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What if I’d died that night in the alley?Never to have sunlight on my face like this again?
Similar thoughts had reared their ugly heads more than once and every time she’d shut them down. She refused to focus on negative thinking.
Instead, she turned her attention to the man beside her. As per normal, he was dressed in cargo pants and a T-shirt. This one had a faded Van Halen graphic. The steel gray color matched his eyes in the filtered sunlight. “It’s so pretty here. So different than the city. Reminds me of home with this lake and the mountains in the distance.”
He stared at her with that look he got sometimes, like she was an angel. “Umm hmm.”
The embers of lust he’d ignited earlier glowed warm and flickered into flames. She felt flush and happy. They were alone. Mostly, anyway. The others on-site were setting up offices in the main building. “Are you excited about the move?”
“It’s been a long time coming.”
“Is that a yes or a no?” she teased.
He glanced away. “I have a lot of good memories in the current place. It’s been a sanctuary for me.”
No surprise there. “For me, too, especially lately.”
His gaze swung to hers, dipping from her eyes down to her lips. The breeze was light, toying with her hair, the birds singing. He wanted to kiss her and she knew it, and wasn’t this park-like setting perfect for it?
“You’re beautiful, you know that?”
Her heart thudded and she couldn’t keep from smiling. “When I’m with you, I feel beautiful. Invincible.”
That made him smile, and her heart pounded a whole symphony now. So rare, that smile. It made her want to bust out in song, like some Julie Andrews parody.
They both moved at the same time, their lips crashing together. She laughed and jerked back. His smile grew and he shook his head.
“Four days,” she said. “And then you’re mine.”
He was still grinning as he turned them from the lake. “I’ll hold you to that.”
She marveled at the solar panel field he showed her, explaining about their power grid. Then they buzzed past Cal and Beatrice’s new house—a Craftsman style with a nice yard. Cal had planted two maple trees out front, small now, but in the years to come, they would shade the home and be pretty in the fall when their colors changed.
The main building came into view once more. “You know,” Rory said without glancing at her, “we still need to talk to my sketch artist.”
She’d avoided it as long as possible, but yes, she knew. The scarred man had been making appearances in her dreams, along with her missing handbag and sneakers. In some, he was stealing them. In others, she was frantically smacking him with the purse as he tried to assault her. Or she was crying over her ruined shoes while he laughed.
She’d attempted to sort out the psychological meanings behind them, but that was probably best left to Vivi. Logically, she knew he wasn’t her attacker, yet her subconscious still made him out to be so. Because she hadn’t seen her mugger’s face, was her mind offering the scarred man’s in its place?
“We should do that,” she said to Rory with more conviction than she felt. “Set up a time to meet with him.”
“I’ll see if he can come by HQ tonight.”
“Sounds good.”
He must have heard the reluctance in her voice and gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s not painful, I swear.”
She chuckled, her skin tingling from his touch. She wanted to jump him right here on the path.Four days. “As long as you’re with me, I can handle it. Did you rent a tux for Thursday?”
He cringed and the cart slowed. “Do I have to wear a monkey suit? I have a nice tie and slacks.”
“Formal attire, and you’re going to look amazing.”
He acted disappointed and she pinched his ribs, making him laugh. The cart came to a stop and he pulled her to him, parting her lips with his and kissing her deeply.
She scooted across the seat, welcoming it. To hell with four days. She wanted him here, now.
Everything disappeared—the birds, the trees, the path. All there was, was Rory and his lips. His hands. His solid presence, lighting her up from within.
