Page 54 of Away With You
I nod. That’s fair. Perhaps because it’s fake and none of these nicknames feel right?
“Come on, you two love birds,” Rosie calls with a cheeky smile. She’s loving every minute of this. “We’re boarding.”
I glance around to see a handful of passengers meandering towards the plane and marvel again at how easy this all is. No lining up, no waiting around for hours, no…anything. Just turn up, eat many pastries and board.
“A girl could get used to this,” I mutter under my breath.
Nathan takes my hand in his and plants a soft kiss across my fingers. “My girl should get used to this.”
My stupid heart loves the sound of everything he just said, so I duck my head and hide my face, my thoughts and my feelings behind a curtain of my hair.
My girl. I may just love that endearment most of all.
CHAPTER 14
KATIE
“Please fasten your seatbelts for landing.”
I jolt awake, my head jerking up from where it had been nestled on Nathan’s warm, broad chest.Have I ever had a better pillow?
“Sorry,” I murmur, patting my hair and wiping my lips. My eyes travel over his t-shirt, looking for wet patches. If I drooled on this man, I’m jumping out of the plane. No question.
“No problems, Kitty Kat.”
His deep voice captures my attention, and when I look up at him, his eyes are fixed on me. On my lips.
“Are we almost here?” I glance at the window next to us and immediately do a double-take.
The view outside is like none I’ve ever seen before. The water below us is a vibrant shade of blue, so blue it blends into the horizon and melts seamlessly with the surrounding sky. Small mountains litter the edge of the island as far as the eye can see, and from here, the beach glows endlessly, the golden sand broken only by the whitewash of the waves crashing against it. As we get closer to land, the blue of the ocean swirls with greensand turquoise, hinting at the coral reefs below and as I watch, the sun hits it just so, turning it to a brilliant shade of aqua. I hold my breath as we leave the sea behind us and fly over the lush tropical landscape dotted with bunches of broccoli-shaped trees and a vast expanse of nothing.
Surely, we aren’t landing here?
Nathan takes my hand in hisagain. “We’re landing now.”
My breath rushes out of my lungs as we skid to a halt on the tarmac below. This airport really is in the middle of nowhere.
“Wow, this is spectacular!” I bounce in my seat, now eager to get out and see everything from the ground. If the flight into St. Lucia is this magical, what will it be like to be out there amongst it?
“It is.” I turn to find Nathan watching me with a soft look in his eyes. The man is good at this whole fake boyfriend thing. He’s fully in character; even with only Rosie around to impress.
“Where to first?” I ask, unbuckling my seat belt and standing up to stretch. The first-class experience is one I’d like to repeat again and again. We’d been in pure luxury for the last nine hours: reclining seat pods, fine dining, hours of entertainment. Nevertheless, with all the space and comfort surrounding me, my head had used his chest as a pillow.Go figure.
He looks at his watch with a slight grimace. “We’ll make our way to the hotel. Tonight is the welcome dinner. That’s when you’ll meet…”
“Everyone?” I offer.
“Yeah.” He nods, rubbing the back of his neck, an outward sign of how uncomfortable he’s feeling. Even with both me and Rosie by his side, this week is going to be hellish for Nathan. He’s here to watch the woman he still has feelings for marry his brother. It’s going to be painful to say the least, and I need to remember that’s why I’m here. Well, that and to get my snow globe.
This time, I take his hand in mine. “Try not to worry. We’ve got this.”
He squeezes my hand and locks his eyes on mine. “Thank you, Kitty Kat.”
I resist the urge to kiss him, something I’m getting good at, and offer a smile. “It’s what I’m here for, after all.”
We stare at each other, a look charged with something, before Rosie breaks the tension again. It’s lucky we have her to move us along; otherwise, we’d be in danger of standing around staring all day.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” she says, urging us along and out of the empty plane. Well, the empty first-class part of the plane. Who knows what’s happening back there with all the less-fancy people?
