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She pointed to the helicopter. She’d gotten on planes before. In fact, she’d hopped on one with him the first week they’d known each other. Flying wasn’t new to her. Flying on acharter helicopterwas new to her.
“Take my hand.” He held out his hand.
Without unlocking her gaze from his, she slipped her hand in his and saw what he was doing. It was working. She immediately felt safe.
He didn’t let her hand go. Not as they climbed onto the helicopter and took their seats—well, except to fasten their seatbelts—and not as the helicopter began its ascent. He even endured her grip tightening during takeoff. Once they were above the city, he pointed out various sights. Soon, she was so absorbed in the scenery, her heart rate slowed slightly, and she began to feel like she could breathe again.
But then it was time to land—another process that was unfamiliar to her. It wasn’t like a plane where the engine noises picked up and you slowly felt the descent. No, with a helicopter, you just dropped down and perched on a surface, like you were in a car that could fly. The almost-deafening whirring of the blades above them didn’t change at all. Brooke, meanwhile, was trying to take deep breaths like she’d learned to do when she was stressed out in college.
“Ready?” he asked again, and this time, she was all too ready. She’d have to climb back onto this transport when it was time to leave, but for now, she was safely back on land. Never mind that statistics showed plane and helicopter crashes weren’t as common as the many dangers that lurked when you were wandering around on the Earth’s surface. For now, she felt in control of her environment once again.
“Our ride is here,” Justin said.
Brooke emerged from the helicopter to see the “ride” he was talking about. It was a limousine—something she’d only ridden in once, on prom night back in high school. He’d said he didn’t like to do billionaire things, but this night was already looking to be a series of billionaire-ish events.
“Justin…” She hesitated, staring at the vehicle in front of her. “You didn’t have to do all this.”
“Don’t worry. We aren’t going to spend the evening sitting in some over-the-top fancy restaurant. Come on.”
He took her hand again, reminding her that he was there with her through whatever adventure they were about to face. Her heels dug into a few small holes in the pavement, making her all too aware of how improperly she was dressed for an adventure. That was easy to explain, though, since he’d whisked her away from her desk mid-afternoon, which meant she was wearing the outfit she’d put on to wear all day at work—heels, dress pants, and a suit jacket over a blouse in case they had an unexpected press interview.
“This might not be sending the best message,” Brooke said as they climbed into the limo.
“Nobody will see us. Trust me.”
She couldn’t process his words because she was distracted by the bouquet of multicolored roses on the table next to her. Someone had managed to position it so that it became the focal point.
“Those are yours,” he said, obviously noticing her taking them in. “Part of your perfect romantic evening.”
Okay. As much as she might have thought otherwise, all of this was amazing. She’d never felt like a princess before. She’d worried about fitting in with Justin’s world, but when it came down to it, thiswashis world. He didn’t try to show off for friends or toss money around to demonstrate how well-off he was. Instead, he’d spent way too much just to impress her.
Justin leaned forward and pulled a couple of bottled waters from an ice chest that was stored in a cabinet in front of them. “We worked hard to get where we are with the company right now. I think we should celebrate. Your favorite.”
Handing her one of the bottles, he settled back into place, one arm around her shoulders. She’d mentioned once in passing that she had a very specific type of water she liked, which she usually carried around in a tumbler with her. The fact that he’d noted and gone to the trouble to track it down meant more than even the roses in front of her.
“Finally, our app is back on track,” Justin said. “I don’t think we’ll ever get to where we were before. I’m kind of enjoying having a smaller team and spending my time in the office every day, rather than traveling around. All this—and you—helped me rediscover my love for running a business.”
She looked up at him, hardly able to believe she’d ever seen him as someone who would get caught up in the Silicon Valley way of life. That wasn’t Justin Travers at all. Instead, he was a hard worker who had maybe gotten a little distracted by the bright, shiny objects that came with success. But having people like herself, Charlie, and the rest of the team close by to keep him grounded would likely ensure that wouldn’t happen again.
Smiling, she opened her bottle and took a sip before capping it and looking up at him again. “You just needed a reason to come into the office every day.”
“I think I did.”
Their gazes held for a long time, and she wondered if she’d ever be able to look at him without having the overwhelming urge to kiss him. Before they could do anything, though, the limo slowed to a stop, and Justin turned his attention to the scene out the window on her side of the vehicle.
“Let’s go.”
She turned to get out and saw exactly where they were going, even before she’d opened the door. It was a park, but there was an area off to the side that had candles. She could see them glowing in the fading light.
“Is that a…blanket?” She squinted as she straightened and waited for him to exit the vehicle behind her.
“Let’s go see.” He took her hand and led the way. It wasn’t a short walk, but they moved in a silence that seemed comfortable to her. Just being with him, walking across this lawn in her ridiculously unsuitable shoes, was better than anything she could imagine doing.
“It’s a picnic?” The words came out as a question as they approached. It was pretty obvious what it was, though. There was an actual picnic basket off to the side of a very large checkered blanket. The candles that were covering the area in a romantic glow were actually flameless, which made sense, considering they were in jars on the ground surrounding the blanket. Wouldn’t want to start a fire in the middle of a park.
“I know it’s not fast food in the airport, but I thought this would give us a little more privacy.”
Brooke followed him onto the blanket, taking a seat on the ground next to him. The first thing she did was kick off her heels and breathe a sigh of relief that she could be comfortable. Finally. “This is perfect.”
