He tucked himself in next to her. “Get some sleep. We’ll do something about that hunger later.”
Chloe scooted down on the bed, rolled onto her side, and settled in his arms. “Trent, what’s going to happen?”
“Don’t know. That’s part of the fun. With any luck, Talib and the Jawharan security forces will intercept whoever is on that plane. If they’re smart, they’ll give up their backers and give Kam a hard target to go after.”
She yawned again. “What about when we go back home?”
He kissed her foreh
ead. “Surfing. We’ll carpool to work and you can take me to visit your dad.” He leaned over her. “Anything else bothering you?”
“Oh, just life in general. I feel like I’m on a runaway train and I can’t get off. I guess I’m just scared.”
“Were you scared when you set out for California?”
“Oh, you bet. Like a jack rabbit caught in headlights.”
“What was your back-up plan?”
Chloe turned in his arms. “I didn’t have one. I never have one. I didn’t even know what that was until I met you.”
“Okay, on the job lesson one. You always have a back-up plan. Always. Working for Slade is going to be awesome, but if you hate it, we’ll find something else. We do have horses, you know, in the San Diego area.”
“We? Things have moved quickly between us, but..I’m not sure I want a back-up plan for that.” Chloe looked at him. “I want this to work—I want us to work, Trent.”
He kissed her, long and deep, and he asked, “What other dreams are in that pretty head of yours? White picket fences, two kids and a dog? Oh, and a couple of horses and twenty acres?”
“Too small a spread. You need a couple hundred at least. A few sections is better. Cows. Maybe raise buffalo. I’ve always wanted to raise buffalo.”
Trent laughed. “My buffalo gal. The dog sounds fun. But we need a beach. I get cranky when I’m away from water for too long.”
She cupped his face with her hand. “Why haven’t you gone looking for that before now?”
“Never found anyone I thought would work with me. That’s not something I’d lie about. The work’s tough, it takes a lot of focus. But I could see…a beach house for us. A little girl with bright red hair chasing a dog down the beach. Maybe a little boy building a sandcastle.”
“Sounds like a fairytale,” she told him and heard the sleep thick in her voice.
He kissed her forehead. “Yeah, it does. But not for us. For us, we’re going to make this happen. I’m going to keep you safe…forever.”
She pulled open her eyes. He sounded so serious about that. “Forever, Trent? Not just a week or a month or a year? That’s a long time to talk about.”
“I heard you when you said what you’d do if I liked. I’ve been trying to figure this out and I keep coming back to the same thing. Marry me, Chloe. I want to make promises to you that do last forever—promises I’ll keep with you and for you. When we get home, I want to ask your dad’s permission to marry you. I want him to walk you down the aisle—and damn; if anything will get a man on his feet, that will. I want to make love to you at night and in the mornings and on lazy afternoons. I want to work with you…and I damn well want to teach you how to surf.”
She winkled her nose. “Can we negotiate on that last one?”
He grinned. “Sure. How about I promise to get on a horse if you get back on a surf board?”
She snuggled into him. “That’s something I’ve always wanted—to get married on horseback.”
He groaned. “What if we settle for getting married on both feet—no surf board and no horses? We’ll save them for the honeymoon.”
She smiled, and settled into his arms. She knew it was going to be all right between them. She knew it because she heard the love and assurance in his voice. She knew it because she could feel it in her bones—in her heart. She could trust Trent with her love—and she was trusting her instincts on that one.
Besides, any guy who could fly a girl to a date in a private jet had to be a little bit okay. She smiled and started to dream of her wedding day. Oh, her dad was going to love Trent—and he was going to spoil his grandchildren something fierce.
END OF BOOK THREE