Page 56 of Lucky Star

“I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else,” I told him. “I’ve loved you for so long that I don’t know who I am without that. You already lived in here.” I rested my hand against my chest and felt my heart beating strong and steady for him.

“Thank you for loving me,” he whispered.

I watched as several different emotions played out across his face. As I stared at him, my throat thick with emotion, his eyes turned glassy. He took a deep, steadying breath, and swiped away unshed tears away.

“I promise I’ll be a good husband to you.”

Cameron would be a good husband to me; we just had to get there first. No doubt, we faced difficult times ahead, but I felt to the tips of my toes our time away would help me weather the coming storms.

* * *

As the wheelsof our plane bounced and skidded on the wet runway, Cameron jolted awake with a start.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” I closed my Kindle and stowed it in my purse. “Good nap?”

“The best,” he smiled lazily. “I dreamed I was going on a romantic vacation with the love of my life.”

“That does sound good. Anyone I know?”

“Only the most beautiful woman in the entire world. Her name’s Sarah. I think you’ve met her—gorgeous red hair, captivating green eyes, the most sinfully decadent lips you’ve ever seen.” He glanced around the cabin to make sure no one was watching, and then leaned over and kissed me. “I can’t wait to have you all to myself.”

“You might have mentioned that.”

“Yeah, well. I mean it more now than I did even two hours ago.”

When our plane finally reached its gate, we unbuckled our seatbelts and Cameron stood to pull our carry-on luggage from the overhead bin, the faded blue Henley he wore sliding up his torso to reveal the ridged muscles beneath. My mouth watered at the sight I’d been denied for too long, and I had to sit on my hands to keep myself from reaching out and running my palms up that muscled expanse.

That’s when I noticed the flight attendant staring at Cameron with the type of unconcealed hunger that was typically reserved for private, and even though I knew what I was about to do was a Very Bad Idea, the devil on my shoulder encouraged it nonetheless. I scooted over, and before he could drop my bag down, I reached up under his shirt and scraped my nails down his front.

“Christ, that tickles!” He smiled down at me with a mischievous gleam in his eye. “You are so getting it later.”

“You promise?” I licked my lips and pulled my bottom lip through my teeth, keeping my eyes locked on his. A devious smile split my face when his pupils dilated to big black orbs. Emboldened, my fingers danced a path to his waistband, where they lingered at the button of his jeans. “What do you plan to do to me?” I asked, letting my eyes drop to his groin, where his jeans had tightened around the thickness of a growing erection.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he groaned, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the aisle.

As we made our way toward the exit, I caught the eye of the envious flight attendant. As we shuffled past, I mouthed mine. Her lips thinned to a flat line, and she nodded briefly, as if to say, “message received.”

After customs, we dashed through the airport, barely catching our shuttle to the smaller south terminal for the forty-minute flight to Eagle Harbour. Rushing up to the Steelhead Airways desk, the woman behind the counter explained the flight procedures, but I was only half listening, exuberant from my show of defiance. I knew it had been unwise, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret what I’d done. I was on a much-needed vacation with my fiancé, and as Cameron had remarked earlier, I wanted to shout from the rooftops that he was mine.

As the lady processed our reservation, I leaned into Cameron and rested my head on his shoulder, catching him off guard. With a quick glance at the woman in front of us, he shifted and shrugged out from under me, setting me off balance. At first, I worried he was trying to shake me off, but then he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tight against his warm, solid body and laid a kiss to my temple. The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, and she sucked in a quick breath, her gaze darting between Cameron and me. Based on her reaction, I knew she’d recognized him. Worse yet, she recognized that I wasn’t Jillian. Her eyes darkened when I stared rebelliously back, but eventually, she averted her gaze and finalized our paperwork.

Cameron collected our passports from her and, removing his arm from around me, slid the blue folios into the interior pocket of his puffy down jacket before grabbing our bags in each of his hands. I smiled at the clerk, and she flushed an angry crimson as she thanked us for flying Steelhead Airways.

“You’re bad,” Cameron whispered playfully in my ear when I finally caught up to him.

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. I just want to behave like a normal couple. I know it was irresponsible, but …” I trailed off as it occurred to me there really was no excuse for my behavior. I’d signed on to play my role in this farce, and I needed to stick to the plan.

“It’s fine,” Cameron responded, threading our fingers together. “Worst case scenario is that lady thinks I’m a cheater.” He shrugged, as if he didn’t care if that’s what she thought of him. “Lord knows, our friends and family already think that,” he added, his voice laced with angry frustration.

Except that wasn’t the worst case. That would be her telling someone at TMZ that she’d just helped Cameron Scott check in for a flight with a woman who wasn’t his girlfriend hanging onto him like a barnacle. But honestly, how many people had a direct line to gossip columnists? Probably not this one, I thought, as I leaned into him again.

Before I could worry too much about it, the boarding announcement for our flight chimed over the loudspeaker and Cameron and I made our way to the tarmac to board the blue and white Piper Navajo Chieftain that would fly us over the Strait of Georgia, across Vancouver Island, and down into Eagle Harbour.

While we shuffled in a single file line to our plane, tiny snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

Things couldn’t have been any more perfect.

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