She knew that, but it was lovely to hear him say it again, even if there were no easy options for them. “But I need time to think and I’m exhausted. Let’s go get a room at the hotel. There are no flights to New Orleans until the morning anyway, I’m sure.”

He nodded.

Sara had no idea what she would decide to do in the morning, but she knew how she wanted to spend the night.

And it wasn’t sleeping.

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-one

Gabriel wanted to say something to Sara, anything, to convince her to go back to New Orleans with him, but he knew what he was suggesting was a huge sacrifice for Sara, more than it was for him. He was asking her to live with him without any hope of marriage or children or a normal sexual relationship, giving up the chance to date and meet a man who could give her all of those things.

It was more than he should ever expect her to have to live without.

So he bit his tongue and kept his damn mouth shut when he really wanted to coax and cajole and remind her of the love he felt.

And she was tired, overwhelmed, processing what she had learned about demons and the death of her mother. She didn’t need his selfish whining, didn’t need to make an impulsive decision based on emotion and wake up in two years, five years, regretting the choice, the time she had wasted.

So Gabriel didn’t say a word, getting them a room at the hotel they had put Jocelyn in, a standard chain hotel with pleasant staff and lots of floral prints blanketing the lobby and the room itself. He didn’t have any luggage, and Sara had left her bag at Jocelyn’s apartment, so he secured toothbrushes and other necessaries at the front desk, and was putting them in the bathroom as Sara kicked off her sandals. When he walked back out, he was a little surprised to see her standing in her tank top and bikini panties, bent over the bed and systematically removing all the pillows but two, tossing the unwanted extras onto the other bed in a way that made her ass shake a little with each throw.

The view was one he certainly appreciated, and it created an immediate response from his own body, but it also confused him. Sara wasn’t one to run around in her underwear. But then again, she was clearly just getting ready for bed and she had no pajamas with her, so it meant nothing more than that she wanted to be comfortable.

“I’m going to call the airline and see about getting a flight back tomorrow,” he said. “Check times.”

“Okay,” she said, heading into the bathroom.