Page 50 of Save Me

Not until everything my biological father left for his spoiled daughter and her husband is destroyed and burned to the fucking ground. Only then will I be worthy of calling her mine.

CHAPTER 15

Kennedy

“Are you kidding me?” I blurt out as I stare at the private jet.

Dae stands beside me, his hand on the small of my back. Even through the dress’ material, warmth from his touch penetrates my body. It’s almost as if I feel him everywhere.

The only reason I don’t completely give in and lean into his body for more warmth is my disbelief.

“Why are we staring at a private jet?” I ask, turning to him.

His arm doesn’t move, so now his hand is wrapped around my waist, our fronts lightly brushing against one another’s.

“This is our next date,” he answers so casually it’s as if he’s saying we’re going down the street to a restaurant.

“We have to take a flight to get to dinner?”

His gaze drops to my lips before he answers. “Dinner and more.”

“We can’t do whatever more entails here in Williamsport?”

He shakes his head, his lips twitching.

“Isn’t this a bit absurd for a date?” I ask, still in disbelief. “I have to work in the morning, and …” I trail off before telling him I will not spend the night with him. Because although the words are on the tip of my tongue, I can’t push them out.

I can’t stop the heated thoughts that run through my mind as I think about spending the night with Dae.

“Absurd, maybe …” He leans in and presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “But nothing compared to what you deserve,” he says in my ear.

I try to stop the chill that runs through me. “I don’t deserve anything special,” I mumble.

His eyes narrow, a wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. His expression becomes serious.

“Don’t ever say that again,” he replies sharply.

The urge to defend my comment almost overwhelms me. It’s not that I don’t believe I deserve special treatment or anything like that. I just meant he doesn’t need to go out of his way to impress me.

When I first started dating in my teens and early twenties, I came across too many guys who came from wealthy families like mine but were only concerned with appearance. Not just what I looked like but everything had to be up to their standards. The clothes, cars, dates, social clubs, friends. Everything.

I came to realize they weren’t dating me for me, but because my last name came with the right amount of connections and prestige. By the time I graduated college, I decided I wanted a ‘normal’ guy—the kind who didn’t come from money, or at least didn’t make it a big deal if he had.

Yes, it’s idealistic to wish backgrounds didn’t matter.

But I also like the idea of not having to keep up appearances. Unfortunately, a few of those guys grew some sort of inferiority complex. They’d always bring up my family name or money when I never made a big deal out of it.

“You deserve the whole fucking world,” Dae says in a voice so fierce I don’t think to tell him he’s wrong.

What’s more intriguing, though, is the fierce look in his eyes. He means it. I want to remind him that we barely know each other. But that feels wrong to say out loud.

I cock my head to the side, though. A look, something passes through his eyes, and again, I’m struck with that feeling that we’ve met before.

Not recently.

Another time or another place.

“Did we meet before?” My curiosity gets the best of me. I can’t push the feeling down. “At the club, maybe?” I offer.

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