Propositioning Love

Does he not trust me?

“It’s not exactly spying if you know about it, is it?” he asks with a little smirk.

I shake my head and roll my eyes at him.

Then I point out, “That’s a little creepy.”

Just a little…

His smirk fades away and he sighs. “I’ll only be watching for my peace of mind. I need to know you’re safe and protected.”

Catching my look of disbelief, he walks over to me and gently grips my upper arms in both hands. “I don’t want to leave you, Zoe. Fuck, I don’t. I’d take you with me if I could.”

Then don’t go, I want to say but bite the words back. I can’t ask him to choose between me and work, I just can’t. As much as I want to, I can’t do that to him.

“Did you install a camera in the bathroom too?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

He rubs his hands up and down my arms thoughtfully then his eyes light up with a grin. “Only if you find it…”

At my gasp, he laughs. “I’m only kidding, Zoe.”

Uh-huh, sure he is. The first thing I’m going to do once he’s gone is search the bathroom.

Fuck, once he’s gone…

As if he’s thinking the same thing, his hands suddenly squeeze around me and he pulls me into his chest. “Fuck, I’m going to miss you.”

Uncrossing my arms, I wrap them around him and squeeze him back.

Burying his face in my hair, I hear him suck in a deep breath then release it. “I have to go, baby.”

I squeeze him all the harder, so hard he grunts in my hair, then I do the one thing I don’t want to do.

I let go of him.

Twenty

Bryce

Stepping onto the corporate jet, I feel my skin crawl with annoyance. I don’t like the way this opulence feels right now. The gentle colors of the plane are supposed to be a calming balm for the passengers, it’s to help us feel safe and secure. Fuck that. Right now, I feel anything but secure.

Zoe’s not here with me. Not here by my side, where she belongs.

Taking the elevator back down to my car, driving to the airport, and walking up these stupid stairs has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I don’t like leaving Zoe behind, not one fucking bit.

Dropping my bag in the large seat next to mine, I feel like growling out loud like some feral hound from hell. I want this trip over with, right the fuck now. I feel like a petulant child not getting my way and for once I couldn’t give two shits.

The door to the plane is quickly secured by the flight attendant, and the sound of the turbine engines winding up grates even further on my nerves. Everything in my body is telling me to get off this stupid machine, march down the stairs, and race back to Zoe.

The plane pushes me back into my seat as we lift off into the sky. Pulling out my laptop, I open up the program that connects me to the security system I had installed. I click through the screens to get to the cameras I have placed throughout the apartment.

At first, I don’t see Zoe and I can feel my heart beating heavily in my chest. Then I spot her in the bedroom, standing on a chair, looking directly into the camera I have placed in the corner of the room. Switching to that camera, I see her mesmerizing eyes staring intently into the lens.

She’s so damn beautiful, it feels like a weight is pressing down on my chest just staring at her.

Taking out my phone. I tap out a quick message to her.

Me: Everything okay?

It takes a moment, then I see her jump down from the chair. The pinging from her phone must have startled her because she looks about her for a moment with alarm. When she finally looks at her phone though, a little smile appears on her gorgeous lips. Tapping back to me, she twirls in a circle and then sits on the bed.

Zoe: Yes, are you in the air yet?

Me: We just took off.

Zoe: Did you really have to put the cameras everywhere?

Me: It’s for your safety and my peace of mind.

These are not the words I want to be speaking to her right now. I want to be telling her how much I need her right now. How much I crave to have the air she breathes near me. The taste of her lips against my own.

Zoe: Seriously, did you hide one in the bathroom?

Me: Only if you find it.

I watch on the silent screen as she makes what is most likely a growl of exasperation. Then she looks down at the phone, typing and deleting, typing and deleting, until she sends me another message.