I pressed a hand to my fluttering stomach. This feeling rivaled the nerves I’d had on our first date. I’d been so nervous that I’d almost thrown up. My face had flushed so hard it’d looked like I was on day four of being sick with mono. I’d even taken my temperature to make sure I hadn’t come down with something.

I blew out a breath and hit the button for my husband.

He answered immediately. “Kate.”

“Hey, you mind if I stop by the house tomorrow and grab some of my belongings?”

“Anytime.”

My eyelids drifted shut at the way he purred the answer. Did everything about the man have to turn me on? “Thanks. It’s a last-minute conference. I mean, the conference isn’t last-minute. Well, it’s usually earlier in the year, and my boss was supposed to go, but her dad landed in the hospital. The admins said they could transfer her registration to me. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy with the airlines, but the conference covers innovative uses of communications in the library. Between the cost and the massive amount our patrons use our electronic services, someone should get the information.”

I wrinkled my nose and picked at the hem of my jacket. None of this mattered to him. Like before, I couldn’t dam the rambling.

“When do you fly out?”

“It was supposed to be Friday morning, but I might have to take the red-eye from Denver to Indianapolis. They’re going to check tomorrow.”

“You can use the jet.”

The private plane King Oil used? Aiden’s brothers also used it occasionally for personal reasons, and when Aiden and I had started dating, he’d flown me to New York for a meal that cost almost as much as my first semester of college. “No. It’s all right.”

“Consider it a donation. For the library.”

It’d help the budget since they wouldn’t have to buy a second set of tickets. “Are you sure?”

“What are the details?”

“Well, it’d be nice to get there Friday night for a networking meeting.”

“Want to leave Thursday?”

I closed my eyes again, picturing him scribbling notes at his desk, his broad shoulders curved over a small square of paper. He didn’t need to write a single detail down. His memory was a steel trap, but he wasn’t a guy who could sit still for long. He did, out of pure discipline, but at home, he paced the house when he was in a long-distance meeting and he often dictated notes to himself when he mowed the lawn. “Yes, that’s fine. I wouldn’t be able to fly back until Sunday afternoon. I don’t want to tie the plane up for that long.”

“Do you want to leave Thursday afternoon, or in the evening?”

My eyes fluttered open. “Aiden, it’s okay.”

“Kate, whatever you need.”