Page 78 of Rogue Romeo
My lips twitch, and her eyes narrow further when she notices.
As she folds her arms over her sweatshirt-clad chest, she settles deeply back against her seat to regard me with openly suspicious eyes.
“Time will tell, Sunshine.” I grin back at her, refusing to say more.
She checks her watch. “Around five hours in the air, right?”
I tip my head in acknowledgment.
“West Coast? Vegas? Mmm…” She pouts in thought. “Vancouver? Am I getting close?”
I arch a brow, keeping silent as she leans forward, placing her elbows on her knees.
“Is it warm? Cold? I didn’t pack any long johns if there’s going to be snow, pretty boy.”
I allow myself a self-satisfied grin, but still, I say nothing. She huffs before sitting back in her seat.
“Incorrigible asshole.”
My bark of laughter fills the plane, and I spot her own lips tipping upwards in an unwanted smile.
“You love it, though.”
She arches a brow. “I really don’t.”
My smile grows even wider. “Yes, you do, Sunshine. You like my special brand of assholism, don’t even try to deny it.”
She chuckles as she shakes her head. “You are theworst.”
Tanya, our flight attendant, pokes her head around the door with a massive smile. “Everything is ready for you.”
I stand, holding my hand out for Rey, which she begrudgingly takes. Then she rises alongside me, following me to the front of the plane.
Light from beyond the open door floods inside, and I usher her forward toward the top of the waiting airstairs.
She stops, clapping her free hand over her eyes, and I follow suit when we’re both blinded by the sunlight outside the darkened body of the plane that we’ve left behind.
Once our eyes have adjusted, we move onto the top step. I’m standing at Rey’s back when she stops suddenly, and a gasp tumbles from her mouth.
“Oh myGod!”
A white SUV is parked not twenty feet from the base of the stairs, where two men—one being our driver, the other our pilot—are standing on either side of the vehicle. They are each holding one end of a sign that reads:
Bienvenidos a Costa Rica
Rey pivots on her heel, launching herself into my waiting arms.
“I can’tbelieve—” She breaks off on a sob, then nuzzles her head deeper in against my neck. I hold her even closer, soaking up this moment as I take a deep breath, inhaling her essence.
“Believe it, baby.”
Pulling back, she pierces me with glistening doe eyes containing a look that makes my heart skip a beat. Her palms gently cup my face, utterly at odds with the fervor in her gaze.
“Thank you!”
She dusts her thumbs along my cheekbones before pulling my head down, grazing her lips off of mine as though it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Dropping her hands, she moves away, giving me her back. Automatically, I step closer to align my chest with her spine as she looks out at the waiting car, my body registering the loss of her warmth instantaneously and not taking kindly to the sensation.