“Do you take the jet everywhere out of state?” I bent my knee and tucked my leg in front of me, and his hand immediately went to my thigh. “I’m assuming we’re headed out of state …”
We’d been on the plane for a few hours. I had no idea where we were going. The flight attendant wouldn’t discuss it when I questioned her on my way to the restroom, and neither pilot had mentioned the location.
“I even take it within the state. It just depends how long the drive is. Anything over three hours, I’m flying.”
My head was shaking, and I couldn’t stop it. “Wow.”
“When it comes to business deals, I don’t usually take this because I’m flown there by whoever is requesting the meetup. Say, a book tour, or an appearance, or I’m flying to Boston to cook for the Worthington family—the owners of every professional sports team in Massachusetts. But any other scenario, we’re in this.” He was holding the back of my neck. “And I saywebecause you will be with me.” He kissed my cheek. “Andevery time I successfully pull you away from Alivia’s, this will be our mode of transportation.”
“How will I ever leave?” That, along with a million other things, constantly went through my mind. “We don’t have a backup chef.”
“You’ll have one. Don’t worry.” His hand rose to my cheek. “Once things get up and running, you’ll need one. What happens if you get sick? What happens if we want to go on vacation? What happens if you’re pregnant?”
Even though I was looking at him, that word made me really look at him.
And for a second, I questioned whether I had even heard him correctly.
“Pregnant …” My voice was quiet but filled with emotion.
His eyes lowered down my body, and so did his hand, rubbing my stomach. “You want that someday, yeah?”
Walker and his family were everything. I was beyond lucky to have them in my life. But I also craved having a family of my own. One that we created together. A family that would never look anything like the one I came from.
“That’s a big yeah,” I whispered. “I want more than one child. I want … like, five.”
He let out a giant laugh. “Five?”
“Okay, maybe four.” I smiled. “But no less than four.”
“Do you know how many children that is? It’s a shit ton. I can say that because I come from a family of five, and I assure you, it’s a lot of fucking kids.”
“Large, yes. But perfect too.”
“Baby …” His lips moved toward mine, and he pressed down on my stomach. “I say at least three. We can negotiate over the fourth.”
“I can agree to that.”
The flight attendant picked up the empty glasseson the table next to us and said, “We’re going to be landing in only a few minutes. Is there anything else I can get you?”
“We’re good. Thank you,” Walker said.
She gave us a nod and disappeared toward the back of the plane.
Walker’s arm then wrapped around me. “Where do you think we’re going?”
The window coverings were down so I couldn’t even take a guess by peeking outside, and the flight time meant nothing—I didn’t even know how long it would take to fly to San Francisco.
“I have no guesses.”
“I love that.”
I laughed. “Why?”
“Because you have no expectations.”
“That’s true. But also, it doesn’t matter where you take me. We could be in your backyard, on your couch or in bed. I just want to be with you.”
He kissed me, and that was when I felt the change in cabin pressure, my ears filling and clogging as we slowly made our way down. I clung to Walker’s arm, my inexperience causing me to jump and tense up every time we hit a bump. My reaction was clearly on the dramatic side since Walker didn’t even blink from the turbulence.
