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My heart races, knowing this is the beginning of . . . something. This weekend may be a business trip, but it’s a hell of a lot more than that.
We haven’t talked about the status of our relationship yet, but it’s inevitable it’ll happen this weekend. I worry how Chari will take the whole work-life balance speech I know I have to give her. Either we’ll come out of this a couple or . . .
“Hey, handsome.”
“Morning, tiger,” I whisper as she stands to greet me. She’s stuck with the name at this point. And then I become something I hate.
A public-display-of-affection person.
But I can’t help leaning down for a slow, deep kiss. One not entirely appropriate for an airport. I hate to break away. Getting lost in Chari is my new favorite pastime.
“Ready for an adventure?” I say.
“Signs point to yes.”
That’s when I notice two coffees in a carrier on the seat next to her.
“You are a gem,” I say, picking up the unopened one.
“How do you know it’s for you?” But she grins and takes the other, throwing the carrier away.
By the time we board, my nervous energy from earlier has dissipated a bit, and I’m ready to settle in for a long travel day. Typically, I would take a red-eye to Europe, but there were no open seats on the flight Hayden was supposed to take, so I had to reschedule us to a morning flight when I added Chari’s seat. But I don’t mind, not with her by my side.
“I’m trying to play it cool, but holy shit,” she says, looking at our seats. Since I had to rebook, anyway, I made sure to have my assistant choose an airline with some of the best first-class service available.
“Nice, right?”
We settle in, Chari looking exactly like I did the first time I flew first class. Hayden considers it downsizing since his dad owns a private jet. We could afford to keep our own planes now, but neither of us do. I don’t travel enough to justify it, and Hayden uses his dad’s.
“What would you like to drink, Mr. DeLuca? Ms. Atwood?”
Chari stares at the flight attendant while I jump in.
“Two mimosas, please.”
I’m loving the look on Chari’s face.
“People are still boarding,” she says in one of those whispers everyone can hear. “We haven’t even left the runway, and she’s getting us drinks?”
I can’t resist. Leaning over, I kiss her, enjoying the lingering taste of coffee on her lips.
Enjoying her.
“This is actually comfortable,” she says, shimmying into her seat after I lean back. “I could get used to this.”
“Good,” I say before I can think better of it, “I hope you do.”
Chari gives me exactly the kind of sidelong glance I’d expect after dropping that kind of bomb. But I meant it. And I tell her as much by not in any way hinting it might have been a joke.
Because it wasn’t.
I want her to like this. Me. All of it. Today is just the very beginning.
Wait until she sees what I have planned for tomorrow.
20
Chari
