As we sit in the terminal waiting for the gate agent to announce that it’s time to board, I notice a change in Yessi. It’s subtle for sure, but she’s definitely softened toward me. After we passed through security, she allowed me to carry her bag for her all the way to the gate, and now her body is angled toward me, a lock of her hair resting on my shoulder. Somehow, I manage to resist the urge to wrap my arm around her and claim her for myself.

Especially after that kiss. I was hesitant to kiss her because I wasn’t sure she wanted me to, and I didn’t want to push myself on her. But once she gave me the go ahead, I pressed my body against hers and kissed her passionately. She tasted sweet like honey and lust, and I can’t wait to kiss her again.

I check my phone and see a few messages from Hugh, whining about the rescue dogs.

I shake my head, then reply.

I don’t know what crawled up his ass today, but he’s just going to have to sack up and get over it.

A lady steps up to the podium and speaks into the mic. “We are now boarding for Hawaiian Airlines flight fifteen with service to Honolulu. We will begin with boarding passengers in our first-class cabin. Welcome aboard.”

I touch Yessi’s leg. “Let’s go, babe.”

Her eyes open wide as her long lashes flutter. “We’re in first class? I didn’t even check the ticket.”

“Yup. It’s a long flight. I have a ton of miles, so I upgraded us both.”

A real smile graces her face. Warmth fills my chest—it’s nice to make someone happy for a change, instead of always disappointing everyone. Not just my father, but even my ex. She was always nagging me about being more public, trying to turn me into someone I wasn’t. She needed to be with someone who wants that life. Deep down, I’m a simple man.

Yessi and I head down the ramp and, once we’re inside the cabin, I place our luggage in the overhead bins then we take our seats. Typically, sitting in first class, about to embark on a vacation to Hawai’i calms me down, but this time, instead of fantasizing about relaxing on the beach in Lanikai, I’m filled with anxiety about my business. What if other rescuers are planning to protest every day? What if Yessi won’t help me stop them?

As if she senses my uneasiness, she places her delicate hand on my arm. The sensation of her touch emboldens me.

“Thanks for all this. I’m actually really excited. I’ve never been to Hawai’i. I’ve always wanted to go. The fact it’s for the pet expo is just icing on the cake.” She pauses and her nose crinkles, which I find incredibly adorable. “About what I said in the limo…I’m sorry about that. I haven’t dated anyone in a long time. My life is kind of unstable. But I’m open to seeing what happens. I’m just stressed out and nervous because I’m way out of my comfort zone. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I’m normally not impulsive at all.”

The flight attendant interrupts us. “Can I get you something to drink? Mai Tai, POG, fruit punch?”

As much as I want a whiskey to take the edge off, POG always reminds me of my childhood. “I’ll take the POG, please.”

“What’s POG?” Yessi asks me.

“Passion fruit, orange, and guava juice. It’s good. Try it.”

“I’ll have that, too, please.”

The stewardess walks away, and I turn my attention to the passengers boarding. I can’t stop myself from surveying every person on this plane. I’m not sure if it’s PTSD or just my training in the Corps, but I always imagine everyone I see as a potential threat. I like to be in control at all times. I hate being trapped on a plane over the ocean, completely at the mercy of the pilot, the weather, and the passengers. I don’t trust TSA to keep me safe.

A screen drops down in front of us, and a short clip plays of some beautiful Hawaiian girls dancing the Hula to traditional Hawaiian music. I get it—Hawai’i is nothing more than a tropical vacation to most people, but to me, it will always be my home.

“So, did you grow up in Hawai’i?”

I relax into my seat and feel the warmth of her leg pressed against mine. “Yup. I was born in Washington state, but my father got stationed in Hawai’i with the Navy when I was five. I lived there until I was twelve, and then he was given orders to Illinois. But I consider Hawai’i my home. I love the food, the culture, the people. Someday, I would like to move back there, maybe buy some property. When I was in the Marines, I was stationed at Kāne‘ohe Bay, which is on my favorite part of the island.”

“Wow, that’s so cool. I’ve never even left the state before, but I’ve always wanted to travel.” A wistful expression crosses her face.

I can’t help myself. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She blushes. “Do you always just go full force after what you want? I don’t get it. Am I some game to you? This can’t all be just because I said no to you.”

She’s right. It’s not. But I’m not going to open my heart to her—yet. I’m very clear in my head about what I want. I’m insanely attracted to her, plus I’m fascinated by her. But I realize I don’t know her at all. “You intrigue me. It’s been a long time since anyone has surprised me. Most women I meet are so superficial. I’m impressed by how passionate you are about your rescue.” And you have the most incredible ass I’ve ever seen. But I keep that to myself.

“Yeah, well, they’re probably smarter than me. I should be building my career, but I’m broke as a joke. I’m sick of struggling. I don’t need much beyond my living expenses, but the dogs in our rescue cost so much money. We just paid nineteen hundred dollars for this sheltie’s double luxating patella surgery, and we still owe our vet twelve hundred of the balance of the rest of the bills for our other dogs. We spend eight hundred dollars per dog on average, but we adopt each dog out for two hundred fifty, seniors for two hundred. So we’re generally operating at a net loss. And there are always more dogs. It never ends—it’s so depressing. Sometimes I wonder if I’m even making a difference or if I’m just running around like a hamster on a wheel.” She looks so defeated.

“I can’t believe you’re even saying that. You saved all those dogs. You’re totally making a difference.”

She doesn’t respond. The plane pulls back from the gate and taxis to the runway. Yessi bites her lip, and I can tell she’s nervous. A thought occurs to me.

“Have you ever flown before?”

“No,” she reluctantly admits, and her breathing is picking up.

I grab her hand. As the plane takes off, she squeezes my hand tightly. She turns her head toward me, and I meet her gaze. After an intense moment, she looks away.

Once we reach our cruising altitude, we recline our seats. I’m enjoying this forced intimacy. I realize how fucked up my life has been lately. As pathetic as it sounds, I haven’t spent this much time with a woman recently without sleeping with her. Even our kiss was incredibly special. I usually only kiss right before I have sex. Enjoying the intimacy of just a kiss is nice.

“How’d you get into the rescuing?”

She exhales, and a pained look takes over her beautiful face. “I saw a post on Facebook a few years back with this picture of a pug mix. I lived right near the shelter, and a rescue was asking someone to go pull the dog and take him to their vet. Seemed easy enough. But at the shelter, I saw the faces of a bunch of little doggies. There was this one, a Chihuahua. Had the cutest little whiskers.”

She gulps, and I feel guilty for asking her this question.

“Anyway, I pulled the dog I was supposed to get and brought him to the vet. But I couldn’t forget about the Chi. The next day, I found out that they had killed him.” She looks out the window toward the clouds. “And I’ll never forget his little face. I could’ve saved him, but I did nothing. That’s how I started. And now, I can’t quit. It’s like the mafia, except we’re all broke and our fur coats are made of dog hair.”

A lump grows in my throat. I had no idea how bad the local shelters were. Hugh told me he’d done a ton of research and that they only killed sick and unadoptable dogs, and I’d trusted him. I was focused more on marketing and branding, but that’s no excuse.

I should’ve paid more attention to where we found our dogs. The dogs we’ve received from the breeders seem to be healthy.

But I never saw their mothers.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea how bad the shelters are. But you know you can always offer your dogs up for adoption at our store.”

She narrows her eyes at me and raises her voice. “I appreciate that, but that’s not enough. You have to stop selling puppies, Preston. Our dogs can’t compete with yours. Your store could be this amazing shelter-dog rescue center. You can save so many lives.”

I nod my head but refuse to commit to anything just yet. It’s not that simple. I have to make a profit from this store. I need to run some numbers and create a new business plan. And I know that I’m up for a fight with Hugh if I go this route. I don’t want to make a promise to Yessi I can’t make good on. Hugh would say, “Don’t let your cock make promises that you can’t keep.”

Her face glows with hope, but guilt crashes over me.

Will I be able to keep the business sustainable if we just adopted out rescue dogs instead of selling purebreds? I can sell a purebred goldendoodle for three thousand dollars. Adopting out a dog for two hundred and fifty dollars definitely won’t pay the bills.

But I still have a couple of weeks to figure it out. Get some more information from her and present it to Hugh. Deep down, I know he’s a good guy, even if he is a little rough around the edges. He should do the right thing.

She excuses herself to use the bathroom, and I can’t help thinking about how much I would love to finally indulge in my fantasy of joining the mile-high club.

Maybe I’ll get to on our flight home.

She returns to her seat a few minutes later and smiles at me. “Do you mind if I take a nap? I’m so exhausted. I was up all night with the dogs, trying to get all their stuff together, plus packing for myself.”

“Not at all. We’ve got hours before we land. Make yourself comfortable.”

She props a pillow against the window, curls her tight little body up into a ball and closes her eyes. Within five minutes, she’s out cold, her breath going in and out in slow beats.

I’m dying to rub her sexy little feet, make her moan with ecstasy.

But I need to go slow with this girl. She doesn’t seem to be the type to get swept off her feet by romance.

Guess there is only one thing I can do.

Make her see that I’m more than a jerk with a sex tape.