The drive passed with a strange silence, thanks to the issue that neither one of us was addressing.

Justin and I had gone through one thing after another, the result of every one of our ordeals being that we’d grown closer. There was something here, something special—and all we were doing was ignoring it.

But then again, what could either of us even say? That we ought to be girlfriend and boyfriend now? Everything had happened so suddenly, and bringing the issue out into the open might very well upset the delicate situation, maybe even make it awkward and strange. I was almost content to simply let it pass, like a summer rain or some other force of nature, intended to be enjoyed and not held onto.

Or maybe I was just scared. Strange that even after coming face-to-face with death, looking into my heart and sharing what was inside seemed even more frightening. I felt like a prisoner of my own fear.

The drive went on. Soon, we were about three-fourths of the way to Alice Springs. The journey was almost over, and soon Justin and I would part. I savored every minute we had left together, certain that we’d never see each other again.

We’d chatted on and off during the first part of the journey, but now that we were approaching the end, the gravity of what was taking place was beginning to dawn on us. I didn’t want to say a word, for fear of letting my emotions explode out of me in a messy torrent.

Finally, we arrived on the road toward the small airport outside of Alice Springs.

“So,” I said, trying to keep my emotions in check. “What’ve you got in mind for tonight once I’m gone?”

A grimace formed on Justin’s features for a brief moment as the words “I’m gone” escaped my mouth.

“Well, I suppose I’ll need to be getting in touch with the heiress. With the kidnappers taken care of, the danger looks like it’s passed. But she’ll need to know about what happened. Hopefully, the rest of the mission should go smoothly. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.”

“I see,” I said, not sure how else to respond.

“And you?” he asked. “You’ve got a long flight ahead of you.”

“It’s not too bad,” I said. “Only a few hours. And once I’m in Sydney, I can relax for a bit. Before my boss chews me out for how sideways this whole thing went, that is.”

“You think he’ll be mad?” he asked.

“I’m hoping that once he hears that I nearly died in the middle of the outback, he’ll have a little sympathy on me for blowing the deal. But then again, he’s a bit of a prick.”

Justin allowed a small smile, just as a plane flying overhead let us know that we were almost to the airport. After another twenty or so minutes of driving, we finally arrived. Justin pulled the car in front of the departures terminal and came to a stop, cars pulling around us and people here and there bidding one another goodbye.

“Let me help you with your bags,” said Justin, pulling the emergency brake and hopping out of the driver’s seat.

Before I had a chance to say anything, he was at the back of the car and pulling my bags out of the trunk. With a stony expression on his face, he set them down at the curb and looked up, not meeting my eyes.

“Well,” he said, his gaze toward the airport. “I hope you have a good flight.”

I wanted to scold him for saying something as prosaic as that after everything, but I found myself following his lead.

“Um, thanks,” I said. “I hope all goes well with your job.”

I wanted to kick myself. But what was the alternative? Open my heart up and risk rejection? I knew how I felt, but I had no idea what was going through Justin’s head. Or his heart. For all I knew, he and this heiress of his were a thing, or a potential thing, and his mind was already occupied with a night of fun ahead.

“Thanks,” he said. “Take care.”

With that, he leaned in and planted a fleeting, uncertain kiss on my cheek. The sensation of his lips on my skin was as electrifying as ever, and I felt a hot tear form as he moved away. I quickly wiped it away before he had a chance to see it, keeping my composure stony and calm.

Justin took one last look at me before turning and heading back to the car. Moments later, he was in the driver’s seat, pulling off. I watched his car disappear around the bend leading back to the main road, and that was that. He was gone.

A lump formed in my throat, and I took several long moments to compose myself before grabbing my bags and heading into the airport. I was gripped by regret as soon as I stepped into the cool interior of the check-in terminal. I wanted to drop my bags and run down the road, flailing my arms like a madwoman and see if I could catch his attention.

“To Sydney?” the very chipper girl at the check-in counter asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“That’s right,” I said. “And to Dallas from there.”

“Quite a journey ahead of you,” she said with a warm smile.

True, but after the journey I’d had over the last couple of days, spending fifteen or so hours on an airplane sounded almost heavenly.

I made my way through security and to my gate. Once there, I plopped into a chair and felt the minutes tick by. Magazines, internet, TV—I used every tool at my disposal to try and distract myself from Justin, from the man I was leaving behind.

It was no good, however. He was all that I could think about, and it was beginning to dawn on me that I’d very well just made the mistake of my life. A whimper escaped my mouth, and I shot my hands to my lips, hoping that no one had witnessed it. Being this open with my emotions was strange, and the fact that Justin had been able to bring them out of me seemed even more proof that there was something special about him, something that I couldn’t ignore.

But there was nothing to be done. He was gone, and that was that.

Sitting by the gate, waiting for the agent to call out when boarding began, I found myself thinking over and over about what my life would be like if Justin were a part of it. Settling down…it sounded so nice—especially if I had a man like Justin with whom to do it.

The agent called out that boarding was about to begin, and I prepared myself to leave Alice Springs, and Justin, behind. As I stepped into the jetway leading to the plane, I looked behind me one last time, secretly hoping that Justin would be standing there, ready to whisk me away like something out of a movie.

But, of course, there was no one. I sighed and headed into the airplane, taking my seat and settling in for the three-hour flight. The plane soon took off, and I watched the city of Alice Springs below disappear as we rose. The landscape shifted and changed beneath the plane, and I knew that though Justin and I weren’t meant to be together, I’d never forgot our adventure in the outback.

The three-hour flight passed quickly and without incident, and I soon spotted the towers of downtown Sydney appear in the distance. I was finally back to civilization, though the only place I really wanted to be was in Justin’s arms.

The plane landed, and the passengers disembarked, luggage in hand. Turning my phone on, I saw that I still had plenty of time before my flight to Dallas. The neon lights of the airport bar called out to me, and I decided a drink was in order.

I slid onto the tall barstool under the dim lights of the bar and flagged down the bartender.

“Something stiff,” I said simply.

He nodded, and I got the impression that something strong was likely a common request at an airport bar.

Moments later, a tall clear glass of something was placed in front of me. I took a long sip, the boozy taste making my eyes go wide. I allowed myself a small smile, knowing that this drink would do very nicely.

About a third of the way through the drink, however, a voice spoke from behind me. It was deep, resonant, and intentionally seductive.

“This seat taken?”

I turned, ready to tell off the sleaze who thought he could pick me up. But when I saw who it was, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

It was Justin. Standing before me, dressed in a stylish black suit, his typically tousled, sandy-blond hair slicked back behind his ears, a playful smile on his face, was the man I’d been thinking about all day.

For a moment I was convinced that it couldn’t be him. I looked at my drink, then back at Justin, wondering if I’d been drugged or was hallucinating or something. Then, I reached out and, just as I had at the hotel in Longbridge, poked him in the arm. Sure enough, he was really there.

“Justin?” I asked. “What…I mean…how…I mean—”

“So,” he said, “the seat’s not taken?”

I shook my head, coming to my senses, and gestured to the seat. He slid in with his typical grace and flagged down the bartender.

“A whiskey, please,” he said.

The bartender nodded and quickly poured him a drink. Justin took a slow sip, clearly savoring the flavor.

“Damn, that hits the spot,” he said.

I couldn’t believe it. He was acting like nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Justin…how are you here?” I asked.

“I flew,” he said, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

“But I was on the plane,” I said. “And I sure as hell didn’t see you.”

“No,” he said, pointing toward the large window that looked out over the runways. “See that small plane over there?”

Sure enough, there was a private plane parked further back on the runway.

“That’s yours?” I asked.

“My client’s, to be precise.”

“She just let you take the private plane here?”

He took another drink.

“Long story short, I met her in Alice Springs, ready to be all apologetic about being so late getting there to protect her. I told her about the thugs who’d waylaid us, how they’d thought you were her. She was pretty surprised and asked me to describe the kidnappers. I did, and as soon as I was done, she threw her arms around me and gave me the biggest hug of my life.”

“Huh?” I asked. “She wasn’t mad?”

“Not at all. In fact, those thugs were the reason she was hiding out in Alice Springs to begin with. They were affiliated with a Sydney crime syndicate who’d been tracking her for a while. Once they ‘found out’ that I was in Longbridge, they assumed that I was meeting her there and made their move. And you know how the rest of the story went.”

“I sure as hell do,” I said.

“So, what with the kidnappers taken care of and all, she decided to head back to Sydney. And she brought me with her.”

“And now…”

“…and now I’m here.”

I didn’t know what to say. Without even thinking about it, I reached down and grabbed a chunk of the skin on my forearm and gave it a quick pinch.

“Did you just do what I think you did?” he asked, an amused smile on his face.

I shook my head in disbelief.

“This is...so surprising,” I said. “I got on that plane certain that I’d never see you again. And now you’re here, telling me…well, I don’t know what, exactly.”

“How about I don’t tell you anything?” he asked.

With that, he leaned in and kissed me.

The din of the airport bar melted away, and as our lips touched it, was just him and me, the rest of the world a faint distraction. I placed my hands on his body, pulling him across the distance between our two barstools.

After several long, impassioned moments, Justin slowly took his mouth from mine. The taste of him lingered on my lips and I smiled as I moved my tongue across them, savoring the taste.

I felt so overwhelmed that I instinctively reached for my glass and took a deep sip.

“Okay,” I said. “So this is all wonderful and everything. But that still doesn’t answer the question of what we’re going to do next.”

“I could always kiss you again,” he said with a smirk.

“As much as I love that as a short-term strategy, I think we might need to look a little further into the future.”

“Hmm,” he said. “Then I can kiss you again and again.”

I chuckled and brought my hand down onto his thigh.

“You’re making forgetting about everything else but you and me far too enticing, Mr. Gable.”

“You’d know a thing or two about ‘enticing,’” he said, giving my body a slow once-over, a hot blush running up my neck as he did.

“But,” he went on, “I think I might have something that will shed some light on what I have in mind.”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a plane ticket.

“It’s for Dallas,” he said. “Next one out. Which is the one I assume you’re taking.”

My eyes went wide.

“Back to Dallas?” I asked. “With me?”

“Courtesy of my client. I was about to foot the bill, but when she heard that it was so I could fly back with the woman I loved, she insisted on paying.”

“The woman you—?”

I broke off, not daring to speak the words.

Just then, the boarding call for the flight to Dallas sounded out over the PA system.

“Well,” said Justin, lifting up his drink and preparing to drain the last bit. “Ready to get on that plane, see where it takes us?”

I smiled.

“More ready than I’ve been for anything,” I replied.

We finished our drinks and stood up. Justin’s hand enveloped mine, and we turned toward the gate. Moments later, he and I were strolling hand in hand down the jetway. I couldn’t wait for whatever was to come next.