Page 80 of Her Guardian
“Sure, fire away.”
“Have you ever been in love? Like, really in love?” Her question has a hint of apprehension behind it. “Lea said there was a girl at the Broken Lily… she said you proposed to her.”
I take a drag of my cigarette and exhale sharply. That’s deep inside the box. Under some shit I never move around. Not many people know about her, but I guess Massimo doesn’t keepanything from his wife, even the stuff I’d rather leave in the past. Fuck it.
“Yeah. Her name was Beth,” I sigh. “I mentioned her. Told you there was someone I used to care about. But I was the one who got too close. Thought there was more to it than she did. She was just having fun. Didn’t see herself having a life with someone like me. I was in love. She wasn’t.”
“I’m sure that was difficult,” she says, blowing strawberries and cream into the wind. “Is that why you haven’t found anyone since then?”
“Part of it,” I admit. “Kind of a wake-up call, honestly. If I was going to continue down the road I was already paving, I had to accept it was going to be a lonely one. I made peace with it. Especially after Massimo’s first wife got killed. I’m not sure I could handle that.”
Sarah sighs and leans against me again. “If you don’t break my heart, I won’t break yours.”
“That a promise?” I ask. “You keep unpacking me and you might find something you don’t like. Something that actually scares you away.”
“I don’t scare that easily,” she laughs. “Otherwise, I would already be gone.”
“Perhaps,” I say, turning and pulling her close. “But you’ve done something to me, Sarah. Woken something up inside me that doesn’t want to go back to sleep. When I say you’re mine, I mean it. If there’s even a part of you that isn’t sure, now is the time to tell me.”
Sarah looks down and she’s quiet for a moment. Long enough to ignite a twinge of worry. She finally lifts her head, her eyes giving me the answer before she says a word.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she says. “I feel the same things you do. Or I hope it’s the same. I don’t want you to get down on one knee or anything, but I like spending time with you. When we’re together, it seems like every day is an adventure. And while I value my freedom, I can’t deny that I like being yours.”
“Good.” I smile and squeeze her hands. “Then let’s go have another one.”
We continue our walk, and Sarah stays closer to me than ever. I love having her by my side. Love everything about this gorgeous woman, even if neither of us is ready for those three words. Still, it feels like we’re on the cusp of something incredible.
“Wait, are those hot air balloons?” Sarah’s eyes get wide. “How did you know? Wait, did Lea tell you how much I’ve wanted to do one of the balloon tours?”
“Nah, she told Massimo,” I chuckle. “After I asked him to get some ideas from her.”
“Impressive, Big Boyd,” she says, turning to me. “I bet we’ll be able to see the entire city.”
“It’s a clear night, so we should be able to see everything,” I say, letting go of her hand. “Wait right here while I get everything sorted. Hopefully, I still remember how to pilot one of these things.”
“You’ve been in one before?” she asks.
“Been a while. Emilio had an idea about using them for surveillance, so several of us had to take lessons.” I shake my head. “Wasn’t his best idea.”
I already called ahead, so the arrangements are made. I meet with the guy who does the tours, pay for everything, and get a refresher on piloting the hot air balloon. It all comes back fairly quickly once I listen to him go over it, so I return to Sarah confident I won’t crash the balloon in the middle of Las Vegas and kill us both.
“You’re sure about this, Boyd?” she asks apprehensively as I lead her over to the hot air balloon.
“I might risk my life on a whim, but I wouldn’t risk yours,” I say, slapping her ass. “Get in.”
It takes me a moment to get the hang of things, but then the hot air balloon begins the ascent. I handle the controls, and Sarah looks over the side, her eyes getting wider with excitement the higher up we get. She’s definitely not afraid of heights. I guess we have that in common.
“Oh, wow, you can see everything from up here!” she says excitedly, taking a quick puff of her vape. “There’s Salvalagio!”
“Yep, we’re going to go right over it,” I say, glancing toward The Gutter where I grew up. “We’ll follow the strip, like most tours, and then circle back. Unless there’s something else that you’d like to see from three thousand feet?”
“No, I’ve got the best view in Las Vegas,” she says, and I notice she’s looking at me, instead of the sights below us.
The wind is a light breeze, and it’s blowing in the right direction, so once I get us to the correct altitude, I let the balloon coast. Wemight get off course a little, but it’ll be easy enough to correct before there are any issues. Sarah has turned her attention back to the sights, so I walk behind her and put my hand on her lower back.
“Is it everything you expected?” I ask, leaning over and looking at the city below us.
“Way better,” Sarah beams, leaning against me. “Especially with you here.”
