Page 148 of Shortcake
But not short enough to get us home quickly, either.
Beside me, Conrad brought my hand, laced in his, to his lips and brushed them across my knuckles. “Are you glad we went to your dad’s wedding?”
With a content sigh, I nodded. “I am. You were right. I would have regretted not going.”
On the other side of Conrad across the aisle, Harper scoffed. “Whowas right?”
I rolled my eyes. “You werebothright!”
One emotionally intense trip down… one to go. In four months, we were back on a plane, heading to England to meet Harper’s baby brother, Duke.
A deal was a deal, after all.
“I can’t believe they upgraded us all to first class,” I said, incredulous. Usually it was one seat… maybe two. Three seemed unheard of.
Conrad shrugged as the wheels bumped, touching down. “I wasn’t about to question it.”
“Since we have so much time, can we go do pedicures at the Spa Express?” Harper asked.
Oof. A regular pedicure wasn’t cheap in Maple Grove. An airport pedicure? In New York City? That was going to hurt the wallet. “We just had pedicures for the wedding,” I said.
“I know,” Harper pouted. “But they’re wedding colors. I wanted to get something cool. Like dark purple.”
“Why not?” Conrad said, smiling.
“Wow… Vacation Conrad is way more chill than I expected.”
Another shrug. “I only have her for another year and a half. And hell, three hours is a long time. If a pedicure can burn one of those hours? All the better.”
God, I loved this man. Nothing made me feel more love for him than when I saw him in good Dad mode. I tilted my chin, offering him my lips—a signal he knew well and took the cue immediately giving me a sweet brush of his mouth.
The lights overhead shifted and one by one, we all started heading off the plane.
“You two go ahead of me,” I said to Conrad and Harper. “I have to pee, but I’ll meet you at Spa Express.”
I did have to pee. But I also hated how dry my skin got on an airplane and I wanted to moisturize my face and hands, too.
I took my time in the bathroom, then when I finished up, I exited the bathrooms, rolling my carry-on behind me.
I halted midstep as I nearly slammed right into a New York City cop standing there outside the bathroom.
“Oh,” I startled, blinking at him as he stared back at me. “Excuse me.”
I moved to step around him, but he took another step, blocking me. An uneasy feeling crawled up my spine.
“Addison Evans?” his gruff voice boomed.
Oh, shit. Why does the big, scary cop know my name?
Nineteen-year-old Addy would have run. But Adult Addy knew better. Especially since there were only so many places to hide in an airport where they knew exactly where I had to be in two hours and forty-five minutes.
“Yes…” I said carefully. “That’s me.”
“I have an outstanding warrant here for your arrest.” He pulled a sheet of paper from within his pocket, holding it up briefly for me to see before passing it to his partner beside him.
“What!?”
The clanking sound of handcuffs echoed in the airport as he unhooked them from his belt. “Please, ma’am. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
