Take Me Home (The Heartbreak Brothers 1)

Hot sparks exploded in her chest as he kissed her again, his tongue soft against hers. She hooked her arms around his neck, her head tipped enough that she could meet his kisses with her own, and god, it felt good.

Too good.

Only when they broke for air did she remember where they were. In a car with a stranger driving them. She glanced in front to see if he’d been watching.

“It’s okay,” Gray whispered, his voice caressing her ear. “He’s signed an NDA.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Why did he need to sign a confidentiality agreement?”

“Because I can’t take a shit without somebody knowing about it.” Gray shrugged. “And I wanted you to feel comfortable.”

“You’ve been able to do a lot of things without anybody knowing,” she pointed out. “Until you invited a journalist to town.”

He grinned. “Mea culpa. But like I told you, that’s all taken care of. Tonight we can relax and enjoy ourselves.”

“So where are we going?” She looked out of the window again. It was getting darker, the sun only half visible beneath the caps of the mountains. She knew from its position they were heading south, but not to where.

“Actually, we’re almost there.”

“We are?” she frowned. “But there are only fields.”

“When I say there, I mean we’re at our first destination. This is where the car drops us off.”

A minute later she saw an old, weather beaten wooden sign affixed to a metal post. Sumner Airfield. “We’re going flying?” she asked, as the car turned right and drove through the gateway. Ahead of them were two large metal hangars. A myriad of small planes dot

ted on the blacktop and grassy field beyond. “At this time of night?”

Gray leaned down to kiss the tender spot between her jaw and neck. “Kinda,” he murmured. “Just wait and see.”

The car continued along the makeshift road, past the first hangar, then took a left alongside the second, coming to a stop when they reached the far side.

“A helicopter?” A bemused smile lifted her lips.

“Just for a short ride. It’s faster than taking a car then a boat.”

“A car then a boat,” she repeated. “Where the heck are we going?” Her eyes were alight as they met his, a buzz shooting through her body. Nobody had ever done this for her before. Arranged a surprise – and what a damn surprise this was.

“I promised you a kiss in the ocean.”

“Will a helicopter get us all the way to the west coast?”

He laughed, and it lit up his eyes. “No. But it’ll get us to a pretty little island in the Atlantic, where I can kiss the hell out of you without anybody seeing.”

“We’re here, Mr. Hartson. Enjoy your evening,” the driver said, climbing out of the car to open Maddie’s door. She grabbed her bag of spare clothes and followed Gray to the little cabin next to the helipad. After they checked in with the pilot, he gave them a safety talk and told them how to correctly enter and exit the helicopter.

And then they were climbing aboard, Gray helping her up the steps and into one of the back passenger seats. He climbed into the other and they both buckled themselves in and put their headsets on as the pilot directed.

“Are you ready?” Gray asked her.

“I think so.” Her heart was pounding, her body full of adrenaline. Gray took her hand, squeezing it tightly as the engine started up and the propellers began to beat. Even with the headphones on the sound was loud, the whomp-whomp of their rhythm matching the beat of her heart.

“Good evening,” the pilot’s voice echoed through their headphones. “We’re just waiting for the rotors to get up to speed and for air traffic control to give us the nod to take off. Then we’ll be flying for approximately thirty minutes to Samphire Island. The wind is with us on this leg, so coming back it might take a little longer. Go ahead and sit back, relax, and enjoy the views.”

Maddie held her breath as the helicopter lifted vertically. It wasn’t anything like flying in an airplane. Instead, it felt as though the ground was falling away beneath them, along with her stomach. She looked out of the window, watching as the world beneath them became smaller, the lights of the houses becoming tiny yellow and white dots.

Then they were flying forward and the sensation made her giddy. She laughed out loud, looking at Gray with sparkling eyes. The way he was staring at her made her breathless. There was a need in his eyes, but a softness, too. One that made her want to crawl her way into his lap and stay there forever.

“What do you think?” he asked.