Mid Life Love: At Last (Mid Life Love #2)(29)

Locking the door, he pulled me flush against his chest and removed something from his pocket.

“What is this?” He held a picture of me, Ryan, and Amanda in between us.

“Where did you get this?”

“One of my security guards found it outside your office this morning. It was with a letter—in a box from Ryan.”

“Your security guards check my mail?”

“As of today, yes. Where is this picture from?”

“Can we discuss the mail tampering issue first?”

“Claire...”

“It’s from our first high school reunion.”

“I thought you said you never went to one.”

“I went to the first one, the one that was in Pittsburgh.” I trailed my fingers around the loosely fitted black dress I was wearing in the photograph, around the pretty gold bracelet that matched the one Amanda was wearing. I cringed as I read Ryan’s “Remember this?” note.

“It doesn’t mean anything to you?” He tilted my chin up.

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s actually quite ironic that he would send this picture because I do remember this. I remember it very well...” I paused. “They passed out these crystallized awards for the people who won superlatives in the senior yearbook...Ryan and I got Cutest Couple and Couple Most Likely to Get Married, and me and Amanda got Most Likely to Be Best Friends Forever...”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s in the past.” I shrugged. “Where’s the letter?”

“You think I saved that shit for you to read?”

“Of course not...” I rolled my eyes. “Now, about you tampering with my mail.”

“What about it?”

“Well one, its illegal. Two, Ryan’s not a threat.”

“He is when he wants something that’s mine.”

“I don’t think that’s the case. I just think he has something to say but I honestly don’t care what it is.”

“You shouldn’t.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You shouldn’t care about him at all.”

“I don’t...”

Silence.

He slid his thumb underneath the anchor charm of my necklace and spoke slowly. “You’re not his anymore, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep him far away from you because—” He pressed a warm kiss against my chest. “You belong to me.”

I was silent.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“No...”

“If he happens to slip past my security...” He looked into my eyes and slipped his hands around my waist. “Or if he comes into your store again—or anywhere around you when I’m not there...You need to call me. ASAP.”

I nodded and he drew my bottom lip into his mouth, harshly trapping it between his teeth for several seconds before letting it go.

“Tell me you’ll call me.”

“Yes, I’ll...Call you...”

“I don’t share...” He traced my lips with his fingertips. “And I never will. Never.”

I wasn’t sure what to say or how to respond when he looked at me like this. I simply stared into his deep blue eyes and felt my heart beating an entirely new rhythm.

“Was that...Was that all we had to talk about?” I stepped to my left and reached over to press the door handle, but he grabbed my hand and pushed me against the wall.

“No. That’s not it.” He reached down and pulled the silver clip I was wearing out of my hair. He brushed his thumb across my cheek and murmured something I didn’t understand.

Just as I was about to ask him to repeat himself, the jet began to shake back and forth, and I instinctively clung to him and shut my eyes, bracing for the worst.

“It’s just turbulence, Claire,” he whispered. But the plane was shaking more violently so I clung to him even more—digging my nails into his neck.

The rough rattling continued and I heard the shuddering of the small cabinets next to me, heard the series of loud pings that meant we were supposed to be in our seats with our seatbelts buckled.

I won’t feel anything if we crash...I won’t feel a thing...

I took several short breaths and lowered Jonathan’s head to mine. “I love you...”

I wasn’t sure how long I clung to him, but after I silently said all my goodbyes to everyone else I loved, I noticed that the shaking had stopped and Jonathan’s arms were tightly locked around me.

There was another light ping, but just to be sure, I counted to sixty before opening my eyes. When my gaze met Jonathan’s I realized that he was smiling at me with his eyebrow raised.

“I’m glad you think that was funny.” I rolled my eyes and pushed him away, reaching for the door. “I’m bursting with laughter myself.”

“Stop.” He blocked me and hit a few digits on a keypad, effectively locking us inside. Then he lowered his mouth to mine. “I wasn’t laughing at you, Claire. I was just staring at you because you look really f**king beautiful today...”

He hesitated, looking as if he wanted to say something more, but he crushed his lips onto mine and pinned me against the door.

I moaned as he took his time kissing me, running his fingers through every inch of my hair. I didn’t even close my eyes to savor the feeling.