Resolution Pact: First Kiss

I was puzzled but intrigued—mainly when he ignored everyone at the party who tried to talk to him and walked straight to the elevator.

“Where are we going?” I stared at the elevator doors when they opened.

“Los Angeles.” He nodded. “It might be past midnight here, but not everywhere.”

“You’re crazy. That’s a six-hour flight—we’ll never make it in time.” I looked at him in confusion as he pulled me into the elevator. “Plus—the airport? It’ll take us two hours to even get through security!”

“We’re not flying commercial.” He chuckled and hit the button to take us to the bottom floor.

“There’s still no way, even if you had an airplane parked outside…” My words trailed off as the elevator started to move.

“Airplanes are boring.” He grabbed my hand again when the doors opened. “Ever ridden in a jet before?”

“No…” I tilted my head to the side as he started towards the door. “You have a jet?”

“I have a lot of them.” H

e held the door open as I approached. “But only one that can make it from New York to Los Angeles in two hours.”

“That’s—that’s impossible.” I shook my head back and forth.

“Everything is impossible until someone does it.” He led me towards his limousine as it pulled up to the curb. “And the impossible is exactly what the Department of Defense pays me to do."

The driver stepped out of the limousine and opened the door for me. I hesitated for a second, but then I climbed into the backseat. Bradley was undoubtedly going to a lot of trouble—especially if he had a jet that could get us to Los Angeles before the ball dropped in the west. He slid in beside me and held my hand as the limousine pulled away from the curb.

“You’re serious about this?” I looked over at him.

“I am.” He nodded quickly. “I might have missed my chance to kiss you at midnight in New York, but I won’t miss my next opportunity. Trust me.”

I was intrigued—and I couldn’t hide the grin that was trying to form on the corner of my lips. Stacy’s message played in my head. I did like Bradley—and if he wanted to kiss me bad enough to take me across the United States to make sure it was perfect, then it was hard to resist that kind of invitation. The limousine didn’t head to the airport. It led down a long stretch of highway, and a sign we passed said Remington Airport was ahead.

“You have your own airport.” I looked over at him in shock.

“It’s necessary.” He chuckled. “You’ll see why in a couple of minutes.”

We turned into a small parking lot, and Bradley pulled out his cell phone. A few seconds later, all of the lights came on, and I saw a large hanger ahead of us. Large metal doors opened when we approached, and I could see dozens of jets lined up inside of the building. They looked like the kind of planes that the military would use.

“I’ve never flown in anything like that before.” I blinked in surprise as the limousine came to a stop.

“Does flying make you nervous?” Bradley stepped out of the limousine and extended his hand.

“A little…” I nodded in confirmation. “Especially if it gets bumpy.”

“There will be one bump.” He chuckled and led me towards the hanger. “But that’ll just be us breaking the sound barrier.”

“Seriously?” I felt my stomach twisting into a knot. “I don’t know if I should do this…”

“It’ll be fine. I fly these jets all the time, and I’ve never crashed a single one of them.” He rolled a set of stairs over that lined up with the cockpit. “After you.”

This seems like a terrible idea—but Stacy did say to go for it. I bet none of the girls in my sorority have ever flown in a jet before…

My stomach twisted into a bigger knot as I started up the stairs and looked down into the cockpit. It was only big enough for two people, and I would be sitting directly behind Bradley. I wouldn’t even be able to grab his hand if I got nervous. I took a deep breath, tried to let go of my inhibitions, and stepped into the cockpit.

And I thought getting kissed at midnight was the most nerve-racking thing that could happen to me tonight.

“Okay, let’s get ready for takeoff.” Bradley climbed into the front of the cockpit and hit a button to make the controls light up. “You should fasten your seatbelt—or in this case, your harness.”

Bradley turned around to make sure that I was securely fastened into the harness and handed me a helmet that had a mask attached to the front. It was a good thing I didn’t do anything special with my hair. I slid the helmet on, Bradley adjusted my mask, and then he turned back towards the controls. The glass above us started to close, and I felt my stomach trying to do flips.