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“I would have liked to have seen your desert with you.” When she spoke, the emotion in her voice seared his heart. “Will you think of me if you ever visit it again?”
“Always,” he promised her softly. “I will always think of you when I think of the desert.”
He would always think of her, no matter where he was, no matter what he did. He would always carry his memories and his loss along with him.
“Maybe one day I’ll see your desert,” she said softly. “And I’ll think of you, Micah.”
He stared up at the ceiling; he saw into the past, and he saw into the future. He saw the bleak darkness he had known before she came into his life, and he saw his return to it once she was safe.
And he saw himself, always watching her from afar. Always craving her.
Letting her go would be the hardest thing he had ever done.
RISA WAS SURPRISED that she was able to sleep at all. But sometime before dawn she drifted off in Micah’s arms and slept without nightmares.
She was aware of him, even in sleep. She knew when his breathing evened out; she dreamed he kissed her forehead and whispered, “I love you,” in the gentlest voice.
She dreamed of the desert awash in warmth, the sun shining down on them, and she dreamed he disappeared from her side to become a part of that desert.
When she awoke late the next morning, she showered, ate the breakfast he prepared, and went quietly back to work at her computer.
She couldn’t think about tomorrow today. She couldn’t let herself imagine him walking out of her life, even though she knew it was coming much more quickly than she had envisioned before.
“I have a couple of meetings scheduled today,” she told him as she booted up her computer and the reminders popped up on her monitor. “Several clients are stopping by to drop off some information I need for their accounts.”
“I remembered,” he told her. “Jordan completed their dossiers several nights ag
o. They all came in clean, so we’re good to go. I’ll be here with you just in case.”
She turned back to him with a frown. “Clients don’t like discussing their information in front of others,” she told him worriedly. “If you hang around here, they’ll be suspicious why. They’re regular clients, so they’re used to meeting with me alone.”
His hands propped on his hips as he glanced at the kitchen door. Risa knew she should be focusing on the problem of those clients rather than the jeans and T-shirt he was wearing or how sexy those jeans looked when paired with boots.
The man was definite eye candy. He wasn’t traditionally handsome; he was rugged instead. Rugged and sexy as hell. And right now, he had that dangerous glint in his eye that assured her that he was focused solely on ensuring her protection.
“I can go to the kitchen.” He nodded. “I’ll let them in, then retreat just inside the entrance. I’ll be close enough in case any of them pose a threat.”
A shiver raced up her spine as a surge of wariness raced inside her. She should have canceled the meetings. It was too late now, but she should have followed Jordan’s advice there rather than insisting that she had to keep those appointments.
“Don’t worry, Risa.” Micah soothed those nerves with his silky, dark voice. “Jordan and the others are just across the hall. There’s a listening device we’ll activate before the first meeting so Jordan will be aware of everything that’s going on, and I’ll be just inside the kitchen. You’re completely protected.”
She nodded firmly before turning back to the computer. She was protected, she assured herself. Everything would be fine.
IT WAS ALMOST time.
Orion surveyed the healing wound on his foot before shaking several pain pills into his palm and washing them down with water.
The medication helped dull the pain, but his senses felt fine. He was still in control; that was all that mattered.
Replacing the pills in the bedside table drawer, he pulled his laptop across the bed and clicked through the pictures that had come across through the night.
The camera he’d installed just across from the elevator on Risa’s floor ensured him the opportunity to at least keep track of her comings and goings.
She didn’t leave often. Traffic was amazingly light for the past few days. Risa’s lover was keeping her fairly close to home. Other than a night out at a club, they had stayed inside.
Mr. Sloane was on alert. He was a SEAL, which meant he could be a problem if Orion didn’t play his cards right.
He smiled at the thought. He had several aces, and he would play them.
