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“You like to play with fire, don’t you?” I press my palm to the side of her face and practically smoosh her cheek to my chest. Anything to shut her up. “Call me when you land,” I warn her. “Call me when you get to the hotel. Felix has made a promise not to bother you, and though he’s an annoying motherfucker who lacks boundaries, a promise means something. Order whatever you want, as often as you want, from room service. Get a steak tonight, if only to bolster your energy for tomorrow. And for the love of god, don’t?—”
“Die?” She wraps her arm around my back and anchors it on the opposite hip. Because she already misses me. And I… well, I’m not strong enough to peel her hand off again. “I promise not to die.”
“I was gonna say don’t fall in love with someone else. But that’s cool… don’t die, either.”
She snorts, slowing her steps as we approach the stairs that lead into our Skystream jet. She’s been inside it more than a couple of times already. But never without me. Never flyingawayfrom me. “My former coworker still calls me sometimes. He wants me to reconsider my move and comehome.” Smiling, she gazes up into my eyes. “Home, Archer.”
“Such a strange thing for him to ask for, considering your home is inside my heart.” I pass her briefcase off to the first pair of hands waiting, then I bring mine up and cup her cheeks. “I’m the kind of guy who was trained to chop another’s hands off if he so much asconsideredtouching what’s mine.”
She swallows, the movement of her throat just enough to vibrate through my palms.
“Are you saying you’ll follow me to New York and kill anyone who touches?” Her brown eyes flick between mine. “Because if teasing you with the possibilities means we don’t have to go separate ways, then that’s what I’ll do.”
I bring my thumb across to stroke her bottom lip. “I will if you need me to. But I trust you to kill any man yourself if he touches without your permission.”
Her lips quiver, but I know she fights it. “I can take care of myself.”
“Please be safe.” I pull her up until she’s forced to the tips of her toes. “Please check in often. Do your thing, testify, then come home to me.”
“As soon as I can.” Her eyes glitter, though she doesn’t let them well up and spill over. “I promise. And in exchange, you’ll check in, too. By the time I land in New York, I’ll have six, ‘I’m okay’ texts stacked up, won’t I?”
“They won’t be stacked up.” Leaning closer, I drag her bottom lip between my teeth. “You can use your phone in the air, silly. I’m gonna get my shit taken care of, and I’ll be standing right here,” I look down between us, “exactly in this spot, when you return.”
“Promise?”
I press my forehead to hers and breathe her down into the depths of my lungs. “Promise. So you don’t have to worry about me. Now go.” I pull back, forcing space between us, because if I don’t, we’ll never part. Reaching up, I hand the duffel off to waiting hands, then I take hers in mine and lead her up the stairs. “You have to go, babe. I can’t go back to work till I see your ass in the air.”
“I had no clue it would be this hard to walk away.” She twines her fingers in mine and stops at the door of the plane, taking up space and bringing the whole flight and crew to a standstill. No one can move till she decides they can. “I’ve lived without you exponentially longer than I’ve livedwithyou. Yet, being with you is my real.”
“You existed before me. And I existed before you.” I pinch her chin between my thumb and finger and force her head back. “But we didn’t live until we were together.”
“Penguins.” She gulps and looks between my eyes. “This stinks.”
“Yeah.” Finally, I release a small chuckle and allow it to deflate my chest. “It stinks. Now get going.” I drop my hands and pat her ass instead, turning her in the direction she has to go and forcing her away. “The longer you stand here, the later you’ll arrive in New York. It’s already two over there. Add six, and you’re landing for a late dinner.”
Sighing, she digs her hand into her back pocket and takes out her phone, making a show of waving it at my eye level. “Communicate. Don’t forget.”
“I won’t.” I back down the steps and move onto the concrete at the bottom. Then I nod for the rest of the crew to start moving, releasing them from the front row seat they got to mine and Minka Mayet’s love and life. “You don’t forget either.” I raise my voice to compete with the sound of a different plane taking off. “I wanna see your name flash on my screen so fuckin’ much, I’m gonna roll my eyes and call you needy. Michaels.” I grab the soldier whose face is easily recognizable to me. Not just any old guard Felix happens to control. But one of his closest team. One who has, and will again in the future, take a bullet for my brother. “Why’d he send you?”
“Precious cargo, Mr. Malone.” He dips his chin and gives me a small, barely there smile, before hardening again and continuing up the steps. “We’ve got it from here, Detective. Felix sends his regards.”
“I bet he does.” I move away from the plane and stand by one of the cars creating a shield in every direction except the middle of the tarmac. Because if someone is out there with a sniper rifle and a grudge to settle, they probably deserve whatever hit they make.
The risk, of course, is to be sucked into the engine of a plane. Or worse, run clear over by one.
Raising my hand and using it to shield my eyes from the sun, I scan the plane’s windows and search for my heart, making her way to the middle. Not the front, because that’s too bumpy, and not the back, because there’s too much sway. The middle, right above the wings, because she’s Minka Mayet and those are the things she thinks about.
My phone dings in my back pocket, vibrating against my ass and drawing my attention as I reach back and expect Fletch’s name to flash on the screen. But I find Minka’s instead, and in the text window, a little gray emoji.
Curious, I drop my sun-shielding hand and unlock the screen, only to find Minka’s text bubbles still moving. She’s typing.
Minka:That’s a rock. Because you’re my penguin and rocks are what penguins gift to each other when they’re in love. Send back the rock when you’re thinking of me, and I’ll do the same in return.
Grinning, I hit reply and quickly type:I appreciate the sentiment, Minnnnka. But I know beneath the love is a hatred for thinking up cutesy small talk when that’s not really who we are. The rock is your low-commitment solution to keeping the conversation going without having to type anything out.
I hit send, only to continue typing:I love your idea and I’m ready to play. Send me an eggplant when you’re thinking of my cock, and a peach when you wish I was touching yours.
Minka:You take my sincerity and turn it to sex. How very Malone of you.
