“Tommy… I haven’t been right since the day you left.”

“Me, either,” I mumbled, still staring at our linked hands. I was afraid to actually believe in this moment because if it wasn’t real? There was no place on Earth I could escape the hurt I would feel when I woke up from this daydream.

“You know, I read somewhere that a quick, hot affair with a younger man was supposed to yield positive results. It was supposed to strip me bare, awaken new passions, new sensations, new ways of being.”

“I didn’t do that for you?” I asked, finally looking her in the eye.

“That’s the thing, Tommy. You did. Being with you awakened me to the fact that my life was more than a little dull without you. That just having you in my home and in my bed for one night had changed the light in every room. Everything is different. Sounds don’t even carry the same anymore. I felt like a ghost in my own home.”

“Hermosa,” I whispered, stroking a finger down her soft cheek. “I didn’t know it would hurt you like that.”

“Neither did I, but it was the motivation I needed to make me brave enough to make a big change in my life. I sold my brokerage, leased my house, and now I’m here with you because I’m done making myself miserable.”

Stunned, I dropped my bags in the aisle and sat down. Did I hear her right? Did she just say she blew up her whole life to be with me? I stared at her in disbelief as she sat next to me. Distantly, I was aware that the whole of first class was probably eavesdropping on our conversation, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. I couldn’t care because I was too fucking captivated by this beautiful woman sitting across from me with eyes that caught and held the light.

“Say something, Tommy,” she begged softly. “Say something, or I’m gonna think you don’t want me and that I’ve made a huge mistake.”

I frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous, Darcy. Of course, I want you. Come here,” I said, beckoning her to me.

A sound that was part laugh and part sob spilled out of her as she climbed into my lap and pressed her lips to mine for a shy, hesitant kiss. The first-class cabin erupted in applause — obviously, they’d been waiting for some sort of sign that Darcy had pulled this thing off. I felt the smile on her lips and heard the little kitty growl she made when I gripped her side, pulling her in tighter.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I muttered, closing my eyes and pressing my forehead to hers.

“Easiest decision I ever made.”

“So we go to Costa Rica, and then what?”

She smiled shyly, and her cheeks flushed a dusky pink.