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“I’m a big believer in lifeboats.”
She gave me a half-smile. “No wonder Drake is different now. You, my dear, are a breath of fresh air.”
“I’m just trying to save my own family.”
Nora sat up tall. “Count me in.”
That’s what I wanted to hear.
~*~
“What a weird day.” Izzy snuggled under her covers.
I was already lying in bed, so I propped my head on my hand to face her. “So bizarre. Can you believe Drake’s mom is sleeping upstairs?” Not in the honeymoon suite. That would just be plain weird.
“You’re sure she’s not a psycho, right?” Izzy grinned.
“I would have hoped Drake would’ve mentioned that. And in his line of work, it would be hard to keep it a secret if his mom had gone to jail or something.” But just in case, I had locked our suite up tight. I mean, you could never be too careful.
“That’s true.”
“I just hope Drake’s not lying dead somewhere in London. I can’t believe he hasn’t called me.”
“You should probably break up with him.” Izzy grinned evilly.
“I thought you were going to be supportive.”
“I am. If the jerk didn’t call you, this is me supporting you.”
I tossed a throw pillow at her.
She caught it and laughed. “I’m sure he just got busy or the time difference threw him off. Jet lag is a real thing.”
“Yeah.” I snuggled down under my comforter, exhausted as always. Motherhood and business ownership zapped all my energy. Whether or not Drake was dead, I needed to sleep. “Good night, Izzy. Thanks for going on this crazy adventure with me.”
“Good night, Char. Thanks for talking me into it.” She turned off the lamp.
As tired as I was, it was hard to turn my brain off after such a crazy day. And I really was worried about Drake. He hadn’t changed his mind about us, had he? Maybe he was tired of all my pushing. Which meant he wasn’t going to be happy about our guest. Except he should be, because his mom wanted to reconcile. I assumed Jameson had something to do with that. Kids can work wonders. While my brain batted around all the worst-case scenarios the darkness seemed to bring out, I eventually drifted off to sleep. For how long, I didn’t know, but not long enough.
I woke up to an annoying buzzing sound and bright light.
I opened my eyes to see my phone lighting up on the nightstand. I scrambled to grab it before it woke up Izzy. I briefly saw Drake’s name before I clicked the green button. “Hello,” I whispered.
“Charlotte, I’m sorry to wake you.”
I climbed out of bed and hurried out into the hall. “That’s all right. Are you okay? I’ve been worried.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call. I had a change of plans.”
“Oh.”
“Do you think you could open the door for me? It’s freezing out here.”
It took me a second to comprehend what he was saying, but when I did, the butterflies went ballistic. Dance party for everyone. “Oh my gosh, you’re here!” I squealed like a preteen at my first slumber party.
“See you in a second.” He hung up.
I raced down the hallway of our little space, undid all the locks, and sprinted toward the front door. There Drake stood, through the window of the front door, in all his beautifulness. Unfortunately, I had the added step of turning off the state-of-the-art alarm system Drake had insisted be installed—and that I had even let him pay for—before I could get to him. My brain was on such an adrenaline overload, it took me a second to remember the code. Meanwhile, Drake smiled at me sexily. I seriously needed to get my hands on him.
As soon as I got it together and opened the door, Drake wasted not a second and swept me up into his arms. I didn’t care if he was freezing—it warmed my insides until they were having a meltdown.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and admired his stubbled cheeks and tired, but alive, eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Your Valentine’s Day card was going to be late, so I thought I better hand deliver it.”
“That’s the sexiest thing you have ever said to me.”
“That’s a little disappointing, Charlotte. I thought for sure I’ve done better than that.” He flashed me a wicked grin.
I thought of some sexier conversations. Oh, baby. That’s how we got a baby. I jumped up, wrapped my legs around him, and pressed my lips to his. He wasted no time diving right in. It had been too long since we’d touched. Within seconds, he’d demolished any semblance of the bun in my hair. But it was over all too quickly. His lips glided right off mine.
“Hey, I wasn’t done yet,” I complained.
“Neither was I.” He nipped at my lower lip. “But, I’m not exactly alone.”
“Did a reporter follow you?” Great, now me accosting Drake in my striped nightshirt was going to be in some slimy rag of a paper or a hundred online media outlets.
