Page 162 of The Silver Fox Brother

"We have the yacht for another couple of hours. They'll take us around the bay before heading back to the marina."

"That sounds perfect."

We finish the dessert slowly, not rushing. A crew member comes by to refill our wine glasses one more time. Another asks if we need anything else. We decline politely. The conversation shifts to lighter topics. Knox tells me about a disaster at one of his early developments where the contractor installed the wrong windows and he had to eat the cost. I tell him about a client who changed their mind about the entire design concept three days before installation and I had to pull an all-nighter to create something new.

We laugh. We drink. We talk. The yacht makes its way back toward the marina, the lights of Naples twinkling in the distance as we approach.

As we near the dock, I lean over to Knox and say,

"Yes. I want to stay another day."

Knox looks at me, and there's something in his expression that I can't quite name. Relief, maybe. Or satisfaction.

"Good," he says simply.

The yacht pulls up to the pier and the crew begins securing the lines. Knox stands and extends his hand to help me up from my chair. I take it, and we walk toward the stairs together as the evening comes to a close.

Chapter Twenty

Winter

The plane touches down at Teterboro just after 8pm.

I feel the wheels make contact with the runway, that slight jolt that signals we're back. Back in New York. Back to reality.

I glance out the window as we taxi toward the private terminal. The city lights are visible in the distance, a stark contrast to the warm glow of Naples we left behind this morning.

That extra day we stayed was mostly spent in bed at the Four Seasons, wrapped up in each other, ordering room service we barely touched, losing track of time in a way I've never allowed myself to do. We took one last trip on the yacht in the afternoon, just the two of us and the crew, watching the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico while drinking champagne and pretending the real world didn't exist.

But now it does.

As the plane comes to a stop as the captain's voice comes through the speaker.

"Welcome back to New York, Mr. Sterling, Ms. Hayes. Thank you for flying with us."

Knox is already standing, grabbing his bag from the overhead compartment. He pulls mine down as well and hands it to me.

"Ready?" he asks.

I nod, but I'm not sure I am.

We walk down the stairs together and there are two cars waiting on the tarmac. His driver Victor stands by one, another driver I don't recognize stands by the second.

Knox turns to me and we stop between the two vehicles. The air between us feels different than it did in Naples. Heavier. More uncertain.

"So," Knox says, his hands in his pockets.

"So," I echo.

There's so much I want to say. So much we haven't talked about.

What are we doing? What happens next? Are we together? Are we keeping this a secret?

But I don't ask any of it. Knox steps closer.

"I have to head over to Westchester to meet with a contractor on a development out there. But…I'll see you at the office, " he says.

"Okay."