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Was he nervous?
Why would he be nervous after everything they’d just shared?
“It’s, umm,” he paused and swallowed as though his throat was suddenly dry.
What the heck was going on?
“Let me try that again.” A sheepish grin curled his lips. “It’s way too soon, and everything is complicated, but I’m falling for you, Astrid Conway and I’m not the least bit sorry that I am.”
This was what he’d been trying to say? Happiness welled within her, filling the empty parts of her soul. “I’m falling for you too, Callum ‘Growler’ Taylor.”
Their lips meshed together, and Astrid knew that the next chapter in their story was beginning.
Chapter Twenty-One
The traffic was at a standstill, and Growler cursed LA traffic. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” he muttered as he checked his rearview and side mirrors. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and he didn’t think there would be, but he wasn’t going to let down his guard.
“I know. And there’s nothing that really can be done, unless they build a double-decker highway and that would take years to build, not to mention the logistics and engineering skills needed to make it a reality. Which I don’t see happening ever.”
“It’ll probably only encourage more people on the road, and then we’d have double the traffic jams.”
Astrid laughed and leaned her head against the window. “What a nightmare that would be.”
God, she’s so fucking beautiful. I can’t believe she’s mine.
The second she’d said she was falling for him too, Astrid had become his and only his. Was that arrogant and misogynistic of him? Probably, but he was hers as well.
Always would be.
What he was feeling for Astrid was like nothing he’d known. His former teammates had talked about how they’d known when they’d met their women that they were it for them. He’d always thought they were bullshitting him, particularly Rocket because he’d pushed Rebecca away on so many occasions, but now he understood what they’d been talking about.
Understood that the emotions bubbling to life were as true as roses being given on Valentine’s Day.
Once they arrived back at Astrid’s place, he would have to call Ox, advise him that things had changed between him and Astrid.
Growler reached up and rubbed his fingers across his brow in an attempt to slow down his wayward thoughts.
“What’s wrong?” Astrid’s fingers stroked across the arm still on the steering wheel.
How much did he tell her?
Everything.
From the moment he drove from Alliez’s office to her studio, he’d been nothing but honest with her. It was something he’d always told himself he would be, as much as he could’ve been with his job as a SEAL, with his partner, whenever he got one that lasted longer than two nights. He’d kept his liaisons brief in the past, so it hadn’t been something he’d given a lot of thought about. Now though, Astrid was becoming so much a part of his life that the promise he’d made to himself all those years ago was now a major factor in his life.
“I was just thinking I need to call Ox and advise him of the shift in our relationship.”
“Oh.”
Astrid’s response wasn’t comforting for him. Had she changed her mind? Had she decided that she wasn’t falling for him?
No, he may have only known Astrid for a short time, but no way would she do that.
Now that he started, he needed to go on, tell her what the possible outcomes could be from him making this call.
He glanced over at her, and their gazes connected. There was nothing in her hazel eyes to suggest that she was having second thoughts. If anything, there was clarity, as if she knew what he was going to say.
Shifting his attention back to the road—the traffic was finally starting to move—he took a deep breath. “There are two possible outcomes of my phone call with Ox. He’ll either fire me for crossing the line with a client, or I’ll be removed from watching you and someone else will take over to keep you safe until the threat is gone.”
