Page 62 of Recon Rendezvous

Her brows shoot up as she turns to me with a frown. “What would you suggest?”

“How about an apology?”

She rears back, face scrunched in confusion. “Why would I need to apologize to you? Please enlighten me.” She crosses her arms, looking me up and down.

Moving closer, I whisper in her ear, “You left me.”

Pulling back, her hands come to rest against my chest, sending warmth and comfort through me. Comfort I’ve needed since the moment I heard she was gone.

“What?”

“You left. Without a goodbye. No warning. I don’t know if I want to put you over my knee or kiss you senseless.” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, I tilt her chin up so I can look into those hazel eyes, eyes that have cracked something deep within me.

“Ty told me you were in Seattle, and I thought maybe you decided to move back. Because of me. Or back to him.”

My face heats at my words and it suddenly feels too warm in here. This bus is too small to hold all the things I want to say comfortably. My lungs too tight to pull in enough air to breathe.

She swallows. “The thought of me leaving…”

I nod. “Leaving me. I didn’t like it.”

“So?”

“I’m here. To bring your ass home.”

“Home?”

“Yeah, home, with me, us. You don’t belong here anymore.”You belong with mefloats through my thoughts, but I’ll unpack what that truly means later. “You’ve outgrown this place.”

She stiffens, slipping through my fingers in the next breath as she pulls away.

“You flew all this way to tell me that? Let me guess, you just decided that while you tagged along on Ty, and probably Eli’s, little mission to see the girls? Are you so bored without me around?”

I shake my head. “There you go again. Fighting me at every turn. That’s fine. You’ll learn. To answer your question, yes, my life would be hopelessly empty without you.”

Laughing, she shakes her head. “I’m not doing this with you.” Standing, she jumps on the stripper pole in the center of the bus to the sound of cheers and whistles from the girls.

“No,” Ty yells. “Absolutely not.”

Everyone roars with laughter as Ty and Eli avert their eyes. “Don’t do this to us, London,” Eli calls out.

“Fine, you babies.” She laughs before the other girls join her. “We have a bit of a drive. Drinks instead?” she says, holding up a chilled bottle of her favorite wine.

After the drinks are poured, she doesn’t return to her seat beside me, instead preferring to sit on the bench seat near the rear of the bus with Zuri and Mia for the rest of the ride.

Twenty lonely minutes later, we pull up outside a brown brick building, but there’s no signage or indicator of where we are.

“We’re here,” she calls. “Nowhere. Our favorite cocktail lounge. It’s dark and sexy, I’m sure you lovebirds will appreciate the vibe.”

Before she can turn, my hand shoots out to grip her waist. “Y’all go ahead. London and I have a few things to discuss,” I tell everyone.

She scowls adorably as we silently watch everyone file off the bus, before turning to each other.

“I want to continue our conversation before we head inside. I meant what I said earlier. Home is Chicago. I’m happy to have fun here with you for a few days as long as that’s what it is, just a few days. Then you’re coming home, with me.”

She crosses her arms, always in defensive mode and fuck, I want to lift that burden off her.

“What are you saying?”

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