Because he looked like he needed it, Sam gave Collins a quick hug before she and Nick were ushered into the elevator by Brant and the other agents.
Sam curled her hands around Nick’s arm as they rode to the lobby in silence. They waited for a minute before Brant signaled for them to head for The Beast. People in the lobby called to them, and Nick waved but kept moving, swept up in the scrum of Secret Service that surrounded them.
Only when they were safely back in the car did Sam turn to take an assessing look at him.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you really?”
“Yes, that was actually a nice visit. Thank you for being there with me.”
“I’d never let you see her alone.”
“I’m not sure if it’s because she’s so ill or if it’s Collins’s influence wearing off on her, but it seems to me that…”
“Something has changed,” she said.
“Yes.”
“I see it, too, but here’s the thing… I want that to be true for your sake—and even for hers, since living her life as a grifting narcissist must’ve been exhausting. But more than anything, I want you to reserve judgment. We need to make sure this new version of her is going to stick before we open any doors to her.”
“I agree.”
“But?”
“No buts. You’re right. It’s just that I can’t recall the last time I came away from seeing her not feeling like complete and utter shit. In fact, I don’t think that’s ever happened.”
“I’m glad that finally happened, but it shouldn’t have taken more than thirty-eight years. You’re still within your rights to hold her at arm’s length.”
“I know, and don’t worry. I’m not throwing open the door to her. In fact, with less than thirty minutes with you for the next four days, we’ve got better things to talk about.”
She looked up at him. “Such as?”
With his index finger on her chin, he tilted her face up to receive his kiss. “More of this, to start with.”
“I’m always down with more of that.”
Sam kissed him like she wasn’t going to see him for four days, which seemed interminable to her when he’d be back in no time. But four whole days without him…
“Easy, babe,” he said with a chuckle. “We can’t do it in The Beast.”
“Why not? We have before.”
He groaned. “Not enough time. We’re almost there.”
“Freaking Secret Service and their freaking efficiency. Don’t they know we have sex to have before they whisk you away from me for days and days?”
Smiling, he kissed her nose and then her lips. “You’ll be fine.”
“No, I won’t. I can’t sleep when you’re not there, and when I can’t sleep, I get a little cranky and?—”
“A little cranky?”
“Are you trying to piss me off before you go so I won’t miss you so much?”
“Is it working?”
“Not at all.”
