She shakes her head. “I’ll never walk away from you.”
The words soothe the deepest parts of me. I pull her onto my lap. “I’ve missed you. It took a lot of control for me not to steal you away from Laurie’s wedding and find some corner to fuck you senseless.”
“Jeez!” Her laughter tells me we’re done talking about the Sinclairs. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. Although…” She gives me a meaningful look. “You can feel free to do so now.”
“I intend to.” I’m already undoing
her robe, and I push it off her shoulders, almost sighing at the sight of her breasts. As I watch, her nipples harden. It’s beautiful to see. “I love how responsive you are to me,” I tell her, parting her legs. “Your body was made for my touch.”
Her smile is heavenly. “Yours was made to drive me crazy.”
I slide one hand between her legs, palming her, and feeling just how wet she already is.
“God, I need to fuck you.”
Her eyes close and she lets out a soft sigh. “Feel free.”
I cover her lips with mine, and for the rest of the night, I remind her, with my body, just how much she means to me.
Chapter 34
On the flight back to New York, I try to decode the reason behind Rachel’s silence and pensiveness. Is she missing her family already, still worried about Sinclair?
“Are you fretting about something again?” I ask her gently.
She smiles quickly. “No. No, I’m just thinking about work.”
It’s not work. I can tell. I hold out my hand to her. “No matter what you’re thinking about us, you can tell me, and we’ll talk about it.”
Her response is a smile. She takes my hand, squeezing it gently. She keeps holding it until she dozes off, but even as she sleeps, there’s a small frown on her brow.
When we land, it’s still daylight. Rachel keeps her gaze out the window, and I busy myself reading reports on my tablet. I don’t notice the crowd in front of the entrance to the Swanson Court until we’re almost on top of them.
They surround the car, shouting questions we can’t hear from inside the car.
Joe gets the car to the entrance, and the reporters surge.
“What’s going on?” Rachel asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Do you want me to go into the parking lot?” Joe suggests.
“No.” I run through various scenarios in my head and come up with nothing that could have caused this. If there was any accident involving my properties or, God forbid, Aidan, I’d know about it long before the press. “Whatever it is, it’s better if we don’t look as if we’re running away from it.”
The reporters keep swarming around the car, taking pictures. “Wait here,” I tell Rachel, squeezing her hand. She nods.
I open the door and noise explodes in my ears. Along with Joe, I go over to Rachel’s door, waiting as a few of Jed’s guys join us and make a path so she can get inside without being mobbed.
They keep screaming my name, and Ava’s.
Something has happened to Ava.
I focus on getting Rachel inside the building. After that, I’ll find out what the hell is going on.
Jed is waiting in the lobby.
“What happened?” I can’t keep the anger out of my voice. The presence of all that commotion outside the doors is very far from what we promise our guests.