Free High by Zara Cox Page A

You mean you were
so sure you’d achieve this end? That I’d come with you?”
    “Not sure. Hopeful. Besides, I trust
Philip. More than any other human being.”
    The unexpected insight into his life
made her glance at him, held her breath as she waited for more.
    But he merely stepped into the elevator
and pushed the button for the first floor.
    The limo ride to the airport was
different from the ride that had brought them to the hotel from their tour.
    With the business world up and active
on the other side of the globe, Zach Savage went into full entrepreneurial
mode. Earpiece in place, he fired up a laptop, murmured an excuse and then
proceeded to make phone call after phone call all the way to the airport. He switched
from French to English to German with a fluency that made her eyes widen in
awe. He barely stopped to show his passport before he was back on the phone
again.
    They were leaving the VIP lounge to
board their flight when he turned to her with those laser, peace-shattering
eyes. “I apologize for this, but I’m trying to clear my schedule as much as
possible before we land in Paris. Is that okay?”
    The idea that a hot, deliciously sexy
billionaire was asking her if it was okay to conduct business melted away the
trace of irritation she’d been feeling. The thought that he was clearing his
schedule just for her made her chest ache in an unfamiliar way. She reached for
her purse.
    “It’s fine. Go ahead. I need to make
some calls myself.”
    When he froze and raised an eyebrow,
she answered. “My parents. I promised to get in touch when I landed in
Shanghai.” She also needed to let Keely know she was deviating from her
once-in-a-lifetime experience.
    As to whether Keely would root for her
or not was another situation. For all her grab-life-by-the-balls attitude,
Keely could be extremely grounded and conservative in certain situations.
    She might not think Bethany was making
a mistake by accepting whatever it was Zachary Savage was offering. Then again,
she might.
    Which was why Bethany chickened out and
sent her best friend a text instead of calling her after she’d finished
speaking to her parents. Although they were surprised about her abrupt change
of plan, they accepted her breezy explanation about why she’d ditched The
Indigo Lounge experience—she’d decided to join a friend in Paris and
Morocco instead of finishing her trip.
    She turned her phone off and followed
Zachary Savage into first class. Noting that they were the only occupants, she
turned to him. His gaze was firmly fixed on her as he conversed in fluent
Italian and cut the connection only when a stewardess stepped forward and
showed them to their seats. Bethany accepted her glass of chilled champagne and
the chocolate truffles with a smile and tried not to look awestruck at her
luxurious surroundings.
    Zach broke his conversation off long
enough for take off. “Everything went well with your phone calls?”
    “My parents don’t know enough about my
trip to question why I’ve descended into madness by abandoning it. All they
want to know is that I’m safe.”
    He nodded. “Your safety is guaranteed.
Never doubt that.”
    There was a depth of conviction in his
tone that made her believe him. Taking a piece of chocolate, he fed it to her,
watched her mouth with hungry, intense eyes as she chewed and licked her lips.
    With what seemed like monumental
effort, he finally pulled his gaze away and sat back in this chair. “Try and
get some sleep, Peaches. You’ll need your strength in the hours and days to
come.”
    “Another boast, Savage?”
    “A very friendly warning from a very
hungry carnivore who intends to stop only when you’re in danger of becoming
permanently bow-legged,” he said darkly. He took her almost empty glass of
champagne, set it to one side. Then he shook out the softly luxurious cashmere
throw the stewardess presented him with.
    Before she could ask him what he was
doing, he pressed a button on her