Page 32 of My One-Night Heir

I shoot him a look. ‘He walked out when I was eight and Ava was four. There were always other women and once he’d left for good he didn’t want to know us at all. He just wasn’t interested.’ I grit my teeth. ‘My mother didn’t cope. She thought she needed someone, so she went from one jerk to the next. She had high hopes for every new guy she let into her life and when those hopes were shattered, we moved. Every time.’

‘How many times?’

I shrug. ‘I can’t remember exactly.’

‘Every year?’

‘At least.’

His expression tightens. ‘And you took care of Ava.’

I swallow. ‘Of course. Now you’ve met her, you know why. She’s wonderful.’

It only takes minutes to get to the airport but we don’t head to the main terminal, but to a smaller building to the side. The driver and an equally discreet porter gather our belongings from the car while Dain lifts Lukas out as though he’s been doing it for months. Yep, he’s a fast learner. And even though we’ve left Ava and there’s no need for any further pretence, Dain doesn’t distance himself any. He wraps an arm around me and hustles me to a small counter, shielding me and Lukas from the few other people in the room.

‘Are we leaving right away?’ I mutter.

I’m more nervous now than I was about seeing Ava and it’s not the actual flight putting the fear in me.

‘You don’t want to?’

‘I wouldn’t mind some lunch,’ I prevaricate.

Because I’m about to be cooped up in a very small space with him for hours and I don’t think I can trust myself. I don’t even step away from him now when I actually can. Pretending for Ava has stirred me up—I can’t help wishing that the tenderness in his touch were true.

‘We’ll eat on board,’ he says.

That’s when I glance out of the window and see the plane on the tarmac. It’s sleek and has no commercial markings. The truth dawns on me. ‘You have a private jet?’

‘We would’ve flown to Dunedin from Queenstown, but the pilot went to pick up your passports. He’s just finalising the flight plan for us now.’

My lungs seem to shrink. I’d forgotten about the passports. But they’re here—turned around super quick because of his power and resources. ‘You always travel on your own jet?’

‘I like the privacy it gives me,’ he says.

‘Because you’re secretive?’ Maybe he doesn’t want anyone to see Lukas and me with him—maybe that’s why he’s hurrying us out onto the tarmac.

‘Not secretive,’ he says coolly, guiding me towards the stairs. ‘Private. There’s a difference.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dain

I PAUSE, holding Lukas as Talia regards the jet even more warily the nearer we get to it.

‘Is it big enough to get us all the way?’ she asks, drawing in a shuddering breath.

‘I promise I’ll get you all the way,’ I mutter with a smirk. Yes, I’m all but waggling my eyebrows with the innuendo. I can’t help myself.

She looks at me and the colour rises in her cheeks.

Yeah. I’ve spent the morning right beside her. Touching her. I’ve been inhaling her scent and feeling the warmth of her soft skin and all I want is to strip her and stroke her until she’s slippery and supple and hot enough to take all of me again. I still want her and I can’t hide it. The way she melted against me earlier tells me she’s the same. That part of the pretence in front of Ava was no pretence at all. She still wants me too. But the complications—Lukas’s well-being—are too much.

‘I meant is it big enough to get us all the way to Australia?’ she clarifies primly.

‘It got me here.’ I smile. ‘You don’t feel safe?’

‘I never feel safe. Not entirely. I don’t think it’s possible to.’

---