“I was worried about you too.” He shook his head. “Worried. I was losing my mind.”
“Ditto. I was ready to charge in there and dig you out with my bare hands. Have you seen the film Diamonds Are Forever?”
“Probably.”
“In the finale, Tiffany Case tries to shoot a gun to save the day and falls straight off the side of an oil rig. Every time I watch it, I want to smack the crap out of her.” Lainie exhaled, disgusted. “Well, in a crisis? That’s me. Trying to save Bond’s arse and toppling off an oil rig. I completely lost it. Chloe, by the way? Voice of reason. It’s totally demoralizing. Soothe me.”
She was rewarded for her legitimately embarrassing inability to cope by the lightening of Richard’s expression. A twinkle came into his eyes.
“Wanted to dive in and save me, did you, Tig?”
“Yes, I did. And don’t look so smug about it.” Lainie leaned her chin against his shoulder, her smiling fading. “Will says you saved his life.”
“I doubt it. He would have stopped wringing his hands and got to his feet eventually. He can’t be completely useless.”
Her arm tightened around his ribs. “Were you scared?”
“Are you joking? I was scared shitless.” He sifted his fingers through her hair. “I fully expected the walls to come down completely before we got out of there. Christ, I was even scared for Farmer. Although that was mostly for your sake.”
“What do you mean?”
His fingertips ran along her lips, absently petting. “I suddenly remembered the way you looked when you talked about Hannah.” His voice was grim. “I didn’t want you to lose someone else you cared about.”
Lainie took a shaky breath. “You risked your own life to help Will...for me.”
“Well, for Farmer himself as a borderline human being,” Richard said mockingly, “but yes. Also for you.” He obviously couldn’t believe his own fallibility.
“Because...” She hesitated. “Because you think I...care about Will?”
Which she did, in a very platonic, mostly nostalgic way, but Richard was suggesting something more than that.
“I heard what you said.” He pulled on her earlobe, gently chastising. “I do actually listen when you speak. But—you do care about Farmer.” He was matter-of-fact, but his finger tightened around a loop of her hair, accidentally giving it a painful tug. “I realised that a long time ago. I suppose that’s why I reacted so badly on Sunday night.”
Sunday night—God, was it only two days ago that everything had fallen apart so spectacularly?
“You had the right to react badly. It was really shitty, what I did. Will might have blabbed, but it was my fault he was able to.”
“I’m not denying I would have been angry no matter who you told, but I doubt I would have left you on your doorstep if it had been someone else. Anyone else.” Richard grimaced. “I was jealous. Of Will fucking Farmer. It doesn’t get much lower than that.”
Lainie shook her head. “You don’t need to be jealous of anyone. What I feel for you and how I felt about Will—it’s not even on the same planet.”
There was still a definite hint of doubt when he said, “You wouldn’t sleep with a man if you didn’t care about him. That might be gratifying in light of recent activities—” he lifted a brow “—but less so in relation to events of a few months ago.”
“As of a few days ago, I would no longer sleep with a man I didn’t love.” She touched the ashy black curls at his hairline. “I know what I would be missing now.”
Richard stilled. “Love?”
She put her lips to the corner of his in a feathery kiss. “You’re the most irritating man I’ve ever met, Troy. And I love you like you wouldn’t believe.”
He stayed motionless while she trailed leisurely, affectionate kisses over his brow and the bridge of his nose, giving him time to take that in. Then he gripped her face between his hands, so tightly that it hurt, and took her mouth in a fierce, shatteringly possessive kiss. They sat curled together for long minutes, noses touching, lips millimetres apart, their breaths mingling.
“Are you telling me,” he said at last, in a low, rough murmur, “that I dragged his sorry carcass all the way through that building for no reason at all?”
Her smile lit up her eyes. “If it makes you feel any better, your good deed today probably cancelled out an entire year’s worth of bad behaviour. Firmly back on Santa’s nice list.” She held his gaze, needing him to understand. “Richard. What you said about me being on the rebound. No. Just—no. Really, really no.” She wrinkled her nose. “Will’s not so bad. But my relationship with him? A pretty mediocre dress rehearsal before I fucking killed it on opening night.”
Richard finally smiled at that. He slid his hand to the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair. “Yeah?”
Solemnly, she sketched a cross over her heart.