His hands squeeze my waist, his fingertips digging into my flesh. I can see the war waging inside of his head. He doesn’t want to go and yet he does. He needs to though. Lucinda may be a woman, she may be on her own, but I think she still needs her father, just like I still need my mother.
As if it hits him like a bolt of lightning, his body jerks. He dips his chin and touches his lips to mine in a kiss.
“I’m going. You call me if you need anything and I’m going to try to be back here tomorrow afternoon.”
My lips curve up into a small smile. “Be there for Lucinda.”
He takes a step back, but not before he touches his mouth to mine again. Then I hear those words that I melt over every time he says them.
“I love you, honey.”
I practically sigh, but then I get myself together, just long enough to say. “I love you, baby.” He grins down at me and I lift to my toes, touching my mouth to his, before I take a step back.
He walks past me, and I follow behind him. Holden is asleep in his own room, but we haven’t even unpacked. I watch as Landry takes his luggage out of the room and wheels it over to me.
“You’re sure?” he asks me again.
Nodding my head, I wonder if I can do all of this tomorrow on my own. Then I decide, if I’m woman enough to move to Dallas alone with Holden, get involved with a man forty years older than me, and then fall in love and become engaged to him, then I can certainly do this.
“I’m going to call Hansen on the road. Don’t worry, everything will be okay,” he promises.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I smile at him. He leans down giving me another kiss, then he turns to leave. I stand in the living room, unable to move. I watch as he walks toward the door, but before he opens it, he looks back over his shoulder at me.
His eyes move over my entire body. “I’ll be back soon, honey.”
“I love you, Landry,” I whisper.
He grins. “Love you too and I’ll call you first thing in the morning, let you know how everything is.”
“Okay.”
Without another word, he opens the door and he leaves. I watch, hating that he’s gone. Walking over to the door, I flip the security lock into place, then instead of going to the room that we were supposed to share, I decide that I need to be with Holden.
There are two queen beds in Holden’s room, so I slip into the one that he’s not occupying, even though I really want to crawl into bed next to my baby. But Holden is a wild sleeper, and I won’t get even a wink of sleep if I attempt that.
Crawling beneath the sheets, I place my hands beneath my cheek and face him. He’s snoring slightly, his little pink lips pursed in his sleep. He’s gorgeous and I’m thankful and grateful again that Aaron Anderson never even laid eyes on him, let alone got any type of custody.
It takes me far too long to fall asleep, my mind spinning a million miles a minute with what’s to come tomorrow and for the future in general. Then sadness washes over me at the thought of Lucinda’s turmoil tonight.
Everything seems to be a disaster and unfortunately, I can only think of one person involved in all of this and the idea that she would do any of it makes me sick to my stomach. Susan Astor needs to be stopped and she needs to be held accountable for everything she’s done.
Chapter Forty-Four
TENNESSEE
I hear a noise in the living room. Sitting straight up, I open my eyes and look around, trying to adjust to the darkness surrounding me. Glancing to the bed next to me, I let out a sigh of relief to see that Holden is sound asleep.
Then I hear the noise again. My heart starts to slam against my chest. The door to our bedroom is closed. I shake my head, rationalizing that it has to be the neighbors coming in from a night of partying or an event.
We’re locked inside of a hotel suite, nobody has a key except for staff and Landry. Pressing my lips together, I lie back down and try to close my eyes, but I can’t even force them to