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CHAPTER ONE
CALEB
The orange, yellow, and pink hues of the western sky were majestic as he looked out the window over the plane’s wing.
Caleb had slept most of the flight from Amsterdam to his stopover in New York City, but he’d been too excited to get home to catch a nap on this last leg into LAX.
His body thought it was almost three in the morning, but his watch was on local California time, and it confirmed he had just enough time to surprise his girlfriend at her yoga studio before her last class ended.
“I see you’re awake and raring to go,” his cousin and business partner, Ron, said from across the aisle.
“Yeah, I’m ready to get off this flying tin can,” Caleb retorted. He’d never been a huge fan of flying, preferring to travel on the water any chance he got.
“Just think how much more ready you’d be to deplane if you hadn’t let me talk you into the upgrade.”
Ron wasn’t wrong. He’d convinced Caleb they needed the business class upgrade, a decision his legs were presently appreciative of.
“Remind me of that when we’re over on our Travel & Entertainment expenses this month,” Caleb groused.
“You’re the CEO and majority stockholder. Lighten up, man.”
He knew his cousin was just joking around, but he was too excited to see Presley to think about much else. His mind raced with all the things he had planned for his first night home after two weeks away.
“What is that look for?” Ron questioned.
He tried wiping his face of any expression before answering. “It’s nothing. Just ready to get home.”
“You mean ready to get to that sexy future wife of yours.”
“Don’t make me regret confiding in you that I’m hoping to propose soon.”
The older man’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s going on? Trouble in paradise?”
“No trouble. I’ve just been away too long.”
“Uh-ha.” Ron paused before tacking on. “You’re doing it again, aren’t you?”
Caleb didn’t want anything putting a damper on his good mood, including an age-old argument between the men.
“I don’t need you lecturing me,” he ground out loud enough to draw several looks from their fellow business class passengers.
“Talk to me. Does this have something to do with your membership to that club?”
Another secret he regretted sharing with his older cousin. At least he hadn’t shared any confidential details about Black Light that would violate the NDA he’d signed when joining the exclusive BDSM club.
The men leaned into each other across the aisle to avoid sharing his dirty laundry with their neighbors.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. I just couldn’t reach her before we took off. I’m sure she’s busy getting ready for her friend’s wedding this weekend.”
“That’s nothing. Hell, Mary and I go days without talking when I’m traveling for work. I’m sure everything is fine, but still… my best advice for when you do get hitched is to invest in a great couch. You’ll do a fair amount of sleeping on it when you screw up.”
“Yeah, well fuck that. I don’t sleep on the couch unless I choose to.”
“And that, right there, is why you’re not already married. You’ve had several awesome relationships tank. Like it or not, women today won’t put up with your old-fashioned ‘my way or the highway’ crap.”
“This is not helping,” Caleb complained.
The captain announcing it was time to prepare for landing notched his excitement higher. He had always been happy to get home after a business trip, but he’d noticed a key difference coming home from his last few trips. It was easy to figure out his desire to stay home coincided with having something, nosomeone, important he didn’t want to leave behind in California.
