Iris sat silently in the passenger’s seat beside him, her fingers twisting and untwisting the strap of her purse.

After three hours of sleep—if that—the two of them had crawled blearily from bed before anyone else could get up. She had a plane to catch. He had a show that night. They’d woken the boys long enough to say goodbye, and Eli’s mom had made them a quick breakfast, which they’d eaten trying to avoid each other’s eyes lest they give everything away.

But now they were alone, and words were hard coming.

By the time Eli found a parking spot in the airport garage and looked over at her, he saw that silent tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Iris,” he said, touching her shoulder. “Look at me, babe.”

She wouldn’t. She only stared resolutely ahead at the wall of concrete through the windshield. He lifted his hand and trailed his thumb along the line of tears on her soft cheek. “What’s this about?”

“I don’t want to leave,” she whispered.

“You should be looking forward to getting some time for yourself.”

Finally, she turned her head to him, then shook it slowly back and forth, her blue eyes so dim and sad it killed something inside of him. “Then don’t fucking go,” he blurted, realizing he meant it with all his heart. He hadn’t felt right all day either, but now that the words were out, it was the obvious solution to their shared funk.

“I have to.”

“Why?”

“Heidi already paid for my ticket, so—”

“Heidi paid for your ticket with my money, so don’t let that stop you.”

She rolled her eyes. “I mean when she finds out . . . and she will find out. Me not going home when you don’t have the kids with you, that’s a statement. Everyone will know something is going on. Your band will know. Your fans will know.” She drew a deep, shaking breath. “It’s only a few days. I know I’m being silly. I’ll go.”

“You’re right, it’s only a few days. For a few days, it would be no problem to keep you hidden, if that’s what you want.”

She looked down at her hands, now lying limp and hopeless in her lap, having abandoned their nervous twisting. “That’s what life would become, wouldn’t it? Hiding.”

He threw his weight back in his seat with a string of curses. It was always motherfucking Heidi. For the hundredth time he had the thought: if not for his kids, he would wish he’d never met the woman.

And Iris . . . he wished he’d met her any other way. “I want you to stay,” he said at last, talking to the concrete wall himself now, trying to keep his anger in check. “I really don’t give a fuck what she knows or what she doesn’t. I realize you do, though. So it’s up to you. But the offer stands, and we’ll work it however you want.”

Iris wiped both her cheeks, then pulled down the visor to check her reflection in the mirror. He sighed. She was going, just when he thought he might have her all to himself. A stretch of bleak days loomed ahead of him, and he’d tried not to think about it, but as soon as her plane went wheels up, what was he going to do with himself? No Seger. No Dylan. No Iris. Only faceless crowds and the same assholes he dealt with night after night.

Shit.

She popped open the door and slid out, while he watched and waited for her to hurl herself back inside and tell him to gun it. When it became cruelly apparent she wasn’t going to, he got out and collected her carry-on bag from the back.

At least it was light. She wouldn’t be gone long. The rest of her things were still on the bus. He might sleep on a pile of her clothes, just so he could smell her.

He extended the handle and rolled her bag behind him, drawing her close with his other arm. She tucked so perfectly into his side. No sense marring her exit by pouting about their circumstances, right? Before he knew it, the kids would be back and she would be back and—

What then? The tour would end. The boys would go back to Heidi, and so would Iris.

His steps faltered. Beside him, she stopped and gazed up at him, her eyes now hidden behind dark oversized sunglasses that concealed the tears he knew brimmed there. “What’s the matter?”

“Don’t go.”

“Elijah.” She dropped her chin, pressing her forehead into his chest as his arms went around her. Parking garage traffic streamed along beside them, distant honks echoing, but they could have been the only people in the world for all he cared.

“We don’t have much more time,” he said, stroking her back while she trembled. “And I don’t want to miss a minute of it.”

She lifted her face to look at him, and he gently pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, needing to see what she was feeling. Expressive blue eyes met his, her lashes wet and spiky as she blinked tears away.

“If this all goes wrong, I’m risking everything.”

He simply held her face, stroking her streaming tears away with his thumbs, knowing there was little he could say to make her feel better about that. They were risking everything standing out in the open like this, though he was wearing a cap with his hair tucked in. It would take a very discerning eye to recognize him, but he knew those eyes were out there. Hell, some fans had his ink memorized.

At the end of the day, Iris was right. As much as he wanted to tell her he would protect her—and he would do his damnedest—he couldn’t defend her from the shit storm his ex-wife would unleash into her life. Any trial of public opinion he would weather easily enough—he would probably be celebrated, the nanny-banging rock star—but Iris would not. Sighing, he settled her sunglasses back onto her pert little nose, then leaned down to kiss her forehead. She gave him a soft smile in return.

If he wanted to protect her, he should put her on the damn plane and walk away. He should walk away for good, before they even got started, because they’d spent one night together and she was already crying. There was nothing but tears in her future if he didn’t end this.

He knew it, but he held her a little closer to his side as he walked her toward the pedestrian bridge and the terminal beyond.

––––––––

IRIS HATED CRYING IN public. She hated crying, period, but the harder she tried to make the tears go back where they belonged, the more persistently they flowed. The reason for them eluded her, except that she’d had one of the best experiences of her life last night and was a little raw from it. A few days at home ought to be exactly what she needed to clear her head and get herself pulled together, but the thought of those long, empty hours was nearly unbearable.

At least this was an airport, and tearful goodbyes weren’t unheard of. She checked in at a kiosk, then they found a quiet place to sit before she had to leave him and go through security. He held her hand in his, tracing the lines on her palm with his fingertips as if memorizing every one.

So much had changed in so few hours.

“I hope your shows go well,” she told him, grasping for something to say.

“It’ll be weird not having you guys there watching.”

“Maybe I can find a live stream somewhere and watch every night.”

He chuckled. “I thought you hated the music.”

“I don’t hate it! And you know, I hardly hate you. You’re sort of all right.”

Grinning, he leaned closer and nuzzled beneath her ear, making her giggle. “Good to know.” Her laughter abated as he pressed a teasing kiss against her neck. She closed her eyes as he murmured, “In case it was in any way unclear, last night? Fucking incredible.”

“It was fairly clear,” she said shyly, a flush creeping up her cheeks. His fingers slid between hers, reminding her of how he’d held her hand under the covers.

“I love how you blush. I swear to Christ if I didn’t have a show tonight, I’d book myself on this flight with you.”

“What would you do with me in the air for four hours?”

His green eyes smoldered as he pulled back to study her face, as if committing it to memory. “So many things.”

She didn’t doubt the wicked man for a moment. When his gentle scrutiny became too much for her to bear any longer, she inched as close as she possibly could and nestled her head on his shoulder.

“But think of everything I could do if you stayed.”

Iris closed her eyes and shivered. “I’m here. I checked in. I need to go.”

“I could keep you in my bed on the bus and not let you out.”

“I would get bored.”

“The fuck you would.”

That made her chuckle. “You would have your shows. I wouldn’t get to see.”

“Stream it on your phone. I’ll do something special just for you. The noise bothers you anyway.”

She’d come to like some of his music, especially the song that had a piano solo he played himself, and the audience always became a glittering starscape with their lighters and cell phones held aloft. By that point in the show, he was shirtless and dripping sweat and the female screams were deafening. Those moments in Ruin’s set were beautiful and full of magic. She’d often read online that aside from Eli’s incredibly powerful voice, his talents as a musician were renowned and well respected. Even critics had to agree that he knew his stuff.

This beautiful, brilliant, world-famous man was asking her to stay with him for the next few days. She wanted to stay with him.

“What if Heidi wants to see me for some reason, and I’m not there?”

“You can always make something up, Iris. You’re taking the time to go see friends or to take a trip by yourself.”

She lifted her head and caught his eye. “I would have to lie. Lying and hiding. One lie would turn into another, and on and on. I don’t like that. It’s not how I want to live.”

“Is it really a lie? You are taking time for yourself with friends.”

“By omission of truth, yes.”

“If that’s the way you want to look at it, then you’re lying to her by being with me at all, aren’t you?”

Iris looked down at her hands, feeling the dangerous sting of tears behind her eyes again.

Eli sighed and bumped her lightly with his shoulder. “Hey, it’s all right. I can be a pushy bastard. I’m sorry. How much time do you have?”

She checked her phone. “We’ll board in forty-five minutes. I’d better get through security.” From her vantage point, the line didn’t look too terribly long, but the longer she sat here, the weaker her resolve grew. If she was going, she needed to go now, though the thought of tearing herself away from the comfort of his warmth made her lose her breath. She drew the deepest one she could to fight the tightness in her chest.

He stood, not letting go of her hand, and she felt a hundred pounds heavier as she dragged herself to her feet. All at once, like a dam, her tears broke through, and an embarrassing, hiccupping sob tore from her throat.

Eli had pulled her into his arms in an instant. “What is this, Iris? This isn’t all about you leaving for five days, because that’s nothing. Look, we won’t do this if it’s going to tear you up. Tell me, and I’ll walk away. Fucking hell, I don’t want to. But I will.”

“No,” she told him fiercely, holding on for dear life. “It’s a lot of things. It’s not all bad. I’m sad to leave, but I’m happy too.”

“This doesn’t look like happy.”

She chuckled and sniffled. How to explain to him what she was feeling? It was too early in their relationship—whatever it was—for all that. He would never, ever understand what last night had meant to her. How happy and relieved she was to know in her heart that whatever came next for them, he would make it good. So good she might not survive it.

Fear of intimacy had been hanging over her head for a long, long time. It was still there, but it was . . . lesser. For the first time, probably in her life, she looked forward to it. She was excited for it.

Maybe she wanted it to start right now.

Iris tightened her arms around his waist, looking up at him. “Eli?”

“What, babe?”

“Get me out of here.”

She didn’t have to ask twice. All she could do was laugh wildly through her tears as he scooped her up over his shoulder, people watching all around as he grabbed her carry-on bag and kidnapped her from the airport.