Page 64 of Boss with Benefits

He turned, eyes narrowed, and looked for the owner of the frantic voice. Didn’t he know it was her? She raised her arms high over her head and waved them around. Recognition came to his features when his gaze landed on her face. Instead of goingthrough the metal detector, he approached her with a quick and steady gait.

For a blissful moment, it reminded her of a scene from a romantic movie. Two lovers racing to each other in the middle of the airport. Hopefully, she would get the same happy ending those people always managed to achieve.

They embraced. He lifted her off the ground and turned in a circle with her in his arms. He seemed happy to see her. That was a good sign.

Then they were kissing.

He lifted his mouth long enough to ask, “What are you doing here?”

“You can’t leave me,” she said between kisses. “I won’t let you.”

“Jessica—”

“Axl and I are going with you.” At his stunned expression, she said, “We’re your family. Now and forever. Where you go, we go.”

“Are you out of your mind?” he asked.

She locked her gaze with his. “I don’t care if we live a vagabond lifestyle or stay here in Seattle with the agency. What we do doesn’t matter. Where we live doesn’t matter. I want to be with you.”

Brady shook his head. “You’re just grateful I saved you from losing your son. That’s no reason to stay married. I don’t want your gratitude.”

Hands on hips, she glared at him. “If this was about being grateful, I would have sent you a Hallmark card, idiot. I wouldn’t invite you to spend the rest of your life with me… and my son.”

He stared at her through narrowed eyes as if searching her face for some sort of truth he thought was missing from her words. Was he searching for love?

She added, “You know how protective I am of my son, and you know I would never put him in a dangerous situation. You are a good man, Brady. Why can’t you see what Deacon and I both see?”

He glanced behind her. “Where is he? Where is Axl?”

“Bridget is bringing him. They’ll be here any minute.” She looked past him at the security checkpoint. “Can you get us on your flight? Or do we wait for another?”

“Jess—”

“You can’t talk me out of this.” She dug her passport out of her purse. “We both love you more than we could ever love anyone. If you leave us, you’ll be condemning us to a lifetime without a strong man to love us and protect us from the Randy-types of this world. YouareAxl’s father, whether you want to be or not, and you are the love of my life.”

He groaned. “Jess, be realistic and—”

She placed two fingers over his lips to stop the flow of words.

“Before you start arguing, let me finish. I know you think this is about gratitude, but it isn’t. I swear. I want to be with you, because you make me laugh when my world is falling apart.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You make me feel like the most beautiful woman in any room we enter. You look out for me even when I don’t want you to, and do you know what I love the most about you?”

His lips twitched. “Did you just say you love me? Wow. You’re not even drunk.”

She ignored his attempt at humor and finished what she wanted to say. On the too-long drive to the airport she had memorized her little speech. “The thing I love the most about you is how you love my son.”

“I do.” His eyes grew suspiciously damp. “I love Axl, and I love his mother. More than anything in this world. But that doesn’t mean we should stay married.”

He hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe, but she didn’t complain. It felt wonderful to have his arms around her. A brief flash of hope lit up her soul, and she was positive she had gotten through to him.

Then he shook his head hard. “I can’t stay. This isn’t right. It won’t work.”

“Do you love me?” When he started to walk away, she grabbed his arm. Her voice rose in volume, demanding. “Do you love me as much as I love you? Just answer me. Say it Do you love me?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“The hell it isn’t!” People were starting to stare, and she noticed a guard giving them a quizzical eye. She lowered her voice. “It’s simple, Brady. It’s very simple. You either love me or you don’t.” She folded her arms in defiance. “And if you don’t, you have to convince me, or I’ll never stop coming after you. No matter where you go, Axl and I will be there. We will follow you from continent to continent until you realize how lucky you are to have us.”

A muscle jumped in his cheek as his jaw tightened, and he blinked back tears. “If you love me that much, I really am the luckiest man alive. But it doesn’t change who I am deep down. How can I be certain I won’t go down the same dark path as my father? How do I know I won’t become controlling and abusive to you someday? I would rather end my own life than risk hurting you.”

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