She’s silent long enough to have my blood pressure rising. “I know.”
“He talked to you?”
“If you call a goodbye text at lunch talking to me, then yeah.”
My chest constricts. Is that why she dipped out at the studio earlier? Was she upset? Why wasn’t I there to take care of her?
“Liam. Can I come over?”
Dropping my head between my legs, I rub at my brows. “I’d rather you get some sleep.”
“And I’d rather take care of you,” she replies firmly.
Fuck. I think I love her.
“Alright. Stay on the phone with me while you drive over.”
Keys jingle, and a door shuts. I listen to her breathing as her footsteps scuff over pavement. I’m half-tempted to tell her to stay put. I should go to her. My car’s faster. She could be in my arms in no time.
We don’t talk while she drives, but our silence has never been awkward. If anything, she’s one of the few people I can let go with. No need to be professional.
No need to be unfailingly strong.
“Three minutes away,” she says.
I fetch the keys to the Porsche and move it. “Pull into the garage when you get here.”
Should I sell the Porsche to free up a permanent spot for her? Beau liked driving it, though…
The moment she parks, I unbuckle her from the seat and pull her against me. I lean our bodies against the side of her car and hide my facein her neck. “I’m sorry I left you alone. I told you I wouldn’t do that shit.”
Her fingers stroke along my nape. “It’s okay.”
Brushing my mouth over her skin, I focus on the connection of our bodies to help keep me grounded. “Tell me I’m not fucking this up. Tell me I’m not going to lose you, too.”
“Oh, Liam.” She guides me back a few inches with firm palms on my chest so she can look at me fully. “How about I tell you how worthy you are of our love? How I’ve never met a more caring soul?”
I lean into her hand as she brings it to my cheek. “You always prioritize others. You’ve done it with me and Hail. You’ve done it with Atonement. You took care of the entire backline crew when you were on tours, Liam. Anddon’tyou try to say you didn’t because Hail and I talked.”
Her sass would have me smirking if the situation weren’t so shitty.
“That was work, Stasi. I was being professional.”
She narrows her eyes. “Call up any of them and see if they wouldn’t be willing to drop everything to help you. If someone thought your phone call was a burden, then they don’t deserve you.”
My eyes fall shut. “I appreciate your pep talk, but it doesn’t change the fact that the only man I want to answer right now won’t take my calls.”
“Fuckcalling him. We’re going to hop on a plane to Phoenix and knock on every door until we find him, because that’s what you do when you’re in love.”
I’m stunned by the fire burning in her eyes. There’s no denying she’s resilient. A quiet force not to be discredited. It’s something I’ve envied in her ever since she held out her hand to me through her bedroom window the night I met her.
She’d told me she wouldn’t let me fall.
Only Ididfall.
I fell in love with a remarkably strong woman.
Sealing our bodies together, I kiss her. It’s nothing more than the slow melding of our lips, steady and sweet like her, but it ignites a fire in me.
