Page 60 of The Couple Behind the Headlines

Her heart began to thump. Did she dare hope—?

No. She could stop that kind of thinking right now because she couldn’t afford to get it wrong again. He was probably flying to New York on business.

She was so busy trying to remain calm and convince herself that this was indeed the case that she was barely aware of the engines roaring into life, or the air stewards drifting down the cabin to check seat belts. And she was even less aware of taking off.

‘I love planes, don’t you?’

What? Imogen blinked and noticed with some surprise that they were in the air and climbing. She swallowed to make her ears pop and wished she could do the same to her brain, because what was he talking about now? ‘I’ve never really thought about it,’ she muttered.

‘You should, because you know the best thing about them?’

‘I can’t imagine.’

‘There’s no escape.’

Imogen twisted round to face him, her eyebrows lifting. ‘And that’s a good thing?’ She wasn’t so sure.

‘I think so. Even better, there’s absolutely no possibility of anyone storming off.’

She went still. Oh. This wasn’t a conversation about a love of planes. This had subtext. Her senses switched to high alert and her heart began to pound. ‘Good point.’

‘Thank you. In fact,’ he added, turning to look at her, ‘as neither of us is going anywhere for quite a while, we have plenty of time to hammer this out.’

Something about the intensely serious look in his eye made her mouth go dry. ‘Hammer what out?’ she said a little breathlessly.

‘You and me and those assumptions and misconceptions we seem to specialise in.’

Imogen swallowed hard. ‘Wouldn’t a phone call have sufficed?’

‘Definitely not.’

‘Oh. Well. Like you said, I’m a captive audience. Hammer away.’

Jack shifted in his seat to lean closer to her, and as the familiar scent of him hit her brain, she went dizzy. ‘Imogen, I’m sorry about the offer I made. It was crass and stupid. You were right. A long-distance relationship isn’t the answer. At least not for us.’

Yes, it is! she suddenly wanted to yell, but clamped a lid on the urge. ‘I understand why you made it,’ she said instead and took pride in her mature approach.

He tilted his head, the gleam in his eye turning quizzical. ‘I don’t think you do.’

‘No?’

‘No. You know, you were wrong when you accused me of being afraid of commitment.’

Her heart thundered as the hope she’d been struggling to contain suddenly broke free. ‘I was?’

He nodded. ‘I might have had a few issues with rejection and abandonment and things but I’m not afraid of commitment per se. In fact,’ he added with a slow smile, ‘I’ve recently discovered I’m all for it.’

‘That’s great,’ she said warily.

‘It is, isn’t it?’ He paused. ‘But not to just anyone.’

‘No? Well, imagine what would happen to your reputation …’ She tailed off because she was riddled with so much hope and longing and yearning for him she couldn’t think straight any more.

‘I don’t give a damn about my reputation. Or my many issues. I’ve spent far too long focusing on both. The only thing I’m interested in right now is you.’

Imogen’s stomach swooped as if the plane had plunged a thousand feet. ‘Me?’

‘That’s right.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Here’s the thing, Imogen. When I said I cared about you I should have been more specific.’

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