Page 59 of Let Me Love You (Excess All Areas 5)

“There’s a sofa on this plane?”

She’d not been on a private jet before. Usually, her father liked to have her flight details so he could track her plane. He worried about her, and it was a simple thing to ease his anxiety. She’d sent him this one, but he hadn’t replied.

When she stepped through the aircraft doors, her jaw dropped. There was a flight attendant and two pilots in uniforms. The interior smelled like a car that had just been valeted. All cream leather and walnut wood. Large wide seats flanked either side of the aisle. And by the look of them, they fully reclined.

She was still taking it all in when Ben threw himself down onto the sofa.

His fingers looped her wrist and tugged her down onto it. “It pulls out into a bed,” he whispered. “So we can sleep next to each other.”

“We aren’t…” She looked back down the plane where Alex and Zoe were sliding into the four-seater so they could sit side-by-side.

Ben laughed. “No, we aren’t going to have sex. We’re staying fully clothed, but I reserve the right to make out with you a little underneath the blanket.”

“Glad I’m back here so I don’t have to witness that,” Luke said as he walked by with Zale.

“You know, if I’d known having a kid automatically gets you the best room on the plane, I might have had one sooner,” Ben replied.

Luke took Zale’s chubby little hand and raised his middle finger. “Fuck you, Uncle Ben,” he said, his voice raised in pitch.

Chaya couldn’t help but laugh.

There were way more seats than they needed, and once everyone was suitably spaced out with seatbelts on, the plane took off for home. As soon as the seatbelt signs went off, the flight attendant brought meals out. Meals they’d all picked and pre-ordered earlier that day.

Once they were eaten, Ben stood up and encouraged her to do the same.

“Go use the bathroom,” he said. “Then we’ll get comfortable and get some sleep.”

Chaya grabbed her toiletry bag and went to the toilet, which was way bigger than any airplane toilet she’d ever seen. It didn’t have the cream wash-down walls and grey plastic floor she was used to. This bathroom would look right at home in a copy ofHouse and Garden. Grey stone, orchids, and the scent of jasmine.

Her sister would love it. She could take a picture and send it to…

Chaya caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. “One day, it won’t hurt quite so much.”

She brushed her teeth and all the other things she needed to do before bed, then returned to the main cabin where white sheets, pillows, and a duvet had appeared on the bed. The cabin lights had been dimmed so much that it was practically dark.

Ben held the cover open. “Jump in. I’ll put your stuff away.”

Chaya did as he asked, sliding beneath the sumptuous sheets. She wasn’t sure what exactly to expect of a private jet, but it wasn’t this level of luxury. The sofa was firm but more than comfortable enough to get some sleep.

Travelling economy after this was going to suck.

Ben returned from the bathroom five minutes later and climbed into bed beside her. “You don’t know how many of those nights we shared a room I wanted to climb out of my bed and crawl into yours. Knowing you were sleeping only a couple of feet away was torture.”

He lay on his back and tugged her to him. With her head on his shoulder and his arms around her, she knew what he meant. “I know we don’t know what all the next steps are, but I’m glad we’re here, together, right now.”

“This will always be the first night we’ve intentionally slept together.”

Chaya grinned and glanced down the plane where everyone else seemed to be getting comfortable. Izabel’s head rested on Matt’s shoulder, Jase and Cerys had reclined their seats but were facing each other. Jase kissed Cerys’s fingers. They were talking but she couldn’t hear them over the jet’s engines. Zoe was actually squashed onto the same seat as Alex, his arms tightly around her, the two of them already asleep.

“And sleeping is all we’ll do, right?”

Ben tugged the covers over their heads, where it was dark. She could barely make out his face. His hands touched her face, then held her as his lips found hers.

“Maybe a bit more than sleeping,” he muttered.

“But not much more than kissing.”

He slid his hands beneath her T-shirt, spreading across her back. “Maybe a little bit more than kissing. I mean, what’s a good base for a third date.”

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