Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)(55)

“Who?”

“He can’t tell you that right now,” Adrian cut in quickly, before Bo had even opened his mouth to answer.

“OK. Well, are you in any physical danger?” I stood up and walked toward Bo, who seemed worn out by this confession.

“He’s not,” Adrian cut in again, but I noted that Bo hadn’t made any motion to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ “If he were,” Adrian continued, “this would be a much different situation and we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.” As Adrian finished, Bo looked up at me hopelessly.

This was a lot. We both came to the table with various pieces of emotional baggage, for sure. But, the fact that Bo’s involved blackmail, and Adrian, was a little too much for me to handle. I had to sort this out to the best of my ability. I was still madly in love with Bo, that much was certain, but there was still something lingering on his face that heightened my senses; never mind “Blue,” who was still buried in the sand.

Of course, neither one of them could be completely honest with me regarding this situation because of ethics and laws. Irony raised its mocking eyebrow at my previous anxiety regarding telling my boss about my relationship with Bo. Those ethics paled in comparison to this.

I needed to take a walk and consider if I could go forth with the business end of the trip to Concord knowing what I knew. Could I tell Monica? I couldn’t think about all of this with these two men sitting in front of me, watching me for a reaction. I stood up.

“I’ve got to take a walk. I’ll be back in a few.”

“I’ll come with you.” Bo stood and reached for my hand.

“Dude, let her go. She needs a minute,” Adrian replied self-righteously.

Bo turned to Adrian, “I think I’ve got this Turner, thanks.”

“No. Bo, Adrian’s right, I need a minute.” I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, wincing at the fact that ‘Adrian’s right’ even came out of my mouth. But, he was right.

Bo squeezed my hand back before dropping it.

“It’s ok, Bo, really. I just . . . need a minute.” I kissed him softly on the cheek.

As I headed off, Josh poked his head outside and said, “Bo, you’re up.” I looked back, gave him an encouraging wave, and watched him head inside before I turned back around.

*

A half hour later I was left with more questions than answers as I made my way back to Finnegan’s. I was madly in love with Bo Cavanaugh and, for the first time in my life, love was enough - more than enough - to carry me through whatever questions remained.

I spotted Bo leaning against the exterior wall of the bar as I got closer; his eyes broke into relief when he gauged my face. I returned a smile of reassurance, as he started walking toward me at a more-than-cautious pace.

“You came back,” he said.

“I told you, I just needed a minute.” I forced an over-hopeful tone to calm his apparent nerves.

“Or thirty,” he teased as he caught up to me in the sand, just outside the back deck.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, securing me to him.

“Where did you think I was going to go?” I asked as I pulled way. Bo held me at arm’s length.

“Well, that was a lot of information.” Bo released one hand from me and ran it through his distressed hair.

“Actually, it really wasn’t and I’m fine with that. I need to tell you, I ran through a lot of scenarios in my head, and they all led me back here, to you. You’re you, Bo, and I’m me; there’s going to be stuff that we have to work through as we get to know each other’s nuts and bolts. No one ever just spills it all out on day one.” I poured all the passion I could through my eyes as I looked at him.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - you’re perfect, November. I was so distracted during the last set I played; those seven songs took an eternity to get through. I didn’t know if I’d find you out here when I was done. As soon as I saw the look on your face I knew that no matter what your mouth said, your heart was still mine.” He held my face the entire time he spoke, and punctuated it with a longing kiss.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on for dear life - my new life. A life that would forever, hopefully, include Bo Cavanaugh. I certainly wouldn’t throw this all at him now, but my decisions from here on out would be based with this fact in mind; Bo is mine. Our lips touched, and our tongues intertwined for what felt like the first time in days. I ran my hands roughly through his hair as he grasped the back of my neck. I grazed my hands over his shoulders and down his tight arms, resting them on his hips. He pulled me in tighter.

“Uh, mhmm?” A throat-cleansing cough pulled us apart.

I pulled away from my favorite reality to see Josh standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Joshua,” I said teasingly, “what can we do for you?”

Bo laughed as he placed one last kiss on my neck and turned around.

“I was, uh, can I talk to you.” He shrugged as he walked toward me.

“Oh, sure, of course. Bo, could you give us a few?” Bo looked at me with a sarcastic smile. “I really do mean just a few.”

“Ha!” He brushed my hair over my shoulder. “Sure, I’ll go inside and play a few more songs.”

“Great!” Josh entered. “They’ll love it. Everyone’s bummed you’re leaving town.”