He scratched his chin. “I’m listening. I mean, of course you can—I’m just waiting to hear your idea for our sleeping arrangements.”
I exhaled a laugh and shook my head. “My idea is that I’ll be in your arms every night.”
God, his smile was just out of this world.
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” he murmured. “So you’ll set up shop in the second room—turn it into a scented candle factory?—”
I laughed.
“Or whatever,” he said. “It’ll be just for you. I don’t know. You mentioned you wanted a comfy reading chair and shit like that.”
I nodded. I really did want that. And a good space to hang my clothes. Maybe put up a bookcase or two.
“You can decide rent when you get home,” I suggested.
At that, he rolled his eyes. “Sure. A dollar.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “James.”
“And ninety-nine cents!”
When I gave him my most impressivelook, he merely chuckled and told me that wasn’t gonna work on him. We’d see about that. I could pull out the doe eyes too. I was just saving them for when he came home.
Actually, I could also threaten him.
“You better do as I say, or you’ll come home to more than a scented candle,” I said. “We’re talking bath salts, throw pillows, and colorful rugs.”
He snorted, too amused for my liking. “You think that actually bothers me? Go fuckin’ nuts, hellcat. Don’t let my trolling convince you I don’t want you to spread your crap around.”
He was so damn funny sometimes—the way he phrased himself—that I couldn’t stop cracking up. But that was good to know; he wanted me to spread my “crap” around.
CHAPTER 12
James Hyatt
“That’s the fifth time you’ve checked your watch since we stepped off the plane.”
I furrowed my brow and glanced back at Beckett in the back seat. “Are you obsessed with me?”
He smirked.
The other two in the back seat—wet-behind-the-ears, freshly graduated junior operators—Quinn and Kelley, didn’t bother hiding their amusement. They’d only had the decency to do that back when they’d been lowly recruits and they’d feared my glare. Because everyone fucking knew, don’t mess with Operator Hyatt. Now, though? Fuck it. My supposed buddies had promised the kids one too many times that I was harmless.
I faced forward again and side-eyed Blue. That damn kid was smirking as well. But he wisely kept his mouth shut and continued driving.
