HER

“Hurry up, woman! How many times have I told you I hate being late?!” Kaine’s nagging from the hallway travels all the way into the bedroom.

I hop from one foot to the other as I slide on my heels, adjusting the tight leather skirt down over my thighs. Something about the conversation last night made me want to make something special of this birthday. Maybe it’s because I finally have someone special to share it with. Before my shower I’d picked out the best dress I’d brought to Kaine’s apartment, a fire engine red leather dress that hugs every inch of my body, and spent an extra 30 minutes in the bathroom, curling my hair and doing my make-up.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Sheesh! Be nice to the birthday girl, please!”

“I would if she would ever...” he spins around and stops mid-sentence, letting out a slow whistle.

I feel a blush race up my face, but I still pivot and pose, enjoying his appreciation.

“Jade, you are making me... have very going-to-be-late-for-work thoughts.”

I saunter over to him, purposely letting my hips sway from side to side. I brush past him over to the elevator, leaning over at the waist to press the call button.

He turns on his heel, following me with his body and I can feel his eyes travelling up and down my body.

“Am I? It’s too bad you hate being late for work, then,” I purr, in what I hope is my seductive voice.

He comes up behind me, his hands on my waist, spinning me around to face him. Backing me against the closed elevator door, his arms brace against either side of my head, and he leans over to kiss me, slowly but deeply. There’s a soft hum in his throat and I can’t help but feel weak under his spell. I barely notice the scar, and the right side of his face is almost criminally handsome. Angled and strong. I feel soft and feminine every time he looks at me just like he’s looking at me now. Like he wants to eat me.

“Who said anything about being late for work?” he says, and I notice something sparkle in his eye.

“You did.”

“Did I? Hmmm, I don’t remember that,” he pretends that he doesn’t notice me staring at him.

The elevator doors open with a ding and he steps forward, his hands on my waist, leading me inside,

“What do you mean?” I demand.

He just grins and lets go of me, stepping to the side and leaning against the rail.

“Kaine! What do you mean?” I ask again, punching him gently on the chest with my fist.

“Nothing. Shhh. There are other people getting on the elevator,” he says, infuriating me.

The elevator comes to a slow stop and the doors open. An elderly couple nods and smiles at us, as they step inside.

“Mr. Humphrey,” Kaine nods to the man, who offers his hand.

“Hello, Kaine. How have you been?” His voice is pleasant and kind.

“Good, sir, thank you.”

“Everything going well with the launch? I hear... some rumblings. Anything I can help you with?”

I watch him closely, not used to seeing him talk about his work with anyone else.

He just smiles politely and nods, “Everything’s going very well, I sincerely hope to see you and Mrs. Humphrey at the launch next month. You were always such supporters of ours.”

“Of course we will be there, Kaine. Neil wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

We reach the lobby faster than I expect, probably due to the distraction of the conversation. We hang back as the other couple leaves, with a wave goodbye, before we step out into the lobby.

Kaine’s hand never leaves the small of my back as we make our way outside. Everyone we pass greets Kaine by name; he never says much in reply, just a quick polite nod to acknowledge them, never taking his focus off me.

“Does everyone here know you?” I whisper and he just chuckles.

Henry is waiting for us in the valet bay when we get outside.

The gods have divined a beautiful day for my birthday. The sky is blue without a hint of cloud and the cool breeze washes over my cheeks, making me gurgle with happiness.

“What’s up gigglepot?” Kaine asks, opening the car door for me. I slide into the car and sigh.

“Nothing, just happy I guess.”

“Well, what do men do when they’re happy? I can’t very well giggle,” he asks once as he slides in next to me.

“Sure, you can.”

“I’d rather not.”

“How ‘bout you chortle?”

“That sounds like something a drunken uncle called Wilfred would do at Thanksgiving.”

“So, Wilfred you’ll be for the rest of the day!”

“Ready, Mr. Ashley?” Henry asks through the screen.

“Ready, Henry.”

It’s an exchange that seems different compared to the other mornings and I look at Kaine out of the corner of my eye.

“Yes, my sweet?” he asks, glancing down at his phone, avoiding my eye contact.

“What’s going on?”

“Why do you think something is going on?”

“You... and him...” I jab my finger in Henry’s direction. “Something’s off.”

“Maybe Henry had a good night. Hey, Henry!”

“Yes, sir?”

“Did you have a good night last night?”

“Not particularly, sir, no.”

“What about this morning? Did something good happen?”

“No more than usual, sir. Just happy to be at work.”

“There! THAT!” I say, jumping up in my seat and pointing at Henry again. I can see him glancing at me through the rear-view mirror.

“That what?” Kaine asks, raising his eyebrows high.

“That thing he said. No one is HAPPY to be at work. Something’s going on.”

“I’m sure Henry is the one exception. Isn’t that right, Henry?”

“It is my goal in life to work for you forever, Mr. Ashley,” Henry replies, loyal to the end.

“See?” Kaine grins at me.

“Men!” I scoff at them both and settle back in the seat. Kaine grins, and reaches under the seat for a paper bag.

“Here you go, birthday girl,” he hands it to me. And the grease stain spreading on the bottom of the bag gets me excited.

“What is this? Oh my God, it smells delicious.”

“It’s... well what do you think it is?”

“My favorite!” I reach into the bag and pull out the piping hot hash brown. “Hmmmm, birfdaysaredabest,” I mumble, my mouth already full.

“Whatever you say, sweetness.”

I munch on my food, moaning as the greasy potato coats my fingers and I lick them one by one.

“Jade.”

I’m too engrossed in my breakfast to reply.

“Jade!”

“Hmmm?” I answer through my moans.

“Can you please stop making that sound?”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to start having fantasies every time I drive past a McDonalds! You eating drive-thru hash browns is not the image I want getting me hard... but you’re not helping.”

“Can’t help it. Best fast food ever.”

“You know, I can afford to give you absolutely anything you want for breakfast.”

“Fine. Build me my own McDonalds hash brown dispensing machine next to the bed please.”

“Done!”

I go back to my breakfast, trying to come up with a way to make Henry and Kaine give up the secret they’re hiding before we get to my workplace.

“Hey, why are we turning down here?” I say when Henry passes my intersection.

“Isn’t this the way to Teterboro airport?” Henry replies.

“Wha? Why are we going there?”

“Well, that’s where planes take off from, don’t they?” Kaine joins in cryptically.

“What’s going on?” I whine.

“I don’t know, I’m not the one driving.”

“Henry! What’s going on?”

“I just work here, miss. I don’t make the plans.”

“What’s going on?!” I scream again, the excitement sending me into a state.

“Shhh, don’t get too excited, or else we’ll be seeing that hash brown again,” he makes a disgusted face. “How long is it to Teterboro, Henry?”

“Traffic’s not too bad today, Mr. Ashley, I’m guessing another 40 minutes.”

“Perfect, just in time for my conference call. Sorry, babe, you’re going to have to be quiet for the next 40 minutes.”

“But, I...” I start, just as there’s a ding on his telephone.

“Yes, gentleman, sorry I’m late. I had to attend to some business. Nothing serious, just a special day for someone. Now, where are we on the contract with Petenham Industries?” He grins at me and I mouth “evil bastard” at him, making him cover his mouth as he bites back a laugh, his eyes dancing with mischief.

I sit back and look out the window, and I wonder if it’s fair that someone could be this happy.

***

“Sweetness, we’re here.” An elbow nudges me in the arm and I swat at it.

“Shhh, Jade sleeping. Bye bye.”

“So, I’ll board the plane by myself, shall I?”

The words penetrate my slumber and I jerk awake. “Plane?”

“Yeah, that one.” Kaine points out the window to a charter plane sitting on the tarmac, the stairs lowered and a flight attendant standing on a short red carpet.

“Oh my God, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to push you into that plane’s propeller.”

“Er, planes don’t have propellers anymore, sweetness.”

“Some do!”

“Not ones of that size. Now, how about we just take this one surprise at a time? First, let’s board the plane, those peanuts aren’t going to wait for just anyone!”

I stare at him, my mouth wide open for a minute, trying to process. It’s been years since I last flew on a plane, anywhere. It’s simply been a luxury I just couldn’t afford. Not to mention not wanting to leave New Yorkin case Gabriel would need me.

“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to process it all.

“Somewhere special,” is all he gives me.

“Kaine.”

“Happy birthday, Jade.”

I kiss him, hard and fast.

“LET’S GO!” I yell and jump out of the car and run to the plane.

“Good morning and Happy Birthday, Miss Sinclair,” the flight attendant greets me. “Please, right up these stairs,” she says and points to the open plane door.

Kaine wanders up behind me, carrying the purse I’d left in the car in my excitement. “Go on, then,” he encourages me.

I teeter on my heels up the small stairs, turning around just before I climb in, the wind whooshing through my hair, blowing it all over my face. A feeling of euphoria floods me, and I laugh, the sound disappearing into the sky. It’s the freest I’ve ever felt in my life.

“Come on, Ashley! Or we’re going to take off without you!” I yell at him as he remains watching me from the ground.

He grins and hands the flight attendant my bag then runs up the stairs after me. I squeal and duck into the plane, stopping as soon as the extravagance of the interior greets me.

“Wowwww,” I let out a slow breath, taking it all in.

It’s a large luxurious plane, with about 12 seats in all. Oh, but what seats they are! They’re laid out in single rows, with a wide aisle in between. Each is a single leather recliner, and there’s a table in between each row. There’s luxurious wood panelling along the skirts of the plane walls, and large tv screens on each side.

“Hey, is there room for me?” Kaine whispers into my ear as he comes up behind me.

I spin around and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing his cheek wildly, over and over.

“Whoa, whoa! Careful or else you’ll push me down the stairs!” He laughs and presses his hands against my back, pushing us both into the middle of the plane. “So, is this okay?”

“Okay? This is... this is... like no private plane I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“Oh, been on a lot of private planes, have you?” he winks.

I throw him a look, “You know I’m a peasant, don’t tease.”

“No, you’re a queen. Mine,” he says, and presses a kiss onto my palm.

There’s a mechanical whirring and the plane grows a little darker, as the stairs pull up and lock into place.

Kaine pushes me towards the middle rows of chairs and into a seat. I’m so excited I can barely sit still and he admonishes me as he tries to do up my seatbelt.

“Stop squirming!” he scolds, not sounding mad at all.

I hold still as long as I can before twisting to peer out the window again.

“Where are we going?”

“Well, where do you want to go?”

I think about it for a moment, my mind fogging up with city names and towns I’ve never thought I could visit.

“I know,” I finally say.

“Where?”

“I want to go somewhere, you’ve never been before. I want to see you experience a new place for the very first time.”

“I’d hoped you’d say that,” he says, which makes no sense. He presses a button on the remote in his seat and there’s a buzzing of the intercom.

“Yes, Mr. Ashley, this is the captain speaking.”

“Captain, we’re ready. Location... where we discussed.”

“Yes, sir. We’re next in line to take off, but we should be in the air soon. It’s a bit windy out, but we should make good time.”

Kaine presses the button on the remote and the buzzing stops.

“You ready?” he asks, looking almost excited as I feel.

“Yes! Except I don’t even know where we’re going.”

“Well, you picked a place I’ve never been. So, I did.”

“But... you already discussed it with the pilot. How did you know I wasn’t going to say something else?”

“Luck?”

“So where are we going?”

He reaches over and takes my hands in his.

“Harrisonburg, Virginia.”

I can’t believe what he’s said. I turn and stare at him, the hoodie is pulled back and he’s smiling. I shake my head, unbelieving. He nods and runs his thumb along my cheek.

“No...”

“Yes, we’re going to go celebrate your birthday. With family.”