Page 59 of Dear John

“No,” Kavanaugh intervened. “You’re not taking her anywhere.”

“Sir, this is part of the process. We just need to make sure she’s not concealing anything.”

“You’re not taking her anywhere!”

I saw the anger and panic in his eyes, but I didn’t understand it. I put my hand on his arm and smiled. “It’s fine. This happens all the time.”

“Bullshit,” he snapped, his eyes flashing around the airport.

“What are you so worried about?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

“Ma’am, we can either do this out here or in private.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I whispered. “I’m just following them.”

“Then I’m going with you.”

“Sir, you’ll need to stay here.”

“It’s fine,” I said again, squeezing his arm lightly. “I’ll be fine.”

I gave him a reassuring look before stepping away with the TSA agent while he was scanned. Hopefully, he wouldn’t throw a temper tantrum and get kicked out of the airport.

As expected, the woman patted me down quickly, and then I was free to go. The minute I stepped out of the room, I saw Kavanaugh pacing by the belt, running his fingers through his hair. What the hell was he panicking about?

I smiled brightly as I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. Only then did he relax. “All done and in one piece.”

His eyes flicked to the TSA agent and he scowled. “That was completely unnecessary.”

“You need to calm down. You’re going to get us kicked out and this job is too important to me.”

With a few deep breaths, he was calm enough to move on. I grabbed my things, but he immediately took my hand, holding it tight as we made our way through the airport. He was silent as we walked, his eyes taking in everything. It made me uneasy,and it wasn’t long before I was doing the same thing, looking for danger in every dark corner. If we kept this up, I’d go mad by the time the trip was over.

“Promise me something,” he said, pulling me aside when we got to the gate.

“Sure.”

“I mean it. Swear to me you’ll listen.”

Worry settled in the center of my chest at the earnest expression on his face. “Yeah, I swear I’ll listen.”

“Whatever happens on this trip, swear to me you’ll listen to everything I say.”

“Kavanaugh, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, I’m just—I’m on edge after everything that’s happened. I’m not used to being on my own for security. Usually, I have a team at my back.”

“But this isn’t a job,” I reminded him. “No one’s after us, right?”

It took him just a second too long to answer. “Right.”

“Kavanaugh…you would tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Because I don’t want any more lies between us.”

Finally, he smiled at me, shaking his head. “I’m just being paranoid.”

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