more than he was and he knew it.
Finally she gave a short, sharp nod before turning and heading to the bed where her dress was laid out.
Letting her go was the hardest thing he had ever done. He wanted nothing more than to hold her. And to give her the one thing he swore he’d never give anyone. The illusion he suddenly wished he could convince himself of.
Love.
“I’ll finish dressing, then,” she told him quietly as she glanced at the clock. “We should have just enough time for your preferred arrival.”
He frowned back at her suspiciously. “It doesn’t take an hour to put a dress on, Tey.”
She almost smiled at the doubt in his tone, and in his face.
“True,” she agreed. “But it often takes longer than that to finish the look, Jordan. Stockings can’t have runs, the skirt has to lay just right, my makeup will have to be adjusted for the color because I didn’t expect the depth of the shimmer once the gown was completed.”
She was trying desperately to maintain her control, and Jordan had no idea how to ease the pain in her eyes. That left him with the only option at hand. A strategic retreat until she needed him to hold her, to assure her once again that there was no reason why she shouldn’t be loved.
“Enough said.” He lifted his hand to halt the subtly mocking explanation. “I’ll leave you to dressing while I discuss the security layout and the guests with the others.” He indicated the door to the rest of the suite with a sharp turn of his head. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”
“I’ll be sure to do that,” she promised as she moved to the head of the bed and loosened the material from the padded hanger it was secured to. “As I said, an hour, perhaps a bit more.”
For just as long as she could draw it out.
For some reason, Jordan seemed determined to bring her face-to-face with her family, and she had a feeling it had more to do with his belief that she should align herself with them than the belief that being there would allow him to identify who gave the orders to the men threatening her.
As much as she craved family and connections, she knew that connection had been broken with her grandparents’ deaths. All the wishing, all the tears, or all the regrets in the world couldn’t change that.
“Just be yourself, Tehya,” he reminded her again, suddenly behind her when she had expected him to leave the room.
One hand gripped her hip for a second as his head lowered and he placed a soft kiss at the curve of her shoulder. “I promise, no one could help but to love the person you are.”
Everyone but him.
“Of course.” She tried to convince him she believed it, though they both knew otherwise. “I would just prefer that it hadn’t come to this.”
He nipped her flesh, causing her to jerk and turn her head to stare back at him in surprise.
“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” He grinned. “We’re just getting ready to have some fun, baby. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
Before she could answer him he was drawing away from her and moving from the room. The bedroom door opened and he disappeared through it, closing it behind him with a decisive snap.
There was definitely something to be said for the days when he spent more time trying to ignore her than to seduce her, she thought with a sigh.
At least then the knowledge of her future hadn’t been so clear-cut.
Now, she was certain, no other man but Jordan would do, which meant that after he was gone, she was looking at a very lonely existence.
But she wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
* * *
“There you are.” Travis Caine was preparing to knock on the bedroom door when it opened.
Stepping through, he was ready to close the door when Travis stopped him and handed him a small cellophane pack.
“Flash bandages,” he informed Jordan. “Covers the wound and hides it. Lilly thought she might need it with the strapless gown. And there’s enough for several uses there.”
Jordan frowned back at him. “Those are damned hard to come by, Travis.” And he knew they were; they were items he’d had problems acquiring even during his time as Elite Ops commander. He was right though, Tehya would more than appreciate it.
“Thanks, Travis.” He nodded back to him. “I appreciate it.”
“Eh, thank Lilly, she thought of