The Healing Touch - Apryl Baker Page 0,43

in his head.

Ronin laughed. “I’ll talk to you soon, son. Love you.”

“Love you too, old man.”

Dimitri disconnected the call and sat there, staring at the trees and the flowers, thinking about everything as his papa had asked him. He watched the sun start its descent and felt the air grow cooler as the hours passed.

Mind made up, he stood and started the slow trek back to the hotel, the pain in his legs the least of his worries.

Chapter Eleven

Becca rubbed her back. Sitting for so long really did a number on it. She’d ignored the pain and gotten all the pre-orders done and organized everything he’d need in one of the plastic baskets she’d ordered, from markers to pens, to his swag and business cards. The only thing she was having issues with was the banner. How the hell did people get them put up? This one was defying gravity. She’d smacked herself in the head more than once before giving up on it. Dimitri could figure it out.

She surveyed her work and felt a little pride. She’d managed to get everything done. All he’d have to do tonight was sign the books she’d already organized.

Her eyes flitted to the door like they had a hundred times the last few hours. Where was he? She kept worrying about him. He’d been in a lot of pain. He’d been limping when he left. What if he was out there somewhere, hurting?

He had his phone, she reminded herself for the thousandth time. If he needed her, he’d call.

Which was the crux of the current situation.

He needed his friend to be friends with benefits, and she needed him to be her happily ever after. Neither of those things would happen. That knowledge caused her to toss two of the books. She’d cried all over the pages when she’d opened them to shove swag in them. No point in crying over something that could never be, she berated herself yet again. She knew who he was and what he was and wasn’t capable of.

And he wasn’t capable of a monogamous relationship for more than a few weeks, and even then, it would only be sex, not love.

The door opened, and she swiveled around to see Dimitri walk through it, his face somber. What was he thinking?

When he came farther into the room, he stopped, shocked. “You did all this?”

“Well, yeah. It had to get done, D.”

“You’ve been crying.”

She looked away, embarrassed. She was an ugly crier. Splotches and eyes that looked like she’d had a bad run-in with every allergy known to man. “It’s nothing. We need to leave in a few minutes so we can get set up. All this stuff needs to be loaded into the Jeep, and…”

Dimitri came over and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in her hair, cutting off her rambling. “I’m sorry, Becca.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“Yes, I do. I left you here to do all this by yourself. I got thrown off balance for a minute, and I didn’t stop to think about all this shit.”

“Yeah, well, I’m your PA. It’s what you pay me for.” She tried to shrug him off, but he only held on tighter.

“No, I don’t pay you nearly enough to deal with all my baggage,” he all but purred into her hair, and she shivered. She definitely needed to put some space between them.

“We need to leave, Dimitri.”

“We need to talk first.”

“We don’t have time.” Panic flared in her stomach, worming its way up her spine. Please, please, please, not now.

“Look at me, Krasivaya.”

She pulled away enough so she could tilt her head up. His eyes were serious but unsure at the same time. It gave her pause. What was he thinking?

“I…” He stopped, and his eyes widened. “Calm down, sweetheart. I can feel your panic starting to flare up.”

“How…how can you tell?”

“Your eyes are so dilated you might as well be in the dark. Your breathing is labored, and you’re sweating. Any other time, I’d say you’d been good and fucked.” He smiled, trying for humor, but it didn’t help. It only made it worse.

She pushed him away and bent over at the waist, trying and failing to get control of her panic. She knew what he was going to say, and hearing it was causing her to stress out more than the thought of the crowd they’d be walking into. Becca couldn’t lose him. She just couldn’t.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, babe. What do you need?