Where the fuck were we, and why had it been necessary to blindfold me and muffle all the noise around me? Soon Adam was nudging me into a chair and settling beside me. It was wide and comfortable, like a couch, and the floor rumbled beneath us. My mind sifted through the possibilities.

Adam reached out for his music player, which hung around my neck, and turned down the volume.

“Do you know where you are?” he asked.

“Um. An airplane?”

He pulled off the earphones. “Good. Take off the blindfold.”

I did and looked around. This was not like any airplane I’d ever been on before. It was a private jet and it was about to take off—very soon, if the rumble under the floor meant anything. The area where we sat had couches and lounge chairs grouped so that they were facing each other. The seats were comfortable, leather, padded, but they still came with seat belts. Wherever we were going, we would be traveling in style.

“A private jet? I thought you didn’t use these on principle.”

He grinned. “This is an exception.”

I twisted my mouth. “So you weren’t lying when you said you’d be out of town on your birthday. You just didn’t inform me that I would be out of town, too. How typically you.” I stuck my tongue out. It only seemed to increase his pleasure. “Where are we going?”

“You think after all the trouble I went through to get you on this plane blindfolded that I’m going to tell you that easily?”

“How long will we be flying, then?” I said, glancing behind us. I could see a sitting room and a bedroom through the doorway. A dim light emanated from the bedroom, with a bed all made up and looking as luxurious as any fine hotel room.

“We’ll be flying through the night.”

Holy crap. Then we were going far. Either the East Coast or even farther, Europe. Or maybe we were going the other way and headed to Hawaii? Or maybe we were headed back to St. Lucia, I thought with a sudden thrill. Wonderful things had happened between us in St. Lucia. I couldn’t think of a better place for us to revitalize our relationship.

“I hope you packed my bathing suit and some suntan lotion.” I grinned.

His smile deepened. “You’re all packed up with everything you’ll need, thanks to Sonia. Hopefully you’ll like what she picked out for you.”

A flight attendant appeared, served us drinks and asked us to fasten our seatbelts, as we’d be taking off very soon. I sipped my mineral water and giggled, shooting a look at Adam. Maybe no limo sex, but what about mile-high sex? I could just as easily swap that onto my bucket list.

I decided to cheat and ask the flight attendant where we were headed. She smiled and glanced at Adam. “I was told that our destination is top secret. I can’t divulge.”

I sat back in a huff. “Okay, so how long are we flying for?”

“Eleven hours, forty-two minutes.”

Holy shit. I bounced up in the seat with a smile. “We’re going to St. Lucia, aren’t we?”

Adam shrugged and looked out the window.

“I’m excited to go back.”

He turned back to me. “Yeah? Things didn’t end well for us there.”

I took a breath, wondering why he focused on that negative ending rather than all the wonderful things that happened before that. “Things started for us very, very well there. Don’t you remember?”

He watched me, his mouth curving enigmatically. “I remember very, very well. Every moment of it.”

I smiled. “Time for us to go back and make some new memories, huh?” I leaned in and kissed him.

He returned the long, lingering kiss before pulling back, his eyes moving over my face. “You’re beautiful.”

“Hmmph. You’re a liar, but thank you.”

He put a hand to my chin and looked into my eyes without blinking or turning away. In that clipped, take-no-bullshit tone of voice of his, he said, “I’m not lying.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Adam

We slept in the bed together and I know she was expecting more. It was getting harder to resist her than ever before. For the first time in months, she looked healthy. She was still thin and pale but there was new life in her and before this, when I’d felt like I wanted something, and especially when she’d made advances, I’d told myself she was just starved for affection. I’d tried to supply that in other ways. And I wasn’t lying about being exhausted all the time. I was.

I made myself that way on purpose.

But tonight, well, it was different. It was like we were shedding our cares with each mile of distance we put between home and ourselves. Like our problems were location-dependent, when I knew damn well that that wasn’t the case.