CHAPTER 62
Cal
I won’t let go of her. If I do, she might disappear into the ether, like so many of my nighttime visions. We’ve been out of the city for about twenty minutes now, but her face is still filled with wonder.
She’s probably a little shell-shocked. That’s understandable.
Once we left the lobby, Millicent and I moved Victoria’s stuff from her car into the back of the SUV.
Victoria quickly hugged Millicent goodbye, handed her the keys to that nice shiny new Audi of hers, and told her she could drive it to Colorado.
And then we were off.
Victoria is still a bit out of breath. She turns to me and asks, “How many questions am I allowed to ask about this surprise?”
“What surprise?”
“You know. The one you and the rest of the world have been plotting behind my back.”
“Oh, that one. Zero.”
She shakes her head in mock irritation. “You’re a hard man, Cal.”
I shrug. “I’m a MacLaine. You know how we are.”
She laughs. “I sure do.”
I smile to myself. Hard? She’s got no idea how hard. Twenty minutes alone with her in the car and I’m hard as a rock. It’s like she’s the drug and I’m a shameless addict. It takes everything in me not to pull off the interstate and fuck her brains out.
No one has ever accused me of being a romantic.
Until now, anyway.
Because right now, I am focused on how good I want everything to be for her, how special. I want Victoria to remember this surprise for the rest of her life. A quickie on the side of the road isn’t exactly how I pictured us making it official.
Victoria turns away to look out at the El Cajon mountains, but I see her cheeks press up in a smile.
I take the opportunity to drag my gaze all up and down her body.
I drink her in. She really is right here next to me, with her shiny auburn hair and perfect skin.
Her willowy but strong body. I can’t wait to get my hands on her again. And my lips. My tongue. My fingers.
I can’t wait to claim her body with my own, bury myself all the way home inside her.
Romance, I remind myself. Fucking romance.
I sigh. I hope to hell that Evander, Finn, and Special K have done everything I’ve asked of them back at the ranch. I realize it’s a lot to pull off, especially without much notice. But one thing I’m sure of is that my dumbass brothers are resourceful.
One day soon I’ll thank them for their back deck intervention.
It’s true—I needed some smacking around in order to think clearly about the situation, and they were more than happy to meet those needs.
My brothers set this train back on the tracks, so maybe that’s why they’re committed to my success.
I only hope that they got some female help with the details.
Summer? She’s a hardcore tomboy, but she’s still a woman, so she may have come in handy.
Jasmine might have a few ideas, but I hope they’re not all pink.
Phoebe? Most definitely, if she’s still hanging around looking after Evander. That boy is embarrassingly blind—I’m sure now that Phoebe’s in love with him, and probably has been since they were kids.
But I’m nervous. This plan has a lot of moving parts. So many things could go wrong.
We drop off the SUV. The baggage cart driver and I load Victoria’s bags, and we head out to the tarmac. I counted seven pieces of luggage, all matching, all that designer shit. We hop into the back seat.
“I didn’t think it was possible for you to have more luggage than what I’ve already seen in your possession.”
“I come with a lot of baggage, Cal.”
I laugh. “Don’t we all, baby.” I slide my arm over the back of the rumble seat and pull her close.
She frowns. “Besides, those bags hold everything I own at this point. If I haven’t given it away, had it taken away, or placed it in storage, it’s here with me.”
“That sounds perfect.”
She narrows an eye at me. “Perfect for what?”
“For how long you’ll be with me.”
“And how long is that?”
“Forever.”
I don’t care if the cart driver can see us.
I don’t care who sees us. I’m pretty sure that back in the lobby of Victoria’s building, I became one of those men who are fine with public displays of affection.
Only in my case, it was far more than affection on display—it was lust, need, relief, desire… and love.
Damn, how things change. How I’ve changed. How Victoria has changed everything for me.
I turn, pull her close, and press her against the front of my body. I kiss her, her hair swirling around us as we get closer to the jet. I lift my lips from hers. “I sure hope you like my surprise.”
“Will you be with me?”
I smile. “Yeah.”
“Then I’ll love it.”
I kiss her again and keep kissing her until the luggage cart slows to a crawl and I hear Declan’s obnoxious commentary behind me.
“Get a room!” he yells, already lifting the suitcases from the cart and lugging them to the cargo hold of StellaR Tech’s private jet.
“Declan!” Victoria jumps out and gives my second-to-youngest brother a big hug. “I’ve missed you!”
“Missed you too, Victoria.” Declan looks over her head and winks at me. I take that as an indication that everything’s in place.
It’s not long before we’ve received clearance to take off.
We climb and then bank eastward to begin our ninety-minute flight to Sweetbrier.
Since Declan’s already prepped the helo for our arrival, we land the jet and almost immediately we’re ready to go again.
We board, buckle up, and test our headsets.
Within minutes, we lift off and head for our destination.
Victoria’s face lights up. She laughs into her headset. “Declan! The seats are heated!”
“Damn skippy they are!”
Victoria looks out the window and blinks at me with wonder. “We’re over Yosemite Ranch!” She points. “There’s the horse barn! I see everyone’s houses and the training rings. All the trees are in full bloom!”
In just a few minutes, we’re over our target. Victoria stares out her window, then looks at me with an expression that’s the perfect mix of excitement and disbelief—just what I was shooting for. “This is for us?”
I nod. We begin our landing maneuver.
“This is Sulfur Springs!”
I nod again.
Victoria unclips her seatbelt and jumps into my lap. She’s kissing me as we touch ground. She’s still kissing me when the motors are cut and the blades slow down.
“I already warned you two crazy kids—get a room!” Declan shakes his head and laughs.
And that’s exactly what we plan to do.