Marcus unloads our bags and we ascend the stairs to the plane. Inside the cabin, I introduce Chloe to Libby, the flight attendant, and the pilots, Kip and Cory. They’re all part of my usual crew.

Libby pours me a scotch and offers Chloe a drink before letting us know we’ll be taking off in ten minutes.

I walk Chloe to the back of the plane.

“This is insane!” Chloe squeals with delight. “I can’t believe you have your own plane.”

“Actually, the plane’s not mine. It’s chartered. It’s not fiscally responsible to own a plane. Maintenance costs are brutal.”

She laughs. “Says the man with billions of dollars.”

“And I don’t fly much,” I add.

“Oh God, that’s right. You don’t like to fly.”

“I’ll be fine.” I take a long pull of my scotch, letting it smooth out the edginess I feel. With Chloe here, it’s different. Her excitement and enthusiasm calm my nerves.

“What’s back there?” she asks, pointing to a closed door.

“The bedroom.”

“This plane has a bedroom?” Her mouth gapes open.

“How else am I going to fuck you at ten thousand feet?”

“Oh my God. We cannot. People will know.” She looks around.

“Libby? The one other person in the cabin?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll need to work on being quiet.”

“Maybe you need to work on not making me scream.” She lifts her eyebrows in a haughty expression.

I shake my head.

“You should take the window,” I suggest, dropping into the aisle seat. I close my eyes and exhale a deep breath.

Chloe reaches for my hand. “Is there anything I can do? To distract you?”

I turn toward her and open my eyes.

“You being beside me is the best distraction.”

The engines roar as we pick up speed down the runway. Chloe pushes the window shut and squeezes my hand.

“We didn’t fly as a family. Too expensive for seven people. We took road trips instead.”

She starts telling me about the time her family went on a road trip to South Dakota. The music her parents made them listen to and how packed it was with seven people and how you could barely move. How her youngest sister got left at a rest stop and how the van smelled like farts and fast food.

“So, the next time you’re flying around in your private chartered plane, remember you could be stuck in a smelly van.”

I chuckle at that. A minute later we’re airborne, my anxiety about this flight eased by Chloe’s entertaining story. She finishes her story while I finish my scotch. Then, somewhere over the Atlantic, we make good use of the plane’s bedroom.

26. Chloe

CHAPTER 26

Chloe

We’re in Paris.

The city of lights. And love.

That’s where Barrett has taken me. On a date. This man is unreal.