“I’m coming with you. Lia is my friend, one of my best friends, and I won’t be able to stay behind. It would kill me, Rafe. I need to be out there searching for her.”
She left the room before he could respond. He didn’t know if he could handle the distraction of having Ari there, but on the other hand, she might be the only person alive who would also be able to keep him from melting down.
If they couldn’t find Lia... No! That wouldn’t happen. If something were terribly wrong, he would feel it in his gut. His sisters meant the world to him, and he would just know if something weren’t right.
Shane had gotten them to safety, and the two of them were just waiting to be rescued. He was sure of it. His best friend would never let something happen to his sister. He’d die first.
That thought made Rafe’s stomach clench. The world would be a much sadder place without his best friend in it. Shane was one of the few people who knew Rafe inside and out, who could talk him down when he was ready to explode, and whom Rafe could trust with his life.
Rafe couldn’t lose one of his sisters, but he couldn’t lose his best friend, either.
“I’m ready.”
Rafe didn’t say another word as he looked at Ari standing before him with determination, holding a duffel bag and her jacket. He simply took the bag from her and walked out her front door, waiting as she locked up.
He sat silently by in the back of the car as she made the necessary phone calls to have her class covered and her mail picked up. He could see her fright, but she was holding herself together well — much better than he was, it seemed.
Just having her there in the car with him was somehow giving him the strength not to completely lose it.
“She will be fine, Rafe. I can feel it. If she’s with Shane, he will protect her. There’s no way he’d ever let something happen to her. Shane can be a fool, but I have no doubt that he truly cares about Lia. He’s just not the wisest for ticking her off,” Ari said with a crooked smile.
“Yes, you and my sisters can certainly carry a grudge,” Rafe said, sending her a pointed look.
“Yes, we can. It’s best you remember that.”
“Believe me, I remember well,” Rafe replied as they pulled up to his private jet.
Rafe escorted Ari up the stairs, then spoke to his pilot for a few moments before the doors closed and the giant machine began slowly moving forward.
He should be thrilled to have Ari all to himself, but as he leaned back, all he could think about was his sister, who was most likely lost and frightened. He found himself near panic, which was a state he never thought he’d be in.
He accepted a stiff drink from his flight attendant when they reached cruising altitude, but it didn’t help much. There didn’t seem to be anything that could at this point. Refusing a meal, he couldn’t even muster up the energy to speak to Ari.
When he felt Ari climb into his lap and hold him, he didn’t say a word. He just clung on tight and let her be his strength. His hands automatically came up and began stroking her back. The feel of her resting in his arms did the trick.
He felt his heart begin to slow its frantic beat, and his muscles relax gradually. He’d been wrong — it seemed he could be comforted. He’d just needed his other half — Ari.
He knew that Ari and his sisters were close, but until now, he hadn’t quite realized how close. He was glad to have Ari with him, glad she was his rock in this moment. It just underlined what a fool he’d been to treat her so poorly.
Dammit, he would prove to her that they were meant to be together. Right now, he had to focus on his sister, but they would have a long flight back home — all alone — and then his focus would be solely on Ari, because Lia and Shane would be safe and Rafe would be able to breathe again.
“They’ll find them both, Rafe. I know it.”
He knew she was right.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ari
Several hours into the flight, and more than a few drinks later, Ari looked up in surprise to find Rafe sending a glare her way. “Are you going to just pretend that what happened between us didn’t happen?”
She hadn’t really thought this trip through. All she knew was that Lia was missing and she had to be there to help find her. It never occurred to her that she’d be locking herself inside Rafe’s jet for the next ten hours.
Maybe after the library incident, he was just assuming that everything would go back to the way it had been before. That she would just be his very high-priced call girl. If he was, he was going to be severely disappointed.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she said before turning away.
“That’s not a very mature attitude, Ari.”
“Rafe, with Lia and Shane not found yet, I don’t want to fight with you. I want us to be there for each other. Can we do this afterward, after my friend is found?” she asked in exasperation.
“I need to get my mind off this, Ari. It’s driving me insane to even think about it. I can’t just sit here in this jet with you and pretend I don’t still want you. I can’t continue playing in my head all the scenarios of what could have happened to Shane and Lia, either. So, the bottom line is that we are in this jet for the next six hours together, so we need to hash it out. We need to come to a solution about us.”
“There is no us, Rafe. Yes, I still want you. I’m human. I caved. That doesn’t mean I want to dive back into a dysfunctional relationship with you. It just means that I haven’t been laid in two years and my body went into meltdown mode.”
Rafe froze, and she wondered what he was thinking now. She thought over her words and hadn’t said anything too shocking. Yes, she enjoyed sex. Big deal!
“You haven’t been with another man since me?”
Oops, that’s what she’d admitted to. She hadn’t wanted to do that. No, she hadn’t been with another man, but not because she was in love with Rafe. Well, at least, she hoped that wasn’t why.
It was just that after being with someone like Rafe, someone who knew how to please a woman so fully, she hadn’t managed to find a man yet who could set off fireworks inside her. The men she’d kissed had stirred not a single atom of desire within her. Not even an electron.
If she could barely stand to kiss them, the thought of their hands touching her body was downright repulsive. There was no way she’d tell Rafe any of that, of course. He would have her on her back faster than she could blink. That wouldn’t get the two of them anywhere — well, nowhere but immensely satisfied.