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I touch a finger to her chin. "Your mouth is hanging open, lass. Insects might fly in there if you're not careful."
She closes her mouth, but her lips stretch into a teasing smile as she points toward the jet. "This is yours?"
I shrug one shoulder. "I share it with Lachlan. After he married Erica, he wanted a private means of getting wherever he might need to be." I'm smirking, for certain, but I think I might almost be smiling. "I think he wanted a flying bedroom so he could ravish his wife up in the clouds."
"I'm sure you have no such plans." Emery sidles up to me, looping an arm around my waist. "Did you guys go halfsies on the plane?"
"It's a jet, but I'm not sure what you're asking."
"Did you each pay half the cost."
"Ah, no. Lachlan insisted on buying the jet himself. I do pay for the fuel, and I tried to convince him to let me pay a portion of the cost. He wouldn't agree. This was the first of two jets he bought."
"Two jets?" She rests her chin on my arm, her face angled up toward mine. "How rich is your brother?"
"I'm not certain, but I'd wager it's at least ten times more than I have."
"Ten times? I suppose your brother Aidan has twenty times more."
"Aidan is not wealthy," I explain, "though he has rebuilt his construction business into quite a success. He nearly lost the company after he was injured in a rock-climbing accident, but he's worked like the devil to bring it back to life."
Before my wife can ask more questions, I usher her up the stairs and into the jet. Well-cushioned seats line both sides of the cabin, their ivory-colored leather pristine. A group of seats face each other with a table between them, and a sofa occupies a space along the right-hand side. Beyond that, boxes fill an empty area. More compartments lie at the rear.
"Through there are the bedroom, bathroom, and galley," I say, gesturing toward the back of the jet.
"What are those boxes?" Emery asks.
"Your belongings."
Her gaze flies to the boxes and then back to my face. "You said you'd hire people to pack up my stuff and get it to me. I assumed that meant shipping it. How did you get anybody to do it this fast?"
"I paid them a great deal of money." I curl my hands around her upper arms. "I'm spiriting you away to a new country and a home you've never seen. You'll feel more at ease if you have your belongings."
"Thank you. That's unbelievably considerate."
"Don't thank me. I've asked a lot of you, and this was the least I could do in return."
Her mouth opens wide as she yawns.
I pick her up, cradling her body in my arms. "My wife needs a lie-down."
She rests her head on my chest as I carry her toward the bedroom, her lips curling into a sweet smile of contentment.
Even if she genuinely likes me now, I will disabuse her of that fondness. I won't mean to do it, but I will. The last thing I want is for my wife to develop stronger feelings for me, so maybe I will need to make certain she doesn't care for me.
Aye, I'm a bastard.
