Thank you for loving your younger brother because I love him, too.
Marcus didn’t hesitate to hug her back before he let her go. Lara grabbed his ID that she had dropped on the table and handed it back to him.
His hand still on the door, Marcus turned to her with a mischievous smile that suddenly reminded her very much of Tate. “You know, I might have let you seduce me. But I never would have talked,” he said flirtatiously, leaning in close to her so Tate couldn’t hear him.
She rolled her eyes at his arrogant words and whispered in his ear, “You would have been singing like a bird, Colter.”
Marcus just laughed as he exited and closed the door behind him.
“Was he flirting with you?” Tate asked gruffly as he stared at the closed door with a frown.
“He was being a smart ass,” Lara admitted. “It seems to be something all of you Colter brothers excel at.”
“My brother isn’t a terrorist,” Tate said quietly.
“I know.” She lifted her hand to stroke his whiskered jaw.
“My brother isn’t a terrorist!” he whooped, lifted her by the waist, and swung her around until he reached the living room.
Lara’s heart soared at the joy in Tate’s voice. Tears of happiness flowed down her face. “I know.”
“He’s a damn CIA operative. Marcus is a spy.” Tate collapsed on the couch, pulling her down with him, and laughed. He reached out and hugged her against him. His voice cracked with emotion as he said emphatically, “Thank fuck!”
Lara hugged him back, rocking him against her, sharing his joy as tears continued to flow down her face: tears of relief for Tate and the entire Colter family. They’d be whole again, unbroken because Marcus was everything Tate had always said he was.
He held her for over an hour, neither of them saying much of anything.
Their emotions spent, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. Tate woke up a few hours later and carried her gently into the bedroom with him.
Lara’s heart squeezed tightly in her chest as she packed the next morning. The weather forecast wasn’t good for Tuesday, so she was outbound later tonight before the storm moved in. Her boss had made her reservations out of Denver, and she’d catch that flight. It would be so much easier than trying to say good-bye to Tate in Washington.
One day less. Does it matter?
Right now, it felt as if it mattered a great deal. She wanted that extra day, resented having to give him up any sooner than tomorrow.
“What are you doing?” Tate sounded confused as he came into the bedroom.
“There’s a storm moving in. I’m going to have to leave tonight. The department made me a reservation on a commercial flight. I have to be on it.” She couldn’t look at him. If she did, she’d lose it.
“You can’t go today. We’re supposed to have until tomorrow.” Tate’s voice sounded desperate.
“I don’t have a choice.” Lara folded a pair of jeans and dropped them into her suitcase.
Please don’t let him touch me. If he does, I’ll give in. I’ll probably beg, plead, ask him if I can stay with him, even if it’s not forever. I can’t do that. I can’t give up the job I’ve worked so hard at for a longer fling.
“Fine. I’ll fly you to Denver,” he said harshly.
She nodded, having no reason to object. She’d have to get there somehow. “I’d like to stop and say good-bye to your mom and Chloe.”
He moved up behind her, his voice pleading, “Lara, please stay.”
“I can’t,” she replied firmly. Tears clouded her vision.
He moved his hands and stepped back. “I can’t make you want me, I guess.”
Don’t say anything. Don’t tell him how desperately you want him, how lonely you’ll be without him. It will just prolong the inevitable and it will hurt even more.
She bit her lip. Hard. Finally, he stalked out of the room and left her alone.
Lara let the tears fall, mourning the loss of Tate before she’d even left him.
Tate took Shep outside, his anger and desperation at war with each other. What could he do? He couldn’t force her to stay. She wanted her job. He wanted her. They were at an impasse, and there was nothing he could do to make things turn out differently. Truthfully, he didn’t want her that way. He wanted her willingly. He wanted a commitment, something that would bind her to him forever.
She didn’t ask if I wanted to go live in Washington. She never even asked.
For Lara, he’d do it in a heartbeat. He didn’t care where he lived as long as he was with her.
She didn’t ask. For her, the relationship is impossible. I just have to admit that she isn’t feeling it as much as I am.
Yesterday, he’d been ecstatic because he’d learned Marcus wasn’t a criminal. Today, he felt defeated.
Colters don’t quit.
Hell, he wouldn’t quit if he had any other option.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Because it was one of his oldest friends, Travis Harrison, he answered.
“Yeah.”
“Tate?” Travis’s voice was solemn.
“It’s me.”
“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but do you know someone named Lara?”
Tate was instantly alert. “Yeah. I know her. I’m crazy about her.”
Tate quickly explained that Lara was here and getting ready to fly back to Washington. Briefly, he talked about their whirlwind relationship. “I’m in love with her,” he admitted to Travis. “Letting her leave is killing me, Trav.”
“Don’t let her go,” Travis said urgently. “Tate, I had a dream. I haven’t had one this vivid for a long time. But I dreamed that you were mourning her death in a plane crash. Wherever she’s going, don’t let her go on her flight.”
Fuck! Tate had learned to take Travis’s dream premonitions seriously. One of his dreams had once saved Tate’s life, and another the life of Travis’s wife, Ally.
“When will it happen?” Tate asked anxiously.
“I don’t know, but I never dream of something that vivid that isn’t happening soon. If she’s flying, don’t let her go. I know you think I’m crazy—”
“I don’t,” Tate interrupted. “I know that what you experience is for real. It saved my life and Ally’s.”
“Then don’t let Lara fly. Not commercially anytime soon,” Travis warned morosely. “If you love her, keep her there, even if she doesn’t believe me.”