Page 84 of Between Hello and Goodbye

“I miss you too.”

Bam,I miss you.It was the first time either of us had said something like that on a call, never mind right off the bat. We’d kept everything as light as possible, as if we were both afraid to say more than our geographical separation would allow. We hadn’t even sexted, for crying out loud, and now my entire body and heart felt like they were reaching across the Pacific for him.

“You sound hoarse. Was it very smoky on the Big Island?”

“It wasn’t great,” he said. “I probably didn’t wear my mask enough, but it’s too hard to shout orders.”

I nodded against the phone. My firefighter was shouting orders because he was now mylieutenantfirefighter. The fact that he’d taken his promotion spoke volumes, but I shoved the ramifications away. It was too good to talk to him.

“I finished the ad,” I said. “Turned out pretty well.”

“Yeah? I’m not surprised in the least. Congrats.”

Hot tears sprung to my eyes. “Thank you. I sort of needed to hear that from someone who doesn’t stand to make millions off of it.”

“No, you made something out of nothing with your own two hands, right? You had a vision and you made it real. We have to celebrate.”

“We?”

“I was thinking of coming to visit. Tonight.”

I nearly dropped the phone. “Really? Tonight?”

“There’s a redeye that leaves in a few hours. Gets in tomorrow morning.”

“Yes!” I practically shouted, then mentally kicked myself. “I’d love that. How long can you stay?”

“I have five days off. That’s probably too much for you with your work schedule…”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll take personal leave, or I can work around it… Hell, I’ll tell them I’ve been kidnapped and won’t be released for exactly five days.”

Asher chuckled, his deep voice sounding rougher and sexier than ever. “I’ll grab a hotel and—”

“Jeez, Mackey,” I said, trying to sound flirty and light over my pounding heart. “We’ve been naked together. No hotel. You’ll stay with me. Okay?”

“Okay,” he said quietly. “I’ll text you when I land. See you soon, Faith.”

“Tomorrow,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The following morning, I showered and primped and prepared my body for ravishment, but no text arrived from Asher. At nine a.m. I checked the flight times online. The only Lihue-to-SeaTac redeye should’ve arrived around seven-thirty in the morning. I texted him but there was no answer.

Finally, at around ten-thirty, just when I’d convinced myself he’d changed his mind and stayed home, a text came in.

Sorry. I’m in town. Had to sleep.

I frowned and texted back.Where are you?

Hotel. Don’t want to get you sick.

I fumed.Hotel? We talked about this. What’s wrong?

Prob just laryngitis. It happens after a call sometimes. Be gone in 24.

That wasn’t going to cut it. I itched to call him, but if it hurt to talk, I didn’t want to add to his pain. My fingers flew.Which hotel? I’ll come over.

If it’s a bug, don’t want to give it to you.

You won’t. I haven’t had so much as a sniffle in years which is pretty amazing considering the only vitamins I take are V-O-D-K and A.