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"Is everything okay?" Ben says, his voice low and reassuring. His thumb caresses my hand, a silent promise that no matter what, we're in this together.
I can feel the heat from Ben's hand as it finds mine under the table, his fingers tangling with mine in a playful dance. The candlelight flickers across his dark eyes, shadows and light playing hide and seek on his chiseled face. He leans in, and I'm caught in the gravitational pull of his nearness.
I shake my head. “Yeah, it’s fine. Just…thought I recognized someone.”
Ben studies me for a long moment as if he’s reading right into my soul—and he probably is. He has that way about him. Like he can see right through me.
"Did I tell you how stunning you look tonight?" Ben asks, his gaze tracing the contours of my face as if committing every detail to memory.
"Only about a dozen times," I reply with mock exasperation. But inside, I melt a little more with each compliment. He has this knack for making me feel like the only woman in the world.
Our conversation ebbs and flows, a mix of laughter and lingering looks. There's an electric current zipping between us, charged with the thrill of new love and the danger of discovery. It's intoxicating, enough to make us forget we're not alone in our little cocoon.
"Ben," I say, leaning closer, my eyes flicking over the crowd again. "We need to be careful."
"I know," he replies, his thumb tracing circles on my wrist now, sending tingles up my arm.
My breath hitches as his touch ignites tiny wildfires on my skin.
I stare into his eyes, and I’m lost. It’s just the two of us, and I forget everything else.
"Ben, I—" I don’t even know what I was going to say. My words falter as he leans in, cutting off any semblance of resistance with the promise of his lips hovering just a hair's breadth from mine.
"Shh," he whispers, his breath fanning over my skin, sending shivers cascading down my spine. "No more talking."
His hand cradles my face, thumb caressing my cheekbone as if I'm something precious, something cherished. Our lips meet, and oh, it's a kiss that writes sonnets, that launches a thousand ships. It's a kiss that feels like coming home and starting an adventure all at once.
We're lost in the taste of each other, tongues tangling in a dance as old as time yet as fresh as the first drop of rain in a drought. The rest of the world fades away. It's just Ben and me, the heat of our bodies, the urgency of our connection. We're creating our own inferno, right here in our little corner of this posh restaurant, and for these fleeting moments, we forget everything else.
It’s only after we finally pull apart that I realize how reckless we’ve been.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Ben
I perch in our secluded nook at Giovanni's, the kind of place with more shadows than light, where whispers turn into secrets. The flicker of candlelight dances across Kate's face, casting a glow on her honey-colored hair and those damn lips that could drive a saint to sin. She may be Hollywood's darling, but here, with me, she's just Kate—beautiful, slightly mysterious Kate.
Her luminous green eyes hold a twinkle. Maybe it's intrigue or just the reflection of the candles. Either way, it's got me hooked.
"Tell me about being a pilot," she says, that sparkle in her voice that sounds like an invitation to spill my guts.
"Being a pilot—it's not all jet-setting and champagne." I take a deep breath, letting the memories flood in. "You're locked in a cockpit, miles above everyone else. You see the sunrise over Tokyo, sunset over Paris. It's beautiful, it's lonely, it's..." I trail off, searching for the right word.
"Isolating?" she offers, her voice dipping to a whisper that brushes against my soul.
"Exactly." My heart kicks up a notch because she gets it. "You touch down in these distant places, but they're just stops on a route. You don't belong anywhere."
"Sounds like you're longing for something more...grounded?" Kate leans forward, the candlelight catching the softness in her eyes.
"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm looking for a reason to stay put." I reach across the table, my fingertips grazing the cool surface before retreating. The air between us is charged, every glance and half-smile loaded with the promise of what could be.
"Ben Caldwell, are you flirting with the idea of a home base?" She laughs softly, the sound wrapping around me like a warm blanket.
"It wouldn't be the worst thing," I murmur, feeling the pull of something deeper, something that ties me down in the best way possible. "Especially with the right company."
My gaze falls on her, and she blushes. Her gaze holds mine, steady and sure, and for a moment, the world outside this cozy corner with its dim lights and whispered dreams fades away. It's just me and Kate, two souls finding common ground at thirty thousand feet without ever leaving the ground.
