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She lifts a shoulder to her ear and glances toward the window, playing with her hair, only to realize her ponytail is a disaster. Abruptly, she tugs the elastic free, and thick, crimson waves, the color of blood, fall around her face and shoulders.Gulp.

“I haven’t decided yet. At least a couple of weeks.” She turns back to me. “What about you?”

“You’ll be ready to kick us off your island after a week, if that long.”

She shakes her head. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need.”

“Then if you’re okay with it, we’ll play it by ear and see how things go. I have to be back in Boston to start filming the end of March.”

“My wrist should be close to healed by then, and I wouldn’t mind beating most of winter on an island. I bet Fen would agree with that.”

I blink at her, a bit gobsmacked by that. “You’re sure?”

“Like you said, we’ll see how things go.”

After Keegan’soffer for us to stay as long as we’d like, we both fell quiet as the plane took off. I held Fen on my lap as we soared into the air, and he sucked on his pacifier to help his ears. One by one, we all started yawning.

“Didn’t sleep well?” I question.

“No. Not even a little. You?”

“None.”

“There’s a bedroom in the back.”

“Go for it. Fen and I can kip out here. It’s just about his nap time anyway.”

“It’s a big bed, and we could put Fen between us without an issue. You’re not going to sleep comfortably out here with him on you like that.”

My body hums at the idea of sleeping on a bed and not a chair right now, but I don’t want to press things.

“You don’t have to offer that.”

“I know. I’m not worried about it. We can share the bed in the back with Fen.”

I almost frown.Almost. She’s not worried because despite our inappropriate flirting earlier, I promised I wouldn’t touch her, and she knows I won’t. But even with my son as a buffer, the idea of sharing a bed with Keegan stirs my blood.

“If you’re sure.”

She bobs her head and stands. I do the same, holding my half-asleep son, who loves the white noise of the plane. The bedroom is cool and dark, and the bed looks like heaven. I set Fen down, and he crawls three paces before he does the equivalent of a face-plant, arms and legs splayed, garnering a small laugh from both me and Keegan.

“He hasn’t slept well either. His stuffy nose has kept him up.”

“Then we’ll all take advantage.”

She climbs on one side of him and I climb on the other. Grabbing a pillow for herself, I do the same and settle in. We’re facing each other, and despite the small boy between us, it feels intimate. I want to tuck her hair behind her ear and drag my fingers down the slope of her soft face. I want to lean in and kiss her, something small and sweet—a sleep well sort of kiss—and then close my eyes knowing she’s there. It’s the oddest and loveliest thing I’ve ever experienced.

Unable to resist, I reach across and do exactly as I wanted, marveling at how perfect she feels before I pull away just as fast. I close my eyes because I know Fen is already out, his body rolled against my chest, and within minutes, my breathing evens, and I succumb, listening to her do the same only to wake with a jolt an unknown time later.

The room is dark, and the gentle hum of the airplane surrounds me. But Fen is gone. And the door is closed. Since he’s come around, I’ve become a light sleeper, yet somehow, I didn’t rouse when he and Keegan got up.

Adrenaline kicks my heart rate up into hyperdrive. My feet meet the floor, and I have the door to the bedroom open in under a second. I don’t like that I woke up without him beside me, even if it’s a plane and there isn’t far for him to go.

I step out into the main part of the plane, my eyes scanning from seat to seat until I find him sitting with Keegan. He’s on her lap, and she’s reading him a book. The breath I hadn’t realized I was holding rushes past my lips, and as I watch the two of them, it hits me again. That funny feeling I get when I see her with my son.

It doesn’t happen with anyone else, and it bothers me that it happens with her.

She must hear me because she twists her head over her shoulder and smiles. “Hey. Did you have a good nap?”