Page 58 of Carnal

I bite my lip, still uneasy about this scenario.

"Really?" he hurls, with hurt all over his voice.

Guilt eats at me. I subconsciously reach for his thigh and reply, "Okay. I trust you."

He studies me.

"Can we change the subject?" I ask, not wanting to dwell on this anymore. If I do, I'm going to be paranoid all night.

"Fair enough," he agrees, then glances out the window. "At least traffic isn't bad."

"So, where are you taking me?"

He chuckles. "You can't stand the suspense, can you?"

I try to stop my smile. "I'm just curious."

He leans closer, tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear, then declares, "I'm taking you on the best first date you've ever been on."

My butterflies reappear. I try to stay cool. "Is that so? Pretty big claim to make."

He puffs his chest out. "You'll see."

We speed along the highway, weaving in and out of traffic. I haven't ridden with Flex a lot, but he handles the SUV in the same manner as my driver. We arrive at Teterboro in record time. Tristano's jet is waiting on the runway.

He gets out of the SUV, reaches inside for me, and helps me out. He says, "Thanks, bro. See you later."

"Later," Flex replies, then takes off before I'm halfway up the staircase.

We get past Tristano's flight crew and settle on the couch. His attendant, Danika, appears and hands me a glass of champagne. She gives Tristano a beer and asks, "Can I get you anything before we take off?"

"I'm good, thanks," I reply.

"Same," Tristano adds.

She smiles. "Did you want to know where we're going?"

"Yes," I say at the same time Tristano answers, "No. The pilot can announce it when we land."

I gape at him.He doesn't know?

Danika says, "Very well," then leaves.

"You don't know where we're going?" I ask.

Tristano chuckles. "Only the vicinity."

"Will you tell me what we're going to be doing?"

"Nope!"

"Ugh! You're impossible!"

He shifts in his seat and holds his bottle next to my flute. "Relax. Salute."

I decide to go with the flow and clink his beer. "Salute," I respond, then take a sip. The semi-sweet bubbly drink tastes delicious. I have another mouthful and then put my drink down, asking, "How long is the flight?"

He shrugs, and amusement lights up his features. "Don't know."

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