He cups the side of my face and tilts my head up until my eyes meet his. “I truly love you. More than I think you will ever know.”
“Blake—”
His lips crush mine and before I know it, I’m underneath him on the couch, his hands roaming over my skin while his lips push me further toward ecstasy.
With everything looming over us forgotten, I happily prepare to spend the rest of my day being lost in this man.
†††
4 days left.
The last three days have been an unreal normal around here. Blake and I have made love at least twice a day, which suits me just fine. As I dry my hair in front of the bathroom mirror, I stare at his reflection. He woke me at three o’clock this morning and after an hour of being worn out by him; I could only fall asleep for another two hours.
The sun still isn’t up, but he’s snoring softly, and I can’t bring myself to wake him yet. Instead, I’m going to make coffee and tackle something that could either make or break my deception. I’m running out of time to set everything up before this mission is here.
I dress in jeans and a t-shirt. It’s far too early to put on any type of uniform, and since finding out about the mission that may or may not involve Jax, it’s been eerily quiet from the Taurus. It’s the type of silence where I know something is coming, I just can’t pinpoint what.
Making my way to the kitchen, I’m surprised at my good fortune as I take in Teresa busying herself with the coffee maker. She’s exactly who I need to speak to this morning. Quietly, I slide onto one of the barstools around the kitchen island, my hands resting on the countertop.
“Good morning, Miss Lily,” she says quietly without turning around.
I can’t help but chuckle and hang my head a little. She’s been able to tell my presence for a while now, yet I still try to sneak around her without any form of success.
“Morning, Teresa,” I say as she turns and sets a cup of hot coffee in front of me. “Thank you.”
“Something tells me you need to talk to me.” She sets her own coffee on the table and slides one of the stools around so we’re facing each other across the counter. “Everyone has been trying to figure out what you’re up to lately. I knew if it was anything dangerous, I’d probably be hearing from you.”
“Teresa.” I sigh, unable to even understand how this woman is so damn observant. “Can I trust you? Like I did before?”
She cringes and stares at her coffee cup. “Lily, you ask too much of this old woman. I’ve come to love you, just as much as I’ve always loved Mr. Mason. You’re both like my own children. When will you stop being this way and trust him? Trust your team?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Bullshit. It’s never as complicated as we make it.”
I sip my coffee for a moment, unsure if this is really the right thing to do. Sadly, Sammi and I can’t pull this off on our own. We need Teresa to help us, or this entire plan will fall apart.
“Dresden and I were sent a mission. I’m almost positive it involves Jax. I can’t take Dresden when he has a pregnant girlfriend. He needs to be here for her, and for their child.”
Teresa lets out a long, slow breath. “Can you not have Mr. Arcos go in his place? Someone to help you, so you aren’t doing this alone. Whenever you go off on your own, it never ends well.”
She ain’t wrong there.
“Teresa, please. I know how hard of what I’m asking you. But I can’t do this without you. I need you to trust me. To trust that I know what I’m doing and that I swear, I’m doing this with the best of intentions.”
Her shoulders slump and I have to fight to keep the smile off my face. While the signs of defeat shouldn’t make me happy, it’s her way of showing she’ll help me, even if she doesn’t agree with me.
“What do I have to do?” She keeps her eyes on her hands wrapped around her coffee mug.
Quickly, I glance over my shoulders to make sure no one is approaching. “Four days from now, we’re going to have a big family dinner at 8:00 p.m. You’re going to hand out champagne to everyone except Shannon and Sammi. They’ll get sparkling cider. Sammi will handle Shannon. You’re going to spike the champagne with a sedative. It won’t hurt anyone, but it will knock them out for an hour or two. Long enough for the helicopter to pick me up.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Where are you going, baby?”
We both jump at the deep voice, and my jaw slacks as I turn to Blake walking down the stairs, rubbing his eyes, his sweatpants hanging low on his hips, sans shirt.
“I was just planning to do some training outside today. Teresa was going to work on getting things in order for a food delivery. We’re running low.”