Jessica climbed aboard the private jet and slumped onto the buttery-soft leather seat. The steward helped her settle in by stowing her briefcase and purse in a compartment, and instructed her to buckle up once the pilot was ready to be underway.
She spent the flight staring at her tablet, trying to review her list of goals for the week and determine how to spend the rest of the day once she got back to the office, but her head ached with the effort. She knew that if she put it aside, however, thoughts of Dane and his rejection would overwhelm her.
“Would you like something to drink?” the friendly young steward asked.
She returned his warm smile. “It’s tempting, but I have to go into the office when we land.”
“That doesn’t stop most of our passengers.” His smile broadened.
“But most of them are executives.”
“True, I guess they don’t have to worry about their boss getting on their case.”
She frowned at the reminder of her boss and how he’d rejected her.
“You know, a glass of wine won’t hurt, and it might help that headache.”
“How did you know?” She gazed at the young man and realized he was quite attractive. And he was flirting with her.
He shrugged. “You seem stressed and you were rubbing your temples.”
“Well, maybe I’ll just go directly after the problem and take a pain killer if you have one.”
“Of course.” He disappeared for a moment, then returned with two caplets in a small cup along with a glass of water.
She took the pills and spent the next hour chatting with him. Her headache diminished and his conversation helped the time speed by. When they finally landed, she said good-bye with a smile and headed across the tarmac to the terminal. Once inside, she glanced around, wondering where to find her ride.
“Welcome back.”
She started at the sound of Storm’s voice behind her. She turned to see his smiling face. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to seeing him in a tailored suit rather than the tattered jeans and tank tops she was used to.
He took her briefcase and then pressed his hand to the small of her back. She had to remind herself this was not the Storm she knew. This was Rafe Ranier.
“This way.” He guided her through the crowded airport terminal and then outside to the waiting limo.
“You’re who Dane sent to pick me up?”
His eyebrow arched. Damn, she’d used his brother’s first name again. What was wrong with her?
She settled into the cozy seat and Rafe settled in beside her. The limo moved into the airport traffic.
“Have a good flight?” Rafe asked.
“Fine.” She glanced out the window, gazing at the sunlight glinting on the cars traveling beside them, her thumb gliding over the worry stone in her pocket.
She knew he would take this opportunity to open up their past and discuss why he’d left—he’d already tried to before she’d left for Chicago—but she wished he wouldn’t do it right now.
“I’d like to talk to you about something important,” he said.
“Please, not now,” she said continuing to stare out the window. But the quaver in her voice betrayed her.
“Jess, what’s wrong?”
His gentle hand on her shoulder was her undoing. Tears welled in her eyes and she tried to blink them back, but didn’t quite succeed.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie. I know I let you down when I left—”
She waved him away. “It’s not that. It’s…”
He cupped her chin and turned her to face him. When he saw the two small tears that had escaped down her cheek, his face etched with concern.
“Did Dane do something? Did he make a pass at you?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s just been a really exhausting trip, that’s all. Just really exhausting.”
Her throat closed up and she couldn’t manage anything more. And she didn’t know what she’d say if she could. What had Dane done, anyway? Reminded her what their relationship actually was. She was his employee and they shared a purely physical relationship. Exactly what she’d told him she wanted.
But now … what did she want?
“Come here.” Rafe folded her into his arms and held her.
She rested her head against his broad chest and let the comfort of his arms lull her.
She knew she shouldn’t be taking comfort from him. He was her ex-lover. The man who had broken her heart. But despite that, he was a good man, and right now, she needed this.
He stroked her hair and she closed her eyes, letting the warmth and protectiveness of his body, paired with the relaxing motion of the vehicle, calm her.
She felt his lips on her forehead.
“Jess, we’re here.”
She opened her eyes and realized she’d dozed off. Self-consciously, she drew away from him. The driver opened her door, and she stepped out of the limo, and then glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings.
“This isn’t the office.”
“That’s true.” Rafe pressed his hand to the small of her back again and guided her to the glass doors of the towering building in front of them.
Oh, damn, did he expect her to accompany him to a client meeting? He was her boss, too, and it was still workday hours. A doorman opened the door for them and as soon as she stepped inside, she could tell this was a residence. And a very posh one at that.
The lobby was light and airy, with leather couches and chairs forming sitting areas. Light filled the space, reflecting off cream-colored marble walls and floor. One section of the wall was covered in stacked slate, a nice contrast to the shiny surfaces. The ceilings were off-white, with crossed beams to give architectural detail and tall floral arrangements sat atop low cabinets in insets along the marble wall.
“Where are we?” she asked as Rafe guided her into the elevator.
“This is my place.”
Her chest tightened and if the door hadn’t already closed, she would have lurched forward.
“Do you mean you own the building?”
“I mean, this is where I live.”
She shook her head. “Rafe, I—”
He gently grasped her shoulders. “Jess, I just want to talk to you, and this is not a conversation I want to have in the office.” He tipped her chin up. “Okay?”
She stared at his intense, blue eyes and compressed her lips, then nodded.
The elevator doors opened, then they walked down a short hall and he unlocked an elegant mahogany door. She stepped out to a bright, spacious penthouse apartment. The dark hardwood floors gleamed in the sunlight cascading in from the huge windows. His furniture was beige leather and dark wood. Bright accents of red, orange, and yellow threaded throughout the living area in the form of accent cushions, artwork and flowering plants, adding warmth and flare to the space.
“This is where you live?” It was huge and beautiful and clearly expensive.
She couldn’t imagine the Storm she knew strolling in here in his jeans and worn leather jacket, tossing his backpack onto the entryway floor, then relaxing in one of the easy chairs. Before he’d moved in with her in Bakersfield, he’d been sharing a small apartment with another guy in the band. His room had only a mattress on the floor, and they had a card table and folding chairs in the kitchen, and a secondhand couch and coffee table in the living room.
“I bought it three years ago, but I’ve been away for over a year.” He shrugged. “But, yeah, this is home.”
She nodded. “Why did you leave? To come to Bakersfield, I mean.” She remembered Dane telling her that their relationship had always been strained after a falling out over a woman, but she wanted to hear Storm’s interpretation for herself. “Why would anyone leave all this?”
He shrugged. “The question is, why I didn’t leave sooner. My father was a controlling man. He controlled everyone and everything around him and I hated it. But that’s also the reason I didn’t leave.” He paced across the room. “He programmed me to do as I was told. To live the life I was told to live. To follow someone else’s dream. And if I tried to stand up to him…” His hands clenched into fists, his jaw tight. “When I was a kid, he beat me into submission. When I was older, he threatened me in other ways.”
Shock vaulted through her at his admission. “That’s awful.”
How could a father be so cruel?
He sat down on the leather couch facing a big fireplace and she settled beside him.
“After he died, I realized that I didn’t have to do that anymore. There was no reason I couldn’t be who I wanted to be.”
“So you left and became Storm.”
He nodded. “When I was a kid, a friend of mine had a guitar and he taught me a few chords. I asked my father if I could take guitar lessons and when he said no, I made an excuse to stay after school and took lessons anyway. But when my guitar teacher ran into my parents and told them I had talent, my father found where I’d hidden my guitar and nearly smashed my head in with it. Fortunately, I have good reflexes and it smashed against a wall instead. See, he didn’t want me to let anything as trivial as music get in the way of the grand plans he had for me and Dane running Ranier Industries. Even simple guitar lessons set him off because they didn’t have a place in his carefully laid plans.”
“I take it you taught yourself.”
“I figured out a way. I couldn’t let him steal everything that mattered to me.” He sighed. “But I didn’t bring you here to talk about my childhood.”
She nodded. “I know.”
He wanted to tell her why he broke her heart.
“Jess, I’m sorry about what happened. I was living my dream, being free for the first time in my life. Answering to no one but myself.”
“And you thought being with me took away that freedom?” She couldn’t help the catch in her voice.
“No, that’s not it at all.” He turned toward her and took her hand. “When I realized how much you meant to me…” His gaze caught on hers, and held. “When I realized you might be starting to feel the same about me…” He shook his head, and gently squeezed her hand. “I realized I couldn’t keep living a lie. Someone was going to get hurt, and I didn’t want it to be you.”
She drew her hand away. “But I did get hurt. I thought you loved me and when you walked out like that, acting as if what was between us was nothing … It broke my heart.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Damn it, I know. I just thought it would be worse later.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me who you are?”
“Tell you that I’d been lying to you? That I was someone totally different?” He shook his head. “I could only do that if I was totally ready to embrace our relationship and move forward. But that would mean deciding who I wanted to be: Storm or Rafe. If I wanted to build a future with you, Rafe seemed the better choice.”
“Why?”
“Do you really see yourself wanting to join me on the road? Traveling from town to town. Living the live of a musician’s wife. Or me traveling and you staying at home?”
“But you did leave me while you went on the road.”
“And you didn’t like it.”
“Because I didn’t know if you’d come back.”
“Isn’t that always going to be true? If I went on the road for months on end, wouldn’t you always wonder?” He took her hand again. “The point is, I would want to offer you more stability than that. But, I wasn’t ready to be Rafe again. I didn’t know if I ever wanted to be Rafe.”
“So you ran away from me, too.”
“No. I just knew I had to take the time to go on the road. To see what it was like. And I didn’t think it was fair to keep you on the hook.”
“You say you cared about me, but you were willing to lose me.”
“Because I really thought that was the best for you. I didn’t think you should be saddled with a guy who didn’t know what he wanted, or even who he should be. You deserved better than that and if I couldn’t figure out my shit, then I didn’t deserve you.”
“Since you came back here, I assume that means you’ve decided to be Rafe,” she said.
He sighed. “I hadn’t been away from you for very long before I realized that whatever life I chose, I wanted you in it. That’s why I went back to Bakersfield. I was going to tell you my whole story and convince you we had a future together. When your mother told me you’d moved away, and that you didn’t want to see me again, I realized I’d lost you. At that point, my world came crashing down around me.”
“Mom told me my dad gave you my number, but you didn’t use it.”
“I knew you were in Philly and I decided I’d come home and get my life together again, then I’d come looking for you.” He smiled. “I didn’t realize you’d be here waiting for me.”
“So who do you want to be?”
“I want to be whoever it is that makes you happy.” His thumb stroked the back of her hand and she shivered. “Whether it’s Storm or Rafe, I’ll be happy if you’re by my side.”
Her heart swelled at the warmth and passion in his sky blue eyes.
“That’s why…” He slid from the couch and placed one knee on the floor, then kissed her hand. “I want to ask you something very important.”
She shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something. She realized it was a royal blue velvet box, which he opened to reveal a stunning ring with diamonds forming the shape of a butterfly. Or a moth.
“Will you marry me?”