Craving You

Tague took her glass and set it on the ledge. Then he pulled her into his arms. “It’s fine, baby. What matters most is that you’re doing exactly what you want to do. That you’re following a dream you pursued before we even met.”

Her brow furrowed. “That sounds rather ominous.”

“It’s not. It’s realistic. What I was thinking earlier, at the hotel…that wasn’t realistic.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

L.L. stared up at him. “And that would be…?”

“That I was going to ask you to go to Japan with

me.”

She gave a soft laugh, full of relief. “Of course, I’d love to go with you. I’ve always wanted to visit Asia. And we could make the trip while Max and Len are ordering their equipment, before everything gets delivered and all hell breaks loose here. Excellent timing.”

His jaw clenched. His heart wrenched. Tague said, “I wasn’t talking about a vacation. I was talking about…you moving to Tokyo. With me.”

She stared up at him, her eyes wide. Tague groaned. Released her. Stepped away.

What a stupid fucking thing to say. To desire.

He’d known the woman a week. And he wanted her to relocate to another continent with him?

Tague combed a hand through his hair as he mentally berated his own idiocy. He turned back to L.L. “I’m sorry. That was out of the blue. Completely selfish. Nonsensical. Not like me at all. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

Yes, you do.

She continued to stare at him, frozen. He wasn’t even sure she breathed.

“Loralai,” he said as he took her hand. “Snap out of it, baby.”

She remained in apparent shock.

“L.L.” He gently shook her. “Sweetheart, I didn’t mean to freak you out. Breathe.”

She sucked in a breath. Then a strangled sound leapt from her throat.

He clasped her shoulders to steady her. “It’s okay. We’ll figure something out.”

“I—You—I—” She gasped. Squeezed her eyes shut. But they flew open a heartbeat later. “You want me to move with you? Live with you? In Tokyo?”

“I know,” he said, striving for a light tone, though his gut burned with the fiery pain of being separated from her.

Telling Tague quite pointedly that he was in love.

And didn’t that just complicate things even more?

He cleared his throat. Tried to clear his lovesick head. “It was a crazy thing for me to say, to think. We only just met. And I’ve been trying to tell you—even last night and earlier this morning—that I’m going back to Japan. I’m establishing a new office there, a new branch of the firm. It’ll be my legacy.”

As long as his father didn’t jack his program. He was still cryptic about his decision.

L.L. asked, “When?” She was still breathless. “When are you leaving?”

“Friday.”

“Friday?” she all but shrieked. “Oh, my God. That’s like… Oh, my God!”

Stepping away from him, L.L. started to pace.

“That’s so soon,” she murmured. She drew up short and whirled around to face him. “I only get another week with you?”