Page 107 of Reluctantly Yours

I’m full-on grinning now. Chloe’s eyes narrow.

“Did you seriously call your mom and tell her I won’t be at work tomorrow?”

I walk over and lift her into my arms. She feels so good there.

“Do you trust me? To get on a plane with me and not know where it’s going until we get there?”

She studies my face for a moment before nodding.

“Good. Then get dressed.” I place a final kiss on her lips before lowering her to the ground.

“Oh!” She turns back before she reaches the door. “What about Baxter?”

His head lifts from where he’s been snoozing. Had I forgotten he was here? Should we have had sex with him lying right there? I decide we’ll need to think about that in the future.

The future that is me and Chloe and Baxter all living here. The thought easily surfaces.

“Barrett?” Chloe interrupts my thoughts.

“I’ll take him out now. Rose will be here with him this weekend.”

Chloe smiles. “Okay. I’ll be back shortly.”

When she’s gone, I whistle to get Baxter’s attention. He stands and stretches, then follows me to the front door where I grab his leash.

We take a lap around the block. Baxter does his business and when we get back to our stoop, Marcus is there loading our bags in the car.

After Baxter is settled into his kennel for the night, we leave for the airport.

On the drive, Chloe lays her head on my shoulder, and I wrap my arm around her. She’s been working as hard as I have, putting in extra hours for the assistant editor position she’s filling in for along with being my mother’s assistant. I know she’s working hard to prove herself in her job and the publishing industry itself, and I hate that I had once threatened to take it all away.

When we arrive on the tarmac, I gently wake Chloe.

Marcus unloads our bags and we ascend the stairs to the plane. Inside the cabin, I introduce Chloe to Libby, the flight attendant, and the pilots, Kip and Cory. They’re all part of my usual crew.

Libby pours me a scotch and offers Chloe a drink before letting us know we’ll be taking off in ten minutes.

I walk Chloe to the back of the plane.

“This is insane!” Chloe squeals with delight. “I can’t believe you have your own plane.”

“Actually, the plane’s not mine. It’s chartered. It’s not fiscally responsible to own a plane. Maintenance costs are brutal.”

She laughs. “Says the man with billions of dollars.”

“And I don’t fly much,” I add.

“Oh God, that’s right. You don’t like to fly.”

“I’ll be fine.” I take a long pull of my scotch, letting it smooth out the edginess I feel. With Chloe here, it’s different. Her excitement and enthusiasm calm my nerves.

“What’s back there?” she asks, pointing to a closed door.

“The bedroom.”

“This plane has a bedroom?” Her mouth gapes open.

“How else am I going to fuck you at ten thousand feet?”