by Aliyah Burke
Eyes closed, he savored the taste and feel of the woman along his body. Tiny and fit, she was perfect for him. He lifted her, all the while kissing her as if his life depended on it. In a sense it did.
He couldn’t afford to lose her again. Ever so slow after ending their lip exchange, he rested his forehead against hers and once again, opened his eyes.
“Baroness Coleman.”
Those two words left him on a whisper and when her eyes widened, he realized she’d been unaware of speaking them. And his mention of it brought it all back.
Andrew wasn’t about to let her ignore what she’d announced to everyone who’d been in the kitchen with her earlier. “Yes, you said it. You told two officers that you were Baroness Coleman.”
Indecision flashed before she nodded. “Yes I did. It’s who I am. Even though I still think it’s much better if you let me go, Drew.”
“Hell no. I’m not letting you go. Never wanted to, never will.” He cupped her face in his large hands.
Fuck, she’s so damn delicate and small next to me. I could break her.
And no, it wasn’t that he would do so, but the chance was there. Even if he was more careful than ever, she had the potential to be hurt. Perhaps she was correct and he should let her go.
Instant rage flowed. No way. He couldn’t live knowing she might turn to another man. If he ever caught one touching her in a personal manner, he would skin the fucker alive.
“I love you, Tara. I was half in love with you when you strolled into my life on that Thailand beach. I know things haven’t been good. I want them to be good. I want to learn how to be a good husband for you. I want to learn to be a father for our children.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Children?”
He didn’t crack a smile—this wasn’t the time for joviality. He had to get her to see how fucking serious he was in regards to this. None of this was the slightest bit funny to him. No jokes. All serious, and if he had to marry her once more so she could understand better, he had absolutely no issue doing that.
“I want a family with you, Tara. I’ve always wanted children with you. I thought by now we’d have two at least.”
“So your plan was for me to stay here after we got married and pop out children for you to portray to everyone, including those at your business, the image of one happy, well-adjusted family?”
“I don’t want you to feel like a baby factory so I wouldn’t use the word ‘pop’ but yes, I was hoping to be a dad by now. I won’t lie about that. I would love to have a little girl with your eyes or even a son with your expressions and your smarts.”
“So, a pretty girl and a smart boy? What about the dog? Do we have one of those?”
He skimmed his thumbs along the smooth skin of her face and gave a slight shake of his head. “I know I’m painting what a lot of people consider the ‘ideal’ family, Tara. That’s not what I’m saying. I don’t need the two point five children. I’m saying I want to be a father. I want children. With you.”
She stared at him and gave a slow nod. “I get it, Drew. Honestly, I do. I know what you mean.”
He heaved a sigh of relief to hear that. “Thank you,” he remarked, brushing his lips over hers once more. “Do you love me?”
He’d expected her to deny it, change the subject, or any number of things to change the direction of the conversation. Again, he was surprised.
Her gaze filled with a mixture of sadness and acceptance. “I do love you. That time we had in Thailand was unlike anything I’ve ever had before. You were, and still are, one hell of a person who I see having so much potential to be amazing all the way around.” Tara settled her hand against his beard and canted her head to the left. “I didn’t want to fall for you. Hell, I didn’t want to fall for anyone.”
“Glad you didn’t fall for just anyone.”
His phone rang and he cursed as he dug it out of his pants. “What?”
“This is Dr. Plaleantf and I’m calling about Ms. Triger.”
“What happened?”
Tara’s expression showcased her own worry as she waited beside him, not moving. She slipped her hand into his.
“She was attacked in the room.”
“What?” he roared. “She was attacked? Where was your security?”
“She’s asking for you. If you could come down, we’ll give you all the answers we can.”
“I’m heading in now. And you’d better pray nothing else happens to her while I’m on my way.” He ended the call and shoved his phone into his pocket.
“Go,” Tara said. “I don’t need any explanation. Just go.”
“I wanted to finish this discussion.”
She shook her head. “Wendy needs you.”
As he reached for his coat, he searched for any anger or bitterness in the words exiting her mouth. He couldn’t find any. So he took her at her word.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Tara pushed up on her feet and placed her lips to his. Andrew closed his eyes and savored the connection. “Go,” she muttered.
He left the house at a run. Asking his car for as much speed as he dared with the snowy roads, he raced to the hospital. Once he’d parked, he jumped out and ran inside, skipping the lift for the stairs until he reached the floor she was on.
“Baron Coleman, she’s still having an MRI. Dr. Plaleantf will see you in his office. I can take you.”
A svelte nurse stepped up beside him, her cheerful scrubs not doing a damn thing except pissing him off further, because seeing them meant he was here checking on his personal assistant in the hospital instead of enjoying time with his wife and planning out their future together.
Giving her as much of a grateful smile as he could, he followed her down the hallway into a nice office.
“He’ll be right in,” she stated, leaving him there.
Andrew didn’t sit but paced the back of the room, looking at the pictures and degrees that had been placed about. Not that he cared to see any of them, but it beat sitting there and allowing his mind to race in any and all of the inappropriate directions it was trying to go when it came to Wendy.
It couldn’t have been more than five minutes before the door opened once more, but in his mind it had been far longer than it should have been.
“Baron Coleman,” the man said, his voice strong but not demeaning.
Swallowing his anger, he turned to watch the man stride in, move around to the chair behind his desk and take a seat.
“Please sit.”
“I’m fine,” he bit out. “I’d prefer to be told how a patient in your care got attacked in the hospital. Then I want to know who did it so I can go after them.” Anger rose and sailed through his veins at the thought of Wendy being hurt not once but twice. And he couldn’t help but feel as if this were his fault.
When he left the hospital, with Wendy in the back of the SUV, his mood hadn’t improved, but he knew she would be safe with him. The police were after the man who’d managed to come into the hospital and injure her further. Not that it was any consolation to him, but he didn’t have the option to go himself. He had to get her back to the house so she would be able to recover there.
Mrs. Hilly met him at the door, her expression one of complete concern as she helped him take Wendy back to a guest room. He left them together to get settled and strode through the large house to find Tara. She wasn’t anywhere he could find and as he spun in a circle in their bedroom, he spied a note on the dresser, sitting where he would set any change he had in his pockets at night.
Narrowing his gaze, he reached and plucked it from the surface, opened it and read the words she’d left him. His legs gave out and he hit the carpeted floor with a heavy thump. Tears burned the backs of his eyes as it sank in.
I have two choices. I can let this stick, or I can go fight for my woman and force this confrontation she seems content to ignore.
Chapter Twelve
Tara rested her head against the glass and stared at the sc
enery that flashed by as the train zipped along the track toward the airport.
I ran again. No, I didn’t. I left him a note, which I didn’t do last time.
She exhaled and shook her head before settling. The one thing she didn’t want to do was spend the entire trip doubting what she’d done. This was for the best. She couldn’t wait for his life to calm down—it centered around work. Something she understood, because her life did as well.
How is what I’m doing any different than what I’m accusing him of doing?
She dug her nails into the palms of her hands and tried to slow her breathing. Gazing at her wrist, she checked the time and settled back to do her best to enjoy the view. After all, she was streaking through Switzerland. It was fucking beautiful.
There would be plenty of time on the plane to wallow in self-pity and berate herself for her decisions. Right now, she wanted to relax.
At the airport, she made her way through to her gate and sat there. She had an hour before they even began boarding, so she went in search of some coffee.
Her phone rang and she answered when she saw the name on the screen.
“Hey, Shai.”
“When are you getting in? I’ll be there to pick you up.”
“It’s going to be late.”
Silence. Tara grinned, picturing her sister just blinking as she stared at her, not willing to give any credence to that sorry excuse.
“I’ll text you from Chicago when I’m sure our flight is on time.”
“See you do.” A moment of silence. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“No. I’m really not but I can’t talk about it now or I’m going to start crying.” She ordered a coffee and pastry. “The last thing I need to do is scare the entire flight because we both know I’m not pretty when I cry.”
“That’s true, you’re not. For what it’s worth, Tara, I’m sorry this didn’t work for you.”
“You’re not going to tell me I need to talk to him?”
“Sweetie, I know I’m pushy, opinionated and a bunch of other things but now, I will not tell you that. I’m your sister and my job is to support you. I may not always agree with what you do but you’re a grown, smart, educated woman. There is no doubt in my mind that you have a reason for what you’re doing. I’ll not say anything until we can sit down and you explain it to me. Just a heads-up, I’m sure Eva will be with me. She’s not happy about all of this, so expect a call from her. I have to go. I honestly expected to get your voicemail and I’m in between classes. Love you.”
Lord, she missed her family. And she’d not even been over here that long. But they were close. They’d always been there for her and she was used to talking to her siblings a few times a week and seeing them at least twice.
Paying for her drink, she thanked the barista and walked back to her gate. She didn’t have anything to bring with her—her suitcase, she checked because she preferred not to have to keep track of it. All she had was her purse.
“Tara Coleman!”
She paused in reclaiming a seat in the gate area at that deep voice who’d just called out her name. Tara longed to convince herself she was hearing things—however, the way her body reacted told her it didn’t matter how much, or to whom, she prayed. Drew was there.
How the hell did he find my flight? Okay, so there’s probably not that many heading back to my neck of the woods.
With another drink, she pivoted on her heel and found her baron husband stalking through the airport, eyes locked on hers.
Two questions raced through her mind even as she wanted to melt into a puddle from merely looking at all his tall, fine assery. How did he get to her gate? How’d he gotten here at all before her plane left?
Reining in her hormones, she licked her lips and flexed her fingers on her coffee. “Drew.”
Thunderheads brewed in his eyes as he bore down on her. People fell silent as he passed, their gazes followed him, anticipation of a public scene the most likely culprit.
“What the fuck is going on? You know, I just about let it go. Said you’d made your decision and decided to run back to fucking Iowa with your tail between your legs. But for some fucking reason I can’t just let you go like that. So what’s going on, Tara? I thought we had come to an understanding.”
She reined in her anger that had been fanned from simmering embers to full-on flames. It had to be controlled—she couldn’t yell at him for this because he remained oblivious to the issue.
Enlighten then yell. Damn logic.
Tara blinked and sighed. “Did you? Really, Drew? You thought I would be fine with you telling me I was supposed to stay home and pop out kids because you wanted a family? That because it was in your plans, that’s what was to happen?”
A muscle jumped in his cheek and she recognized the sign, that he was working on controlling his own temper.
“I told you, ‘pop’ was not the word I would have used.”
“Fine, I’m to stay home and bear children.”
“Yes.”
“It’s not the eighteen-hundreds, Drew. Women don’t have to stay home and run the house while the husband is out.”
“You wouldn’t have to clean the house, but I’d want you home, yes.”
“That’s the problem. This is all about you and what you want. Precisely why I said that we never should have married to begin with once I saw how you were after you came back here. Again, not blaming you, because I didn’t start the divorce proceedings either. I’d hoped coming here with you would have changed my mind but unfortunately, it didn’t. All it did was solidify what I’d thought previously. We need to not be married.”
All expression dropped away from his face. “Come on.”
“I’m not leaving. I’ll be boarding sooner or later.”
“Tara. I’m fucking flying you home.”
“I’ve already purchased a ticket, Drew.”
“Christ, woman. Let’s go. We can get your bag later or have them pull it and send it to the house. And I’ll reimburse you for the fucking ticket. I’ll fly you there because you and I are finishing this discussion and I don’t want to do this where if I turn around you’ll run again. You can’t run from me if we’re in the jet.”
She began to shake her head. Okay, private plane was so much nicer than commercial. But he was right that she’d be with him for that complete trip. Was that so wise?
“I’ll carry you out of here, Tara.” The edge in his tone warned her he was seconds from losing his tenuous hold on any control.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this. Not exactly behavior for a baron.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Because it’s like a baroness to run from her husband when he went to a hospital to check on an employee?”
She ground her jaw and went to his side. Fuming in silence—because he was right, not because she was with him—she listened as he explained to the man at the gate that she wasn’t going to be on this flight and they could give the seat away if there was someone on standby, he didn’t care. Then he captured her arm in his strong grip and led her away.
Drew didn’t speak as they exited the airport, got into a waiting car, headed off to a private strip and boarded their plane.
“Leave as soon as you have clearance,” he ordered, still holding her as they went to their seats. He pushed her into a seat and took the one opposite her. “Buckle up.”
She listened and held her tongue as they waited for clearance, the taxi, and the takeoff. During the entire time, he never looked away from her, just speared her to the seat with his heated gaze.
“Explain.”
The single word fell from his bearded face on a low growl. She skimmed her gaze over him, from the set of his jaw, the hardness in his eyes, the way his large hands gripped the armrests and the absolute rigidity he sat with.
“In everything you spouted earlier—”
“So now you’re doubting I even love you?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, not even flinching from the dee
p bark of his question. “You want me to explain, then sit there with your fucking mouth shut until I get my piece said. Then you can go.”
He ran a hand down his beard and nodded.
“Again, in everything you spouted earlier, do you once recall asking me what I wanted? Because I don’t remember being asked. I recall you talking about how I was going to give up my life and family in the States, to come here and live and provide you kids. That means I am no longer an attorney, well, a practicing one, and I still lose doing what I love. But you do. You can still do what it is you do with your businesses and travel to do all that.” She set the coffee down beside her and unbuckled her belt. “And according to you, it’s all fine because I won’t have to keep the house, there would be a housekeeper. For all I know you’re also thinking of having a nanny so I don’t even get to be with my children, that I’ll bear for you. I have my own hopes and dreams, too, Drew. You’re not the only one. And the part that still kills me, is I told you them when we first met. Remember that? Back when you actually listened to me!”
She jumped up from the seat and strode to the back of the jet. Drew, right on her heels, spun her around and yanked her in close.
“I want you with me and I want you to be able to travel with me.”
“How does that work if I’m having kids? I’m not going to want to travel. And I’m going to resent you for making me give up what I love.”
“So you don’t love me.”
She ignored the pain in his eyes.
“That’s not what I said and you know it. But for us, Drew, love isn’t going to be enough. I can’t just give up the life I fought to make for myself. I’m not going to sit there fat and pregnant while you’re gallivanting around the world with your personal assistant who means more to you than you’re wanting to admit.”
“Fuck this. Do you want me to fire the woman who’s made my life so easy the past few years? The one who just got her ass beat again while lying in a hospital bed? Because if that’s what you need to feel secure, I will.”