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He nods, not meeting my eyes.
I step forward and throw my arms around his neck. He sobs onto my shoulder. I close my eyes, no words enough for the gravity of this moment. There is nothing I can say. Nothing I want to say. He knows how much I love him.
“Thanks for everything, Dad. Look after Mum and Cal, okay?”
He nods. “Have fun, baby. I hope it’s everything you want it to be. Call your mum every day, okay? For my sake. I have to live with her.” He rolls his eyes and I laugh. He takes my hand and holds it in his. “Love you, Erin.”
I smile through my tears. “Love you too.
”
Chapter Nine
Cade
“Who the hell books a flight for seven a.m.?” I grumble under my breath as I hoist my suitcase out from the boot of the taxi. I toss a twenty through the open window of the driver’s seat, telling him to keep the change. The whole twenty cents. Yeah, I’m generous like that.
I’ve barely slept, which I guess is good considering the eighteen-hour flight I have ahead of me. Unless she’s going to want to talk the whole way, in which case no sleep is bad. Of course she is. Women always want to talk. Dying women probably take that to a whole other level. I chastise myself for being so insensitive. Let’s see if I can get through this trip without offending the girl. Or more realistically, let’s see if I can get through the week.
I stroll through departures, scanning the crowd for Erin. I’ve only met her twice now, but she was kind of unforgettable—hot in a she-has-no-idea-how-hot-she-is kind of way. Even that first time, all wet and dishevelled, she was mesmerizing.
My eyes fall on her and a smile tugs at my lips. She’s bent over her open bag, her long blond hair hanging loosely over her shoulder. It feels kind of wrong that I’m checking her out, given her situation, but I can’t help myself. I give it another minute before I walk over to join her.
“Hey,” I say.
She jumps, straightening up. Her face reddens when she faces me.
“You’re supposed to do the packing thing at home,” I tease her. Half her luggage is dumped onto the floor next to her, and I love that she doesn’t seem to give a shit.
“I’m looking for something,” she retorts, narrowing her stunning blue eyes.
I raise my eyebrows curiously and grin.
“It’s not important.”
“It obviously is,” I argue. I’m enjoying playing with her. “And the fact that you don’t want to tell me what it is makes me wonder…”
“Well stop wondering,” she replies. “If you want to do something useful, help me zip this up. It’s stuck.” She bends back over and gives the zip a yank, as if to prove her point.
“It’s stuck because you have this caught in it.” I grab hold of the offending material and back the zipper up. It releases, and I proudly hold it up. “Lacy and transparent,” I say when I realise I’m holding a pair of her panties. I let out a low whistle. “I’m impressed.”
She blushes and snatches them out of my hand, shoving them back in her suitcase. She zips it closed and glares at me. “I’m beginning to regret this already,” she growls.
“Never regret lacy panties, Erin,” I tease. “But seriously, I’m just messing with you. This trip will be great. Trust me. We’ll have fun.”
“I’m having trouble believing that,” she retorts, properly facing me for the first time. She peers up at me, her eyes clouded with concern. “Jesus, what happened to you?” she breathes.
I touch my bruised face. I’d almost forgotten, which is surprising, considering how much it fucking hurts. The swelling is much less than what it was. Last night I couldn’t even see out of my left eye.
“Fell off my bike,” I say dismissively.
She rolls her eyes. “Is that why you had to cancel Saturday?” she accuses. “I’ll never understand why people ride those things. They’re a death sentence.”
I shrug and pick up my suitcase. I wish it had been a bike, instead of the three thugs who pounded the shit out of me—two days before they were supposed to.
I’d been just about to leave for Erin’s barbecue when they came out of nowhere and dragged me into the back of their car. They took me to some derelict house over in the western suburbs, where they tied me to a chair and beat me senseless. I told them I had their money, but that didn’t mean shit to them. They’d found out I was leaving town and decided to send me a message, and then took what I owed them.
“So, I must be pretty special that you chose me out of thousands of applicants,” I muse, a grin playing on my lips. My diversion tactics work as she narrows hers eyes at me. I chuckle. She’s just as feisty as I remember.
