“You already got one.” It wasn’t a question, and I tucked his black credit card away in my wallet before stowing the wallet back in the inner pocket of the jacket I wore.
“Yeah,” he admitted with a faint grimace. “It was a surprise, babe…” I pressed my fingers to his mouth before he could try to offer up any kind of apology.
“I love you,” I whispered before rising on my tiptoes and replacing my fingers with my lips. His soft sigh as he wrapped me up pulled out one of my own. “I love that you plan fifty steps ahead, and I’ll only scold you a little for not letting me help with the house hunting.”
“You helped,” he murmured before pressing a kiss to my forehead and tightening his hold around me. I sank into the hug, letting him hold me up and leaning on him. “You helped with telling me what you wanted in a place. You helped with opening your home to us in the first place, along with your heart. You helped because you give me purpose and reason to be better.”
Tears flooded my eyes, and I rubbed my face carefully against his coat. Rachel had done something with my makeup this morning to hide the shadows from lack of sleep. I’d managed to get Jake to sleep for a couple of hours while everyone else hustled. We’d split our luggage up and packed me and Jake into one bag along with our laptops and Kindles.
Ian and Jake exchanged one of those quick man hugs. But Jake didn’t escape Coop so easily. I watched them as I leaned into Archie. We’d said our goodbyes to KC and the girls back at the hotel. Rachel was going to hang out with them for the day, then head out to explore London. I was pretty sure Archie had extended Rachel’s stay for as long as she wanted.
They were going to fly to New York after we got to Germany. They didn’t want to be in the air until we were safe and sound. I got it, and I wanted them to get some rest before they dove into handling the move and settling in.
“You got him, babe?” Archie asked, and I nodded.
“I got him. I’ll take care of him. You guys take care of yourselves?” I pulled back to look up at him, and Archie smiled before kissing me again.
“I hate like hell that you’ll be that far away, but I can handle it. You call if you need anything, you understand? Absolutely anything.”
“Even if I just need to hear your voice,” I promised. One more kiss, and he let me go and turned to Jake. Ian was waiting right there, and he wrapped me up in a ferocious hug.
“Angel, you need anything…”
I smiled against his chest. “Right back atcha. You got Coop and Archie?”
“Yeah, I got them.” No hesitation. “Jake’s going to be defensive and hyper protective. He won’t want to break down in front of you, and he’s going to be arguing with himself.”
“Because of how distant he and his dad have been.” I got that.
“Yeah,” Ian said slowly. “Coop will have more advice, but I only have this.” He leaned back and lifted my chin. “Be you. That’s who he needs. Just be yourself. Be every inch the stubborn brat I know you can be and the fierce woman you are.”
I smiled. “I’ll take care of him, and I’ll jump him if he won’t let me in.”
A soft chuckle escaped him. “If all else fails…”
“Make him jealous.”
Head back, Ian laughed, then shook his head at me. “Only you would play with fire as a method to handle one of us.”
“You gotta go with what works…but I’ll take care of him. I promise.”
Cupping my face, Ian studied me, then gave me a sweet kiss. “Take care of you too. That’s an order, Angel.”
I smiled against his lips, then bit his lower one gently. “You too, Sir Ian. You take such good care of me, I need you to take equally good care of you.”
“Done.”
He backed off, and then Coop half picked me up into a hug, and he pressed his forehead to mine. “He’s a stubborn ass, both him and his dad. They’re both fighters too. All you gotta do is make sure you keep his head above the water and don’t let him blame himself.”
I smiled. “I can do that.”
“I know you can. I’m gonna miss the hell out of you, but we’re gonna step up our phone sex game.”
A shiver chased up my spine. “Is now really the time to…”
He snorted. “Me and my hand spent years thinking about you, and the last few months, we’ve had you all to ourselves. Hell yes, now is the time to think about it, and trust me, Jake will appreciate the friendly competition.”
“Let me guess,” I teased. “You won’t mind some pictographic assistance for our calls?”
“Video-chat works,” he told me, eyes darkening. “Particularly when he needs a distraction, or you do.”
I bit my lower lip because it seemed a really inappropriate time to be turned on. “I’m really growing fond of this possessive side of you.”
“Good.” Then his mouth claimed mine, and there was nothing sweet in his searing kiss. It was demanding, hot, and filled with decadent promise that had me panting when he let me go. “Don’t forget about us.”
“As if,” Jake grunted, but he wrapped an arm around my middle and pulled me back against him. “I got our girl. We’ll keep you guys in the loop.”
“If you need us,” Archie said as Coop and Ian both nodded.
“Thanks, guys.”
We stood on the platform for one long moment, then Ian nodded to the train.
