Page 28 of Elevating Eve

Nothing about that surprised him in the least.

Minutes later, they were through security and walking down the terminal. “Here we go,” he said, steering her to what had long since become a familiar gate. The sign behind the desk read only,Private Flight.

“Holy fuck,” Eve muttered under her breath, eyes wide as she walked up to the bay of floor-to-ceiling windows. The private jet waiting at the end of the boarding bridge gleamed in the early morning sunlight. “This...this is for us?”

Moving up behind her, Jonathan rested his hands on her shoulders. “This is for you,” he said softly. “Everything this weekend is for you.”

She twisted around, wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing her lips against his. He grabbed hold of her, digging his fingers into the sharp jut of her shoulder blades, pressing her body flush against his as he deepened the kiss.

Christ, she felt good. Almost too good—if he let this last much longer, they wouldn’t be going anywhere but a jail cell for indecent exposure.

Longing for the freedoms he enjoyed at the Manor, he forced himself to pull away. “Come on,” he said, grabbing the suitcase handle and leading her toward the short, middle-aged man waiting at the podium by the boarding door. Jonathan wasn’t sure where he’d come from. The gate was deserted when they arrived. “Let’s get on the plane before things get too out of hand.”

No one would care what they did once they reached cruising height, so long as he tipped well enough. And Jonathan Hale was nothing if not an exceptional tipper.

“You’re still not going to tell me where we are? Seriously?” Eve crossed her arms over her stomach as the chartered jet taxied up to a gate.

“Aren’t surprises fun?” he teased, tugging at her arms until she relented and uncrossed them. Taking both her hands in his,he brought them up to his lips, kissing the back of her left hand, then her right. “I’m taking you somewhere very special to me. Is that enough to tide you over for now?”

Heaving a dramatic sigh, she said, “Oh, I suppose so.” She went back to staring out the window. That didn’t stop him from seeing the tiny smile she tried to hide.

Once they made it into the airport itself, her head swiveled from side to side as she read every sign in sight, searching for clues. It was one of those little gift shops with the snacks and magazines that finally gave it away. “Denver?” she said, darting over to grab a burnt orange hoodie with the city name and an artistic rendition of the Rocky Mountains on the front. “We’re in Denver?”

Giving the hoodie an appraising look, he nodded once as he made his decision. “That would look adorable on you,” he said, taking it from her hand and walking over to the register.

“You don’t have to buy me a sweatshirt,” she said, trailing after him. He didn’t have to see her face to know she’d just rolled her eyes.

“It gets cold here at night,” he said, tapping his AmEx on the credit card machine. Tucking his wallet back into his pocket, he accepted the bag from the bored cashier. “Besides, you love this color.”

Her lovely brows arched up in surprise. “Why do you think I love this color?”

“All the new shirts you’ve been wearing to work,” he explained, hoping he hadn’t gotten this entirely wrong. “Several of them have either burnt orange or emerald green on them. I...” He hesitated, not sure how to read her expression. “I assumed that meant they were your favorite colors. But if I’m wrong?—”

“You’re not wrong at all,” she said, going up on her toes to plant a kiss on his lips. “I just didn’t realize you were paying that much attention.”

Reaching up with his free hand, he brushed her beautiful, red-streaked hair away from her face. “I always pay attention to you.”

If she were an anime character, there would be little hearts in her eyes right now. It was fucking adorable.

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her away from the little newsstand. He gripped the bag and suitcase handle in his otherhand, the bottom of the plastic bag resting against the top of his luggage. “I have a car waiting.”

“Of course you do.” She shook her head. “Wait, if we were only flying to Denver, why did you book a private plane? Every airline in America probably flies here.”

With a little shrug, he admitted, “We’d have to drive all the way down to Boston to get a nonstop flight.”

She blinked up at him for a few seconds, utter disbelief written in every line of her face. For a moment, he thought maybe he’d made an error in judgement—that all he’d accomplished was to make her consider him a rich, entitled asshole.

But then she laughed, bemusement lighting her beautiful brown eyes. “Oh, man,” she said, linking her arm through his as they strolled through the airport. “Being your girlfriend is going to be a whole new experience for me, isn’t it?”

Girlfriend?

They were fucking. Not dating. Hell, they only even started doing that under twenty-four hours ago.

And yet, he’d spent the last seven months of his life wanting to be near her as much as possible. In fact, he wanted to be around her so much that mere hours after they finally got involved, he surprised her with romantic weekend away. At one of the most important places to him in the world.

A place he’d never brought anyone before.

Yeah, okay, she was absolutely his girlfriend.

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