Page 55 of Trust Me With Forever

Aunt Lori:Those dark eyes of his and the tattoos on his upper arms…rawr. Makes me wish I was twenty years younger.

Me:What about Fernando? I thought you liked him?

Aunt Lori:That man doesn’t seem to know that I exist. But enough about me. Enjoy your trip, child. And make sure to get me an ugly mug for my collection.

Me:Of course. And I know Fernando will come around. You’re quite the catch, Aunt Lori.

Aunt Lori:Give Rafe a kiss from me and enjoy yourself, Abby. You deserve it.

Me:I’ll try.

Alittle over a week after Rafe had kissed the whipped cream from my lips, I was on my brother Nolan’s private plane, wishing it wasn’t dark outside so I could look out the window.

Rafe sat across from me, asleep. He was one of those annoying people who could sleep anywhere, I’d discovered.

Me, on the other hand, well, I had never been able to sleep on anything that moved. No matter if this plane had a small bedroom and I could’ve tried lying down, my mind buzzed trying to decipher Rafe’s clues about where we were going.

As soon as I’d turned in my construction needs for the tutoring center, Rafe had declared we were going on a business trip. All he’d said was that I needed my passport, warm clothes, and that the flight would be a long one.

I’d tried asking the flight attendant about our destination, but he’d smiled and replied that it was a surprise.

And now, after far too many cookies and cups of coffee, all I wanted to do was jump up, dash back and forth, and get rid of some of my pent-up energy. But I settled on tapping my fingers against the table.

A sleepy voice interrupted my thoughts. “You never were patient when it came to secrets. You and Emmy searched our house from top to bottom each Christmas, looking for the presents. But you never found them.”

“No. Because you hid them too well.”

He smiled. “I like surprises. Besides, I had to irritate Emmy. It’s every big brother’s duty, especially when their little sister trails behind their every move.”

I huffed, too irritated to reminisce about the past. “It’s been hours, Rafe.Hours.Can’t you tell me where we’re going?”

He glanced at his watch. “We’re nearly there. Have you slept at all?”

“No. I can’t.”

He yawned and stretched his arms overhead, and I couldn’t help but drool over his broad shoulders and big hands.

Hands I’d dreamed about far too often in recent days.

Stop it. Until you securely lock your heart away, you can look but not touch. You need to protect the both of you.

It’d been hard pulling away from Rafe, and I’d nearly caved the first time hurt had flashed in his eyes. But it was better this way. As soon as Travis tried to blackmail me again or who the hell knew what, Rafe would recognize how much trouble I was and wish he’d never met me.

Yes, he’d said he would protect me. And I mostly believed him.

But when things turned bad, really bad, I’d be the liability. So, keeping him at arm’s length was better.

It was.

The flight attendant returned to say we were about to land. Once he left, I looked out the window. It was still dark, but there were lots of lights below. As the minutes passed, the lights grew in number, to the point I knew we flew over some kind of city.

But what city was more than ten hours away by plane?

Still, I’d always loved watching as a plane descended into an airport. While I couldn’t see the houses or roads or businesses, the lights grew brighter and eventually I saw the straight lights of a runway. Within minutes, the plane touched down and made its way across the tarmac. I noted the planes and companiesas we went, and there were a lot of British Airways, Ryanair, Air France, and a number of other European and American companies.

“Are we in Europe?”

“Yes.”

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