Page 20 of Lost Love Found

He picks Elaina up gently and carries her away. He comes back in just a couple of minutes, taking L’s seat between Charlie and me.

Charlie quickly rises from her seat. She nods to the group, a half-smile on her face. “I’m going to let you all talk and I’ll catch up tomorrow. It’s late and I should really get home.” Her eyes flick to Maeve and she reaches out, giving her a pat on the arm. “Goodnight.” With that, she turns and leaves, leaving me with Raf and Maeve.

I run my hands through my hair, then let out a deep breath, ready to start talking. I tell them everything except how I feel about her.

Maeve doesn’t even look remotely surprised by anything I have to say. “OK, so you’re the mystery bloke she’s been talking to for weeks. I knew something was up, but she was being vague. It all makes sense now.” She looks at me, a serious look on her face. Then she looks at Raf, and back at me.

Raf takes this as his cue to start talking. “Adam, Elaina is like a sister to me. Her brother and I were in the same task force and he’s one of the best people I know.” Raf takes a deep breath and stares at me with a storm in his eyes. It all makes sense to me now; Owen is Raf’s business partner, yet he only ever refers to him as James. I'd thought that was his first name. “I love you, man. You know that. But I love her, too. She’s been through a lot and she deserves to find real happiness. She puts her friends and family above everything else - sometimes even herself. She has the biggest heart…”

“I know, man. I haven’t known her as long as either of you, but I see that.” I’ve never heard Raf talk like this about anyone but his mother, and that woman is a damn angel for putting up with Raf and his brothers.

His expression hardens again, like he’s about to say something I’m not going to like. “Just…please be careful with her, alright?” And I hear everything he’s not saying. Don’t let your shit get in the way. Don’t hurt her.

Maeve says nothing, but her eyes are beseeching. “Raf is right. Elaina is the best, and she clearly already cares about you in case the gigantic dinner and three pies weren’t obvious proof of that. Be gentle with our girl. She needs someone who can understand all the ways she thinks she’s broken and be patient with her as she figures out that she’s perfect, just as she is.”

I look her in the eyes and bow my head slightly in a gesture of respect, hoping she can see the sincerity in my expression and know that I would never do anything to hurt Elaina.

I thank Maeve before heading to my place with Raf. We’ve made plans to go to the London Eye in the morning. I would have said no, but Maeve said it’s one of Elaina’s favorite things to do when she comes to London, and she usually goes alone.

If it wasn’t for the jet lag, I’m not sure I’d be getting any sleep tonight.

* * *

I rap on Maeve’s door and hear a muffled, “Come in!” before she scurries away. I walk through the entrance hall and see Charlie eating in the kitchen. The smell of fresh-brewed coffee wafts through the air, and I hear hushed voices coming from the dining room—Maeve and Raf are going over the security details one last time before we set off.

“You have a thing about being early.” Charlie smiles at me and takes a bite of her omelet. “Your girl’s right in there.” She points to the living room, and I don’t bother correcting her. I nod at Charlie and go straight in.

She's perched on the edge of an oversized armchair, swinging her legs back and forth. The caramel-colored knitted sweater tucked into her black cropped pants hangs loosely off her shoulders, and the sleeves are folded carelessly up to her elbows. Her auburn hair is pulled into a sleek ponytail. She smiles to herself as she reads the book in her hands, occasionally pausing to play with the ends of her hair. Unaware of the eyes on her, she bites her lower lip in concentration.

With no prompting, she looks up, sees me, then does a double take, quickly setting her book down. A wide grin spreads across her face and sends a bolt of warmth up my entire body. “Good morning! Come in. Sit.”

“Morning. What are you reading?” I ask, pointing to the book on the table next to her. I can’t help jumping right in. I want to know everything about her.

“Oh, ummm it’s the second book in that series I started…” She blushes a little and bites her lip again.

“Ohhhhh, so you liked the romance novel? You never told me how that first one ended.” My eyes follow the line of her legs up to her calves and back down. I can't help but smile as I admire her cute, exposed ankles and soft feet dangling from the edge of the couch. I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate a good ass, but ankles are apparently my weakness. Or maybe it’s just her because I’m not sure I’ve ever had a reaction like this to ankles before. That can’t be normal. Ankles?

“I didn’t tell you? It got steamy. Or is the term spicy? Either way, it was hot. Then he ended up moving to be with her and they lived happily ever after. Blah!” She sticks out her tongue and giggles and I laugh with her.

Raf sticks his head in the room. “Mornin’ baby girl. Adam. I think we’re ready to head out when you are.” Raf doesn’t seem angry with me anymore, so that’s a plus. “Elaina, we have someone else coming in for security, but I wanted to run it by you first.”

“Me? Why me?” She sits up, grabs her cup and stands, a confused look on her face.

“Well, the second guy is Owen.” Raf doesn’t flinch, but something in his eyes tells me he’s worried about what L’s reaction to this will be.

“OWEN? Owen James? My brother? Owen’s coming to London? Like here? To work as a bodyguard to Hollywood stars?” She looks at Raf with the kind of skepticism that screams no fucking way. She laughs and gently slaps his shoulder. Lainey saunters towards the kitchen, her hands cupping her empty coffee cup as she shakes her head. “Good one, Raf.” She laughs again, mumbling, “My brother… here. Ha!”

Raf stalks her into the kitchen, and I obviously follow, needing to know what’s happening. “Elaina, his flight lands at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning.” She stops so abruptly that he crashes into her. “He said no the first 38 times I asked, but once he knew you’d be here too, he said he wanted to do it.”

Lainey spins around quickly and I can see her eyes are glassy. “Really? He–He said that?”

Raf’s shoulders relax, and he releases a long, slow sigh of relief. “Yeah. He said he needed a change. He doesn’t need to be at the office right now. Our operations manager has it all under control. I know you guys worked things out, so this could be good for you?” He still seems unsure, but then…

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!” Elaina impulsively jumps up and wraps her arms around Raf, her legs kicking up in the air as she jumps in joy. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” OK, so this is good.

Raf laughs and takes her mug from her hand before she drops it. Her eyes sparkle with joy as she quickly closes the gap between us, her arms wrapping around my neck, just like the night before. She tilts her head and whispers excitedly, “My brother’s coming!” and I feel the joy radiating off of her.

When she pulls away, I hold her in place, brushing a stray hair off her cheek. I want to be the one to put a smile like this on her face. I just can’t seem to let her go yet. “Are you happy?” I ask this, already knowing the answer.

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