Briggs (Carolina Reapers 7)

I glanced at my watch. “Car will be here in twenty minutes.”

“It’s never long enough,” she whispered, her grip tightening in my hair.

I knew exactly what she meant, and I felt it, too—the rending sensation in my chest at the thought of leaving her again, but I refused to lose our last twenty minutes to lamenting something we couldn’t change.

“I can do a lot with twenty minutes,” I murmured against the shell of her ear.

Then I made every minute count.

14

Bristol

“Look at that view,” I said, padding barefoot through the massive cabin and toward the deck. I stepped outside, breathing in the fresh air while being completely captivated by the mountains that took up the skyline, which was a soft purple from the setting sun.

“The view isn’t bad,” Cormac said, coming up behind me. He slipped his arms around my waist, tucking his chin over my shoulder. “But did you see the clawfoot tub in the master bedroom?”

Heat raced to my cheeks, and I bit back a smile. “You think it’s big enough?” I asked, spinning in his embrace to lock my arms around his neck.

He pressed his forehead against mine, a wicked smirk shaping his lips. “I’m bound to find out,” he said.

I couldn’t contain my smile anymore—not here, with him. Sure, we had our disagreements on long-distance relationships and how successful they could or couldn’t be…but he loved me. And I was totally, madly in love with him. Wasn’t that enough?

I forced down any doubts threatening to steal today’s happiness. Thanks to the Reapers winning game six of conference finals, we’d made it to the cabin GQ had selected for the shoot—a rustic mansion that sat on nearly forty-acres with plenty of wild locations to shoot Cormac in my designs. The other athletes were scheduled for the days following. And I knew there was a good chance the Reapers would win their next game and we wouldn’t see each other again for weeks after tomorrow.

We had to make tonight count—which I was beginning to think should be our official motto. Maybe I could get it embroidered on something.

Cormac shifted us again so we could look over the deck. Lush green grass rolled toward the mountains, a peppering of trees both hunter green and sunrise yellow stretched across the land. Stunning, though I’d expected no less from GQ.

“They’re going to take pictures out there as well as inside?” Cormac asked, motioning to the wooded area below us where the team was setting up for the shoot.

“Yes,” I said. “They want to have the contrast between high fashion and raw, untouched locations in nature.” I glanced up at him. “Why?”

He shrugged, scanning the trees. “I’m just wondering how the wildlife will feel about me posing in a suit on their territory.”

I laughed. “Cormac Briggs,” I said, reaching up on my tiptoes to lightly brush my l lips over his jaw. “Are you scared?”

“Hell no,” he growled. “But I’m not one to play dumb when it comes to being in the wild.” He nodded toward the woods. “The minute you don’t respect something for the power it has is the minute it’ll turn on you.”

I swallowed hard, unable to not hear the double meaning in his words. Sure, he was talking about the wildlife that could be a little more than pissed when GQ’s crew and the pair of us went traipsing through their home, but there was also something else there churning behind his eyes. Something that made my chest tight—love was the most powerful thing I’d ever felt, and yes, if treated poorly it could destroy someone. But surely he didn’t really believe that about us. Right? We were different. The way he made me feel—strong and confident while still vulnerable enough to be taken care of—it was everything.

“We’ll be sure to keep our eyes sharp then,” I said, my voice a little heavy.

Cormac smoothed some of my hair back. “You’re sure we’ll wrap this up today with plenty of time for me to be on the road by nine tonight?”

I nodded, hoping like hell they wouldn’t let me down. I’d expressed the time crunch to them with severity at least a dozen times. There wasn’t much more I could do beyond that.

“And they understand that if they go over a second longer that, I’ll have to bail.”

“Yes,” I said, sighing. “I emailed them four times with the schedule, and I’ve spoken to each staff member and the CFO. Plus, they’re not going to want to shoot that long, I promise.”

He turned me to face him, a sly grin on his face. He pushed some of my hair back. “Sounds like you’ve taken care of everything.”

“I’ve tried to,” I said. “I’ll get you to your game on time tomorrow, Cormac. If I have to charter a helicopter, I will.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “Charter a helicopter,” he mimicked me. “Such a powerful woman I’ve ensnared.”