Lib Novel Page 42
She said nothing else. The silence stretched, and he knew she was trying to come up with some way of convincing him to change his mind.
“Either way, I want you here.”
“Sean, please, let me stay here.”
He heard the desperation in her voice, knew what it was about, and felt like even more of a bastard because he had to ignore it. She was not good with change for several reasons, but he couldn’t do anything to alter the situation at the moment. He couldn’t work worrying about her. And, it would be better if she were close by at this point. If they both had to bug out, it would be easier to hop on a plane together.
“No. You have to come here. Del can put you in a safe house, or I have a good friend you can stay with.”
“Sean.”
“I can promise you that Ali will make sure you are safe. She was former MI-6. We need to go over everything. We’re missing something. I don’t want you getting snatched up again. I don’t know how long it would take me to find you.”
She sighed. “Okay.”
She handed the phone back to Del. “We’ll be leaving here within the hour.”
“Thanks again.” In the last week Del had done more for him than most people had done in his lifetime. Well, except Randy and Jaime.
“So, you’re related?”
“Long story.”
“I expect to hear it some time.”
“I promise.”
Del clicked off the phone without saying goodbye…again. Sean chuckled as he turned his off.
“So, what was that about?” Jaime asked.
He glanced over his shoulder to look at her. His heart caught in his throat. Damn, the woman was breathtaking. And not just when she was made up. In fact, he liked her like this. She’d left the makeup off today and had thrown on an old Waikiki t-shirt and a raggedy pair of cut off jeans. She just glowed with happiness, even as she was frowning at him.
“I had to have Del help with something.”
She leaned against the doorjamb and crossed her arms. “And that would be?”
He sighed. “I’ll explain, but not right now. Del’s going to deliver something, and I just can’t concentrate until everything is settled.”
She didn’t look happy about it, but she nodded. He sensed that she was shifting away from him, if not physically, then emotionally. He wanted to let her go. It was easier, but after the last few days…he couldn’t do that.
“Hey,” he said walking to her. He slipped his hands around her waist. “I promise to explain everything. Just a few more hours, and I’ll tell both you and Randy everything.”
“Is that a promise?” Randy said.
“Damn SEAL,” Jaime said, humor threading her voice. “Doesn’t the way he sneaks up like that irritate you?”
He smiled. “Yeah, it does.”
“Well?” Randy asked. He wasn’t smiling, and Sean knew he was serious.
He walked to Randy and cupped his face. “It’s a promise. No more secrets.”
Sean brushed his mouth over Randy’s, then looked at Jaime. “I need to do some work.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard that one before.”
“No, truly. This is regular threat assessment I am doing for Dillon and Associates. I’ve been doing side jobs for them for awhile, as long as it doesn’t require me to travel.”