Later, when they were both breathless and a little sweaty, he couldn’t help but tell her how he felt. “I love you, Leanna. I missed you so much.” He hugged her close. “I hated being here without you.”
“Oh, stop. You’ve always said how much you love your solitude and all your space here.”
“It felt stifling here without you,” he said gruffly, kissing her forehead. “Sometimes it felt as if I couldn’t breathe because I missed you so much.”
“I was never far away,” she said quietly.
“I know. I’ll never be able to apologize enough for that.”
“Brody, I don’t want you to keep apologizing. We both could have reached out sooner. The important thing is that we’re here now, right?”
He nodded. “It is. And from this point on, I don’t want us to be apart like that. Not ever again.” Pausing, he sat up a little. “I’d really like it if…if you moved in with me.”
Leanna sat up slowly and looked at him warily. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t, would I?”
“Well…”
“Well…?” he mimicked, teasing. “What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t want you trying to overcompensate for anything. There were some extenuating circumstances and as much as I hated it, I think the time apart was a good thing. It means we can move forward with a little more clarity.”
It made sense, but…
“I’m not trying to overcompensate, Lea. I’m asking you because I want you here with me. I want us to live together. I want to come home every day and know that I’m going to see you–that I’ll be able to have dinner with you on nights that neither of us are working late, and we’ll get to sit and watch TV together before crawling into bed.” He smiled at her. “I love the thought of your beautiful face being the last thing I see before I go to sleep.”
“Oh, my goodness! You are getting really good at all this sweet talk!” Leaning in, she kissed him. “I love it.”
“And speaking of sweet…you know what I’m in the mood for?” he asked silkily.
She moved in even closer. “Mmm…what?” She kissed his neck and then nipped at his jaw.
“Cupcakes,” he said, trying to keep a straight face. “I noticed that there were cupcakes out on the island last night but I got too full and it was too late to have any and…”
A pillow hit him in the face as Leanna started to laugh. “You have me naked and thinking of another round of sex and you’re thinking of cupcakes?”
The pillow hit him again and he started laughing with her.
“I can’t believe I’m sitting here all turned on and you want cake!”
The third time the pillow hit, he caught it and quickly tossed it aside before playfully pinning his girl down.
Life with her was never going to be boring, but it was certainly going to be sweet.
Epilogue
The secret ingredient is always love.
Two months later…
“Oh, good grief. Where is this place?” Leanna murmured. She had circled the private airport three times and couldn’t seem to find the building she needed. It was getting late and these cupcakes needed to be delivered by two o’clock. Then she had to rush home because she and Brody were heading to the beach for a week. It was going to be glorious.
If only she could find where she was supposed to make this darn delivery!
On the fourth time around, she finally saw the small hangar and the entrance to the attached parking lot.
“Finally.” She parked and took a moment to compose herself and make sure she looked okay. Her hair was up and she was in her usual delivery uniform of black slacks and a white blouse, but she added a touch of lipstick before getting out of the car. After all, this was apparently a surprise for the owner of the private jet and she figured she should do her best to look as put together as possible.
Grabbing the two boxes from the back of her car–it seemed silly to take the big refrigerator van for such a small delivery–she put a smile on her face and walked through the door. She paused when she stepped inside because it looked like a high-end office–mahogany desks and counters, tasteful artwork on the walls, marble floors…it certainly didn’t look like any airplane hangar she’d ever seen.
But then again, she’d never seen any except on TV, so…
There was a woman about her own age standing behind the counter. “Ms. Baker?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s me! Hi! I have a cupcake delivery for K.C. Is that you?”
“I wish!” She stepped around the counter and motioned for Leanna to follow her. “I’m Deborah, by the way, and I’ve heard fantastic things about your cupcakes. I may have to order some for myself!”
“You can call the offices any time. I think I have a card in my purse. Once I put these down…” They were walking down a long hallway and then Deborah opened the door to the outside.
And the tarmac.
“Um…”
“K.C. requested that you bring them up onto the plane. The flight attendant up there will assist you. Her name is Robyn.”
“Oh. Um…Okay. Thanks!” She stepped outside and it seemed exceptionally weird to be walking across the tarmac. There were several planes nearby and off in the distance, she saw one taking off. “You’d think the flight attendant could have just met me in the office,” she murmured as she approached the plane. The stairs were down and she took a steadying breath as she slowly made her way up.
“Hi! You must be Leanna! I’m Robyn. It’s so nice to meet you!” The woman who greeted her was definitely older than Leanna–maybe in her forties–and seemed genuinely pleased to meet her.
“Hi, Robyn! I’ve got cupcakes!” She was smiling even as she tried to look into the plane.
“Here, let me take them from you. Do they need to be refrigerated?”
“It depends on when you’re serving them. They’re fine as they are right now, but you might want to keep them in a cooler place if they’re going to be sitting out for a while.” She turned to look into the plane and gasped at how gorgeous and luxurious it was.
“Would you like a tour?”
“Oh, I shouldn’t. I can’t even believe I’m standing in one of these.” A nervous laugh was out before she knew it.
“Well believe it,” a deep voice said from behind her.
“Brody!” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Robyn,” he said as he stepped onto the plane and handed his satchel to her. “You can tell the captain we’re here and ready when he is. Thanks.”
“Absolutely, Mr. King. Welcome aboard.”
“Wait…what is happening right now?” Lea asked, completely confused.
Leaning in, he kissed her. “What’s happening is we’re not going to the coast for the week. We’ll have to do that another time.”
“Oh. So…where are we going? I don’t have anything here with me, Brody! It’s all back at the house!”