Page 25 of Sheltering You

“Perfect,” he said. “If you just pull off all the tags, I’ll buy everything, and then you don’t have to change again.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were back in the car and headed to the city.

She’d been distracted when he’d made the purchases. Now, she opened the sack he’d handed her, searching for the sunglasses, and found, along with her denim dress, another baseball cap and a red jacket. “What are these for?”

He hit the blinker and angled onto the highway. “I didn’t realize before that your friend’s aunt and uncle knew you. If there’s any chance they might see you, I don’t want you anywhere near them. So, you need to email Basma and tell her that I’ll meet her and her brother and bring them to you.”

“She won’t agree to that.”

Derrick kept talking as if she hadn’t spoken. “I wanted to wear something that she’d be able to easily pick out—and that no other man would have on. Tell her to be on the lookout for a tall guy wearing a white baseball cap and a bright red nylon jacket. Then, if I have to get lost in a crowd, I can take off the jacket and hat, which’ll make it easier for me to blend in.”

“She will not go with you.”

“Then she can go back to Iraq and live with her half brother.”

“Derrick.” Jasmine’s voice rose. “We cannot leave them. We must help.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.”

“I must come with you. Basma will be afraid, and Rabie as well.”

Derrick hit the blinker and then angled back off the highway, though they couldn’t be anywhere near their destination. He fought traffic until they turned into a gas station packed with cars. He pulled around to the back, put the car in park, and faced her. “This is nonnegotiable.”

She worked out the meaning of the long word, then crossed her arms. “You do not own me. You tell me all the time that I am free and can do what I wish.”

“If that’s how you want to play it, fine.” His tone was calm, his expression bland, but emotion hummed beneath his words. “You can do this by yourself. I’ll just head back to the airport and fly home.”

“You would leave me here?” Her heart slammed against her ribcage. “Alone?”

“If you insist on putting yourself in danger, yes.”

“But you cannot… How could you…? What about Basma and Rabie? They are in danger.”

“They can come with me, or they can find another way out of their situation. Or they can go back to Iraq.”

“That is… You are not cruel. Why would you do this?”

“Because your safety⁠—”

“What of theirs? You would let them be harmed?”

“To protect you? In a New York minute.”

“What is this? I do not understand.”

He blew out a long breath, frustration showing for the first time, though she guessed it’d been there all along. “It just means…fast. Yes, I would let them be harmed if it meant keeping you safe. If it’s between you and them… Maybe it’s wrong. Maybe it’s unfair. But…” He stared up at the ceiling, pushing his hair away from his face. “They’re not my responsibility. I can’t save everyone.” He lowered his gaze and met her eyes. “I choose you. If it’s either you or them, I choose you.”

The strangest feeling spread through her chest, warmth and affection and tenderness, stinging her eyes and muddling her thoughts.

Foolishness. Likely, he was worried what Michael would say if any harm came to her. But…no. The way Derrick looked at her, as if she really and truly mattered, made her discard that idea.

Derrick was her friend. She’d had so few of those, almost none who’d chosen her, just for her and not because she was Leila’s twin.

There’d been Basma.

And now Derrick.

And nobody else.