AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Throwing me straight into the wolf den, aren’t you?” She put her hand up to stop me from replying. “I’m kidding. I’ve already met most of them anyway, and I can’t wait to bond with the rest.”
I liked that answer.
But I needed to break things down a bit further before she gave me her final response.
“Here’s the thing.” I leaned my elbows on either side of my plate. “If you come, I want to get a temporary flight attendant for that trip. I don’t want you working. This will be a vacation, and I want my family to get to know the personal side of you, not the professional side. And I don’t want you to take offense to that because I know you, and I know you would tell me that it’s no problem for you to be a part of the flight crew for that trip and that you’ll be able to balance both.” My eyes narrowed. “And for the record, I have no doubt that you could. But I want you to have the time off, to enjoy yourself, even though it’s your plane. And for once, I want you to be waited on.”
“Mr. Spade …”
“Hold on. I’m not done.” I set my hands where my elbows had been resting and gripped the edge of the table. “I don’t want to put any pressure on you, so I want you to know that you don’t have to come. I want nothing more than to have you there. But if it feels like too much, too fast, I understand. You can sit this one out, and it won’t change the way I feel, or change us, or change how much I want you.” I ran my tongue over my lips.
“I appreciate that you’re giving me a choice, but I want to be there.” She reached across the table and put her hand on mine. “I want to hang with your family. I want to be the first woman who’s ever been introduced to them as your girlfriend.” Her smile was the biggest it had been tonight.
“I could semi-strangle you for bringing another flight attendant on board. I’m a bit territorial when it comes to your new plane, and it kills me to have someone else working on it.” She gave her head a little shake. “But I understand why you want to do so, and I don’t take offense to it.” She squeezed my fingers. “Just know that I’m letting it slide this one time. But never again—do you hear me?”
“You know, you’re so fucking adorable when you try to be stern with me.” I rubbed my thumb over hers.
“In other words, it didn’t work?”
“No.” I huffed. “If you think I’m letting you work during any of our vacation trips, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“You spoil me, Brady.”
“I can afford to. And I want to.”
She pulled her hand back and gazed at me, staying silent for several beats. “I never knew it could get better. That it could be like this. That as time went on, things became stronger, and feelings grew, and that I could actually experience a deeper level of happiness every day.”
“I didn’t either.”
No truer words had been spoken, and I was positive we both knew that.
“I’m so, so everything for you.”
I laughed at the cuteness. “That makes two of us.”
“Is it ironic that we’re learning this at the same time?”
I went to lift my fork, and there was a vibration in my pocket. It couldn’t be a text or a social media notification—I’d silenced those. The only thing that could come through was a phone call.
As I was taking my phone out of my pocket, just to make sure the call wasn’t an emergency, I replied to her, “Nah. I think it’s perfect. I wouldn’t have wanted to know what everything felt like before you. I only want to experience it with you.”
I paused to look at the screen of my cell, the caller ID showing that it was my Edinburgh hotel. Something felt off about that, especially at this hour, knowing the contractor and his staff had already gone home.
I said to Lily, “Hang on a second. I need to take this,” and I held the phone up to my ear. “This is Brady.”
As the head of security spoke, everything in my body stopped.
My heart.
My breathing.
And what pulsed instead was an anger I’d never felt before.
My teeth bared, my chest heaved, and my fucking tongue vibrated as I roared, “What the fuck?!”
THIRTY-TWO
Lily
