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“Hello,” she says.
“Hi.”
She tucks a curl behind her ear. It immediately springs free.
“Thank you,” she says, “for coming in. It meant a lot to them.”
“It’s fine. It was nice to put faces to names.”
“You’re wonderful.”
I chuckle. “Because I said hi to your folks?”
She just gives me a helpless look.
“Come here,” I murmur, and I slide a hand to the back of her head and hold her there while I lean forward and kiss her.
Her lips are warm and sweet, and I kiss her several times before pulling away reluctantly. “Hold that thought.”
Chapter Sixteen
Sidnie
It’s only a short trip to the airport. Mack parks the Aston, and then we walk over to the terminal. It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to walk past the queues of passengers waiting restlessly for delayed flights. Instead Mack speaks to a flight attendant at a separate desk, and we go straight out onto the tarmac to a small plane. A guy in a smart navy suit is waiting by the steps, and he smiles as we walk up.
“Will, this is Sidnie,” Mack says. “Sidnie, this is Will Ferrers, our flight attendant.”
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Will says. “Welcome on board.”
And so begins my first journey in a private jet. The interior is all cream and light gray, and the eight chairs are tan leather. Mack and I sit opposite each other across a table, and we buckle ourselves in as the pilot announces that we’re prepared for takeoff and will be landing at the Bay of Islands airport just after 4.15 p.m.
Will checks our seatbelts, does a brief safety talk, then takes his seat toward the back of the plane as it goes down the runway. Just a few minutes later we’re up in the sky, surrounded by fluffy white clouds.
Will releases himself from his belt then comes up and asks, “Can I get you a drink?”
“Champagne?” Mack asks me. I nod, trying to act as if I do this all the time.
“And anything to eat?”
“No thanks,” Mack says when I shake my head. “We’ll be eating tonight.”
Will goes off, and soon we hear the popping of a cork.
“Doesn’t he mind working on Christmas Day?” I murmur.
“He knows he’s on call over the weekend. Don’t worry, I make it worth his while.”
Wondering how big a bonus he pays him, I smile as Will brings our glasses over, then returns to the back of the plane.
Mack holds up his glass, and I tap mine to it. “Cheers,” he says.
“Cheers.” I sip the Champagne, studying him over the rim of my glass. He’s wearing navy cargo pants and a short-sleeved white shirt. I can’t imagine he was wearing that on the beach, which means he changed to come and see me. He’s obviously been out in the sun because his light-brown skin bears a sun-kissed glow that wasn’t there before. He looks young, healthy, and gorgeous.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he says wryly.
“Like what?”
“Like you want me as a trimming for your Christmas dinner.”
