At her door, Damien pulled her close, kissing her with a tenderness. That made her heartache. When can I see you again, he asked, his voice husky.
I’m off tomorrow, Elena reminded him, and the weekend. Perfect, Damien said, his eyes lighting up. I’ve cleared my schedule for the next three days.
I thought maybe I could take you somewhere, anywhere you want to go. Elena smiled, an idea forming. Actually, there is somewhere I’d like to go, but it’s not Paris or Rome or anywhere fancy.
Name it, Damien said immediately. It’s yours. The state park where my dad used to take us camping, Elena said.
It’s beautiful this time of year. We could rent a cabin for the weekend, hike the trails, sit by the lake. Damien looked surprised, then pleased.
I haven’t been camping since college, he admitted, and never in a cabin. It sounds perfect. His enthusiasm for her simple suggestion touched Elena deeply.
Here was a man who could take her anywhere in the world, and he was genuinely excited about a weekend in a rustic cabin in a New Jersey state park. It settled then, she said, kissing him again. Our first real vacation, together.
The first of many, Damien promised. As he walked away, turning back once to wave before disappearing down the stairs, Elena felt a sense of certainty wash over her. Whatever challenges lay ahead, and there would be many in this unlikely relationship, they would face them together, because sometimes the wrong plane leads to exactly the right destination, and sometimes the heart finds its home in the most unexpected places.
At the top of the stairs in her modest apartment building, with the silver Eiffel Tower pendant warm against her skin, Elena whispered the words she hadn’t yet said aloud, but felt with every fiber of her being. I love you, Damien Carter. And somewhere across the city, in a luxury hotel suite with a view of the lights of New Jersey across the water, Damien was making plans for a future he’d never imagined, but now couldn’t live without.
A future with Elena Morris, the woman who had accidentally boarded his private jet, and permanently changed the course of his life.