Page 15 of The Heart of a Capricorn (BLP Signs of Love #19)

A week had passed since Lyric showed up at my room door with her eyes wet and face puffy.

Whatever happened really bothered her. She never went into detail about what happened, except that she finally put the past behind her.

I didn’t push her to tell me what she meant, because it wasn’t important.

If it were meant for me to know, she would tell me when she got ready.

I was just happy that she chose me as her safe space.

Since then, she seemed to be in better spirits, and we had spent all of our free time together.

We did things like trying new restaurants, sightseeing, and zip-lining.

I enjoyed learning more about her. She knew what she wanted and worked hard to get it.

She was a no-nonsense kind of person. Even though it could be perceived as harsh, Lyric didn’t hesitate to speak her mind.

It was a trait that I wish more people had.

Don’t hide your feelings, because someone else might be mad about it.

“What would you do if someone gave you a whole lot of land? Like, a thousand acres?” Lyric asked as she did a crossword puzzle in her book.

We were in my room after having breakfast, relaxing for the day.

“I would build houses for my immediate family. Maybe build a shelter for the homeless that offers programs to help ease them back into society. It’s a lot of things that could be done with that much land. What would you do?”

She put her book down and focused on me. “Same, but I would probably add a farm, and garden, or something. It’s not like I can garden, because I’d kill the plants.” She giggled. “But, I could hire someone to do it for me.”

“That sounds like a good idea. How’s the project coming along?”

She twisted her body to lie on my chest. Her puzzle book was next to her on the bed. Her hair was out, so I ran my fingers through it.

“It’s going well. Still not sure as to when we’ll be done, but I feel like we are getting close. It’s a lot that we have to do.”

The sound of my phone interrupted the moment. I wanted to turn it off, but I couldn’t in case my boss called about the person they’d been tracking.

“I have to take this,” I told Lyric as I sat up in bed.

She rolled over and looked at me as I answered.

“Hello.”

“Chauncey, I need you to come in. We just got some information that I need to update you guys on. It shouldn’t take long, but I want to tell you all in person.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.” I looked at Lyric while I talked, and noticed her shoulders drop.

I hung up the phone and put it back on the table. I leaned forward and kissed Lyric’s shoulder. She only had the sheet wrapped around her since we had a morning sex session after breakfast.

“Everything okay?” she asked with concern.

“Yeah. My boss needs me to come in. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Oh, okay,” she mentioned as she swung her legs over the bed. “I could go to my room and chill out there.”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my chest. I didn’t want to leave her, but duty called. I just hoped whatever my boss had to say wouldn’t keep us too long and that I wouldn’t have to cut my time here short.

“No, I want you to be here when I get back.” I kissed the curve of her neck and held one of her breasts in my hand.

Her eyes roamed across my face like she was searching for something. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I kissed her lips. “Let me go so I can get back.”

“Okay.”

Lyric got back in bed, while I got up to take a quick shower and get dressed. Once I was done, I kissed Lyric goodbye as she worked on another puzzle, then left.

Twenty minutes later, I walked into the conference room. Everyone was already seated, so they were just waiting for me.

“Listen up, guys. We just got word that our guy will be leaving out of here to fly to the Atlanta airport, where he is supposed to plant some type of device or something. We are still unsure of what it is, but we know when and what time he is supposed to be leaving.” He focused his attention on me.

“Chauncey, I want you to lead the team. I put my trust in you to solve this shit before it gets out of hand. Do you think you can handle it?”

“Hell yeah, I got this.”

“Okay, then. He’s supposed to fly out in forty-eight hours on flight MN1223. I need you and your guys on that plane.”

“Yes, sir.” I looked around at the guys who were on my team, and I knew we had a good chance of catching this guy before something went wrong. I had plenty of faith in them, as they did in me, to lead them.

We stayed in the conference room for another twenty minutes or so, finalizing the departure time and going over any information we had. We at least tried to figure out what the guy’s motive was, or what he could have possibly been trying to do, but we didn’t get anywhere with that.

I was on a high when I first left the meeting, because this was moment I had been waiting for.

This mission could increase my pay and responsibilities if everything went according to plan.

But as I headed back to my room and thought about Lyric, my mood changed.

How was I going to tell her that I would have to leave her so soon, and I didn’t have a clear idea of when I would be back?

Things between us had started going well to the point where I felt like maybe we could pick this up once we left. My leaving like that might set us back.

Lyric perked up when I walked back into my hotel room. She was in the living room area watching something on television.

“Hey,” she greeted me.

“Hey.”

Lyric tore her eyes from the movie and looked at me. It was like she could tell that something was on my mind.

“You good?” she asked.

I walked closer to her and sat down. I couldn’t look at her because I knew she would be able to tell I lied just by looking at me. Lyric had always been good at spotting bullshit.

I ran my hand down my face. “Yeah. I’m good. I told you I wasn’t going to be gone long.”

I had to say something to ease the thick tension in the room.

I knew I should have told her what was going on, but I couldn’t bring myself to.

I didn’t want to, because I didn’t want her to leave prematurely.

If I only had two days left to spend with her, I needed that time.

I didn’t know what would happen on this assignment.

I hated to think of the negatives, but I had to.

It was unlikely, but something bad could really go wrong.

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure you are okay? I can give you some space if need be.”

I pulled her onto my lap with her legs draped on the side.

“No space is needed.” I kissed her lips to reassure her.

She didn’t seem convinced, but she dropped it. Her body twisted until she got comfortable, then she focused on the movie.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t stop thinking about what this assignment could mean for my career and my place in Lyric’s life.

The rest of the day was spent chilling in my room. I could tell Lyric was still skeptical of my actions. We shared minimal conversation, and when we ended up in my bed at the end of the night, the lovemaking wasn’t even the same, because I was distracted.

I knew deep down it probably would have been better to tell her at the moment, than the morning when I left, but I didn’t have the guts to.

When Lyric fell asleep, I held her in my arms as tightly as I could because I had a feeling I wouldn’t get this moment again.