“It does,” I argue lamely, my heart beating solemnly in my throat, while I try to quell the jolts of electricity arcing down from my shoulders to my fingertips. “It would be…” My need to be with him is battling with the urge to go home with him, to see where this really goes, even though it’s hardly a good decision to go home with a man on the first date. I shake my head, as much to convince myself as to communicate with him. “I can’t go home with you.”

That half grin slides over his face again, and there’s a fire glimmering in his green eyes that makes me think of cabanas on the beach surrounded by a sheer drapes swaying in the breeze, as Gideon’s mouth claims mine as we lay beneath white sheets that wisp gently like a thousand thread-count whisper against my skin. “We don’t have to go home.”

I swallow hard, knowing that my cheeks are flushed and burning. I don’t know what it is about him that made me stop him abruptly like this on the sidewalk. I don’t know why I felt such a wave of dread washing over me at the thought of getting into the car and then of me getting back out again once we arrived at my apartment. 

You do know, says the voice in the back of my mind. You know it’s because he’s sweeping you away, because he chose this place out of all the places he could have taken you, because he has not once needled you for being overly cautious.

“Where else is there to go?”

Gideon swings his arm out wide. “Did you forget, Kennedy Carlisle? I’m Gideon Hawke. I can go anywhere in the world, any time I wish.” He laughs out loud, and the sound rings out, echoing in the night and vibrating through my core. A warm breeze sweeps its way down the street, curling itself into my hair, and my heart pounds heavily against my ribs. My gut is a churning mix of excitement and fear.

“I—” I shake my head, letting out a laugh that feels small and timid. “I don’t want this date to end.”

Gideon steps closer to me, wraps his hand around the back of my neck, and presses his lips against my forehead. “I don’t either. So get into the car, and I’ll show you how it never has to be over.”

This is a bad idea.

This is a terrible idea, as much as drinking at the bachelorette party would have been, as much as submitting to all my urges about Gideon at once would have been…might still be. But once I’m in the car and we’re sailing through the streets of New York City, there’s no backing out.

Gideon whips his phone out of his pocket and punches in a number. A voice on the other end of the line picks up on the first ring. “Fuel her up and have her ready to go.” A pause. “Within the hour.”

“Gideon—”

He ends the call and looks into my eyes. “You don’t want to go home, right?”

“No, but—”

“We only have to stop at your place for a few essentials, then. Where do you keep your passport?”

My passport?  “There’s a drawer in the desk in my bedroom—” I put a hand on his arm. “Why do I need my passport?” 

“To leave the country,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“I can’t leave the country!”

“You can. And you will.”

From anyone else, those words might have seemed threatening, but coming from Gideon’s lips, it seems like an invitation. A warm excitement thrills through my gut, but seconds later it’s bowled over by a wave of guilt and fear so intense that I gasp out. “Tonight?”

“We have three options,” he says, looking evenly into my eyes. “I can take you back to your place and you can go inside. We can go back to my place, together. Or…” He pauses, the corners of his mouth turning up into a grin. “We can board my private jet and fly off into the night together.”

“But I’ve never—” The panic rises in my throat and suddenly I’m having trouble breathing. What’s Abby going to think if I flee the country without telling her? “I’ve never been out of the country, and this is our first date. I can’t go on a spontaneous vacation with you.”

His lips press against my temple. “I’m not kidnapping you. But Kennedy, you’re a grown woman, and you can do whatever it is that you want. So, yes, you can come with me tonight. Don’t worry about a thing. I can have a wardrobe packed and on my plane in forty minutes.” His body heat, so close to me, is turning what little resolve I have into liquid. 

“If I’m going to do that, I need to make a call.”

His grin grows wider, and I know he’s taking this as a firm yes. “Make the call.”

I reach into my clutch purse and pull out my phone. Gideon turns toward the window and starts dialing another number on his phone, and in a moment, he’s looking back at me, his eyes flicking up and down the length of my body. Then he’s murmuring instructions into the phone. “Three bathing suits,” he starts out, and I shift my attention to my phone and start dialing Abby’s number.

When she answers, she’s a little out of breath. “Hey, sister. What’s up?”

“Abby, I have to talk to you.”

“Okay…” There’s a new tension in her voice that matches mine.

“That guy I met at the club last weekend? It was Gideon Hawke. Do you know who that is? He’s—”

“You met Gideon Hawke at a club and didn’t think it was important enough to call me and tell me about it?” Abby shrieks into the phone. I pull mine away from my ear. “Of course I know who that is. What happened? Why are you calling to tell me this now?”

“I’m—I just finished having our first date. Not really finished, actually... He took me to dinner at this place in the city called the Pearl, and I said I didn’t want the night to end, and…” I’m babbling and probably not making a whole lot of sense. I stop and take a deep breath, turning my body so I’m turned farther away from Gideon. Dropping my voice, I say, “He’s inviting me on a…on a kind of spontaneous vacation.”

“Oh. My. God.” Abby says, her voice rising to a shout. “You’re going, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know!” My hand trembles on the phone. “I need to stop and get my passport, and then—Abby, he has a private jet, and we could leave in an hour.”

“Where is he taking you?”

“I have no idea, but he’s—he’s having clothes sent to his plane for me, and he mentioned bathing suits.”

“Holy shit,” Abby breathes. “Is he a good guy?”

I don’t know him well enough to give her a firm answer, a truthful answer, and my mind races with everything that could happen if I get onto this plane with Gideon. “I think so.”

“This kind of thing is once in a lifetime, Kenn.” She takes in a deep breath. “If you don’t go, I’ll be so pissed at you.”