Chapter Sixteen
Life intruded early the next morning while they were having breakfast. His phone rang.
Darryn got up from the table and motioned toward his phone. “It’s Don. I’d better take it.”
“Of course.” Hannah got up and started clearing away their dishes.
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, his gaze stuck on her long, bare legs. She was wearing one of his old T-shirts and looked much better in it than he ever had.
“I know, but I want to.” She smiled, and he turned away to answer his phone.
“Yes?” he barked. He wasn’t really interested in what his brother had to say.
“Sorry to intrude, but we have hotels to run,” Don said, clearly amused. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, and I know we’re running hotels. I’ll be in later—”
“Make that earlier rather than later; we can’t postpone this meeting again,” Don said.
Darryn sighed and moved his shoulder slightly. It was still sore, but at least he was able to move it now. He’d known since yesterday that life would have to return to normal at some point, but he’d hoped for a couple more days alone with Hannah.
“Right, see you later,” he said.
“Are you sure you’re feeling up to going into the office?” Hannah asked.
He walked over to her and put his arms around her. “What do you think?” he asked, kissing her neck.
She turned in his arms with a smile. Damn, she was beautiful. She literally took away his breath each time she was this close.
“I know,” she said and gave him a hug. “You have to go, and I have to fly to New York early tomorrow morning, but—”
Stunned, Darryn stared at her. “What?”
She cocked her head. “You know what I do, right? You know the schedule, more or less. It hasn’t changed. I travel. I’m seldom here. This is what I do.”
Thousands of different thoughts raced through his head. Damnit, he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
He hadn’t figured out exactly how this would work. “But…but we are…together now, aren’t we?” he asked, realizing he didn’t quite know how to define their relationship.
She smiled and folded her arms around his neck. “I love you, and yes we are together, if that’s what you want to call it, but you have work, I have work.” She kissed him softly. “We’ll figure it out as we go along; don’t fret about it.”
He kissed her forehead. “I love you too,” he said slowly.
“But I don’t know how to let you go. I’ve been angry with you for two years, I’ve worried about you for two years, I’ve loved you for two years, and now we’re finally…
” He motioned with his hand between them, still not sure what to call what they had.
“Together?”
He kissed her hard. “We’re much more than that and you know it.” He looked at his watch. “What time is your flight?”
“Early, but don’t worry. I’ll take a taxi—”
“What time?”
“Quarter to six.”
He winced and she giggled. “Told you! Really, Darryn, I’ve been doing this for—”
He kissed her. “You’ll be sleeping here. I’ll take you,” he said between kisses. Damn, he couldn’t get enough of her.
“Didn’t you say you had to go to the office?” Hannah asked.
He lifted her up on the kitchen counter. “Yeah, I’ll be late,” he whispered, moving his hands up her legs so he could spread them.
“I’m not wearing…”
His hands stilled because he’d discovered it himself. “Panties.” He gasped, as need heated his blood in milliseconds. “Damn, woman, you’ll be the death of me yet,” he groaned and lowered his head.
*
Darryn had a firm grip on her elbow as they walked toward the airport building.
Hannah felt like crying and she knew exactly why.
She didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to leave Darryn.
But it was ridiculous to feel like this.
She loved her job. She loved the traveling.
Just because she had a boyfriend now didn’t mean she should stop living her life.
“You really could have dropped me off. Now you’re wasting time.”
He swung her around so that they faced one another. “No time spent with you is wasted. This way, I get to be with you for a little bit longer.” He sounded angry.
“Darryn, you can’t be angry every time I leave.”
He started walking again, his arm around her. “I know.”
She glanced at him, but his face was closed, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. He stood next to her while she checked in her luggage and kept his arm around her until she had to go through to the departure hall.
At the security gates, he pulled her to the side so the passengers behind them could pass.
“Enjoy,” he said and brushed her hair over her shoulder.
“I’ll miss you,” she said and tried a smile while swallowing desperately against the lump in her throat. If she started crying now, she wasn’t going to stop.
Darryn pulled her close for a kiss. His lips lingered, his breathing became ragged, and just when she was on the brink of forgetting where they were, he dropped his hands.
“So, I’ll see you?”
Hannah touched his face. “In about three weeks. I should be able to come back before the Paris fall and winter show. But then I’m not sure. There are various shoots, and in September there is…”
“Fashion week in almost every country, I remember,” Darryn said and kissed her forehead. “Call me when you land?” he asked. “And please stay safe?”
She nodded, incapable of speech. With a last wave, she turned her back on him and proceeded through the security check.
Once she had her bag and laptop back in her hands, she looked over her shoulder. Darryn was still standing in the same spot, hands in his pockets, staring at her.
Her heart just about jumped out her breast and she sighed.
Pasting on another smile, she waved cheerily before she turned back to follow the other passengers.
Her heart was breaking—everything inside her was urging her to turn back, to forget about New York, to forget about her appointments, and to go and be with Darryn.
She sniffled. Damn it, she was being silly, of course she couldn’t just drop everything because she now had a boyfriend! They were together—whatever that meant. How long this togetherness lasted was anybody’s guess; she had never done this before.
Her phone rang as she sat down to wait for her boarding time. Her heart did a silly dance, but it was her mom, not Darryn, who called.
“At the airport?” her mom asked after she answered.
“Yes, Darryn just dropped me off.”
“Oh, isn’t that sweet of him!” Her mother gushed. “Now that’s the kind of thing the hero in my story will do!”
Hannah sighed. “This is real life, Mom, not a story.”
“It’s your story, my dear child. And don’t you forget it. It’s the decisions you make that write your story.”
Hannah was silent for a moment, blinking back silly tears. “I’m not the only one involved in my story, Mom,” she said softly.
“But Darryn loves you, didn’t he tell you that?”
“Yes, he does now, but what about next week or next month or…”
“Oh, my sweet child, the man is head over heels with you. He has been for two years. Why would it change now?”
“Because now I’ve told him I love him. He may decide I’m not who he thought I was after all. Remember, although I’ve known him for two years, we haven’t spent much time together.”
“Do you think your feelings for him will change?” her mother asked.
“Of course not, but—”
“So why assume his will?”
Hannah rolled her eyes. There was no talking to her romance-besotted mother. “Oh, Mom, you of all people know what men are like. My own dad didn’t even stick around. Besides, Darryn is a Cavallo. He could have any woman he wants.”
Her mother sighed. “I’ll tell you what I’ve told your sisters as well. Yes, your dad left us when you were little. But his leaving wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own. And sweetheart, not all men leave. From what I’ve seen, the Cavallos are fiercely loyal and loving husbands.”
“Well, that’s another thing. Three of them are married to two of my sisters—I’ve never heard of anything so…so bizarre! Brothers involved with sisters, what are the odds?”
Her mother laughed out loud. “Love happens, Hannah, in strange and delightful ways. It’s not something you can order according to certain rules. If it happens, it happens and, sweetheart, it’s a rare thing for two souls to meet. Don’t turn your back on your chance, promise me?”
Around her, people were walking toward the exit.
Hannah sighed. “I promise. Mom, I have to board. I’ll let you know when I land in New York.”
“Think about what I’ve said!”
Hannah put her phone away and fell into the queue. When she had seen Darryn for the first time, love happened. She didn’t decide, she didn’t choose, it simply…happened.
Clutching her bag, she walked toward the big plane that would carry her over an ocean, over a continent—far away from Darryn.
Another tear threatened to spill over, and she sniffled angrily. Damn it, she had work to do. Work that she loved. This was her life!
Besides, modeling helped her to achieve her big dream to help children who couldn’t help themselves.
Being able to help start a fund for war orphans had been something she had wanted to do for a long time, and through her modeling she now had the money and the connections to make life a little bit easier for the kids left in the wake of the devastation of war.
Squaring her shoulders, she lengthened her stride. She’d be back in three weeks. Maybe Darryn would be waiting for her at the airport, maybe he wouldn’t. But she was not going to hold her breath.
Somewhere over the Atlantic, she opened her tablet.
Caitlin, Zoe, and Dana had made boards on Pinterest after they got married.
Why she wanted to torture herself to look at these now, she had no idea.
But a few minutes later, she had created her own board and was looking through all things wedding-related without understanding why.