Page 9 of Kissing Kayley
The truth was, I felt terrified. Not that I would admit that to her right now.
There’d be plenty of time for that later.
Right now I wanted to concentrate on the fact that for the first time in a few years, we could be a “normal” couple for an uninterrupted stretch of time.
She reached up and raked her fingers through my hair. “Are theyreallyleaving us alone? I find it hard to believe Leo agreed to me not having a detail.”
“Well, I’m carrying, for starters,” I said. “And it’s an exclusive resort. Caters to the rich and famous. Their in-house security rivals Camp David’s.”
She playfully arched an eyebrow at me. “And how did you manage to affordthaton a special agent’s salary?”
“A friend of mine is head of security. Leo, Christopher Bruunt, and I all worked with him. He retired from the Secret Service about ten years ago and owed me a solid. Plus, this might partly be a birthday gift for you from Elliot and Leo and Jordan.”
Chris Bruunt being the former First Gentleman, husband to President ShaeLynn Samuels, and himself a retired Secret Service agent.
“How thoughtful of Elliot,” she drawled.
“You know you like Elliot.” It felt weird referring to him by his name and not as POTUS, or President Woodley.
“Doesn’t mean I won’t continue giving him shit when I feel like it,” she snarked.
Not that I could blame her. Her brother-in-law’s years of closet-dwelling and his spectacular explosion out of it to propose to Leo had caught her and her parents off-guard.
Plus, she felt extremely protective of Jordan, despite him reassuring her he was happy with how it all went down.
She hooked her arm in mine for the walk across the tarmac to the SUV I’d rented. The flight crew had already transferred her bags for me.
“I still find it difficult to believe you’re going to retire,” she said. “You and Leo and Chris Bruunt are all cut from the same cloth. Work until you’re forced to quit.”
“Well, that’s what we’ll spend this vacation figuring out, isn’t it?” I walked her around to the passenger door and opened it for her.
She turned to look up at me. “What if we hate each other at the end of our vacation?” she softly asked.
I tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. “We have to start somewhere,” I finally said. “This is as good a time as any, right?”
She nodded. “Right.” Her gaze held mine. “I hope you’re nervous, because I sure as fuck am.”
I kissed her again, lingering. “I am. But I’m hopeful we’ll find a balance that works for us. This is the first step, baby. Let’s focus on this time together and not worry about the future for now, okay?”
She smiled and I wasn’t ashamed to admit the way it twisted my insides—a good way—was a feeling I desperately wanted to experience for the rest of my life.
“Okay,” she said, finally climbing up into the passenger seat.
I just hoped I was worthy of the faith she had in me.
And I hoped I could live up to that faith.
CHAPTER 4
Victor
I’d planned a leisurely drive to the resort, to allow us to make use of picturesque back roads and give us ample time to stop and take in the scenery. Something “normal” we couldn’t do as a couple in our current situation.
Usually, one or both of us traveled to wherever we were meeting and, once there, we spent every second we had together making up for lost time.
And if Kayley traveled to meet me, she never did so without a detail. Meaning we never got “alone” time the way other couples did unless we were securely locked behind a door.
How she’d managed these past several years going from a completely independent woman to having a “babysitter squad”—as she sometimes privately joked about it with me—without completely losing her shit spoke to the deep level of self-control she possessed.
