Joline pulled back with that thought, blinking up at him. “I didn’t pack anything! I don’t have clothes or toiletries. I don’t even have my passport!”
“All taken care of,” he assured her.
She looked up at him. “What does that mean? How was everything taken care of?”
He put a hand to the small of her back but she dug her heels in and looked up at him, then at the helicopter, deciding that she wasn’t going to budge. Not at the moment. “Rais, tell me what you’ve done!” she demanded, stalling for time but also wanting more information.
Rais turned around, not sure why she was being so stubborn. But when he looked into her eyes and noticed they were green and not the normal hazel, he realized that she was nervous. Anxious? He watched her, caught her glance behind him at the helicopter and finally understood.
Taking both of her hands in his, he looked down at her, squeezing her fingers slightly. “Are you nervous about getting onto the helicopter, Joline?” he asked gently.
Joline wished he weren’t so observant, but now that she’d been caught, her shoulders sagged. “Yes,” she told him quietly. “But I’m also confused about what is going on, frustrated that you’re just ignoring all of my concerns and questions, irritated by all the changes you’re imposing on my life and yes, I’m terrified of getting onto that machine.”
That was a long list of concerns and Rais tried to smother his amusement. She was right. He was just pushing her along on his own path and not listening to her. That was just the way he worked and lived. He’d never cared one way or the other if the women in his life agreed or disagreed with the way he moved through the days or nights. If they disagreed, they could move on to their next lover.
He understood that he’d have to take things differently with Joline. She was going to be his wife. Unfortunately, she wasn’t accepting that title as quickly or as enthusiastically as he would have preferred. She was fighting him every step of the way.
“How about if I deal with your most obvious concern first?”
“That I don’t want to marry you?” she asked, wishing he would just accept that.
He chuckled, indicating that he didn’t agree with her priorities. “No,” he told her. “I was going to try and reassure you that helicopters are very safe.”
“They crash all the time,” she argued.
“You’re probably hearing about the times when a helicopter was flying over dangerous areas or trying to land in places that don’t really have any landing site. Helicopters are the kind of machine that can land just about anywhere and fly over just about any kind of terrain. So when one crashes, it was probably because of wind shears off of a mountain or maybe it was landing in dangerous territory.” He watched her, making sure that she was listening to his comments. “This helicopter is going to fly over the Hudson River and the airport is only about ten minutes from here.”
She glared up at him. “I know how far it is to JFK Airport, Rais. I’ve flown in planes. And just for the record, it takes about forty-five minutes to get from downtown Manhattan to the airport. Why don’t we just ride in the vehicles like a normal person?”
He pulled her closer, wishing he could ease her anxiety more effectively. “Because you aren’t a normal person any longer, Joline,” he told her, trying to explain the new facts of life to her. “You will be my wife, which means you will be a royal princess.”
Joline pulled back, terrified by that title. “What if I don’t want to be a princess?”
He chuckled and kissed her tenderly. “You want to be my wife. The title just comes along with the territory.” He wrapped her in his arms, trying to give her a bit of his strength. “There are many more positives, I promise.”
She grunted. “Such as being bull-dozed by an arrogant, opinionated, irritating man with too many muscles?”
He laughed at her quip. “Such as more of the same that you experienced this morning.” He looked down at her. “Are you saying you didn’t enjoy yourself this morning?” he challenged her.
“Irrelevant,” she sniffed, turning her head so that her cheek was resting against his hard chest. “So far, the negatives are far-outweighing the positives.”
He took her hands once again. “I’ll dedicate myself to providing more positives tonight. But right now, we need to get onto that helicopter. If I hold your hand and show you that it is safe, will you be okay?” he asked her.
Joline looked behind him once more, eyeing the enormous contraption. “I’ll get through it,” she told him. But she was gripping his hand tightly, not wanting to lose her connection to him in any way, even for a moment.