Page 40 of Call Sign: Thunder
"We'll see about that now, won't we."
Chapter Sixteen
ALLIE
Allison couldn’t remember being more excited than she was standing in the crowded arrivals hall at the regional airport. She felt a bit corny holding a handmade sign that said ‘I MISSED YOU’ in big block letters. She’d seen video clips of sappy reunions at airports before, but she’d never dreamed she’d be a participant of one such reunion.
The three weeks they’d spent apart had dragged by so slowly that it had taken all of her willpower to keep from driving down to Zach’s base in North Carolina to surprise him the weekend before. The only consolation was they’d texted and called often enough to keep her insecurities at bay.
The announcement of his flight’s arrival coincided with her first glimpse of Zach riding down the escalator. The sight of him literally stole her breath away. Glancing around, she could see several other women had noticed him too, which made it all the better when he caught sight of her and grinned his sexy smile.
Allie lifted her sign for all to see as Zach rushed off the escalator and pulled her into his arms. It was the kind of hug that had the power to melt away so many of the fears that still haunted her when she closed her eyes at night.
“Let me get a good look at you,” he said, pulling away just enough to look down into her eyes.
“I missed you so much,” she said, her voice quavering with emotion.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t look like you’ve put the ten pounds back on yet,” he teased.
At least she hoped he was teasing.
“Hey, I did gain four pounds. That’s a lot in only three weeks. I don’t need to gain any more weight.”
She felt his hand roam down to cup her ass through her winter coat. “I’ll have to wait to get all these bulky clothes off you before I can answer truthfully.”
His words made the butterflies in her tummy flutter, but then she remembered.
“I need to warn you. My father seems to think we’re going to be sleeping in separate rooms. He asked the housekeeper to prepare the carriage house which is super far away from my bedroom.”
Zach chuckled as he took her by the hand, pulling her toward the luggage carousel as he answered. “Of course he did. You’re his little girl. He thinks of you as his angel.”
“Yeah, well I told him that doesn’t work for me. I need you to back me up.”
Zach pulled his suitcase off the belt before turning toward her. “I don’t want to make waves with your father the second we get to your house. If it’s that important to him…”
“Not you too! I’m not his little girl anymore.”
“No, you aren’t, but you are only twenty-one and I’m thirty. I know he’s not comfortable with our age difference, among other things. Not to mention you’ve been through a traumatic event in the last six months. He’s just being protective. I get that.”
“Are you forgetting that he’s also the one who hid our letters to each other for months? Who lied to both of us?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten, but I’ve tried to forgive him. He was just doing what he thought was best for you, and as someone who cares about you, I can respect that.”
They’d only been together for five minutes and she couldn’t believe they were already having a tension filled disagreement.
“Well maybe you’ve forgiven him, but I haven’t. He still has his babysitters following me around making sure I don’t slip up. It had started to get a bit better, but then the last two days since we got to Colorado they’re back to following me around even inside the house.” Allie nodded in the direction of the burly man standing off to the side, watching over her every move before adding. “Sometimes it feels like I’m in a prison.”
She’d been anxious for Zach’s arrival, not just because she’d missed him, but she had counted on him helping to convince her father that she was ready to go back to having more independence again. It never occurred to her that he might agree with her father.
Zach nodded an acknowledgement in the direction of her guard before looking back into her eyes. He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead took her by the hand and started pulling her toward the exit. “You didn’t drive here, did you?” he asked.
“Are you kidding me? I just told you… I can’t go anywhere without babysitters.”
“Good,” he said, seeming distracted as he continued to glance around as they approached the exit.
As expected, her father’s limo and driver were waiting for them just outside, along with her other bodyguard. Zach walked her to the open back door and helped her inside before telling her, “I’ll be right back. I need to grab something from my suitcase.”
He didn’t take long before sliding into the back seat next to her just before being joined by her two babysitters sitting on the bench across from them.
