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Eight Years Earlier
This timewhen the plane came to a stop, I didn’t even unfasten my seatbelt, fairly certain this was just another pause to refuel.
“You coming, or do you want to stay here?” Daniel asked, standing. I gave him a withering look as I popped out of my seat and stretched.
“We’re really here?” I couldn’t wait to see this mystery place.
An official boarded the plane. “Kia ora, Miss DeGraw. Mr. Elliott,” he said.
I did mental calculations in my head. I knew roughly how long the flight should be and the time difference. It all added up. But it couldn’t be…
“Kia ora,” I returned, hoping that was the correct response.
“Welcome to New Zealand,” he said.
I fought the urge to tackle Daniel, I was so happy. I couldn’t believe he was making my dream come true.
“I need to see your documentation, and then you two can be on your way.”
I nodded, words completely escaping me as I stared at Daniel.Hot damn.We were in New Zealand.
My attention was totally shot. I barely heard anything the nice customs officer said, hoping I gave the appropriate responses at the correct times. In a few minutes, he was gone. I’d been trying to play it cool with Daniel for two months, but I threw that out the window. I got a running start and jumped him.
He was completely caught off guard but somehow managed to catch me as I threw my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I squeezed my limbs around him, and his arms tightened around my back.
“It’s not forever,” he warned, and I popped my head up from where it was resting on his shoulder to look at him. “We’re only here through New Year’s.”
“Daniel. I can’t be gone for two weeks.” Suddenly all the excitement about being in the place I’d always dreamed of visiting lost its allure as reality set in.
“Yes, you can,” he returned.
“Elaborate,” I demanded.
“I didn’t hear a please, Vivian.” This was not a time to be teasing, and I growled. He grinned.
“Please,” I said through my teeth.
“Hamerstein is taking the next few weeks off for the holidays, so he agreed it would be the perfect time for you to be away. He said you’ve earned it, and there wasn’t really much he could teach you if he wasn’t going to be in the office.” He shrugged.
“Daniel.” I swallowed my pride to get out what I needed to say. “I can’t afford to be off for two weeks. I’m supposed to be at work in less than twenty-four hours.” Disappointment washed through me. “I have to go back to New York.” Those were some of the hardest words I’d ever spoken. He’d gone to all this trouble to get me here, I was only a staircase away from setting foot on New Zealand soil, but I wasn’t going to make it. Not this time.
He tucked my hair behind my ear and gave me a sweet smile. “It’s a paid vacation, Vivian.”
I let out a long breath. I didn’t like that he’d gone behind my back and meddled in my job, but I wanted to stay. “I want to speak to Mr. Hamerstein myself.”
“I don’t think now is a suitable hour, but when it is, you can use my cell.”
I nodded but kept my expression serious. “Do not ever mess with my career again,” I threatened, and he tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. “I mean it, Daniel. I’ve worked too hard for you to swoop in and fuck it all up.”
His expression darkened. I remained unwavering. “I would never do anything to compromise your success, Vivian.”
We were in a stare-off for what seemed like an eternity before I finally nodded. “I mean it,” I reiterated, shoving my finger into his chest.
He grabbed it, eyes flashing. “So do I.”
My head didn’t stop bobbingas we rode in the back of an SUV to Auckland. We drove on the wrong side of the road, with some woman on the radio singing that she didn’t feel like dancing. Well, I sure as hell did.
