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I roll a finger around one of her curls. “I understand. When Niko had to return to America to live with her mother, my heart broke each time.”
She sits up and looks at me. “You’re right. It is kind of like that.”
With her face upturned, my eyes slide to her mouth. It is not the time to kiss her, yet I am absolutely distracted by the prospect.
“Why did you paint your lips red today?” I ask.
She pushes out her bottom lip. “Yaya picked out my outfit. She said I shouldn’t wear T-shirts and jeans anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m dating you.”
“I prefer you in T-shirts and jeans.”
“Is that your way of saying I don’t look good when I’m dressed up?” The cutting look she slants me says ‘watch your words carefully’.
“You look beautiful either way.” I caress her shoulder. “But you do not have to wear anything special to be desirable to me.”
She smiles. Her eyes drift away from mine. “Do you always rent private jets?”
“It is not ‘rented’ exactly. It belongs to my family. I use it on my trips back and forth to Japan.”
Her smirk blooms into an impressed smile. She glances around the plane.
The main cabin has comfortable leather seats. Each section has two seats facing inward to create an intimate cluster. The sections to the back contain desks for a small dining area and a mini bar.
I do not take much pride in the family wealth, but her gawking is quite adorable.
“Would you like a drink?” I ask her.
She shakes her head and checks her phone. Her gaze turns melancholy. Dejonae must still miss her sister.
I take her hand.
She glances up suddenly.
Without a word, I lead her to the cluster of chairs where Adam and Nova are seated. The two look up from their laptops.
“Would you two like to play a game?” I offer.
“A game?” Adam blinks at me as if I have been abducted by aliens. “Youwant to play a game?”
I find the box of playing cards and return to the table.
Dejonae’s troubled look is replaced with a hint of interest. The blood-thirsty need for competition inside her has awakened.
I distract her with round after round. By the time we have landed, laughter has replaced her pensive silence and the smiles she flashes me are full of life.
“Who knew Sazuki was such a sneak?” Adam mumbles to Nova when we disembark.
“Don’t be a sore loser, Adam,” Dejonae teases.
Nova jumps in to protect him, as she always does. “Adam wasn’t familiar with the game. You both could have gone easier on him.”
“Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.” Dejonae winks.
“I demand a rematch,” Adam insists. His fair skin is turning red beneath his worn baseball cap. “Next time, we play something I’m good at.”
