Temporarily Yours (Shillings Agency #1)(41)
Author: Diane Alberts

He laughed. “I know.”

She swatted his shoulder. “No need to be so cocky.”

“I can’t help it. I’m a cocky bastard.” He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. “And I’m selfish, too. I can’t wait to get you home so I can keep you all to myself every single night.”

“Oh God.” Kayla groaned and dropped her head on his shoulder. “Thanks for reminding me that we have to fly home. Why’d you have to go and ruin my happy buzz?”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be with you. I have ways to keep your mind off the fear.”

“Hm.” She smoothed his suit jacket and entwined her hands behind his neck. Pulling him closer, she added, “And what ways are those?”

He opened the door and kicked it shut behind him. Backing her up against the wall, he tilted up her chin. He took a moment to savor her like this.

Passionate. Wanting. Beautiful.

He tugged up her thigh until she took the hint and wrapped her legs around his waist. Then he ran his hands down the curves of her body.

“Distraction…”

Epilogue

One Year Later

Kayla sat on the plastic chair in the airport, fidgeting with her purse and glowering at the waiting death trap she could see through the window. Christmas carols played in the background, and people laughed and chatted merrily.

Not a big shocker there. It was Christmas time.

And for the first time, she’d sent out a couples Christmas card. The same ones she always rolled her eyes at? Yeah. She’d done it. And she and Cooper had laughed at their matching red sweaters with every stamp they stuck on. She’d never had so much fun sending out cards, for the love of God.

But then again, she’d never had so much fun, period. He made her laugh every single day, and she constantly thanked God that he’d been stabbed in the stomach with a candy cane a year ago. She thanked God for Cooper.

Speaking of which…he was heading her way.

His green eyes were locked on hers, and he wore a smile, a grey sweater, and a pair of casual jeans. His hair was tousled to perfection, and he looked as if he was the happiest man on Earth. He always told her he was.

A kid with a candy cane ducked in front of him, and he lunged back. Kayla laughed, then covered it up with her hand. But he’d heard it. He turned to her with a mock glare. “You find my fear of kids with candy funny?”

“Um…we promised not to lie to each other. So I’m going to have to go with a yes.”

“What are the odds of me being stabbed again?”

“I’d put it at one in a billion.” She looked out the window, all traces of laughter fading away. “But our chances of crashing? Much higher. Like, one in—”

“Hey, now. None of that.” He sat down beside her and threw his arm over her shoulder. Leaning down, he kissed her temple and then rested his cheek on top of her head. “We talked about this, and I’ll be there the whole time to help you through it.”

“We should have driven.”

“To England?” He cocked a brow. “Even you know that’s not possible.”

That was her present from him. She’d told him she wanted to go almost a year ago—and he’d made it happen. He was so perfect it was almost sickening.

“When I said it was my dream to go to England at Christmas time, I didn’t think it through.” She fidgeted with her purse again. “Maybe we could take a cruise ship, or a submarine. Maybe before we die, they’ll make a really, really long bridge. And then we can drive across it on the safe ground—”

“Over miles and miles of water,” he said dryly.

“And not crash to our deaths.” She peeked at the plane. “Oh God. We’re boarding soon. Oh God.”

“First class, you may now board,” crackled over the speaker.

Cooper stood and held out his hand. “Ready, sweetheart?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” She took a shaky breath and then rose. “I’m scared. This is a long flight.”

“It’ll be fine.” He led her toward the gate attendant. “Before you know it, we’ll be drinking tea and eating biscuits with the queen.”

She snort-laughed. “Or recovering from the massive hangover from the in-flight beverage service.”

Kayla watched Cooper hand the gate attendant their tickets, then they walked down the jetway hand in hand. He held on to her so tightly that she wondered if he thought she’d try to run.

She was almost tempted to.

He stopped at the back row of first class and motioned her to her window seat. “Here we are.”

“Okay. I can do this.” She slid into the window seat. “I might be taking a sleeping pill for this one.”

“You mean a ‘vitamin’?”

She laughed. “Yeah.”

“You can drool on me. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

She pulled the tray down and wiped it off with one of her ever-present anti-bacterial wipes, then handed Cooper one for his. He shook his head but did as she asked, then they both waited. She waited for this plane ride to be over and he waited for…what?

He looked nervous.

As they sat there, he tapped his foot on the floor and drummed his fingers on his knee at the same time. He was fidgeting. He never fidgeted. “You okay over there?”

“Huh?” He turned to her and blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Fabulous.”

She pursed her lips. “Don’t tell me you’re nervous about this flight.”

“Of course not,” he scoffed. He craned his neck and looked over his shoulder. “I’m just waiting for our drinks. I ordered them before we even got on the plane.”

She glanced out the window. “They’ll be here. I think we’re taking off soon.”

“You need a drink before we do.” He stood up. “I’ll go and grab—”

“She’s coming.” Kayla grabbed his hand and yanked him back down into his seat. “And you’re not leaving me. If you aren’t here when we move, I’ll lose it.”

He patted her leg, but still seemed distracted. He was watching the flight attendant as if he knew her or something. “I’m not leaving,” he assured.

The flight attendant came over and smiled at them. “Here is the champagne you requested, sir.”

“Thank you.” Cooper took the glasses, then handed one over to Kayla. “And if you have a blanket, that would be great.”