Page 4 of Lovestruck at Sundown
The charade was over. I wanted to tell Aaron what I knew and apologize for escaping, but he wouldn’t let me. Maybe once we were back in New York and my dad was done berating us, he would talk to me. We were in this together, even if he didn’t realize that. My father wouldn’t miss the opportunity to make us atone for our sins and mistakes once we returned.
Knowing Aaron and David’s jobs weren’t at risk brought me peace. Like my dad would fire them and finally grant me my freedom after this. He was probably thinking about his next move while I found temporary refuge from his retaliation in Cape Town.
William knocked twice on his trailer door before letting himself in. I tossed a bookmark between the pages of the book I was reading and set it aside.
“Hej, älskling.” His tone was weary, but his bright smile melted my heart for the millionth time. He dragged a heavy hand along the length of his face. “You’re almost done with another book.” He jerked his chin at it. “I’m sorry you’ve had to spend so much time here waiting while I work.”
He threw himself on the bed next to me and rested his head on my stomach.
“This has been perfect,” I reassured him, combing his hair with my fingers. He groaned with delight. “I needed a break from everything.”
“Mmm.”
I laughed. “So spoiled already.”
“I could stay like this forever.” William nuzzled his head against me. “With your fingers in my hair.”
“You need to rest. These schedules are insane. Are you guys going to be done tomorrow, as you said?”
“No.” He rolled slightly to place the back of his head against my belly and looked up at me. “Because we just wrapped.” He smiled and lifted his hand to tuck my hair behind my ear.
“What! Oh, my God! Congratulations!” I smiled back, thrilled. He lifted himself to a seating position and curved a hand behind my neck. He kissed me lazily like we had all the time in the world, and we kinda did. At that moment, we had nothing else to do and nowhere else to be but present. In the moment.
William broke off the kiss and stared at my lips, which felt swollen from the exchange. “I can’t wait to take you home and just …beusin New York.” He brushed my lower lip with his thumb, and I did the same. “We’re leaving tomorrow first thing in the morn …” A heavy knock on our door startled us, cutting off William mid-sentence. He sighed. “Tell me it’s Aaron without telling me it’s Aaron,” he joked, rolling his eyes and getting up from the bed to get the door.
“Aaron.” William looked over his shoulder at me and lifted a brow.
“Mr. Sjöberg, sorry to disturb you, but I’ve got Mr. Murphy on the line.”
“Sure.” William extended his hand to grab the phone. “Guille, it’s your father.” He walked toward me, offering the phone, but Aaron interrupted him.
“I’m afraid he wants to talk to you, Mr. Sjöberg.”
My father hadn’t tried to contact me since we arrived. I thought he would for sure fly in himself to drag me back home, but he didn’t. In a sick, twisted way, it disappointed me to feel like he didn’t care enough to do so, but the relief of not having to confront him yet was more significant than my unresolved daddy issues.
William pinched the bridge of his nose. I knew he was exhausted from work, and the last thing he must’ve wanted was to have a little chat with my dad. He thanked Aaron and shut the door after telling him he’d return his phone once he was done with the call.
William frowned at the Blackberry and tapped the keyboard, probably to unmute the call, and brought the phone to his ear, clearing his throat. “Mr. Murphy.” I gathered myself and sat on the edge of the bed to concentrate on their exchange while I attempted to decipher what my dad would say on theother side of the line.
“No, that wasn’t—yes, I understand,” William said, stumbling with his words, widening his eyes at me as he paced like a caged lion between the trailer’s narrow walls. “That’s very generous of you, but it won’t be necessary. I have a private jet waiting.”
William decided to sit down next to me and held my hand, his warm gaze comforting me more than he knew.
“Tomorrow morning,” he said, massaging the palm of my hand with his thumb. “The flight plan includes a stop in London to refuel, but—” William sighed while I heard my dad’s muffled and indistinct voice through the speaker. “That could be arranged.”
My hand moved to his head, and I massaged his scalp. William closed his eyes and allowed his neck to arch back while I ran my fingers through his messy hair.
“Of course.” William opened his eyes lazily and passed the phone to me, dipping his chin to let me know it was my turn. I took the call but kept combing William’s hair. It helped soothe the nerves. I had yet to speak to my dad directly. All communication had been filtered through my security.
“Dad?”
“Are you and William together?”
“Yes, we are.”
One, two, three seconds of silence filled the fissure that had formed between us the moment I hopped on that plane to South Africa. Or who knows? Things might have begun to fracture after a few failed attempts from my father to convince me Nathan was who I was supposed to be with when we broke up.
“We’ll discuss this when you get back.”
