“No, here is fine,” I said, smarting from the unexpected kiss. “I’ll just grab my bag and we’ll be on our way. Amy’s sleeping on the couch, and if she wakes up, I don’t think she’ll let you go easily.”
“In that case, let’s not wake her up,” he whispered, smiling. “You look really nice.”
I was wearing a plum sundress with a low neckline. It was one of my favorite outfits because the dress made my breasts perkier while slimming my waist and enhancing my ass. I always got compliments when I wore it, and Nick was no exception. However, his compliment seemed far more important than any other person’s did.
“Thank you,” I said shyly as I reached behind me and grabbed the backpack I had packed the night before. On a second thought, I grabbed my passport before walking to the car with him. It took only a minute to settle into the backseat with Nick and lean against him as if it was normal. He put his arm around my shoulders and drew me close.
“You good?” he asked.
I swallowed hard like I always did when he looked at me so intensely. I whispered, “Yes.”
“Great, because I want you to relax and enjoy this trip.”
I nodded. A sudden thought came to me. No one knew where I was going, not even Amy.
“So where are we going?” I asked, smiling at him. “I just need the address so I can send it to Amy. She’s a mother hen. Don’t want her reporting me as kidnapped.”
“It’s good to have people who love you,” he said. “Give me your phone and I will text it to her. It’s a surprise for you, and I don’t want to ruin it by giving you the exact address.”
I obliged him, my thoughts still on the word love he had just casually thrown at me. Yes, Amy loved me, and I understood what he meant, but he had said “people who love you.” Was he part of that group? I glanced at him as he texted Amy from my phone, doing his best to shield the phone from me so I didn’t know our destination.
“I might need to call in to work,” I commented. “I have to let my boss know I’ll be gone, but I need to know how long we’ll be gone.”
“I already took care of that. They don’t expect you back for a few days.”
“You called my boss?” I asked incredulously. Mr. Rich was rather presumptuous, and I didn’t know if I liked it.
“Didn’t have to. I am friends with your boss, so I can have you all to myself for as long as you’re available.”
I giggled. “Hope that gets you a free coffee next time you go there. I probably will get fired by the time I return and won’t be able to hook you up.”
“You’re probably right,” he said, smiling. “But you will always have a job offer from my company.”
I looked out the window as we passed lush greenery. I had expected we were going out of town, but we seemed to be heading right into town, away from the suburbs.
“Ordinarily, I would have said yes, but you can’t mix business with pleasure,” I teased. “It’s one or the other.”
“It will be a pleasure to work with you,” he added. “Business or pleasure.”
“I have to think about that,” I said, giving him a naughty look. “Pleasure for sure.”
“What’s there to think about? I think I’m charming, handsome…”
“You are all that, which is why working with you would never work,” I said.
He remained quiet for a few seconds as if he was thinking about my response. “Yes, it’ll be hard to keep my hands off you.”
I admitted shyly, “Me too.”
“We’re almost there,” Nick said, looking out the window. I followed his gaze; we were heading to the airport.
“Are we flying somewhere?” I asked as we took the exit for the airport.
“Do you want to?” he teased.
“As long as you’re not the one flying,” I giggled. “Afraid I’ll distract you.”
“Very true,” he said seriously. “Fortunately, I’m not the pilot today, but someday I’ll take you on a private trip.”
I smiled at him, tongue-tied. Nick was talking about us as if we had a future together, and I liked it.
The driver drove past the departures section of the airport where I had assumed we would stop and turned at a sign that read independent planes. We flying on a private jet? Nick seemed to have read my mind because he pointed to a private jet that read Saunders Empires on the side.