HE’D ENDED UP spending the night at Elia’s apartment. In her bed. And they’d both definitely gotten less sleep than they’d anticipated.
But it had been worth it. And despite the horror he’d felt when that tabloid paper had fallen onto the ground in full view, she’d evidently not read the headline. Or at least she hadn’t realized it was talking about him and Samantha.
But he’d left her apartment with a soft kiss and said he’d see her back at the hospital. And he had. And somehow, things had gone back to normal. For the last week they’d worked side by side, but neither mentioned the night they’d spent together.
Dorothy, their chemical burn victim, was doing better than anyone had hoped. She had lost her eye, but still had perfect vision in her left one and the ophthalmic surgeon had assured her that her eye socket was still in good shape and they could fit her with a prosthetic that no one would know was not her own eye, unless they looked closely. Her eyelid would have some scarring. And she would still need some grafts to cover her damaged cheek, but Jake was hopeful he could get it close enough to natural that she wouldn’t feel self-conscious. He wanted to work hard to make that happen.
Because of Elia and how she’d balked at exposing her leg?
Maybe. But it was more than that. He wanted his patient to have the best possible outcome. He would say like any other patient, but he had to admit this one was special. Because of the night he’d spent with Elia?
Probably. But he was going to try his damnedest. For Dorothy. The same way he had for Matt, who’d done so well that he’d been released yesterday. The rest of his treatments and teeth implants could be done on an outpatient basis.
The world hadn’t imploded after their night together. It had gone on spinning and patients had gone on recovering the way he’d hoped. And he and Elia had fallen back into an easy relationship with no talk about what had happened. It was the best possible scenario.
Although somewhere inside of him there was a little tick of dissatisfaction. And he had no idea what it was about. They really couldn’t have an actual relationship. Like he’d told Sheryll, work romances normally turned messy. And for some reason he didn’t want to lose the camaraderie he had with Eliana.
They were even planning to meet up at the bike festival tomorrow before the start. They hadn’t made plans to necessarily ride side by side, but his bike club crew had decided to at least begin the race together, although they all knew they would eventually separate with the faster riders going out in front, just like they did with all their rides. Randy wouldn’t be there for this one, since he was still healing from the injuries he’d sustained in the accident.
And man, that terrible event seemed like ages ago. So much had happened since then.
Originally he hadn’t wanted Elia to continue riding with his club, but now he kind of hoped she did. The truth was, he liked being around her. Liked so much about her. He liked working with her and he loved how much she cared about their patients. In fact he loved...
Her.
He loved her.
Just then he saw her walking toward him and swallowed all of his thoughts in a big gulp that actually made a sound.
Don’t make this awkward, Callin.
He’d probably been wrong. Yes. He had to have been mistaken. Then she smiled at him, and his system went haywire. He forced himself to smile back, but it was awkward.
Just like he was making everything all of a sudden. Awkward.
Even more awkward than when that tabloid paper had fallen on the ground right in front of her.
Well, he’d better figure out how to “unawkward” things right now, if he wanted things to stay the way they were.
And with all his heart he did. Because the idea of their relationship suddenly going sideways left a bad taste in his mouth. So it was up to him to figure out how to bury his feelings so deep that no one would ever find them. Even if he wanted them to.
The flare went off, signaling for the cyclists to start pedaling. There were over a thousand people gathered at the starting line. So many that it had taken Elia a while to locate Jake and his group. But they’d texted back and forth until she found them. The group stayed together for about a minute and a half before the leaders separated out. She was surprised Jake didn’t go with them, but he hung back with her.
“Feel free to go on ahead. I don’t expect you to stay here and babysit me.”
His brows went up. “Do you need babysitting? Last I knew, you were all grown-up and able to decide things for yourself.”
He probably hadn’t meant anything by it, but her face turned hot as she remembered the last thing she’d decided for herself in the bedroom of her apartment. It involved her bathtub and acting out some of the fantasies she’d dreamed about the day of the accident in his tub. They were white-hot, and afterward he’d told her so. What she hadn’t done that night was tell him where those ideas had come from.
“I am. But I know your club normally moves at a higher speed than my old one did.”
He shrugged. “It’s not really a race. It’s a fundraiser. I’d rather sit back and enjoy myself.”
Implying that he was enjoying himself by riding with her. This time the warmth that washed over her wasn’t embarrassment, but pleasure. She was enjoying herself, too. And it had nothing to do with sex, but simply being in his company, something she’d missed in some of her other relationships.
Except this wasn’t a relationship, unless they were doing things backward and letting the sex come before the friendship.
Would that really be so bad? Maybe not. But she had no idea if that was something Jake would want or if it was just her. Only she’d not even thought about it in those terms until this very second. And it would be better if she didn’t until she could sit down by herself and think things through.
One thing she was thankful for, though, was the fact that the bike festival didn’t take the same route as the bike club had on the day of that accident. She didn’t know how she’d feel about passing that area and remembering the horror of it. She did wish Randy could ride this time, though. Jake said their club participated in the bike festival every year. The owner of the shop was here this time. And they all wore bracelets with Randy’s name on them. She hadn’t realized they were doing it until Jake had held one out and asked if she wanted to wear it. Of course she did. Made of leather and etched with his name, it was their way of saying he was missed and that they were riding in his honor.
This ride was only twenty kilometers, so it wouldn’t take a huge amount of time, and there would be a cookout held at the park where the finish line was. Whoever wanted to stay could. Jake said it was fun, and there’d been a couple hundred cookies left that would be passed out on a first-come-first-served basis. It was kind of neat.
She glanced to the side just as he did, and they caught each other’s eye and laughed. As if there was some kind of private joke. Of course there was. And it was very, very private. She’d told no one, not even her closest friends. Or her mom. This was for her and her alone. Well...her and Jake, since he obviously knew about it, too.
They chatted about Dorothy and Carly and Matt, and she asked what his hardest case was.
“Actually it was a case early on in my career. A Formula 1 driver’s car caught on fire during a test run, and due to what they thought was a glitch, they had trouble getting the driver out. When they finally did, he’d been badly burned. He died hours after arriving at Westlake. It was a blow, since most of us knew who he was. Later on, it turned out his vehicle had been sabotaged by someone he’d fired from his pit crew.”
“How terrible. Kind of like Dorothy’s scorned ex. I’ll never understand how someone can hurt someone they supposedly love.”
“People sometimes do things you’d never think them capable of doing.” There was a hard set to his jaw as he said it.
“The most shocking thing is when there’s no remorse afterward.”
He glanced at her. “I agree.”
They rode in silence for several more miles, but it seemed a little less relaxed than it was before. Because she’d brought up a memory that Jake would rather forget? She couldn’t imagine how horrifying it would be to treat someone like the patient he’d had. Someone who was well known and whose case was probably reexamined countless times to see if anything had been missed. To see if something more could have been done. No doubt, Jake had already rehashed the timeline over and over.
She looked for a way to change the subject. “Does the bike festival ride the same route year after year?”
“They do. It’s become a pretty big thing in the community. So much so that there will be people cheering us on as well as press at the finish line, so don’t be surprised if one of them pulls you aside to do an impromptu interview.”
“Yikes. With how sweaty I’m getting, that’s the last thing I need.”
He sent her a smile. “You look beautiful. No matter what.”
Her face warmed. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.”
“And I wasn’t dishing out fake praise.”
“Okay, well, thank you.”
He nodded toward the curve ahead as air horns sounded in the distance. “The finish line is just around that bend. Get ready to stop. It’ll be pretty congested with folks getting off bikes and greeting family members.”
It was then that she noticed more people standing on the sidelines waving flags with Westlake Memorial’s logo on them. Wow, the ride had gone by really fast. She glanced at her watch, eyes widening. It had been two hours! It sure hadn’t seemed that long. And she was kind of sad that it was over. At work, she and Jake saw each other in passing or while working on a case, but there wasn’t much time for chitchat. Not like there was now.
She coasted as she neared the bend in the road, following Jake’s lead, and as soon as they turned the corner, she saw he was right. Even though riders were being ushered off the course, people on bikes were standing around talking with pedestrians and other riders. Elia put on her brakes, and as soon as she slowed enough, she hopped off her bike. Jake did the same. It was mass chaos, and she wasn’t sure where to go to get out of the path of those who were coming behind her.
“Come this way,” he said. She followed him toward the edge of the pavement, where there was still a crush of people. But it was either that or risk being hit by another bicycle.
Suddenly there was someone with a microphone hurrying toward them. There was a photographer following close behind. Oh, no! She’d been serious about not wanting her picture taken looking like this.
“Dr. Callin!” the man called. “Dr. Callin! Excuse me, sir. How was the ride?”
Jake smiled. “It was great. Just like it is every year.” He glanced back at her and made a move to go around the reporter only to have him step in front of him. “Just one more question. Any regrets since leaving Samantha Naughton behind in France a couple of years ago? I interviewed her a few months back, and she said she didn’t understand what happened or why you left, but wished that you had stuck around. She said you were good together. She misses you.”
A mental image of that tabloid article that had been lying on the floor appeared in her brain. It had said that a doctor had abandoned the famous model in France...or something like that. Her head swiveled to look at Jake, who still had the same pleasant smile on his face, but a muscle was now ticking in his jaw.
Nossa Senhora, the article had been about Jake! He’d been the one to abandon Samantha. Why? How? And how could he not have mentioned that he’d been involved with the woman?
Why would he? She hadn’t mentioned any of her exes to Jake. But she certainly hadn’t left someone in a foreign country. Not that she’d traveled anywhere with any of her boyfriends. Except to maybe a local restaurant.
And Samantha Naughton? The woman was drop-dead gorgeous. And a great philanthropist, if the articles about her were to be believed. A huge wave of insecurity crashed over her. Jake had surely slept with the woman. Wouldn’t you naturally make comparisons? Elia was not super experienced, and her embarrassment about her scars... Had she looked pitiful to him? He hadn’t acted like it, but... He’d left his last girlfriend behind without saying a word about why, if the reporter was to be believed. But even the tabloids got some of the story right, didn’t they? Otherwise they wouldn’t sell so many copies.
Suddenly she was looking for a way to escape. She’d just headed toward an opening in the crowd when the reporter repeated the question again, this time asking if he was now dating “her” and pointing at Elia. Jake’s smile disappeared and he gave the man an ugly glare before simply saying “no comment” in sharp tones. Then he sidestepped the cameraman and smoothly avoided the microphone and stalked away. He glanced back, as if trying to make sure that Elia was following him, but she wasn’t. And she wouldn’t. Her insides seemed to shrivel up into a tight ball. She couldn’t get away fast enough from that look that had seemed to say, “Are you kidding me? Her?”
There was no way she could compete with someone like Jake’s ex, nor did she want to. Even the thought made her close her eyes in horror.
Once past the crowd, she reached down to ease the strain on her right leg, giving her tight calf a quick squeeze. When she sat back up, Jake was there. “Sorry about that. Are you going to the cookout?”
Sorry about that? Was that all he had to say? He had to know she had a million questions going through her mind. “Um...no. Sorry.” As she looked at him, her eyes started watering. Deus. There was no way she wanted him to see her break down, so she got on her bike and pedaled away from him—away from the event—as fast as she could without another word.
She knew they were expected to stay if they could, but if she tried, she didn’t trust herself not to put on a huge show of waterworks. She just couldn’t face Jake again, because somewhere in her heart, she had wanted him to tell that reporter that, yes, they were an item. Had maybe even believed that in her own heart or hoped it might someday be true. And yet that look on Jake’s face... She just couldn’t shake it. Just couldn’t fathom why he’d wanted to sleep with her in the first place. Or why she ever could have thought they might one day be together. How big of a fool was she?
He had walked away from someone like Samantha Naughton. How much easier would it be to walk away from naive Elia Pessoa, who believed the best of people until proven wrong?
Well, it looked like she’d just been proven wrong. Big time. And she had only herself to blame for some baseless romantic notions she’d allowed herself to harbor. Thank heaven someone had burst her bubble before she’d made a complete fool of herself. Time to find a dark corner in her house and sit and lick her wounds for a while. Thank God she didn’t work tomorrow because she was not ready to face the man again. Not today. Not tomorrow. But she’d better figure things out before Monday. Because he was going to be at the hospital. And so was she.
After a week of trying to corner her long enough to talk to her, Jake realized Elia was actively avoiding him. Ever since the bike festival when he tried to talk to her at the end. Because the reporter had asked him if they were a couple?
He could only take that to mean that she didn’t want them to be a couple. Ever. Especially since she couldn’t even stand being in the same room with him, even at the hospital.
Just when he’d started thinking he might have it in him to give love another go. Would she send her people over to tell him no way, no how? Hell, he didn’t even know who Elia’s “people” were.
Yesterday he had gone to the hospital administrator and told him he needed a break. That he trusted Jeremy Timmons to handle his cases while he was gone. The only good thing was that Jake had not seen anything in the tabloids about the reporter’s comments. He guessed the hospital had been right in their recommendation about not engaging when asked a stupid question. And how about Samantha saying what she had. Or had the reporter simply been fishing for a story? Who the hell knew? Or even cared?
He had a little place in Ensenada, Mexico, right on the Baja California peninsula that had been left to him by his father. It was a place filled with wonderful memories of childhood vacations. Maybe it would serve as a good place to clear his head. To reset his future. He’d already booked his flight for tomorrow, and the plan was to stay for two weeks, although he hadn’t given the administrator a fixed date. He hoped to hell that was long enough. And honestly, it didn’t matter. Because long enough or not, he was going to have to figure out how to go back to working with Elia. Or he was going to have to quit his job and go somewhere else.
Jake was gone? He wasn’t at work today and no one seemed to know where he was or when he’d be back.
Elia had come into work after making a decision. She was going to have to have it out with him. Her work was suffering, and she knew Sheryll had given her several inscrutable looks, like when she’d caught her ducking around a corner in the middle of rounds, when she’d spied Jake heading out onto the floor. Sheryll hadn’t come right out and asked her, but she knew the questions were coming if she kept it up.
She really didn’t want to get fired. Jake didn’t have to tell her anything about what had happened with Samantha, but she needed to tell him that she wasn’t looking for a relationship of any kind with him. Physical or romantic. Because it turned out—for her, anyway—that she didn’t have it in her to be a friend-with-benefits kind of girl. If the physical didn’t at least have the possibility of romance attached to it, it wasn’t sustainable on her end. And she didn’t want to always wonder if comparisons were being made. So it was better just to come out and make things as plain as she could make them.
Except he wasn’t here. And no one could give her a straight answer as to how long he’d be away. Dr. Timmons was taking over his cases. Which meant whatever was wrong had to be kind of serious, didn’t it?
An ugly thought slithered into her head and coiled there, waiting to strike. What if the reporter had been right about Samantha missing him? What if Jake had called her and even now they were rekindling their romance?
Her insides squelched, her lunch sloshing around as if seeking an exit. The way she had looked for an exit at the bike festival? She’d heard they’d raised a record number of funds that would go directly to the burn unit this year. A picture of one of her mom’s cookies had even made the local papers. Sheryll showed her the picture that morning. As soon as she got home that afternoon, she called her mom, who answered on the first ring.
“Hi, sweetheart. How are you?”
Elia mentally switched over to Portuguese, knowing her mom preferred it. “Doing okay...” Her voice faded away and the next thing she knew she was crying, sobbing into the phone like her heart was breaking. Because it was.
“Elia! Elia! O que é?”
Her mom asked over and over what was wrong, but Elia just couldn’t get the words out. She tried, but nothing came out except these wrenching cries of pain.
“Is it that Jake?”
She cried even harder.
“Elia, filha, I am on my way.”
“No...” She still couldn’t talk. And she realized she wanted her to come, needed her mom to hold her and tell her she hadn’t been a complete fool, whether it was true or not.
As soon as her mom hung up, a text pinged on her phone.
Do I need to call an ambulance for you?
She scrubbed the tears from her eyes with balled fists.
No. Sorry. Just dealing with some stuff.
Stuff. Jake stuff?
Elia hesitated for a long time with her answer. She didn’t want her mom to have to drive three hours just to hear some nonsense about Jake. But her fingers seemed to type of their own volition.
Yes, it’s about Jake. And I sure could use some advice.
Good. Because I’m already in the car with a packed bag.
Three hours later, her mom came through the door and Elia fell into her arms. She was past the point of crying, having gotten most of that out hours ago. Now she was just numb.
They sat on the couch, and Elia spilled the beans about all of it. How they had worked on a case and had gotten caught up in the emotions of it all and spent the night together. About how they’d ridden in the bike festival together and the part about the reporter and his questions.
“Did he actually respond to the question about whether you were his current girlfriend?”
“No. But the look on his face...”
Her mom tilted her head. “What about it?”
“It was filled with such...disgust.” The tears she thought were long gone surfaced all over again.
Her mom scooted over and put her arm around her. “Look at me.”
Pulling in a deep breath, she turned to face her.
“Filha, I am only going to say this one time. No one who ever looks at you could be filled with disgust. A man doesn’t sleep with someone who makes him feel that way. His...er...coisa, shall we say, would not stand at attention for someone who disgusts him.”
“Mamãe!”
“Well, it is true. Did you ask the man why he looked the way he did?”
“No. I just couldn’t bring myself to.”
Her mom sighed. “Could it not be that the disgust was aimed at the reporter? Not at whether or not the statement was true?”
“I don’t know. I never stopped to think about that.”
“Go talk to him. Ask him. If he doesn’t care about you, that will be his chance to say so, but if he does...”
Oh, Lord. Not only had she not talked to him when she’d had the chance, she’d rebuffed every attempt that he’d made to talk to her. She assumed he was going to try to let her down easy. But she realized her mind had concocted such a crazy jumble of possibilities that it was very likely none of them were true.
And what about Samantha?
Well, she would never know unless she asked him.
“He tried to talk to me, I think, but I assumed the worst and avoided him, and now...”
“And now what?”
“He left the hospital, and I’m not exactly sure where he went or how long he’ll be gone. Maybe he’ll never be back.”
Her mom squeezed her tight for a second. “Could it be that Jake is struggling with some of the same things you are?”
“But what if he’s not? What if he just doesn’t want to see me?”
“But what if he does and is afraid, just like you are? What if after trying to talk to you he assumed the worst, that you didn’t want him?”
Why did her mom have to make her see things with such glaring clarity? “And if it’s him who doesn’t want me?”
“Then you’ll know. Life is not without risks, Elia. The doctors told us you might not keep your leg, that the vascular system was badly damaged and it could die. They wanted to amputate. I kept saying to wait...wait...wait, that I would know when the time was right. It never was. That you can walk is a miracle in itself.”
“I didn’t know that about my leg.”
She shrugged. “Just like with the doctors, I felt something was telling me to wait to tell you. That I would know when the time was right. That time is now. Don’t cut out part of your heart without at least giving it a chance to heal...without giving it a chance to know the truth.”
“But he’s gone. I’ll need to wait until he—”
“No. You need to decide what it is you want out of life. If you want Jake, you shouldn’t wait for him to come to you. He tried. It is now time for you to go to him.”
“But how? I don’t even know where he is.”
“Ask. Ask those who might know. And keep asking until someone can give you the answer you are looking for.”
Jake was packing his bags. This was the most ridiculous idea he’d ever had. Had he really thought the answers would magically appear the second he stepped over the threshold of the little two-bedroom bungalow?
They hadn’t. And he found he missed Elia like he’d never missed anyone in his life. It was crazy. And terrible.
She wouldn’t talk to him, but somehow he had to know one way or the other without looking like some kind of crazed stalker. He’d thought about texting her, but this needed to be a face-to-face conversation. Maybe once that happened, no matter which way that discussion went, he’d finally have a peace about the situation.
Yes. In his soul of souls he somehow knew that was the right way to go. He couldn’t text her with the question, but he could text a request for a meeting. He could say they needed to clear the air about a few things. And if she still said no? Then maybe he’d have his answer. He’d never actually gotten that far. She always ducked out the second he appeared. Maybe she was horrified that he’d supposedly abandoned Samantha. Then he could explain he hadn’t.
He sucked down a breath and let it hiss back out. That was it. He was going to send that text and then he was going to catch his flight.
He looked up her phone number. When he went to compose the message, he found their back-and-forth texts about where the bike crew was. They were witty little comebacks with a couple of barely hidden innuendos. How had that gone from warm and fun to her wanting to be as far away from him as she could possibly get?
It was after that reporter’s questions. He tried to recall exactly what had been said. There’d been the questions about Samantha. Those had surprised him, but they hadn’t been totally out of the blue. What had embarrassed him, though, was how it made him sound. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. And then the reporter had asked about Elia and their relationship. And Jake’s reply? “No comment.”
He shut his eyes. “Oh, Callin, you really are a fool.” No wonder she didn’t want to talk to him. He could imagine how it might have sounded to her.
He composed his text carefully.
Hey, beautiful...
Nope. He erased the last word. Too forward.
Hey, Elia... Is there a time we could talk? I would like to explain something I said to the reporter that I think you might have misunderstood. I’d like to clear the air and tell you what I would have liked to have told him.
Yes. That was okay. If he was right about why she was upset, then hopefully she would want to hear the truth. Holding his breath, he pressed Send.
Then, picking his bag up, he opened the door only to hear his phone ping from his pocket. Frowning, he fished it out again and looked at the screen.
Can you give me your address? I’m hopelessly lost.
What in the...?
He looked at the top of the screen and saw the series of earlier texts. Yep, it was from Elia.
I’m not in the States at the moment, so I’m not home.
Wait, why was she trying to find him, anyway?
I know. I’m in Ensenada. But, strangely enough, the taxi driver doesn’t know who you are or how to find you. I thought everyone knew who the great Jakob Callin was.
He mentally heard her saying the words in that accent of hers, right down to his name. He swallowed, loving so much about the woman.
It finally sank in. She was in Ensenada! She was here in town. But how?
Where are you, exactly?
Her text came through almost immediately.
Some grocery store called Mi Corazon.
Stay there.
No, just give me your address. I’m in the taxi now.
He typed the address and waited for her reply.
Nothing came through.
Two minutes passed before he texted her again.
Elia?
Give me a minute...
What the hell was going on? That grocery store was just around the corner from his house. Just as he got ready to text her again, there was a knock at the door.
When he opened it, there stood Elia. Just beyond her was a taxi.
“Does he need to be paid?”
“No, I just... I just wanted him to wait in case it wasn’t really you.”
The tremor in her voice cut him to the quick, and he folded her into his arms, waving away the taxi and closing the door. Easing her away from him, he looked into her face. “I won’t ask how in the hell you found me. Instead, I’ll simply ask you why you’re here.”
“I’m here because my mom suggested I come.”
“Your mom.” He was lost. What did Tersia have to do with any of this? “She told you to come to Mexico?”
“No. She told me to come find you before it was too late. She told me about risks and that I’d almost lost my leg as a child, but she’d insisted they wait... Oh, too many things to explain.” She took a deep breath. “I love you. And in my heart, I needed to know if you were here with Samantha.”
“Samantha? I haven’t talked to her since we broke up. Nor do I plan to. She and I were a mistake. One that I don’t plan on making again.”
She seemed to straighten slightly. “You said I misunderstood something about your conversation with that reporter. What was it?”
He drew her inside and sat with her on the long leather sofa in the main room. “When Samantha and I broke up, she told a tabloid reporter that I had ‘abandoned her’ in France. It wasn’t true. I wasn’t even there at the time, but it caused some problems for me at the hospital. Their suggestion if a reporter ever brought it up again was to say ‘no comment’ and leave it at that.” His mind rewound to a previous comment she’d made. “Wait. What did you say a minute ago?”
“About Samantha?”
“No. Right before that.”
She smiled. “Oh, that. I love you.”
He sat there, stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me this when I tried to talk to you?”
“Because...” She bit her lip before continuing. “When the reporter asked about me, you had this terrible look on your face. Like you were stunned that he would even ask that.”
“I was stunned. And very, very angry.” He tried to find the words. “I’d realized something right before the race. That I wanted to continue seeing you. And not just because of the sex. Because of you. But I wanted to move slowly and see if you were even interested in me. And then that guy comes right out and asks if you were my new girlfriend. I just lost it. I really wanted to do some damage to him, and so I walked away before I acted on that impulse. I think that’s what you maybe misunderstood.”
She nodded. “The look on your face... It was as if the very thought disgusted you. My mom assured me that if that were the case, your—she used the word equipment, for lack of a better translation—wouldn’t work properly.”
Jake laughed. It was the first time he’d done that in a while. “Can you tell your mom that I love her? And you?”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He bent down to kiss her. “And your mom is right. My ‘equipment’ is very...very...active whenever you’re around.”
“But Samantha is just so beautiful.”
“Do you seriously think you’re not?”
She stumbled, as if not sure what to say.
“Elia, there is so much about you that fascinates me. I can’t get my fill of looking at you. Of touching you...like this.” He trailed the back of his hand from her cheek to the spot just behind her ear.
“I can’t think when you do that.”
He smiled. “Do you need to think?”
“Just for a few minutes. Just long enough to know for sure. You really love me?”
“Yes. I really do.” He turned her so that he could look into her beautiful eyes. “Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
His lips touched the side of her temple. “Anything else?” They trailed across her cheek on a slow journey back to her mouth and paused there, waiting for anything else that she needed him to clarify. “Elia?”
“Hmm...just one more thing.”
He kissed her mouth with slow brushing strokes that only made him want more. “What is it?”
“Are you coming back to Dallas?”
“Yes, my bags are packed and I was on my way out the door when your text came through. My flight is in an hour. We can just make it, unless...”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you’d like to spend a few days here instead.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“Yup.”
When her smile came, it was like the sun itself had stepped into the room. “Yes. Let’s stay.”
His arms wrapped around her, gripping her tightly. “This place has two bedrooms if you’d rather—”
“Yes.” When his heart dropped, she added with a smile, “We’ll spend one night in one of them and the next... Well, let’s see if we even make it out of that first one before it’s time to leave.”
His equipment rose, right on cue. “Is that a challenge, Elia?”
“Only if you want it to be, querida. Only if you want it to be.”
And then she was kissing him in a way that said all other questions could wait until they were back in the States. Until then, he would show her exactly how much he loved her. How much he wanted her. And he’d keep on showing her all the days of his life.