As they readied the company jet for takeoff, Trevor joked with Julie, his personal flight attendant, whom he had gotten to know fairly well as they jetted across the country these past few weeks. “If you could ask the pilot to fly fast, I’d appreciate it. I have an injured goose waiting on me at home.”

Julie furrowed her brows in confusion, but she was too professional and well-trained to question anything her clients proclaimed. She opted instead to smile, promise to see what she could do, and offer him a sparking water.

Kicking back, he decided to rest while he could. This might turn out to be a long night.

Right after landing, he asked Jim to deliver him straight to the vet’s office. As soon as he walked into the nearly empty office, Millie rushed into his arms. “Donald is in surgery,” she told him sadly.

“Donald?” Trevor pulled back to look at her. Even distraught with worry, she was impossibly beautiful.

“I named them Donald and Daisy,” she told him seriously.

“Aren’t those ducks?” Seeing her sad face made him regret the question as soon as he uttered it. It really didn’t matter what she called them, and it wasn’t the moment to be giving her a hard time. “Come here,” he said, placing a comforting arm around her shoulder and guiding her to sit down beside him on the floral print love seat in the dated waiting room.

They waited and waited. The office was quiet because it was well after their regular hours. Trevor assumed that it was not a good sign that it was taking so long, but he didn’t mention that concern to Millie. She was already worried enough. Instead he decided to put a positive spin on it. “He must be alive, or they wouldn’t still be in there,” he tried to reassure her.

She nodded, but continued to ring her hands together. He wasn’t sure what else to say. He hated feeling so useless. It was amazing how quickly he went from being on top of the world negotiating multi-million-dollar deals to sitting in a waiting room worrying over a stupid goose’s health. Except it wasn’t a stupid goose––the animal mattered to Millie, which made it important to him.

After what seemed like an eternity, the veterinarian emerged from the back. They both stood up and waited with bated breath for her to update them. “We need to monitor him closely for the next twenty-four hours, but he survived the surgery and is stable. That is one strong goose,” she smiled through her exhaustion.

Millie sagged with relief at the news. Trevor used his arm around her shoulders to support her. When the other woman turned to leave, Millie stepped forward. “Doctor?”

When she turned back, Millie pulled the surprised woman into a warm hug. “Thank you so much,” she gushed.

The vet patted her back kindly before pulling away. “He is a lucky goose to have you two on his side. Now, go home and get some rest.” With that, she was gone.

Jim was waiting outside. Trevor suddenly felt selfish for not thinking to tell the driver he could leave. He had been so frantic in his rush to meet Millie, he hadn’t thought of the simple kindness. The man seemed completely unperturbed by the long wait and quickly whisked them to Millie’s condo, upon Trevor’s request.

Millie leaned against Trevor’s shoulder and finally allowed herself to doze off. Her tiny puffs of breath near his ear raised the tiny hairs at the back of his neck. He loved it that she felt safe enough in his arms to sleep. When she began to snore lightly, he grinned to himself. Just when he thought this woman couldn’t get any more adorable, she proved him wrong.

All too quickly, they pulled to a stop in front of her sidewalk. Jim moved to get the car doors for them, but Trevor told him to stay put. The man simply nodded and continued facing forward––a consummate professional.

Trevor opened the door beside him and slowly scooted out, using his hands to support Millie as she slept. When he slid his arms under her to ease her out of the car, he quickly discovered that she was light as a feather. When she stirred as he settled her in his arms, he pressed a kiss down on her soft hair and she rested back against his chest.

When he got to her front door, he realized the problem with his master plan to swoop her inside. He didn’t have the entry code. Seeming to sense his problem, despite her groggy state, she mumbled, “It’s not locked.”

Her words concerned him, but he used his right hand to release the latch, while his arm continued to support her legs under her knees. Kicking the door open, he couldn’t keep from asking, “Why isn’t your door locked?”

“I was so frantic when I heard the noise outside when Donald got hit that I rushed out there. Daisy was so upset. Luckily, my cell phone was in my pocket, or I wouldn’t have gotten your call.”

Her explanation made sense, but he was still concerned about leaving her in a condo that had been unlocked all day. When he asked where her bedroom was, she answered that it was upstairs without questioning his motives.

As he carried her up the stairs, he tried not to think about the fact that he would be in her bedroom soon. “Do you know who hit Donald?” he asked, in an attempt to distract himself from the naughty thoughts that were echoing around his brain.

“No, they drove off without even checking on him. It almost makes me think it was intentional. He’s kind of aggressive, but he’s just trying to protect his family,” she said, jumping to her winged attacker’s defense.

When Trevor promised to check with the condo association to see if they had any video security surveillance that he could use to figure out who had done this, she tipped up to kiss his cheek. “My hero,” she said sleepily.

Setting her down gently on her bed, he worked to get her settled in. After removing her shoes and socks, he grinned at seeing her surprising toenail colors again. He tenderly tucked her in then leaned down for a chaste kiss on the lips. “Sweet dreams,” he whispered before peeking under her bed and in her closet.

He did a sweep of the entire house before letting himself out. He had to be certain that no one had taken advantage of the unlocked door. Once satisfied that the premises were safe, he left, pushing the button to automatically lock the front door behind him.

Jim saw him safely home and confirmed that he would be there at the usual time to pick Trevor up for work in the morning. Trevor knew it would be a short night, since he was getting to bed so late, but he was too excited about tomorrow’s announcements to sleep.