Page 24 of Agent of the Heart (Hearts in Hawthorne #3)

Chapter

Fifteen

D arby told herself not to cry. To live in the moment. These last moments with Jace.

The alarm had gone off. At four. Though they had barely gotten any sleep, she seemed not to need much. As for Jace, he was on fire, working her into a frenzy and then slowing down. Teasing her to the brink and pulling back. Finally, she had begged him to enter her, and he had.

It was the best sex of her life.

Not that she had all that much experience. She hoped it didn’t show. Jace seemed to be satisfied, and that’s all that mattered to her.

He was a generous, considerate lover, taking care of her needs before fulfilling his own. She had come to crave his touch. His scent. His confidence.

How was she going to go back to Kansas City? And it would only get worse. At least in KC, she was far away. When she moved to Hawthorne, though, he would only be ninety minutes down the road. Close—but not nearly close enough.

Besides, this was probably it. Despite his reassurances, she couldn’t see a world with them winding up together. He had his life. She had her new one to go to.

Nothing could change that.

So, Jace would be close once she moved to Texas, but in a way, they would still be worlds apart.

He drove through the tollbooth, which meant that her terminal was coming up.

How could she thank him for such a magical time together?

They’d made love twice this morning, once in bed and once in the shower.

While she was getting ready, he’d gone out and picked up breakfast for her to eat in the car.

She glanced at him, seeing his strong profile.

The set jaw. A man full of determination, ready to rule the world.

Darby turned away, feeling tears sting the back of her eyes. She told herself again not to cry.

“This is it,” he said, pulling to the curb. “I checked on your gate just before we left.”

“Okay.”

They both got out of the car. He popped his trunk and removed her backpack, turning her to place it on her shoulders, and then spinning her around again. He leaned in for a kiss. It was lingering. Sweet.

And just about broke her heart.

Jace lifted her carry-on and extended the handle. “Here you go.”

She swallowed down the huge lump so she might have a chance to speak.

“I guess this is goodbye. Thank you for yesterday. I think it was the best day of my life.”

He moved closer, his forehead resting against hers. “Mine, too.” He kissed her quickly again and stepped back. “Text me when you land.”

“All right. Bye.”

Darby turned, wheeling her suitcase up the ramp to the sidewalk and entering the terminal. She glanced around to see where the TSA Precheck was since she didn’t need to check a bag and could bypass that line. As she rolled her luggage along, her heart grew heavy.

Joining the TSA line, she removed her wallet from her purse and pulled out her driver’s license to present as her ID.

Suddenly, she was whirled in the opposite direction. Jerked hard. A hot mouth came down on hers.

Jace …

She kissed him with everything she had, ignoring that they were in a public place. She tasted the bittersweetness in their goodbye but was grateful for one last kiss.

He broke it. “Sorry. I just needed one more.” He gave her a lopsided grin.

“You better go outside before your car gets ticketed. Or towed.”

His hand came up, cupping her cheek. “Maybe I could fly up to see you this weekend,” he ventured.

Knowing that he’d already played hooky today, she shook her head. “You’re behind at work as it is. And I bet if you pulled up your calendar, you’d have to cancel a ton of things.”

Looking glum, he said, “You’re probably right.”

“I’ve got a lot to do as it is,” she said, making small talk. “Turn in my notice. Get boxes. Start packing. Notify the electric company. The cable company. The newspaper.”

“Newspaper?” he asked. “You take an actual newspaper? I didn’t know anyone under sixty did that.” He gave her a teasing smile.

“My dad always subscribed to one. Remember, I wanted to be a journalist at one point. Yes, I get most of my news from the internet or TV, but I like the in-depth articles of a print newspaper. And they have the best cartoons.”

He smoothed her hair. “I guess I’ll have to check it out.”

“Goodbye, Jace.”

He studied her a long moment. “Goodbye, Darby. I’m glad I sought out Eli—because it led me to meeting you.”

Before she could reply, he turned and strode away. She watched him until he was out of sight and then sighed, taking the handle of her suitcase again and moving back into line.

The rest of her trip went without a glitch. She boarded on time. Wrote her report for Peggy since she needed to present it in a few hours to her boss. Darby was thankful she had something to work on because it kept her from dwelling on Jace.

At the airport, she disembarked and used her rideshare app to arrange transportation to her office.

On the way, she texted Jace to let him know she was back in KC.

His reply was a thumbs up. She tried not to read too much into that or be hurt by such a curt reply.

He was a busy man who had a lot on his plate.

The fact that he even texted her back right away was enough.

Once she arrived at the Cheer USA offices, she placed her things in the corner of her office and closed her door. No one knew she was leaving yet, other than Peggy, and she doubted her boss had shared that news, especially since Peggy was going to make a case for Darby staying at Cheer USA.

Going through her emails, she answered several and made notes for what to do on others.

With the time left before her meeting, she began composing a list of things her successor would need to do.

It was about two-thirds finished when she stopped and ran hard copies of her report to take to the meeting, one for her and one for Peggy.

She also emailed the report to her supervisor.

With five minutes until the meeting began, she congratulated herself for having successfully kept her thoughts from straying to Jace.

And that terribly romantic gesture of coming into the airport to kiss her goodbye a final time.

Gathering her report, her notes, and her tablet, Darby left her office.

She passed a few co-workers and said hi to them, preparing herself for what lay ahead.

Peggy’s assistant waved her in, and Darby went into her boss’ office, closing the door behind her.

While the report regarding the Dallas facility wasn’t confidential by any means, whatever they discussed regarding her job would be.

“Have a seat at the table,” Peggy said, her fingers dancing across her keyboard. “Just finishing up an email.”

She made her way to the table and placed her things on it before sitting, taking three deep breaths and slowly letting them out in order to calm herself.

Peggy stood and went to the mini-fridge, retrieving two sparkling waters. Darby had a weakness for them and nodded. Peggy placed each can in a koozie bearing the Cheer USA logo and brought them to the table.

Taking a chair, she said, “Welcome back. How was your trip to Dallas?”

“I went in a little early so I could attend a family wedding,” she shared. “My cousin was getting married. Although I’d FaceTimed with her and the groom, this was the first time I’d met Eli in person.”

“And you approve of him?”

“Very much. Eli is smart. Personable. Handsome. And he worships the ground Autumn walks on.”

“I wouldn’t know what that’s like,” Peggy joked. “Two husbands have bitten the dust. I think I’ve sworn off marriage for good.”

“Third time might be the charm,” she said. “What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic.”

Peggy eyed her. “You never mention much about your personal life, Darby. Are you seeing anyone? I know you travel a great deal. It’s hard to maintain a relationship with that kind of schedule.”

She felt heat fill her cheeks. “I’ve met someone recently. I don’t think anything will come of it, but we’ve had some fun together.” Wanting to steer the conversation back to work, she passed over her report. “Let’s go over the details of how nationals will work in Dallas come February.”

For the next hour, Darby walked Peggy through everything, answering questions her boss had. She’d had the foresight to take pictures on her tour, knowing Peggy would want to see them. They scrolled through her phone, discussing everything from concessions to practice rooms to the setup backstage.

Her boss leaned back, a satisfied look in her eyes.

“You always have such attention to detail. It’s one of the reasons I hired you all those years ago.

Yes, you were a fantastic cheerleader. Cute figure.

Clear, sharp moves. You could dance like nobody’s business.

You’ve done a great job teaching cheers and dances to campers across the nation, and your choreography is inventive and fun.

Girls across America are dancing to the moves you created. You have a lot to be proud of.”

Peggy took a sip of her drink. “That’s why I promoted you a while back, Darby. You have a clear vision. You tend to the details, but you can also see the big picture.” Peggy paused. “I had hopes of you succeeding me as the head of Cheer USA someday.”

Darby had sensed this was coming. “First, we both know you won’t retire anytime soon, Peggy. You’re a workaholic and enjoy what you do. While I’ve enjoyed my new role with the organization, I’m ready to move on.”

“What if I set a date for my retirement and named you as my successor to the board? Would that change your mind?”

She shook her head. “Maybe a few years ago it might have, but I’m ready to do something different. What I trained to do in college. I want to teach, Peggy.”

“But you’ve taught for years here at Cheer USA,” her boss protested.