Page 57 of Uncharted Desires

She nodded and whispered. “He broke my heart, and I have a feeling they’re all the same.” Her eyes fluttered shut as she fell asleep.

West was unsure if she was talking about him or Archie, but the feel of her body wrapped in his at that moment was the most natural thing he’d ever felt in his life. He had to convince her that he had every intention of taking care of her heart.

Sixteen

One call to his father—the only number West had memorized—and a helicopter was landing in the middle of Sawu Island the next morning. Begrudgingly, West left the warm bed and the comfort of Kat wrapped around him as she slept. He had admitted a lot last night and hoped she had believed him.

It was becoming increasingly clear to him that he had strong feelings for her, and the second he had released himself inside her he knew there could be no one else. He needed her to challenge him when he was being an ass, and to comfort him when he was feeling low. And he wanted to be there for her. She deserved to know just how perfect she was every day, and that was exactly what he intended to do.

West ran out to meet the helicopter as he contemplated how to get Kat to stay with him when they got back to the States. She had a tough armor that he was slowly chipping away at, and yet, he could tell while she had given herself to him, she wasn’t quite ready to give him her heart.

“Mr. Monroe?” the captain yelled as West reached the helicopter, its blades spinning above loudly.

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Fantastic! Your father is going to be happy to see you.”

“My father?” West asked. This was a military helicopter and an American one at that. West had no idea what his father had to do with the military other than alerting the officials to his location. Their conversation on the phone had been short, as service had been spotty at best.

“Wouldn’t take no for an answer,” the captain said. “We didn’t have a transport at the ready to get you until tomorrow, but your dad must have friends in high places because I was woken up in the middle of the night with orders to come get you.”

“Oh . . . sorry about that.” West almost felt bad for making this poor guy fly through the night. His dad was, of course, a force to be reckoned with, and he didn’t even want to think about what favors he had called in to get West. They would have been fine on the island for another day, but Tommy Monroe would only expect the most expedient exit for his son.

“Don’t be. If I could just get something signed for my wife, all will be forgiven.”

West supposed it was the least he could do. “Yeah, sure of course,” he said with more excitement than he felt.

He covered his eyes from the sun and stared back at the rumah apat where Kat slept. “Let me get Kat and we can get out of here.”

A few hours later they were airborne and on their way to Jakarta. The whirls of the blades drowned out all other sounds, and West wanted nothing more than to comfort Kat as he watched her nervously wring her hands in her lap.

Being on the same channel as the pilot, he was unsure if he should ask her what was wrong. If it was about him, he knew she wouldn’t answer—and he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to know.

Giving in to curiosity, he grabbed one of her hands, pulling it into his lap. “What’s wrong?” he asked into the microphone of his headset, the only way she would be able to hear him.

“I don’t know. I know I should be excited to get back to my family and friends, but for some reason, I’m kind of sad it’s over. Does that make me crazy?”

West let go of her hand, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, their heads resting on each other, the headphones impeding the closeness West wanted. “No, that’s not crazy. It was nice being just the two of us in the end; it was our own little paradise, if we forgot about the murdering drug lords.”

“Yeah, it was nice. I guess I’m kind of nervous to see my mom too.” West’s dad had told him that Kat’s mom was at the hotel in Jakarta waiting for them, and when he had told Kat he was surprised she hadn’t reacted with much excitement.

“You don’t mention your mom very often, is there a reason for that?”

She exhaled audibly and glanced up at the pilot. “Uh, captain, can you just ignore us for a minute?”

“Sure thing, miss.” He saluted her and Kat looked visibly more at ease. Of course, the pilot could still hear her, but maybe he’d tune her out.

“My mom and I don’t get along very well,” she started, her hand tightening on his. “I was always daddy’s girl, and she adored my brothers.”

West searched his brain for what he knew about her brothers but came up blank. She really hadn’t talked much about her family other than her grandmother.

“Caleb is older than me and is an accountant. He’s married with two girls, and my mom can’t get enough of her grandchildren. Then there is my younger brother Cameron, he’s the baby of the family. He just had a kid with his new wife. They both have their shit together.”

“You have your shit together just fine,” West said loudly through the mic.

She rolled her eyes, a smile finally creeping across her face. “You know that’s not true. I still have no idea what I’m going to do when I get back to the real world, and I know that’s going to be the first thing my mother asks now that she knows I’m alive and fine. She was okay with me doing music, but in her eyes I’ll never be fulfilled until I’m married with children.”

“Do you want kids?” he asked, unsure if he even knew his own answer to that question.