He chuckles. “Calm down, Baby Draper. It’s my dad’s. It’s how I got down here this morning.”
My eyes widen. I knew Jonny Slater was famous. I didn’t realize he wasowns a private jetfamous.
When the car pulls up on the tarmac, Happy hops out first, holding his hand for me, and I take it, allowing him to help me out. And it’s moments like these that make me realize that it’s a damn shame I didn’t give him a chance sooner because, despitehis fuck-boy past, the man is a gentleman, a sweetheart to the core.
“Good evening, Mr. Slater.” A raven-haired flight attendant greets us at the top of the steps, smiling at me. “Hannah, I presume?”
I nod. “Hi.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says genuinely. “My name is Chelsea, and I’ll be looking after you this evening. Please, make yourself comfortable and I’ll bring you some refreshments.”
“Thank you.” I smile, allowing Happy to take my hand and lead me into the cabin. It’s small but luxurious, with soft lighting, plush tan leather, and travertine finishes. I suddenly feel way underdressed.
“I should’ve kept my dress on,” I whisper.
Happy looks back at me with a smirk. “What? Why?”
“Wearing sweats in a private jet feels like blasphemy. I’m not a Kardashian.”
“You can take ’em off if it’d make you feel better,” Happy says with a shrug, sagging down in one of the tan leather chairs, the grin curling his lips.
I roll my eyes, playfully swatting a hand at him, but before I can take a seat in the chair across the aisle, he grabs me by my waist and pulls me onto his lap in a move that steals the air from my lungs, the look in his eyes intense.
“I’m sorry,” he says, surprising me.
“Sorry?” My brows knit together. “For what?”
“I’m just so sorry that…thatis your mom.” He winces.
A thick swallow works its way down my throat.
“And I hope you know that she’s wrong in every way. And that you are enough, and you always have been,” he says, staring deep in my eyes. “You’re beautiful. You’re kind. You’re selfless. You’re funny. You’re so damn smart. You’re enough, Hannah. You’re more than enough. And people like your mom do not fucking deserve you.”
“Thank you,” is really all I can say because I’m actually speechless.
Happy positions me on his lap so that I’m facing him, and his hands trail up from my hips, cupping my cheeks, steadying me with a serious look. “And I need you to know that I will never again stand back and let anyone disrespect you like what I witnessed back there. Not your mom. Not assholes like that Baby Gap looking motherfucker, Peter. Not even your dad. You’re mine now, Baby Draper. And I will crack a skull for you if I have to.”
“Wow, that was—” I pause to consider my words. “Violent… but sweet.”
He grins. “You know me. I’m a lover not a fighter. But when it comes to you and my Lucky girl, I’m a pit bull, and I will fight to the fucking death.”
Overwhelmed with an emotion I’ve never felt before, I wrap my hands around the back of his head, tangling my fingers through his soft hair, and I lean in, pressing my lips to his, our kiss deep and unhurried, full of such meaning, making it so much more than just a kiss.
“Um, excuse me?”
I startle, almost jumping off Happy. He grabs my hips, keeping me right where I am, grinning casually up at the flight attendant as she stands right there, smiling as if catching us making out is no big deal. But this is Jonny Slater’s jet; she’s probably immune to whatever happens in this aircraft. Ew. I hope it’s been recently sanitized.
“Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Slater,” she apologizes. “The captain is ready when you are.”
“I could get used to flying private,” I say twenty minutes later while sipping a glass of champagne at forty-five thousand feet. I’ve only ever flown commercial, and never anything more thanpremium economy. But relaxed back in a leather recliner, my socked feet kicked up, and a whole mini bar full of drinks and snacks? This is the life.
Happy moves to the lounge in front of me, grabbing my feet and pulling them up into his lap, his thumbs pressing into trigger points I didn’t even know I had, causing me to stifle moan.
“You ever joined the mile high club?” he asks with a cheeky smile, his dark eyes dancing beneath the dimmed lights of the cabin.
“No!” I balk, quirking a brow. “Have you?”
He snorts. “No comment.”
