Page 3 of Beyond the Spotlight Discreet Version
“What’s your name?”
“Savannah, but most people call me Savvy.”
“I’m Adeline. My dad calls me Addy, but sometimes he calls me Poppy because my hair is the color of some flower.” She tugs on the strands. “Only he can call me Addy and Poppy. I mean, I guess you can, too, but only if you can talk him into letting me have ice cream for breakfast.”
“I sure can try, but there’s a problem...” Her eyes widen with worry. “I don’t even know his name. How can I convince him if I don’t know his name?”
She opens her mouth to answer, but her dad cuts her off by jutting his hand out to me. “Reynold.”
I accept his greeting, ignoring the way my face heats the moment our skin makes contact. “Nice to meet you, Reynold.”
He tilts his head as if perplexed by what I said.
Do people not say ‘nice to meet you’ in England?
He smirks when I release his hold.
Before my curiosity gets the best of me and I ask him about the weird look, the pilot announces that we’re prepared for takeoff. I close my eyes and grip the armrests so tight I’m sure my knuckles are turning white.
“Are you okay?” Reynold asks with a mix of worry and amusement.
I squint open an eye and nod, letting out a long stream of breath. “I’m a little scared of flying. No big deal.”
Addy perks up beside me. “I’m scared of flying too. That’s why I let Dad sit next to the window. The window scares me. What if it breaks and sucks us all out? What if I see a monster on the wing?”
I suppress a panicked laugh because I’ve thought the same thing. Well, not the monster part.
“She has... a bit of an imagination,” Reynold says apologetically.
Addy holds out her palm to me. “Here, we’ll hold hands and be scared together.”
This beautiful, pure soul. I want to cry at her kindness. I don’t hesitate and take her hand.
“I’m sorry...” Reynold begins, but I wave him off.
“This helps. Honestly.”
Once we’re safely in the air, Addy releases my hand and pulls out an iPad. “Do you want to play a game with me? It has frogs, and you tap the screen to make them hop or catch flies with their long gross tongues!”
“Adeline,” Reynold warns. “Let’s leave Savannah alone, okay? Why don’t you watch a movie?”
He shoots me a warning with his fierce blue eyes that says don’t fight me on this, and I blush way too fucking hard. It’s the type of look that promises punishment and makes my little kinky heart dance. Or am I acting like a feral cat in heat because he said Savannah and not Savvy? With his accent, I’ve never heard my name sound so sexy.
Addy shrugs, then places her oversized headphones on her ears.
“Thank you,” Reynold whispers over the top of her head. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into her. She never talks this much around strangers. There must be something quite special about you.”
He smiles fondly at me, but it’s paired with a touch of sadness in his eyes. He looks away quickly before I can ask if he’s okay.
At some point during her movie, Addy lies down across her father’s lap and falls asleep. Reynold leans his head back while petting her hair, and within minutes he’s also dozing.
I wish I could sleep on a plane. Every time I do, my head lolls over and I jolt awake. I pull out my kindle to finish reading a romance about a sexy fat girl getting railed by a wolf shifter and by the time I’m done, there’s only about forty-five minutes left in the flight. Both my seat mates are still asleep.
Way too many times I caught myself staring at Reynold’s profile: his Adam’s apple, his powerful jaw peppered with stubble, his cute nose that has a slight bump in the middle, his long dark lashes, and plump lips, slightly parted. He snores. Not too loud, but enough that the lady in front of us kept turning around with a scowl.
I thought it was adorable.
The plane hits a patch of turbulence and jostles Reynold awake. He wipes drool off his chin with the back of his hand and blushes when he notices me staring.
