Page 38 of Losing Hope

She looked down at her lap where the phone was now perched before looking up at him, her voice quiet. “Do you know that I was with my last boyfriend for over two years, and I never knew his code. Ever.” She frowned while rolling her eyes. “I guess that should have been a sign that he was a total asshat.”

He leaned over and swiped a kiss across her lips, staying close for just a moment as he responded. “His loss is definitely mygain.”

“And it’s stuff like this that makes me fall just a little more for you.” Pink flushed across her cheeks at her admission.

His face lit up as a smile broke across his face, and he turned back to the road and took off driving again.

“So, zero-eight-zero-eight? Any significance?” she asked as she typed in the passcode.

“Birthday.”

“Yours?” She looked over to get his response.

“Yep.”

“You’re a Leo.” She realized then that she liked thinking of him as a powerful lion. The sign suited him. "I guess we should at least know each other’s birthdays bynow.”

“When’s yours?” he asked.

“April fourth. I’m an Aires.”

“You’re my half.” He grinned at her widely.

“What?” Her head tilted and eyes crinkled as she looked back athim.

“I’m zero-eight-zero-eight. You’re zero-four-zero-four.” His grin grew larger. “Myhalf.”

Her eyes locked with his sparkling ones and lit up in return. “Yourhalf.”

He broke their connection by turning his attention back to the road, his smile planted firmly. She finally programmed her name, number, and address into his phone and saved it. When it was done, she pulled her phone out of her purse and called herself from his phone. When his number popped up, she cancelled thecall.

“Here you go.” She extended his back to him, and he took it from her, his eyes never leaving theroad.

“Thanks, Angel.”

Her heart skipped a beat at his endearment, and she began to add his contact information to her phone but paused. “Gage Flynn, birthday August Eighth. Address?”

“Two-eight-eight Waverly Place, apartment C.” He looked over at her and waggled his brows. “There’s a Starbucks on the corner if you ever want to stop by for coffee.”

“Good to know.” She laughed as she entered the information. “There! It’s official. We’re phone friendsnow.”

“Excellent. I expect very naughty texts at least once a day.” He gave her a wicked grin followed by anotherwink.

“Gage!” she exclaimed in mock surprise. “I am so not that kind ofgirl.”

“Oh, I just bet you are.” His wicked grin was still in place.

“What am I going to do with you?” She laughed lightly.

“I can text some ideas later.”

The rest of the ride was filled with light chatter and music on the radio. As they entered the airport, Hope directed him to the private hanger where the plane was located. She instructed him to park the truck outside the entrance, indicating someone would arrive later to retrieve and store the vehicle for her until the next time she visited.

“This is pretty surreal.” He scratched at his stubble as he looked out at the hanger. “I can’t say I’ve ever flown on a private jet before.”

“Please, don’t feel weird.” She reached over and took the hand scratching at his face, grasping it in hers. “It’s the company plane. I’m just lucky enough to be able to use it from time totime.”

“Still weird.” he grumbledback.

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