Chapter Twenty
TREY
My truck still smells like Vivi's perfume as I head to practice, the memory of this morning's shower fresh in my mind.
The way she looked with water cascading down her body, steam rising around us as I pinned her against the tile.
How she gasped my name when I lifted her, her legs wrapping around my waist …
Focus, Hartley. You've got practice in twenty minutes.
I hit the hands-free button on my steering wheel, calling Kaenan's mom's cell. It rings twice before I hear the chaos in the background.
"Hello?" Mrs. Altman's voice carries over squealing and what sounds like the Indiana Jones ride sound effects.
"Hey, it's Trey. Just checking in on Adeline."
"Oh, hi Trey. Hold on, she's right here. Girls, come say hi to Uncle Trey!"
There's a shuffle, then Adeline's breathless voice: "Uncle Trey. We went on Space Mountain three times. And Berkeley screamed so loud that people three rows back laughed."
"Did not," Berkeley protests in the background.
"Did too."
I can't help smiling at their excitement. "Sounds like you're having fun, squirt."
"So much fun. We met Belle and Ariel and Snow White, and we're going to see the fireworks tonight, and tomorrow we're going to California Adventure, and—"
"Breathe, kiddo."
She giggles. "I miss you though."
"Miss you too. But I'm glad you're having fun."
"Vivi would love it here," she says. "Maybe we can all come together next year."
My chest tightens. There won't be a next year. Not with Vivi. Just under three weeks, she'll be Mrs. Jameson Holiday, living in their mansion, attending charity galas instead of Disney trips. Board room meetings instead of ballet recitals.
"Maybe," I say, because I can't bear to crush her hopes. "Be good for Mrs. Altman, okay?"
"I will. Love you!"
"Love you too, squirt."
The call ends and reality crashes back in. Two and a half more weeks. That's all we get before this ends. And though I wrote all of those things on the dry erase board, I know I’m not in the running. I can’t be, even though I want to be.
I’m not even sure what I can offer her. I made the list up against Jameson but it was all for fun. To make her laugh, and yeah…maybe to make her remember that I’m still here, but I’m not a contender against Jameson, and we both know that.
Even if I were, I can’t let her give up her company for me.
Maybe she won’t resent me today for it, but she’d resent me eventually.
When she realizes that with the accident with John Parker, losing my hearing in my left ear, losing the military, and losing my best friend…
and then my brother and his wife…a part of me is missing. She deserves all of someone.
I couldn’t even bring myself to tell her about John and what happened that night though she wanted to ask. Because I know that telling her means showing her the holes in me that can’t be put back.
No…I have to give her back to the world I took her from that night that I drove her away from her wedding.
I got to keep her for a little bit, but she was only ever on loan, and my terms are up.
Only, I have a little over two weeks with her and tonight, I’m going to ask for it all… even if it means it ends after that.
I need to know I had her…once.
The locker room is already full when I arrive, guys suiting up for practice. Wolf spots me first, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"Well, well, look who finally showed up."
"Shut up," I mutter, heading for my stall.
"Good night?" Hunter asks innocently.
"None of your business."
"Aw, come on." Luca throws a roll of tape at my head. "Share with the class. Did our boy finally seal the deal with the runaway bride?"
I catch the tape without looking. "You want to keep your teeth? Be a little more respectful. She’s more than a runaway bride."
"Touchy." Wolf whistles low. "Must have been good."
"Leave him alone," Aleksi calls from his stall. "Some of us like privacy."
"Oh, like you and Kendall last night?" Hunter shoots back. "Real private. You were on her like a fly on shit. She couldn’t shake you."
Aleksi flips him off, but there's no heat in it. We all saw how happy Kendall was to see him. Whether it was the booze or just loosening her resistance to him, I can’t be sure.
“Maybe our boy has a shot in hell after all,” JP says.
The locker room busts out in laughter.
A text comes in from my friend at Lawson Security Solutions.
Callum Lawson: All set with the security team.
Did a full assessment of the current security system and you’re right.
It’s shit. My guys tested it twice this week with easy accessibility to disarming and break through without detection.
I’ll have a full scope of suggested measures we can implement as soon as you’re ready.
Trey: Thanks man. I appreciate it.
Now I just have to convince Vivi to hire Lawson’s team. Once I show her all the security breaches that Cullum and his team found, she’ll understand why she needs to make the move.
Callum Lawson: I also have everything ready for tonight. I’ll send you the details for when you arrive.
Trey: I owe you big for this.
Nerves spike up at the thought of tonight. Of sharing something with Vivi that I haven’t shared with anyone outside of my unit, but if I want to ask her to share more of her time with me before this is over, I need to share something of mine.
Callum Lawson: Count us even for saving my life ten years ago over there. Looking forward to meeting your Adeline … and your girl.
Trey: She’s not my girl.
And she’ll never be.
Callum Lawson: Yet, you mean. If any woman has a shot with Trey Hartley and doesn’t take it, something is wrong with her.
Trey: Thanks again.
Callum Lawson: You got it, brother.
I grab my phone for one last text as the team starts to file out.
Trey: Are you available to do something with me tonight?
Vivi: Yes. I’d love to. What do you have in mind?
Trey: Are you afraid of heights?
Vivi: Isn’t everyone? But I can manage depending on what it is.
Trey: Dress warm. Meet me at my place at eight. You’ll be safe, I promise.
I stare at the last sentence, then lock the screen. There are promises you shouldn’t make. That’s one of them. I make it anyway because I will do anything in my power to protect her…even if it kills me.
I fold two wool blankets with the same precision I once used to fold maps—corners lined up, edges sharp. There’s comfort in that.
The picnic basket Isla lent me gets stocked like a mission kit: charcuterie, grapes, chocolate truffles I’ll pretend I didn’t buy just because she told me Vivi likes them, and a thermos of hot cocoa made exactly the way I watched her make it in my kitchen—because where we’re headed is windy and can get nasty, especially at night.
I check the flashlight. Then the backup flashlight. The med kit. The flight bag.
And I run the fuel numbers again, because there are two things I never screw up: checklists and the people I take into the air.
The driveway sensor pings, and my pulse does something stupid.
Her white Range Rover turns in, headlights sliding across the front of the house.
When she kills the engine and steps out, it hits me in a way that’s almost physical.
The jacket she’s wearing is mine. Hawkeyes black, my number on the sleeve.
She doesn’t even notice she’s put it on like a claim.
“Oh good,” she says, rounding the Rover and beelining for me. “You’re feeding me. Thank God, I’m starving,” she says, letting out an exasperated breath as if she hasn’t eaten all day, and it’s cute as hell.
I don’t wait for permission. My arm is around her waist, her smile widening a split second before I kiss her.
Her lips are still warm from the heater in the car that she, no doubt, had cranked up, and they taste like watermelon ChapStick making my mouth water for so many reasons.
Her fingers find my hair and tug, and the back of my neck lights up like it remembers every place she’s ever touched.
When I break for air, her eyes are shining. “Well, hello to you too.”
“Hi.” My voice comes out rougher. “I only have one complaint.”
“Already?” She bites back a grin. “Do tell.”
“You can’t wear that jacket and expect me not to forget the plan and carry you upstairs.” My thumb slides against her lower lip. “You’re not playing fair.”
“I wouldn’t protest to the new plan,” she says softly.
I breathe once. The smart thing would be to lose the night in sheets. But the sky is clear. I did not get a helicopter and clear a private landing just to be undone by denim and a smirk on my doorstep. “I’ve got something to show you.” I drop a quick kiss at her temple. “We’ll do both.”
“Both?”
“Trust me.”
“I do,” she says, and that does more damage than the jacket ever could.
I load the basket and blankets into the back.
She slides into the passenger seat like she’s always belonged there, tucking her feet under her, palms open on her thighs like she’s done it a thousand times in my car before.
As if she’s just along for the ride. As if she’d go anywhere I decide to take her with complete trust.
On the console between us, her hand inches toward my forearm until her hand lies on top. I take her cue. If she wants to touch me, then I get to touch her too.
I reach across the console and hook my hand around her inner thigh, so damn close that if I stretched out my pinky, I could run a finger down her jean-clad pussy. But I won’t take it there, because if I do, we’ll never make it to my surprise.
She glances down at where my hand grips around her, my thumb making soothing strokes and then she turns in closer and smiles up at me, her hand still resting on my forearm. And that’s how we stay for the entire drive to Lawson’s—anchored to one another, neither letting go.
“So where are we going?” she asks, already smiling because she thinks she’s clever enough to guess.
“Somewhere with a view.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s on purpose.”