full of big business, the welfare of the tribe, and saving the world from terrorists. But if I lost you, I’m not sure I could go on.” Cara felt a shudder go through Raven’s body. He wasn’t speaking lightly. He meant every word. This powerful man was putting his heart in her hands.
Cara hugged him tight, before stepping back out of his arms. “Let me get something. I’ll be right back.” There was only one thing she needed besides this man in front of her.
Cara walked into her bedroom and picked up the little wooden box that held her jewelry and a few mementos from her parents. If there had ever been a fire, this is the one thing she would have taken with her. She slipped it into the inside pocket of her coat, before returning to the front room and picking up the keys that were still sitting on the table by the door from the night of the attack.
“Here,” she said, holding the keys out to Raven. “Have your people come pack everything up. Put everything into storage except the clothes. I hope you have plenty of closet space in your apartment.”
“You’ll move in with me?”
“Isn’t that what you want?”
“More than you will ever know,” Raven said, reaching out and taking the keys from her hand before pulling her into his arms. “Thank you, Cara, for committing your life to mine. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”
Cara smiled up into Raven’s gleaming eyes. She laughed at the relieved expression on his face. “Well, my stomach would be happy to have a lobster salad about now. Can we go to lunch?”
“Absolutely. Let’s leave the coats here. I don’t want anyone to think we’re robbing the place. We’ll come back before we Shadow-walk again. I’ll have to mail your keys. They would disintegrate in Shadow. Do you want me to mail anything else? Drivers license, credit cards.”
“I’ll get my wallet and check book. It seems weird that I’m not carrying some kind of identification with me.”
“Isanti, Inc., will give you an ID and a company credit card. We have a contract with our bank to produce the cards, which allows us to use the corn resin we developed to make them. Both will withstand the properties of Shadow.”
“What about my cell phone?” Cara asked, looking at the floor under the table and remembering how it was knocked from her hand.
“Yours was found broken and would have disintegrated in Shadow. But our labs are working on a new design, using the same corn resin as the credit cards. We should have a working product in a few more months. As soon as they complete the testing, the company will issue one.”
“Wow, there’s a lot of thought involved in being a Shadow-walker.” Cara and Raven glanced at her stomach as they heard a loud gurgling.
“Let’s get you that lunch,” Raven said, taking her hand.
Cara sat across from Raven at her favorite restaurant, Tony’s on the Pier. It was within walking distance of her condo, and she loved walking down to the pier. The windows were open, letting a cool breeze blow in from over the water. Seagulls were dipping down and around, riding the wind, and calling over the sound of the breaking waves hitting the beach.
It had been irritating to see the hostess and waitress making eyes at Raven as Cara and Raven were led to the table, though he didn’t seem to notice them. He kept his arm around Cara’s waist and helped her into her chair.
He did look handsome with his black-leather pants and red-silk shirt. His dark hair was down, falling softly to his shoulders. He looked like an ad for a romance novel. Cara was surprised to find she was a little possessive. She wanted him to wear a sign that said “Property of Cara.”
He smiled and winked at her. Cara blushed. Did he hear that last thought? They didn’t touch minds that often, only to speak in Shadow really. But every once in a while, she would reach for his mind to see what he was thinking. Did he do the same to her?
She flipped her hair and looked back out the window at the beach below and the sunbathers on their towels. He needed to know whom he was getting. It might as well be now. She believed in monogamy. She would never share him.
It had surprised her how easy going back to her condo had been. Was