I dipped my head and focused on folding a sundress so Christian didn’t see the panic in my eyes.
I should’ve known that wouldn’t fool him.
“Nervous?” he asked, eerily astute as usual.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “A little.” A lot.
Could Delamonte fire me for incompetence in the middle of the campaign? I have to talk to Brady and go over the contract again. Maybe they’ll think they made a mistake and hire Raya instead or—
“Don’t be. You’ll do great.”
“You have too much confidence in me.”
“You have too little.” His voice was closer this time, a velvet touch against the bare skin of my neck and shoulders.
I turned, my pulse skipping a beat at his proximity.
I’ve never wanted someone more, and I’ve never hated myself more for it.
The memory of his words sparked like electricity between us. His eyes flared with something bright and hot before they dimmed again, and my heart returned to its normal rhythm.
“We leave tomorrow morning at eight.” Christian nodded at my luggage. “I’ll hire a sherpa for you.”
“You’re exaggerating. I’m not taking that much stuff.”
Two large suitcases, one duffel bag, and one tote seemed perfectly reasonable for three days in Hawaii.
“We’ll agree to disagree. On a security-related note…” Christian’s dry amusement faded into something more serious. “The Hawaii shoot isn’t a secret, but I still want you to hold off on posting you’re there until we’re back in D.C.”
My stomach swooped for a whole other reason.
Between Christian’s confession, my family dinner, and preparing for the shoot, I’d pushed worries about my stalker to the back of my mind. Now they came roaring back in one giant wave.
“Do we have any leads yet?”
I hadn’t asked him for regular updates. The more I focused on it, the more anxious I got, but I couldn’t resist this time around.
“Nothing concrete, but we’re getting there. He might not follow you to Hawaii, but it’s better safe than sorry.”
“Right.” I rubbed a thumb over my crystal necklace. “Right.”
Christian’s face softened. “Everything will work out, with the shoot and the stalker. Trust me.”
That was the scary part. I did.
“Get some rest. We have a long flight tomorrow,” he said. “And Stella? Leave the unicorn.”
“I wasn’t planning on taking him,” I grumbled at Christian’s departing back.
After he left, I set Mr. Unicorn back on his perch near my bed. “We’ll visit Hawaii together another time,” I told him regretfully.
He was my trusty companion whenever I traveled solo, but since Christian was joining me, I didn’t need to bring him. I just liked having a bit of familiarity when I visited new places.
I finished packing.
My emotions swung from excitement to dread to nervousness and back again, but I felt better knowing Christian would be with me.
The butterflies in my stomach fluttered again at the thought of three days in paradise with him.
It was a work trip, but still.
I had a strange sense whatever happened in Hawaii would change my life.