The trip to Scotland was less eventful than Alex thought it would be. She’d never taken an international vacation with Emma before, but she was a champ. Emma was excited to see the planes take off and land through the floor-to-ceiling windows when they were in the terminal. Everything was arranged when they arrived at the airport. There was an escort to help them with check in and they were fast-tracked through security.

They hung out in the lounge and waited for their flight. He had to take a few calls and excused himself to a meeting area. Emma enjoyed the little play area they had in the lounge and was making friends with other little kids who were playing there. Talk about a different world.

No need to loop your leg around your bag for fear that someone was going to try to walk off with it. She didn’t have to spend hours walking around the terminal trying to find a couple of seats together and, most importantly, the bathrooms were beyond clean. If she could travel like this all the time, there would be no complaints at all.

Alex spied Gabe on the phone through the glass wall of the meeting room. It did not look like it was a good call. She could see the veins in the side of his neck bulging out and he was waving his arms around emphatically. He screamed into the phone before ending the call, running his fingers through his hair, pulling it. It was sticking up at odd angles when he came back to their seats.

Lifting her hand, she hesitated and he shot her a questioning look. She took her hand and ran it down his hair, flattening it out.

“Your hair was all over the place,” she said gently as she finished pushing most of it down.

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Tough call?”

“You could say that. It’s contractual stuff. Some things I need to work on getting out of and it’s proving trickier than I would have hoped. But no worries, I’m here with my two best girls and that’s all that matters.” He upped the wattage and his smile lit up his whole face.

“What do you think so far?” He glanced around the lounge and spotted Emma hanging upside down off the slide.

“I don’t think Emma will be able to travel any other way after this. It takes a lot of the stress out of flying.”

“It certainly does,” he said, sitting back, resting his hands behind his head, and putting his feet up on the table.

“Have you gotten used to it?”

“For the most part, which sucks. I remember being so excited to play with all the buttons and eat all the food on the plane. Now it’s become a bit run-of-the-mill, but seeing how much fun Emma has with it all will help me remember just how amazing a lot of this stuff is. Emma and you. I hope you enjoy this trip too.”

“I hope I do, too.”

Once on the plane, Emma had fun playing with all the buttons and controls as Gabe had guessed and Alex was beginning to dread the next trip she had to take with Emma in economy. Emma was clearly smitten with the lifestyle her dad could provide for her. A little pang hit her at the thought that she would never be able to provide the things or experiences that he could.

He picked Emma up and put her on his lap. He started playing the tickle monster with her and her laugh filled the practically empty cabin. Alex knew that this was the most important thing Gabe could give Emma: time with her dad. This was what was most important.

The cabin was set up in a two-two-two configuration with big pod seats. He sat with Emma and Alex had a row to herself. She stared out the window during takeoff. Glancing over once they were up in the air, he saw that Emma was already asleep. He reclined her seat flat into a bed, grabbed one of the plush blankets, tucked her in, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. It seemed that the excitement of the early-morning wake-up and trip through the airport was enough to wipe her out even though she seemed like she was going to go for hours.

He crossed the aisle and sat in the empty seat beside her.

“She’s going to have pretty bad jet lag when we get to Scotland.” Alex glanced over at Emma, who had starfished herself in her seat. At least the seats were big enough for her to do that. Yeah, flying with her next time in the back of the plane was really going to suck.

“It’s okay. I’m usually pretty crappy when it comes to adjusting to time zones too. I’ll most likely be up at the same time she wakes up anyway.” He chuckled.

“I am more than happy to give you jet lag duty,” she said, leaning on their shared arm rest.

“I don’t mind at all. I can take her for chilly, foggy early morning Edinburgh walks.”

“Chilly? It’s summer!”

“You haven’t been to Scotland before. The middle of summer and you’ll need a sweater if you’re in the shade. It will be great though. She’ll love it; she won’t feel the cold. I had tons of warm clothes put in the house for the both of you.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t check the weather before we left. I assumed it would be warm in the middle of summer.”

She was completely thrown off her game when it came to him. He clouded her brain like no other man could. She was a planner in practice and how quickly she deferred to him was starting to scare her. Having him take care of things was a nice change from always needing to be in control and handle anything that came their way. She pushed that fear of giving in back and reasoned that he had the experience and that there was nothing wrong with letting someone experienced be your guide.

“Don’t worry, I told you I would take care of everything. And if there is anything else you need, let me know and I’ll get it for you.”

“Thanks Gabe,” she said, giving him what she meant to be a small peck on the cheek. But at that moment he turned his head to ask her something and their lips met. Hs eyes went wide and once the initial moment of shock wore off, he closed his eyes. She held her breath and the spark that was always present when he was near her transformed into a fiery slow burn that smoldered in her belly.

Perhaps sensing that she wasn’t opposed to their accidental lip lock, he turned that peck into a deep kiss. She gasped as he took possession of her mouth and began to pepper her mouth with kisses. She opened her mouth and ran her tongue along his bottom lip. He let out a groan and ran his hand along the back of her neck, pulling him closer to her and attempting to devour her mouth.

She broke the kiss and stared at him for a second with her chest heaving and panting. She looked down to his lips before throwing caution to the wind and diving back into his mouth for more. He tasted like peppermint and his own musk. They were both attacking each other’s mouths like they couldn’t get enough. He wrapped his arms around her back and was running his hands along the gap between her shirt and her jeans.

Shuddering, she slid her hand along the side of his face, her hand scraping against the overnight stubble that he hadn’t had time to shave off that morning. It was rubbing against her face, giving her mild beard burn, but she didn’t care. It was worth it for what this kiss was doing to her. She squeezed her thighs together, her core responding to all the attention her mouth was getting.

The two of them were making out like teenagers until a flight attendant cleared her throat as she came by to take their breakfast orders. She knew her cheeks were blazing red as she avoided eye contact with the flight attendant and mumbled something off the menu. He was tamping down a laugh and she punched him on the shoulder before turning to look out of the window.

The flames of embarrassment slowly ebbed away and a mimosa appeared in her line of sight. He held out the glass to her. She took it and hoped it would help quell some of the awkwardness she was feeling. Gabe held out his own glass and proposed a toast.

“To new beginnings.” He tilted his glass toward hers.

“To new beginnings,” she repeated, and clinked her glass to his. She gave him a smile before taking a sip of her drink.