A flight attendant greeted them, brought them hot, damp, lemon-scented towels for their hands, then offered them drinks, along with small dishes of warm, salted nuts. Harper asked for sparkling water. Mitch nodded that he’d have that, too.
Harper sipped her beverage. “This is nice.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve flown First before, haven’t you?”
“A few times. Not in a while, though. I’ve flown on a few private jets, too, but I can’t say more than that.”
He chuckled. “That NDA at work.”
“Yep.”
Not long after the plane took off, Harper reclined her seat and drifted off. The tension around her eyes and mouth disappeared as she fell asleep.
Mitch watched her, thinking about what she’d said to him earlier. That she loved him. He knew it had been said in a moment of gratitude, and that it was very possible—and probably likely—that she hadn’t meant it as a serious statement of her emotions toward him, but she’d said it all the same.
When he’d said it back, hehadmeant it. Didn’t matter if it wasn’t truly reciprocated. His feelings were his feelings. The truth was, he did love Harper. For a lot of reasons. Not the least of which was that she’d saved his life. Pulled him back from the edge of an abyss he’d been incapable of pulling himself away from.
They were both broken people. Both survivors. It gave them the ability to understand each other without communicating. He’d never experienced that before. Now he couldn’t imagine being without it.
She wasn’t just beautiful and smart and kind and funny. She was intuitive, fearless, and uncompromising. She was, to him, an inspiration.
And he never wanted to be without her. He was already thinking about making their situation more permanent. Eventually. Not anytime soon.
She had her mom’s death to deal with, her grieving to do. He had Kyle and Ruthie to look after. But someday, when they’d gotten to know each other a little more and the time was right, they’d talk about the future.
And how they could spend the rest of it together.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Harper woke up, unsure of where she was for a split-second, then it all came back to her. First Class. On the way to Nevada to wrap up the paperwork to handle her mother’s final wishes.
Mitch was asleep beside her. The cabin lights were dim. Most everyone seemed to be sleeping.
She still cringed that she’d said she loved him, but it hadn’t appeared to bother him at all. He’d even said it back. Was that his way of making her feel better? If so, it had worked.
She pressed a few buttons on the screen in front of her until she found the flight map. Looked like they’d be landing in about an hour or so. She yawned and closed her eyes again.
A soft chime sounded. She opened her eyes. The chime was followed by the captain’s voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re preparing for landing in Las Vegas, Nevada. I hope you’ve had a comfortable flight. We look forward to seeing you again soon.”
Lights flickered on and next to her, Mitch was stretching.
It took forty minutes to get off the plane, get to baggage claim, and retrieve their suitcases. They passed slot machines on the way to the baggage area but what was more surprising was that people were actually playing them.
She put her computer bag on top of her rolling bag and followed Mitch toward the rental car signs. “You said you got a car?”
He nodded. “I did. We have an SUV. Don’t know what kind yet.”
They soon sorted that out, and found their vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe. Mitch loaded everything into the back while she got in and adjusted her seat. He slid behind the wheel, turned on the engine to get the air going, and set the navigation for their destination.
It wasn’t the assisted-living facility. She leaned over for a better look. “We’re going to the Four Seasons?”
He nodded. “I figured we’d be too tired to drive and this way, we can get some sleep, have breakfast in the morning and get an early start.” He shifted into Drive. “You okay with that?”
“Yes. That was very thoughtful.” She didn’t mind one bit. It was late. Or rather early. Not a great time to be navigating unfamiliar territory. Laughlin was about a ninety-minute drive south of Vegas. “Thank you. For all of this.”
“You bet.” He got them there in about fifteen minutes. He stopped at the valet stand.
She quickly realized that Mitch did nothing by half-measures when he traveled. It wasn’t just the First Class seats or the valet parking. The rooms were pretty nice, too. They were adjoining and had views of the Strip, a spectacular kaleidoscope of light and color visible through an entire wall of windows. There was no way these were standard rooms.
