Page 106 of Receiving His Mercy
“Hey. You okay?” he asked, coming back over to cup her chin in his hand.
“Not exactly. It’s like someone dangling everything you ever wanted in front of your face but then yanking it all away because you can’t pay the price.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning both hands against the wall as he dropped his head. She studied him worriedly. Was this it? Was it over before anything really began?
“I had the biggest crush on you as a teenager,” she told him.
His eyes shot open as he studied her.
“It was pretty pathetic and slightly stalkerish,” she admitted. “Sometimes, I’d hide in the bushes around Lacey’s house and watch you in the swimming pool. I was heartbroken when you got into the marines. I actually cried.”
“Baby,” he murmured.
“So you can see how this is my every dream come to life and I . . . I just can’t let myself hope if you can’t handle what I do. And I love what I do. But I could probably do less overseas work, stick closer to home. However, there still might be times I need to go into dangerous situations and if you can’t handle that . . . I guess it’s best we figure this all out now.”
“I am not losing you,” he told her fiercely as he cupped her cheeks between his hands. “So we will work this out.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Really. Not sure if I can handle you going to dangerous areas, though. Even with me along to protect you.”
“You want to come with me?”
“Oh, I will be coming with you,” he told her. “But we also might need to find ways that you can do what you love without risking yourself.”
“I could . . . I could try and do that. I’m finding myself less . . . enthused about going to certain parts of the world.”
Ever since she’d methim.
“But how would you come with me?” she asked. “Aren’t you needed here? To run Raptor Inc and Whip It? Sometimes I go away for weeks at a time. Months. I could cut down the time I’m away, though.”
“We can work all of that out,” he told her. “But from now on, you need to leave New York, I’m in the seat by your side. Got me?”
Relief filled her. This could work. The two of them could actually work. Plus, she was certain that she’d be a lot safer with Travis by her side than River. Although she didn’t like the idea of Travis being at risk. “Got it.”
“My beautiful girl.”
She really wasn’t. But she decided she wasn’t going to tell him. If he thought her beautiful . . . well, who was she to protest?
“Hey, why does that make you cry?” he murmured, brushing away a tear.
“I just feel so happy,” she told him. “Like all of my dreams are being answered. That lonely, abused girl never thought you would touch her like this. Never thought she would be right for anyone. That someone might . . . want her. Choose her.”
“Well, I do want her. I do choose her. And she’s mine.”
26
Those words settled around her and she bit back a sob. She was not going to fall apart. That would be too embarrassing. But she did lean forward and rest her face in the crook of his neck as she wrapped her arms around him.
He picked her up, holding her cradled against him with his hand on her ass.
“Everything will be all right, baby. I promise. I’m going to take care of you. I’ll protect you. We will figure all of this out. The important thing is that we do it together. I won’t ever let you go.”
“Please don’t. Don’t ever let me go.”
“Such a beautiful, special girl. You’ve been through so much, haven’t you? But you’re not alone anymore. You’ll never be alone again.”
Caren wondered if he realized what those words meant to her. She guessed that he probably did.
