to ask, she really wanted to know. They hadn’t talked about their future or feelings, just running and jumping from one thing to another. Until now. And in a week’s time, if AJ wanted to return to his old life, she’d just as soon know so she could prepare her heart for the goodbye.
Just thinking about it made her shiver.
“Do you want to go to Florida?” he asked.
“I can’t say it’s ever held any appeal.”
He kissed the tips of her fingers. “I think it might be counterintuitive to return to the state of my crimes while I’m trying to turn a new leaf.”
She looked up at him. “No more liberating vehicles?”
“Not unless we need a getaway car from someone chasing us.” There had been some fancy footwork to make that go away in DC. Not to mention the big check given to the guy AJ jacked the car from.
“I’d like to avoid that for a while.”
“I somehow doubt it will be for long. You like the adrenaline rush as much as I do.”
She sighed. “Okay, so no Florida.”
“What about you? I don’t even know where you live.”
“Doesn’t matter. I rent a new place every few months.”
“You’re kidding.”
She closed her eyes. “Always in motion.”
AJ let loose her hand and brought his to the side of her face. “You don’t have to live that way anymore, Sasha. No one is hunting you down.”
“It’s more than being hunted. It’s also about needing a reason to stay.” She’d hovered in Texas for a while, then realized that Trina really didn’t need her, and that’s when she’d started to move again.
“I want to give you a reason to stay,” he told her.
“What do you mean?”
He leaned up on an elbow, and she had no choice but to move her head off his shoulder. “I want me to be the reason you want to stay. I don’t really care where, or for how long. I mean, until we can both agree on a place. I want there to be an us, Sasha.”
Okay . . . so this was what looking at tomorrow was like.
She swallowed and felt equal parts fear and excitement. “I don’t know how to do that,” she told him, honestly.
“There’s nothing you have to do, you just don’t leave. Another guy realizes how hot you are, you tell him to buzz off and I break his arm. You know, what couples do.”
“I don’t think breaking arms is part of that.”
“It can be. We can set a new trend.”
Now she was smiling.
AJ swallowed hard and sat up. The blanket slid to his waist.
She followed his motion and his eyes landed on her chest. He leaned over, kissed one of her breasts, and lifted the blanket up to cover her. “Too distracting for what I have to say.”
Sasha held the cover in place and crossed her legs under her.
“I know this is new. We’ve been through some pretty serious stuff. But I’ve never felt for anyone the way I feel for you.”
“I like you, too, AJ.”
“Nope. This isn’t like. This isn’t ultra liking . . . max liking. This is that other L word I’m afraid to say because I think you might run in the opposite direction if I say it. And I don’t want to risk that.”
Her eyes felt heavy and she needed to blink several times to keep them from watering. “I don’t know what to do with that.”
“I know. But that’s okay, because I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to make love in front of the fireplace. Forage in the forest for firewood. Have a few snowball fights. Fight over who cooks the worst. And when we get tired of here, we’ll go somewhere else. We! Us.”
She wrapped her arms around her chest. Could she do that? Roots . . . even shallow ones were foreign.
“Try for me,” AJ said.
Her nod started slowly and grew. “Okay. Let’s do this us thing.”
AJ reached for the blanket, pulled it away. “Glad you see it my way.”
Laughter reached the snow outside before he pulled her under him and kissed away her fears.
Epilogue
Reed and Lori’s condo in a high building in downtown Los Angeles had been decorated with white lights and green garland. A beautiful flocked Christmas tree stood proud beside the floor to ceiling window. There were presents overflowing underneath, and holiday music filled the room.
AJ stood beside her, a cocktail in his hand. He wore a turtleneck sweater and slacks, while Sasha went with a festive red Oscar de la Renta. The home