No Ordinary Billionaire (The Sinclairs) (R) (31 page)

I should have told him. Why didn’t I tell him?

Sarah had watched as Dante went through security and disappeared out of sight to board Grady’s private jet. Right then, she’d felt the urgency pounding at her, the words stuck inside her by a lump the size of a grapefruit in her throat. She’d been afraid that it was too soon to tell Dante, too soon to let him know. Everything for them was too new, too surreal. She hadn’t wanted to spoil what they had by blurting out that she loved him prematurely. Now the words were pounding at her soul.

I should have told him.

She and Dante had never talked about love. Need, want, desire . . . yes . . . but never love. Now that she wanted to tell him, needed to tell him, it was too late.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she walked outside, making her way to the parking lot, searching absently for her car.

She, of all people, knew how short life could be. At the age of twenty-seven, she’d already had two brushes with death and knew that anything that had to be said should be said when she wanted to say it.

I was afraid.

Sarah readily admitted to herself that she would be shattered if she said those words and Dante didn’t respond favorably. Now she realized it shouldn’t have mattered. The fact was that she did love him, and he needed to know that, especially if he wanted them to have a life together. He’d either have to accept the way that she felt . . . or not. Admittedly, she wasn’t used to loving a man, didn’t know what he’d say, but she should have said it out loud. Yesterday, she’d tried to tell him with her body how much she loved him, but she’d clamped down hard on her lips to keep from letting the words escape her mouth.

I should have told him.

Sarah didn’t start her vehicle. She leaned her head back against the seat and let the pain of her separation from Dante flow over her like a river. The agony was for the words that had gone unsaid. Had she told Dante that she loved him, maybe it wouldn’t hurt quite as badly. But he was leaving not knowing how she felt.

Suddenly, it didn’t matter that Dante had never said it, or if it was too soon.
She
needed to say it, and the compulsion was so vital that she started rifling through her purse for her cell phone. Knowing Dante’s plane had already left, she sent a text message, relief flooding through her body at the thought that he would know as soon as he switched on his phone in California. It would have to be enough.

She’d say the words out loud as soon as she talked to him, but for now, she’d done everything she could to let him know the minute he was within contact range again.

“I love you,” Sarah whispered, wishing she’d been able to tell him before he left.

With a long sigh, she swiped away her tears and started the car to begin her drive back home.

“I apologize for the delay, Mr. Sinclair. We’ll be in the air shortly.”

Dante nodded at Grady’s pilot abruptly before the middle-aged man went into the cockpit, wishing the damn plane would just take off. Now that he couldn’t see Sarah anymore, he was antsy and ready to get back to Los Angeles.

For what? So I can see my empty, tiny apartment’s white walls without a single picture or decoration to make the place less depressing?

No doubt everything in his refrigerator would be growing mold, which wasn’t anything new. He never ate at the apartment unless he brought home fast food, and leftovers eventually became rotten. Usually, he waited for the smell to get so bad that he threw the stuff out. Most times, he came back to his apartment so damn tired that the only thing that really got used there was the bed.

I need to get back to work.

Granted, Dante had liked his job, had lived for it. Now that Patrick wasn’t going to be his partner anymore, he wasn’t quite sure how to feel. The passion for police work was still there, but he couldn’t seem to muster the same enthusiasm that he used to have, and he no longer looked forward to filling every lonely day and night with work.

I have Sarah now.

Frowning, Dante leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, trying to picture a life with Sarah in Los Angeles. But all he could see was her smiling face in Amesport.

She doesn’t belong in Los Angeles. She agreed to move because she wants to be with me.

Dante’s chest ached as the reality of her sacrifice really sank in.

She’s not a city woman. She didn’t like her life in Chicago. Amesport is the first place she feels like she really fits in.

Honestly, Dante had been happy here, too. If he left, no more sounds of the ocean lulling him to sleep, no more endless bike trails waiting to be explored, no more friendly small-town folks, and—dammit—no more lobster rolls.

Joe Landon had just offered him a job again yesterday when they’d bumped into each other in town. Dante had blown him off automatically, never stopping to think of the possibilities. Admittedly, he wouldn’t be handling a ton of homicides, but it would still be part of his job, and he’d be able to work on a variety of felony cases, adding some diversity and probably less intensity to his job sometimes. But it wouldn’t be any less important than what he did in Los Angeles. Hell, he might even enjoy it.

And Sarah could stay here where she belongs
.
With me.

Really, Dante was pretty sure Amesport was where he belonged, too. Some young, eager detective would happily step into his place in Los Angeles, and Dante could stay here with Sarah. He’d have family again: Sarah, Emily, and Grady. No doubt Jared would eventually leave, but Dante missed his family more than he’d even wanted to admit. Patrick had once taken the edge off that pain, but his best friend was gone.

Dante’s eyes flew open as the jet lurched, ready to taxi down the runway.

He was ready to get out of his seat when his cell phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket distractedly, his attention immediately diverted to the phone when he saw it was a message from Sarah:

I miss you already. I hope you’ll get this message as soon as you land in Los Angeles. I need you to know that I love you. I know you didn’t ask for that, and I’m not even sure you want it. Maybe it’s too soon, but I need you to know. I love you, Dante.

The message nailed him right in the heart, and the organ was pounding out of his chest as he finished reading the message, tracing the words with his index finger.

She loves me.

Right at that moment there was nothing more urgent than hearing those words coming from her gorgeous lips in person. Jesus. There was nothing more critical than actually hearing her say that.

“She loves me,” he rasped, trying to wrap his head around that information. Hell, he loved her, too. Probably had for a long time, although he’d never put it into words. “I should have told her.”

Dante felt the plane start to turn so it could execute takeoff, and he punched the button for the cockpit. “Turn the plane around, Captain. I need to get the hell off now,” he growled.

A reply came back through the intercom. “Did you forget something, Mr. Sinclair?”

I forgot a lot of damn things. I forgot to tell the woman I love how much I love her. I forgot that I like it here in Amesport. I forgot how much I miss my siblings.
But aloud, he simply answered, “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as the plane started to taxi back to the airport, and he traced Sarah’s words on his phone as he waited impatiently. Part of him wanted to text her back, tell him how much he loved her, too, but he needed to tell her in person, hear her say it aloud. They would be the sweetest words he’d ever heard.

Dante sprinted down the steps of the aircraft as soon as it stopped.

“What time can I expect you back, Mr. Sinclair?” the captain called after Dante.

“Never,” he hollered back with an exhilaration he’d never experienced before, his heart lighter than it had ever been. “I’m already home,” he said to himself as he jogged into the airport, looking around in vain for Sarah. He knew she’d already left because his flight had been delayed, but desperation made him hope.

“Need a ride?” an amused male voice asked from behind him.

Dante turned to see his brother Jared lounging casually against the wall. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I figured you wouldn’t make it into the air before you realized you wanted to stay.” Jared pushed off the wall and walked the few feet that were separating them.

“How did you know?” Hell, Dante hadn’t even known that himself. If he had, he would have stayed home in bed with Sarah. Why had he been such an asshole? Why hadn’t he reasoned all of this out before he’d gotten on the plane?

Jared shrugged. “You love her, don’t you?”

“More than anything,” Dante answered honestly. “I didn’t tell her.”

“Let’s go. I’ll take you home,” Jared told his brother blandly, but his lips were twitching, partially turned up in a small smile.

Dante fell into step with Jared, who was making his way to the outside entrance, still perplexed as to why his brother was here but grateful that he was. Right now all Dante wanted to do was go home to the woman he loved, and Jared would get him there as quickly as possible.

Sarah halfheartedly packed a few things into a suitcase in Dante’s guest room with a sigh. He’d wanted her to stay here in his home, but she didn’t really want to be here when he wasn’t. It didn’t feel right. She decided to put some clothes together and head back to her own cottage. Maybe she wouldn’t miss him as much if she wasn’t staying in his house. There were just too many memories here.

I have to quit moping. I’ll see him in a few months. Missing him already isn’t even logical.

Smiling sadly, she dropped a pair of shoes into the suitcase and wandered down the hall to Dante’s room, knowing the old, analytical Sarah was gone. Loving Dante hadn’t affected her IQ, but it had changed her priorities. Love wasn’t at all reasonable. It was a complicated, messy emotion that robbed her of all sensible thought. The problem was, she didn’t care, and she didn’t even try not to feel it. She’d much rather feel alive and burn in Dante’s arms than to go back to being the woman she was before: a woman of reason who felt . . . almost nothing.

She curled up on Dante’s bed and pulled his pillow to her face, taking a long, deep, intoxicating breath of his scent until his essence made the sensitive flesh between her thighs start to pulsate with need.

Startling as Coco launched herself onto the bed, Sarah laughed when she saw the little canine and pulled the dog against her chest. “You miss him, too, don’t you?” She scratched the top of Coco’s head the way that Dante usually did and hugged her warm body, grateful that she wasn’t the only one already pining for Dante.

The door slammed downstairs, and Sarah sat up, alarmed. She hadn’t locked the door or set the alarm system. She’d only planned on being here for a short time, and the imminent danger was over. Dropping Coco gently to the floor, she rolled out of the bed and cautiously walked into the hall, taking the steps slowly. Maybe it was Jared or Grady. It could also be the lady who cleaned his house once a week, although she usually cleaned on Mondays.

Don’t panic. It could be someone Dante knows. It most likely is.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she stopped and looked around.

Nobody.

The sliding glass door was ajar, and she wondered if someone had gone out the back. Moving closer to it, she nearly had heart failure as a large body emerged from the kitchen.

“You didn’t lock the door,” the large form said in an angry, guttural tone.

Dante!

Sarah’s heart stuttered for just a second before it kicked in and started beating again. “Dante. Oh my God. You scared me,” she told him breathlessly.

“You were here alone and you didn’t lock the damn door,” he grumbled.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, still stunned.

“I got your message,” he said huskily, his intense, hazel eyes like liquid flames as he scanned her face.

He hadn’t left yet? “You weren’t already gone?”