Gavin pulled out of the garage. As he crawled through traffic, he couldn’t help but flick his gaze down to his cell. He reread Emily’s text over and over. Emotions flying high, Gavin was aware he had to walk into the café holding some semblance of normalcy. He just wasn’t sure he’d be able to. Thirty minutes later, he was about to be put to the test.
After finding a parking spot, Gavin stepped from his car, slid his hands through his hair, and made his way in. He hadn’t taken but three steps into the café when he spotted Emily. His breath faltered as it always did when he saw her sitting at a table and reading a book. It was then Gavin knew he was bound to her. He knew there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t give up for her. Hell, as long as he was inhaling the air around her, every day would feel complete. Today, he knew he would give up his freedom for her. His life. She was in his bloodstream, and he didn’t care if he spent the next twenty years behind bars, shackled in chains for what he’d done to Dillon. Gavin only hoped he could remove the shackles around her heart Dillon left behind, because no amount of kicking Dillon’s ass could rid her of the scars she had from him. Gavin knew he’d always wipe away her tears, but he desperately wanted to be able to wipe away her painful past.
As if she had sensed him, Emily lifted her head, a beautiful smile crossing her face when her eyes met his. Clichéd or not, her smile lit up the room like a ball of fire in a darkened sky. Clichés were created for her. End of story. Again, Gavin felt as though the breath had been sucked right out of his lungs. He watched as her smile fell away, her face becoming troubled as she stood. Damn it. Gavin shot a glance down at his clothing. Stuck in his head on the way over, he’d forgotten to fix himself. He knew he looked like a disheveled mess. He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket, and his shirt was untucked. Forget about his missing tie or the tiny specks of blood dotting the front of his crisp white button-down.
As Gavin moved toward her, raw power flowing from his body, Emily swallowed back the sick feeling seeping into her stomach. Meeting him in the middle of the crowded café, inches apart from one another, the voices surrounding her faded and figures blurred. His face blinded her to everything else. His breath was all she could hear. Though he wore a mask of cool passivity, his blue eyes said more than they should. They spoke volumes, inspiring an ache within Emily’s heart. She knew what he’d done. She didn’t need to ask.
Emily dropped her gaze from his swollen lip dappled with blood and stared at his shirt. Lifting her eyes, she met his steady gaze, and she could tell he was waiting for something from her. An approval possibly, words that would let him know she was okay with what’d happened. Not knowing how to begin, she simply looped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers.
Gavin pulled her into him, his hands gripping her waist and molding her body against his. “I had to do it, Emily,” Gavin breathed, kissing her softly. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didn’t.”
Threading her fingers through his hair, Emily choked back a threatening sob. “I know you wouldn’t have, and I’m sorry I expected you not to.”
Gavin went to speak, but Emily kissed him harder, guilt flowing through her body. As her senses spiraled into his touch, Gavin’s blood rolled around on her tongue, the taste deliciously intoxicating because she knew why it was there. She knew he’d been wounded defending her. The one thing she thought she knew was all wrong. For a brief moment, she was sure Gavin couldn’t do anything to make her love him more than she already did. This proved to be false as she stood in the middle of a packed Manhattan café, kissing the man that’d forever changed her world. Her life. The man she loved a million times more than a few minutes earlier. Blind to further evil and deaf to the sound of ever crying again, Emily sank, crashed, and fell deeper in love with Gavin than she thought was humanly possible.
“I’m pretty sure if you squeeze my hand any tighter, I’m going to lose circulation.” Gavin looked at Emily’s sweating hand intertwined with his as if she were on a roller coaster ride and holding on for dear life. He knew she was afraid of flying, but shit, considering she was half his size, he couldn’t believe the grip on her. “What good would I be to you if I lost a hand? I’m extremely talented, but only having one to work with might prove difficult during foreplay.”
Emily swallowed, trying to focus on Gavin’s dimpled smile. “Right. One hand’s no good.” She drew in a cleansing breath, slightly loosened her hold, and squeezed her eyes closed. “How much longer until we’re on the ground?”
Lifting his right hand, which happened to be the one she wasn’t trying to demolish, he stroked his knuckles along her jaw. “Ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes,” she repeated, her voice shaky. “Okay. Ten minutes. I can do this.”
Gavin chuckled. “I have absolute faith you can. But really, I offered to keep you busy in the cabin, and you declined. You know I would’ve been good for a four hour flight and then some.”