Plane? Did he just say he owned a fucking plane? This was what I was talking about. We knew nothing about one another. But damn if I didn’t want to.
Against my better judgement, I did what he suggested. Regardless of what was decided, he was right about one thing. We’d need to figure out our next move and agree on what that move was.
Chapter 6
Madeline and Lizzie texted me back within minutes and told me they were packing up and would be by the suite momentarily. I needed my toiletry bag something fierce. I didn’t feel human and needed a shower.
Gage was still at the table on his tablet getting some work emails sent. I took that moment to walk over to the windows and look out at the city.
How had I allowed myself to get into this mess?
My parents would never understand this.
My siblings would use this chaotic decision to their advantage and put me down as usual. I’d been too perfect in their eyes since I always thought out my plans and didn’t do anything on a whim. I shouldn’t even be considering his outrageous plan, but there was just something about him that I didn’t want to let go. The thought of leaving him behind left me feeling bereft. For having just met him, I felt like he was supposed to be in my life. It was odd and sounded crazy, but I’d read somewhere that sometimes the best laid plans weren’t always supposed to go according to plan. Sometimes we had to let in a little crazy to be happy. Well, I’d let in a lot of crazy with this plan, so something good should come out of it based on that theory alone.
A knock on the door broke me out of my thoughts. I turned to see Gage get up from the table and walk over to let in my friends.
“You look thoroughly pleasured,” Madeline joked as she walked through the door followed by Lizzie. She needed to gain a filter.
“Do you always have to say exactly what you’re thinking?” I looked over to see Gage shaking his head and laughing to himself at her antics.
“I do. It’s what you love about me,” she stated, walking over to me and giving me a hug. She and Lizzie were both dressed down today wearing sneakers, jeans, and fitted t-shirts. Lizzie held my toiletry bag and purse, while Madeline wheeled my suitcase.
“Thanks for bringing my stuff. There’s been a change of plans. I’m not going on the flight home with you two.” I wanted them to yell, tell me I shouldn’t do what I was about to do. They did neither.
“Oh, we figured as much.”
Huh?
“Some things happened, and I’m going to fly back with Gage.”
“Tell us all about it when you’re home. We’re heading to the airport. Message us when you’re home and we’ll stop by.” They hugged me and handed me my things before they walked back to the door and left.
They didn’t even question it. They always had to know everything, yet they just let me leave it at that.
“You don’t look happy about what just happened,” Gage said as he walked over to me. He was shirtless and in a pair of basketball shorts. I hadn’t even taken in his appearance this morning since my head was still in shambles from the night before and the confession he made this morning.
Damn, the man had the infamous V. The one I’d only read about in books. His abs were perfectly sculpted. Shit. He was perfection.
“You checking me out is doing all sorts of things to me,” he whispered as he closed in on me.
“I need to get a shower. What time were you planning to leave?”
“The plane will be ready around three. We’ve got plenty of time.”
My toiletry bag was thrown over my shoulder, and I wheeled the suitcase behind me as I all but ran to the bathroom to get away from Gage. While my body sure wanted to experience Gage again, my mind just couldn’t allow me to give in. My common sense kicked in and made me refrain.
I took the longest shower of my life, allowing the water to cascade down my body and soothe my rampant thoughts. My fingers were pruned by the time I turned the water off. After wrapping my hair and body in a towel, I walked over to the mirror and cleared the fog off the surface with my hand.
Staring back at me was a woman, who for once in her life didn’t have all the answers. Who didn’t have the master plan set in place. Whose perfect structure that took her a lifetime to build began crumbling with one encounter of a sexy, passionate man.
For once, I took the time to style my hair. A straightener that I’d used on rare occasions was put to use as I straightened each frizzy lock. Once I was done, I pulled it back in a sleek ponytail. I hated having it fall in my face. Some habits would never die. It wasn’t that I never wore it down, I just preferred it pulled up.
I put on a minimal amount of makeup to make me look human and then opened my suitcase. I’d packed my go-to flying attire and wasn’t about to be uncomfortable on the flight just to please a man.
Dressed in my yoga capris and an oversized t-shirt that read ‘Boys in Books Are Better’, I slipped on a pair of blue sneakers that paired perfectly with my outfit.
Since I couldn’t hide out in here forever, I packed up my things and with a deep breath in, I walked back out into the room where Gage awaited.
He looked up from the table and sat down his tablet.
Gage raked his eyes up and down my body, taking in my appearance as I sat my bags and suitcase by feet.
“Are they better?” he asked as he stood from the table.
I was so caught up in the way he looked at me that it took a second to figure out what he referred to.
“In my experience, yes,” I answered honestly. Until him, they were so much better.
“Why’s that?” he questioned, rounding the table and walking over to where I stood a few feet away.
“Because they don’t say things that you can’t take back usually. They know how to treat women. They are the realistic fantasy between the pages.”
“Someone really did a number on you, didn’t he?” He reached behind me and took my hair between his fingers as he toyed with the long brown strands.
Not just one someone. Two someone’s.
But I wasn’t ready to confess that.
I just shrugged and turned my head to look away, ashamed that he could read me so easily. I needed to perfect my poker face and not wear telling shirts around him anymore.
“I’ll leave that for another time. I like this look on you better. It suits you more than the dress you were wearing last night. Don’t get me wrong. That dress fit you perfectly and was every man’s fantasy, but this look. You’re more beautiful this way.”
Did he always have to say the right things? Words I’d longed to hear, but never had because of selfish, bratty college boys who didn’t know how to treat women.
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I leaned into him and placed my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. I hadn’t known I needed one until this moment. He smelled so good and his arms felt even better when they settled on the lower part of my back in an embrace.
“I’m gonna make you see how beautiful you are if you’ll let me. You don’t take those types of compliments well when you should. It’ll be my second mission,” he whispered as he stroked his hand up and down my back.
Second? Which was the first?
“And the first mission?”
“To get you to stay married to me,” he confessed.
Why would he want that when we didn’t know each other?
“I know I sound nuts, but there’s something about you that just makes me feel right about wanting that. I’ll figure out a better way of wording it later, but for now, I’m listening to my gut. And my gut chooses you,” he explained.
My gut chose him too when I thought about it. If we’d met back home and a relationship progressed in a normal fashion, I wouldn’t have even questioned it. So maybe I shouldn’t question it now. There were worse things that could happen. Right?
Chapter 7
We were now in his massive private plane. I’d never seen anything so luxurious in my
life. Well, I’d take that back. I’d seen it, in movies. It made me wonder what this man did for a living. Gage was off talking with the pilot as I sat there in the leather seat awaiting his return. I didn’t mind flying. I just hated the takeoff and landing.
I rubbed my hands up and down the leather armrests hoping to calm my nerves and dry out the clamminess that had gathered on my palms.
“You okay over there?” Gage asked, causing me to jump.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just taking it all in.”
“Are you okay with flying?” he asked as he took the seat beside me.
“Yeah. I just don’t like taking off and landing.”
“I’m sure we can come up with a way to get your mind off that when the time comes. Wheels will go up in fifteen minutes.”
After we’d had a brief conversation in the hotel, he showered and got ready to leave. Just like last night, he was dressed in jeans and a button-up shirt. Only this time, the shirt was a light gray color and he paired it with a lighter, but still dark, denim and his boots. I focused on his appearance to calm my racing mind and heart. His closeness also helped to soothe my anxiety.
“This is all yours?”
“It is. I took in the cost my company spent to take private flights and considered the cost of a private plane. The upfront cost was a doosey, but over the years, I’ll save a ton of money.”
“What about just flying first class?”
“I used to do that, until the company expanded its endeavors. We need the private flights for our clients more than personal use.”
“What do you do for a living that allows you to own this fancy plane?”
I asked, just as the pilot came over the intercom and announced that we were going to begin taking off. We buckled our seatbelts as instructed and I placed my hands on the armrests, giving them an extra firm grip.
“What do you do for a living that allows you to own this fancy plane?”
“The fancy plane was only bought to save money on commercial flights. I weighed the pros and cons for months and even had my financial advisor give me reports on the cost effectiveness of this type of purchase. Anyway, I own a security firm. We started out hosting company severs and protecting them from hackers. I branched out about two years ago to also offer private security. The computer security firm is based out of Seattle. The private sectors have offices in Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami.”
He talked about his company with pride. I assumed he explained the plane because he’d gotten some backlash for the purchase from someone, but that was a topic for another conversation. A much deeper one that we could have much later if we got that far.” he informed as the plane started to move.
“Avery,” he whispered just as I shut my eyes to focus on something other than the takeoff.
I couldn’t answer. My nerves were spread too thin.
“Avery,” he said more sternly than before, and I took the chance to open my eyes and turn my head toward him. Only he wasn’t as far away as he’d been before. His face was right in front of mine. His breath right there caressing my lips. His head descended upon mine, and his lips caressed mine softly at first. Then his hand moved to the back of my head to pull me closer to him. Our lips moved over each other’s in perfect sync. My thoughts were no longer on the plane and its ascent. They were on how he made me feel in this very moment. I lost all track of time as he continued to kiss me.
When he pulled back, I was out of breath and thoroughly kissed.
Damn, he was good.
The plane was already in the air by the time we broke apart.
“Feel better now?”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, still completely breathless and flushed.
“You never have to thank me for kissing you. It’s not a hardship. Trust me.”
My cheeks flushed even further and I turned my head, too embarrassed at my reaction to continue looking him in the eye.
“Where should we start?” he asked, causing a look of confusion to appear on my face.
I turned to look at him, hoping he’d continue to explain his question.
He must’ve seen that I didn’t understand what he was trying to ask because he continued with “To get to know each other. We’ve got approximately two and a half hours.”
Where should we begin? The basics. I wasn’t comfortable sharing my deepest thoughts with a man I didn’t know, so I figured that was the safest route.
“What’s your favorite color?” It was asinine to think I was asking this question considering that he’d seen me naked and we were technically married after all, but we had to start somewhere; might as well start there and see where the conversation led us.
“At the moment, green,” he replied. I was about to ask him what he meant by ‘at the moment,’ but I saw the way he was looking at me and realized he was referring to the color of my eyes.
Charming little devil.
“Yours?”
“I’ve always loved sky blue,” I told him. That might be a little specific, but that color always gave me a calming feeling whenever I saw it. I tried to incorporate it in almost every room in my apartment when I decorated it two years ago.
“What do you do for a living?” he asked in return. I guess we were going to take turns at this getting to know each other game.
“I’m an assistant to the CEO of an advertising and marketing firm.” I loved my job. I loved creating the contracts and seeing the projects come to life. Especially when we built the advertising for a startup company. We built their brand and helped bring their visions to life.
“You enjoy it?”
“Very much. I get to travel when he needs me to join him. I’ve seen some amazing places. I also love getting creative. He lets me give him my ideas on some projects, and I feel like I’m helping people. Win-win for me.”
“How old are you?” I asked. How did I not even know the age of my own husband? This conversation was not helping resolve the craziness in my head in the slightest.
“I’m thirty-one. You?”
Six-year difference. Not too bad.
“I’m twenty-five.”
“Any children?” I asked with a lump in my throat. This topic wasn’t one I liked discussing, but I had to get to know him and didn’t want any surprises.
“I have a three-year-old daughter named Cheyanne,” he replied as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. I tried to keep my facial expression as neutral as possible while he searched for something. He turned the phone around to show me a picture of the two of them together at what looked like a park. She had the same color eyes as he did, big, bright, and blue. Her hair was a little blonder than his with the bounciest curls. Her arms were around his neck as they gave big smiles to the camera. He looked happy in the picture, and she looked over the moon to be in her daddy’s arms.
“Her mom?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around my stomach.
“Isn’t in the picture.”
He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t push the question any further.
The fact that he had a child wasn’t a deal breaker, but sooner or later, we’d have to have a conversation that I dreaded. I hadn’t even spoken the admission aloud since I got the news. I didn’t want it to be real so I kept it to myself. Only my family knew. I hadn’t even told Madeline or Lizzie.
He said something, but I didn’t hear him. I was too engrossed in my thoughts of how this relationship could work long term with what I’d have to eventually confess.
“Where did you go?” he asked, touching my arm to break me out of my haze.
“Off to lala land. Sorry, what did you say?”
“How do you feel about kids?”
“I love kids.” I did. I had a few nieces and nephews and loved my time with them.
“So, it’s not a deal breaker that I’m a dad?”
“Not at all.”
“Good.”
We continued to chat endlessly. After his confession of having a daughter, the conversation flowed a
nd my anxiety lessened. I learned that he grew up with a brother and his parents in a middle-class family. That explained why he thought so hard about the plane purchase. He also wanted a dog someday, but wanted to wait until he was in a house and not a penthouse apartment so he or she could run in a yard. We had a lot in common surprisingly. If we’d met under normal circumstances, I could definitely see a relationship growing between us.
I told him about my brother and sister and my parents. I left out how judgmental they all were. How they always thought their opinions were needed to try to control my life. That’s why I rarely went over there. I didn’t need that type of negativity in my life. We both loved art and nights in watching movies.
The plane landed all too soon. I didn’t know where we went from here. There was still too much that was unknown. I hated the unknown. I was a planner through and through. Which was why I wasn’t handling the fact that I was now married to a stranger with too many questions and not enough answers. I wasn’t exactly patient either.
There was a car waiting for us at the terminal when we finally exited the plane. He grabbed our bags and walked us over to the car.
“Where to?” he asked after we were seated in the back.
I gave him my address and sat next to the door, looking out of the window.
“What’s the matter?” he asked a few minutes later when the car was filled with silence.
“I don’t like the unknown.”
“Meaning?” he asked.
“I plan everything. I hate not knowing where we go from here. There’s still too much that we don’t know about one another. I don’t even know what side of the bed you sleep on or how you take your coffee. Or what you prefer for breakfast and the foods that are your favorites. These are all things I should know considering our situation.” I just blabbed way too much. I should have refrained, but it all just spewed out once I opened my mouth. Suddenly I felt like a class A clinger, but I felt better now that the confession was out.
The Right Mistake Page 4