LUKE
She’d whooped with shock, a great deal of shock, when he first showed her the jet.
When he told her he’d bought it, she looked at him as if he was mad.
A part of him was. It was an impulsive purchase. He liked to fly under the radar, figuratively and literally. He didn’t like to show off his wealth. he chuckled softly to himself remembering how outraged Kay had been when she’d discovered that he wasn’t a bartender, but that he owned the bar. Not just one bar, many.
He’d bought the jet on a whim, and that in itself was a big shift from the logical and calculating approach he previously applied to all areas of his life.
But things had changed.
He’d undergone a metamorphosis after his brush with mortality—and then losing her. He’d been forced to heed his sister Amanda’s words. He wanted to enjoy his life and wealth rather than spend every moment building his business empire.
He wasn’t going to make his father’s mistake.
After her initial shock, she turned to him. Tears welling up in her eyes. Just seeing that reaction, confused and concerned him. “Don’t you like it?” He’d sell the thing as quickly as he’d bought it if she didn’t.
“It’s … not something you’d do. Not that it’s a bad thing,” she’d said quickly, sliding her arms around his waist. “I’m happy, knowing that you’re finally buying these trinkets, like the Stone brothers would.”
He opened his mouth to protest. Like him, Tobias wasn’t one to parade his wealth either, but he couldn’t say the same for Xavier. Though the playboy in him had almost disappeared now that he’d met Izzy.
“I mean, that you’re doing things for yourself,” Kay said. “I love that you’re putting yourself first.” She pouted up at him and he’d pressed his lips down on hers, only to find their kiss quickly deepening. His cock jumped to attention, too.
It had been the perfect start to their getaway.
But, this wasn’t the trip Kay believed it would be. They weren’t going to Pennsylvania to visit her mom, not yet. On the return journey they would, for sure, but before that, there was something important to take care of.
He’d enjoyed showing her around the new jet, and she gasped and cried with every new discovery; the plush cream leather seats and wood finishes. The discreet champagne drawer. The sheer, ridiculous luxury of it all.
They had christened the bed. And the shower. And the gleaming bar area with its high stools.
Just as well that it was a long flight.
***
Now, finally sated, both wearing nothing but white robes and Kay sipping champagne, he watched the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
The quiet hum of the jet suspended high about the skies made it feel like they were in their own special bubble. Miles from anyone and anywhere.
She curled her legs beneath her on the plush leather seat, a glass of pink champagne in her hand. He’d asked her if she wanted him to make her a Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall, but she’d told him she would rather he gave her one with his body, as opposed to something to drink.
He’d willingly obliged.
She took a sip of her drink. “I still can’t believe you talked me into leaving the country right before Christmas.” Her voice was seductive and low, like it was when he made love to her, and she whispered his name while in the throes of ecstasy. He loved watching her unravel like that. Loved the way she looked at him, like he was the only man in the world for her.
Like he was hers forever.
She was his.
He hoped forever.
That’s what this trip was about. Solidifying these matters. He watched her quietly, a smile on his lips. “You didn’t need much convincing.”
“That’s because you said Pennsylvania,” she shot back. “Snow, family, Christmas lights. Normal things.”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “Define normal.”
She laughed and took another sip. “Okay, fair. But still, you’re being suspiciously smug.”
“I always look smug.”
“You look extra smug right now. As smug as a man can look wearing nothing but a robe.”
“I can strip and be naked, if it pleases you.”
If it pleases you.
She lifted a brow, and he could just imagine the thoughts running through her head. He’d changed so much. He’d gone from being a guy who wanted nothing more than to use her body, to this, a man who needed her like he needed air to breathe.
“Later, but for now, I like this, you and me, just talking, like this.”
He could do this, talk all night, hold her all night, listen to her all night. They sat in a warm and comfortable silence for a moment before he spoke again.
“So,” he said, casually, knowing she’d gone through a lot of changes, professional and personal. He was proud of her, and of what she’d achieved in a male-dominated work environment. “Executive Director, huh?”
A smile spread across her lips. “It still feels strange hearing it out loud.”
“You’ve earned it. You should have been promoted at your last place, but that’s their loss. Not yours.”
She nodded in agreement, before tucking one foot under the other leg. “You know what the best part was?”
He leaned forward slightly. He already knew, because she’d been lit up like a firework the day it happened, and she came home looking so ecstatic. Still, she wanted to savor the retelling of this story, so he let her. “Tell me.”
“Us bidding on the same deal with my old firm.”
His insides tightened. “Serves Remington right, and that asshat, that … sonofa—”
“Geoffrey,” she interrupted, satisfaction flickering across her face.
How much he hated that guy. The miserable loser he’d saved her from on that first night at The Oasis. The guy who thought she owed him some TLC just because she’d gone out with him for some drinks.
“That was a beautiful, satisfying victory.” She laughed softly, disbelief still coloring her voice. “I beat them.”
He could only imagine. “I wish I’d been there.”
“You would’ve enjoyed Remington’s face,” she said dryly. “Geoffrey wouldn’t even look at me.”
“I’d like to punch his goddamn face if I ever saw him again,” he growled, then, seeing the consternation on her face, “But, I wouldn’t do anything. I’m … I’m better than that.” The counseling sessions were helping. They allowed him to discover things about himself that he had suppressed. They’d also helped him to work through the trauma of his earlier life.
Kay’s expression softened.
“I’m so proud of you, Kay.”
She swallowed, her eyes turning glassy. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
Coming from him, he guessed it probably it, especially because he’d put this precious woman through so much. Called her a pity-fuck, when he’d been at his lowest. Not that that was an excuse. He cringed just thinking about it.
What an asshole he’d been. So cruel, so malicious. He didn’t deserve her, and he’d been lucky that she gave him another chance.
This woman was a saint. She’d saved him. The counseling sessions helped, but it was Kay’s unwavering compassion and, dare he say it, love, that helped him out of the hellhole of his life.
“You walked out of a place that didn’t value you,” he continued, voice steady and sincere, “and you built something better. That takes guts. It takes integrity. And it takes strength.”
She looked at him then, really looked at him. “You know,” she said softly, “there was a time when I thought winning at work was all I needed.”
He shrugged. “Same.” They were similar in that regard. But now he had another vision for his life and he was curious to know about hers. “And now?”
“And now…” She smiled. “It’s nice to come home to someone who actually sees me.”
His chest tightened at that. “I never thought I’d have this.” His voice had a wobble to it. “This kind of life. This kind of love.”
Her eyes widened, and the half-smile on her lips looked bittersweet. Like she almost wasn’t sure if he meant it, or if his words were going to end with a sting.
That wasn’t who he was anymore, and he needed to let her know, really let her know, how much she meant to him.
“After everything with my family, I thought love was something that ruined people. Or broke them. Or left them worse off than before.” He held her gaze. “You gave me something I didn’t know I was missing.”
“Oh, Luke …” She sat forward and placed her champagne glass on the small coffee table by her side.
“You taught me how to love myself,” he continued. “And once I did that … loving you wasn’t terrifying anymore. It was inevitable.”
She reached across the small space between them and laced her fingers through his. “The counseling sessions are definitely doing some good.”
“They are, but it’s all you.” He nodded as he looked at her. “It’s all you, Kay. I’m the luckiest man to have you by my side.”
The sensation of tears welling up in his eyes was new. He wasn’t prone to this, but his heart was now open; the weight that had pressed down on him for most of his life had been lifted.
After cancer, and Kay leaving him, he’d been lost. When she told him she could never be with him again, it broke him in a way he never thought was possible. After his mother’s death, he’d hardened to life. Closed himself off to feeling and emotion. But then he’d met a woman who had to the power to bring him to his knees with her words.
She touched him in his deepest, darkest places.
She was the light to his darkness, and he almost let her walk away forever.
“I’m the lucky one, Luke.” They both stood up slowly, fingers intertwined.
He squeezed her hand gently. “I want you in my life forever.” The weighted words made her mouth fall open. She blinked up at him in silence, a frown creasing her brow.
Should he do it now? Here, on the plane? This wasn’t how he’d envisaged it.
Her robe fell open, the loose tie of slinky, satin belt coming undone to reveal a flash of her bare skin. Enough to give him ideas.
He licked his lips and just like that, his cock sprang to attention again. She reached for him under his robe. Her fingers wrapping around his steel-hard shaft.
“Oh, baby, we need to take care of that,” she rasped. “Sit down.” She gave him a light push and he fell back into his plush leather seat. She slipped off her robe, eliciting a growl from the back of his throat. She parted his robe, and when his thick, purple member stood upright, she purred softly.
“I’m going to slide down and enjoy you inch by inch,” she murmured, in that low, sexy voice he loved so much.
“Please.” His head rolled back, as she climbed over him, and her soft wetness sheathed him slowly and completely.
***
Hours later, she was snuggled up next to him. They’d both showed and dressed by the time the plane began its descent.
She stirred.
“Amanda wants a couples’ dinner next week,” he announced. Unlike Kay, he’d been unable to fall asleep. Possibilities of a new future ran rampant in his head.
She turned to him. “Whose idea was that?”
“Mine.”
She blinked a few times. “Really?”
He shrugged. “Growth.”
She smiled. “That’s good. That’s so good, Luke. I can’t wait to get to know your sister and her husband better.”
“Me too.” His sister was a good influence on him, and he was going to be there for her from this point forward.
“What about Travis and Maggie?”
“I wish them well,” he said simply. “Truly. I’m glad they’re happy. I just don’t need to sit across from them pretending we’re all one big happy family.” He didn’t need to do that. But his heart guided him now, not hate, or revenge, or suppressed trauma.
“It seems healthy,” she said.
“I don’t need to love everyone. I just need to love the people who matter. Who I care for, and who mean something to me.”
She laughed like this was common sense, and it was, it just hadn’t been his common-sense way of looking at things. Until now.
She looked out of the window, her fingers still loosely entwined with his. Then she jolted, sitting forward, her face pressed up against the glass.
Oops.
He saw what she’d seen.
It was hard to miss the thick white snow that covered the landscape. White and endless, and glowing under floodlights.
She turned to him. “Luke?”
“Hmm?” This was going to be so much fun.
“Why is there snow everywhere?”
He said nothing.
“Where are we?” Her voice turned frantic. “Luke?”
“It must be snowing in Pennsylvania,” he offered.
“But this doesn’t look like Pennsylvania covered in snow!”
The seatbelt sign came on, so he was able to distract her, but only for a few seconds.
“Where are we?” She gazed at him. “There’s something you’re not telling me!”
The plane touched down smoothly.
He couldn’t keep this a secret much long. “That’s because we’re not in Pennsylvania.”
Her eyes turned big and wide, like saucers. “Then where are we?” she whispered, as if afraid to know the answer.
“Lapland.”
She stared at him, blinking fast and furious, trying to make sense of the word. “What?”
“Lapland.” A warm, giddy feeling churned inside him. “We’re in Finland.”
“Lapland? What the heck are we doing there?” she shrieked. Then, “Is my mom okay? What’s happened to her?”
He unfastened their seatbelts, and helped her to standing, needing to quickly reassure her. “Everything is okay. Your mom is fine. I redirected. Thought the break would do you, us, some good. Just to get away from the world and—”
She laughed, stunned and emotional, and very obviously relieved as she pressed a hand to her chest. “You .. you …” She shook her head, not finding the words. “You are full of surprises! I love you so much.”
She pressed her lips on his. The surprise gesture hitting him gently, relief flooding his senses, helping to tamp down some of his excitement. Inside his pocket, he felt the ringbox once again.
“Come on,” he said, grinning. “We need coats. It’s freezing out there.”
“I didn’t come prepared for this!”
“I did.”
***
KAY
Luke had gone mad.
The man she loved, unconditionally, fiercely and forever, had gone completely mad. Not only had a bought a private jet, he was softer, happier, looser. Unguarded and uncoiled.
He was exactly the Luke she wanted to be with. And now he’d redirected the plane so that they could get some alone time together. She needed it. The past year had been unbearably difficult, what with work, and Luke, but now things were changing, and all for the better.
Sometimes she dared not blink in case this was just a figment of her imagination and might vanish as suddenly as it had changed. She’d never been to Finland, and she was excited for this break.
Luke had been thoughtful, and prepared, and he’d brought out a thick cream wool parka, lined with fur, and heavy enough to swallow her whole.
Outside, the air was sharp and clean and impossibly bright beneath the night sky. Snow crunched beneath her boots as she laughed, spun once, completely undone by it all.
“This is insane,” she said. “Perfect, but insane.”
He guided her forward, away from the lights, into a clearing surrounded by fir trees. The sky above them shimmered—green and violet ribbons dancing slowly and silently in the magical night sky.
Her breath caught. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “The aurora.”
Luke turned to face her, his expression so somber, so different to the lightness she’d just experienced, that she was afraid, for a fleeting second.
“This,” he said quietly, “is what you once called heaven.”
She looked at him, eyes shining.
“Sitting under the stars,” he continued, a quiet determination in his eyes. “Making plans for the future.”
Her insides fluttered and stilled all at once. He’d remembered the conversation. He’d known what she’d wanted in her heart of hearts, and he’d created it for her now.
Dear God. How much she loved this man. Her heart was bursting with so much feeling for him. “I love you,” she cried, silent tears streaming down her face. “I’m happy. I’m so happy!”
He’d heard her. He’d seen her. And he cared and loved her. It was all she’d ever wanted. It had once been her greatest worry, that she would never have what Savannah had, but this man had given her the world of her dreams.
When he dropped to one knee in the snow, her heart did a somersault inside her chest. She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “Luke, baby, what the …”
“I spent most of my life believing I wasn’t built for this, for commitment, for forever. For love that didn’t come with an escape route.”
Her vision blurred.
“But then you walked into my life, and you stayed. You challenged me. You left when you had to, and you came back only when I was worthy of you.”
Her body went light, and for a moment she thought she might stumble back, dizzy with the weight of his words. She blinked just as he whipped out a box and opened it.
“Kay Sullivan,” he said softly, “you are my home, my anchor, my future. You’re my choice—every single day. Will you marry me?”
Tears spilled freely now as she nodded, laughing through them. “Y-yes,” she cried, overcome with so much emotion, she could barely get the word out. “Yes. Hell yes! A thousand times yes.”
He stood, slid the ring onto her finger, and pulled her into his arms as the sky above them erupted in light.
She’d been so fearful and alone in Kawaya, a long, long, long, time ago, at a beautiful wedding where she met a bartender and asked him to take a selfie with her.
Now, under a different sky, in a place she never expected to be, she finally understood that some fairytales were worth the wait.