Suddenly, she turned away from me, put her face forward toward the wall, and I could tell without seeing her expressionthat she was nervous. Her voice came out shaky. “Would youreallycome to California forme? You barely know me.”
"I would follow you to the ends of the earth,chérie." I gently massaged the ass cheek that I’d smacked. “Is that what you want—me on the plane with you heading to California tomorrow?”
She shivered under my touch. “You wouldn’t. . .”
“That’s not an answer.” I traced the curve of her hip and leaned my head over her shoulder to get a side view of her face.
She was biting her lower lip anxiously, and her eyes were filled with worry. “This is happening fast.”
“It is.”
“I don’t want to rush this.”
“Yet, you’re mine.”
She parted her lips in shock.
I had never once in my life wanted to set foot in California.
Too sunny.
Too cheerful.
Too many beaches.
Too manyperfectfake bodies.
Too much endless summer.
It was the opposite of what I thrived in—the shadows, the decadence, the rich grittiness of Paris.
But for her?
I would go anywhere.
Antarctica, if necessary.
“Rae. . .”
She closed her eyes.
“If you told me you were leaving tomorrow for the Arctic Circle, I would be on the next flight, wrapped in fur, ready to seduce you under the Northern Lights.”
She snapped her eyes open.
I let out a slow breath, forcing myself to ease my grip on her hips before I did something irreversible, something that would have us missing her flight because she was too weak to move.
Instead, I reached for her wrist, guiding her to turn toward me.
She looked up at my face, her big brown eyes searching, as if she were still processing the weight of my words.
“I’ve never wanted to go to California.” I ran my thumb over her wrist, feeling her pulse, feeling her warmth. “But I’d go for you.”
She swallowed. “Fabien—”
“It would be a simple phone call,” I continued, voice even, steady, as if I weren’t absolutely wrecked by how much I needed her. “I would just need to change my inspection region from France to California. Nothing more. No big deal.”
Her lips parted slightly. “You would really do that for me?”