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“Are you scared of heights or something?”
“Not at all. I just can’t believe we’re going to fly there in a helicopter.” She shook her head. “I’ve never flown in a helicopter before.”
“I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
“And, um, you mentioned there would be dinner?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Well, I’ll see you then.” Emma left, and Patrick tried to focus on his work. It was difficult, though. He couldn’t stop thinking about Emma, just as he had for the past few days. He hoped she would enjoy seeing the gallery. He hoped she wouldn’t mind spending the evening alone with him.
He hoped he might get to kiss her.
When six o’clock finally rolled around, Patrick couldn’t close his laptop and pack his things fast enough. He met Emma on the roof a few minutes early. She was wearing her gray jacket and a red hat and was looking with a dubious expression at the helicopter that was already sitting on the roof.
“Having second thoughts?” he asked.
She turned to him with a warm smile. “Not at all. I’m really looking forward to seeing your gallery.”
“Shall we, then?”
They greeted the pilot and climbed into the helicopter. Emma struggled a little with the straps of her safety belt, and Patrick leaned over instinctively to help her untangle it. Their hands brushed and he felt warmth travel up his arms. That warmth only intensified when he turned his head and realized that they were only inches apart. If one of them leaned forward, they would be kissing.
But instead, they both smiled a little awkwardly and Patrick straightened back up.
“Make sure to put on your headset,” he told her. “It’ll get loud.”
Emma did. The pilot checked that they were both comfortable, and a few minutes later, they were in the sky. Emma looked out the window so intently that Patrick wouldn’t have been surprised if she had left a nose print on the glass.
“This is beautiful,” she breathed.
Patrick had to admit that it was pretty impressive to see the city open up below them, all twinkling lights and tall buildings. He traveled by helicopter often enough that he was fairly inured to it; he usually spent his time in the sky reviewing briefs, making to-do lists, and otherwise preparing for what would happen when he returned to the ground. Today, though, with Emma exclaiming in wonder by his side, he saw again how amazing it really was to travel like this.
“Look, there’s the lake!” She pointed. “It looks almost scary at night, so much water, stretching so far…”
“I think it looks a little scary in the daytime,” Patrick joked. “I grew up in New York City and I’m not used to that much open space.”
Emma glanced at him, eyebrows wrinkling. “Isn’t New York City right on the coast?”
“Well, yes, but I didn’t exactly spend a lot of time at the beach. Whereas the lake is right here in the middle of the city.”
“Why did you move to Chicago?” Emma asked. Her voice was raised to be heard through the headphones, just like Patrick’s was.
“When I graduated college, I knew I wanted to find my own place, away from my parents and their influence. Charles and Eliza Daniels are big names back in New York — and even here, but less.”
“They own a few companies, right?”
“Right. My father inherited from my grandfather and was able to build his business in his twenties. That’s what I did, as well. My parents gave me some seed funding to start LWC Capital. That’s also why I have an investment firm, as opposed to an art-focused company.”
“And why did you pick Chicago?”
“I had visited once in my senior year of college,” Patrick admitted. “And I fell in love with the city and its people. I also went to a few art museums and galleries while I was here because one of my friends was an art major, and that’s how I became fascinated by art. How about you?” Patrick realized that he’d been talking for a while and there was still a lot he didn’t know about Emma.
“I didn’t start an investment company,” Emma said with a teasing smile.
“Sure, but where did you grow up?”
She waved a slim hand back and forth. “Oh, you know, here and there.”
