Page 59 of Love at First Flight

His heart stopped.

He needed to see her now.

Picking up his phone, he hit the dial button. “Did you know about this?” he asked Harper as it rang. Maybe she’d been trying to tell him the whole time. He’d likely believe anything at this point, even something ridiculous like a calendar year in the High Desert was nothing but sunny days.

“Hello?” Selah answered, her phone voice similar to that of an angel.

“Hey—”

“Oh, shit.” In the background, there were angry car horns blaring.

“Oh, God! Are you driving right now? You shouldn’t be talking on your phone and driving at the same time. Is everything okay? Are you hurt? I love you, but we don’t need to talk right—”

“Dex,” she replied calmly. “I’m fine. It was another driver who suddenly pulled out in front of a car going too fast on Highland. It was a close call for them, but no one crashed. I wasn’t in any danger.”

“Are you sure?”

She laughed. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m almost at your place.”

“Oh, good. I just wanted to ask you to come over because I think Harper is missing you.”

“Is that so? Even though she’s seen me for the last three days.”

“Wait. Harper got to see you. How is this fair?” Dex walked outside to his porch, taking one of the Adirondack chairs as he waited for her arrival, he bounced one of his knees nervously in anticipation.

“It could be worse. I was going to leave you one puzzle piece a day, but the thing was like sixty pieces and, after a couple of days, I decided there was no way I was going to wait two months. I’m not that patient.”

“Three days was still too long, Selah.”

Her truck pulled along his curb and the phone call disconnected as she grabbed it from the phone holder on her dashboard. She stepped out, her skin glistening in the September sun. She wore a tight white tank top, little navy shorts, and her aviators. With her dark curls framing her face, the whole package made her look the epitome of cool and sexy as she strolled over to him.

He shot to his feet, almost stumbling down the steps as he approached her, wanting to drag that petite, curvy body to his, to remind himself what every inch of her felt like. “Illinois Beach,” he blurted when he stood close enough.

She slid the aviators to her hairline, confusion shooting from those beautiful, black eyes. “What?”

“I was talking to Chris about Chicago, and she said the closest state park to the city is Illinois Beach. I looked it up and it looks pretty nice.”

“Is it as nice as Smith Rock?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure there are a lot of great things I can learn about it. And I’ve moved states before. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Dex,” she said with a sigh, shaking her head. He was squandering his chances to crack a window between them, to show her how their future could look together.

Except, then she shrugged and smiled, before saying, “Okay. If that’s what you want, and you have your heart set on it, then I guess we can work it out. Of course, you being at Illinois Beach would still make this a long-distance relationship since I’ll be here but—”

He snatched her into his arms, holding her to him, breathing in the lovely sage scent that was uniquely her. “What the hell, Selah? What are you trying to do to me?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, taking his face between her hands and pulling him lower so she could press kisses to his temple, eyelids, cheeks. “I’m so sorry. Things have been a little awkward for me, and I’m still trying to figure things out, figure me out. And it just took some time to see that I wasn’t being forced to overcome some kind of roadblock—that things could just be different.”

“And you’re staying here? At High Desert Tours?”

“Mm-hmm.”

The joy was immediate and immeasurable. “In that case, I guess I can tell you that I’m in love with you,CaptainSelah Moreno.” He punctuated this by melding his lips to hers, drawing out the deepest kiss, his tongue sliding along hers. Turns out when he was truly in love, saying the words was the easiest thing in the world.

“And I love you,” she replied the moment they broke the kiss.

“Good, so do you want to get going, then?”

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