Free Learning to Trust: Sweet Temptation by B. B. Roman Page B

considering what he was asking of her.
Not that he blamed her if she said no, but he hoped and prayed she wouldn’t. 
    “Please,”
he added before pressing his lips to hers.
    “All
right,” she finally said, long seconds later. “We’ll go with you.”
    Kane
would’ve fist pumped the air, but instead, he chose to kiss her. Hard.
    Pulling
back, he smiled down on her. “We have to be at the airport by eight.”
     
    *****
     
    Kane
moved toward the gate, carrying Haley in one arm and her car seat in the other
while Lucie trailed behind them pulling one of her carry on suitcases that
contained mostly things for Haley. They nearly had to sprint to their gate, and
for once, Kane didn’t mind that he was running behind.
    Normally
he would’ve been pissed and stressed at the fact that he was risking missing
his plane, but due to the circumstances, he could only smile. Apparently, it
took a lot longer to pack a child and her mother for a weeklong trip than it
did to pack for himself.
    The instant
he told Lucie what time their flight left, she had practically tossed him out
of bed and onto the floor. Obviously she needed more than just an hour notice,
so he had given her two and here they were, almost running through the
terminal. Since they were in first class, Kane wasn’t all that worried about
whether they were at the gate thirty minutes before the flight left, but now they
only had about fifteen minutes to spare, so he was forcing Lucie to keep up.
    By
the time they were seated, Haley busy with her coloring book and crayons, Lucie
looked a little frazzled.
    “You
ok?” Kane asked, sliding his hand into hers. Since Haley insisted on sitting by
the window, Kane had been lucky to have Lucie beside him.
    “I
will be,” she muttered, thrusting her hand through her hair and glancing over
at him sideways.
    “What’s
wrong?” She was obviously not doing nearly as well as she was pretending.
    “I
hate flying,” she admitted, looking straight ahead at the seat in front of her.
    Kane
turned to face Lucie, tipping her chin so that she looked at him. “It’ll be
ok,” he whispered, not wanting Haley to hear him. “Thank you.”
    “For
what?” she laughed, sounding almost hysterical.
    Kane
gripped her fingers tightly, pulling her hand into his lap. “For coming with
me.”
    After
what Lucie told him earlier that morning, Kane considered himself lucky that
she even gave him the time of day. Knowing what she had gone through the very
first time they were together, he had vowed to make it all up to her, and he
was starting with this trip. It was time for him to show Lucie just how special
she actually was to him.
     
    ~~*~~
     
    Lucie
didn’t like flying. That wasn’t a secret. However, she honestly expected Haley
to be the one on the verge of tears, not her. But, for her little girl’s sake,
Lucie was sucking it up, being strong. There was nothing to worry about, she
knew. Statistics showed that there was a greater chance of being in a car wreck
than in a plane crash.
    She
hated statistics. They didn’t help to alleviate any of her tension, so she
didn’t know why she even bothered to recite them.
    Holding
Kane’s hand, attempting to absorb his strength, she tried to divert her thoughts
to something more productive. Ever since she agreed to go to Hawaii with him,
she’d been in a rush. Considering she had no idea how quickly she had to get
ready, it was a good thing he finally told her when he did. Somehow, she still
wasn’t sure how they had made it to their plane on time.
    The
captain’s voice came over the intercom and Lucie damn near came out of her
chair. When Kane pulled her hand back into his lap, his thumb gently sweeping
back and forth over her palm, she managed to relax. Slightly.
    Fifteen
minutes later, they were in the air without a single hiccup in the takeoff. Too
bad they still had to do this one more time. Kane hadn’t mentioned it until
they were signing in at the airline counter, but they