I’m so incredibly lucky he asked me.

He asked me.

As if he can sense me, he looks over his shoulder.

Drinks me in.

His eyes crinkle—light, soulful—and he grins at me.

It’s so beautiful.

He grins at me because now he knows, he knows, I’m his.

“I’m here,” I tell him as I slowly walk toward him, my voice barely audible.

He nods. “You’re here.”

PART TWO

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Lachlan

“Lachlan?”

Like a ray of light into a dark room, Kayla’s sweet throaty voice permeates my dreams. I slowly open my eyes, forgetting where I am for a moment. You’d think that would be nearly impossible when you’re on an airplane, but the black, sticky quality of my dreams, quickly fading from my consciousness, render me dazed.

When I nodded off, the lights in the cabin were dimmed. Now it’s bright, and light shines in through the bottom of the window cover. Daylight.

I lift my head and let out a low grunt, my neck aching from the way I was sleeping. I look beside me to see Kayla smiling softly at me.

She came. I can’t believe she came.

“Good morning,” she says, rubbing underneath her eyes. “I wanted to let you keep sleeping, but the flight attendant was making it her mission to wake you up. We’re landing in twenty minutes.”

I try and swallow, my throat so unbearably dry, and shift in my seat to face her. “You’re still here,” I say, my voice hoarse. I reach out and touch her face, her skin feeling like heaven.

She twists her head to kiss my hand, her coy eyes never leaving mine. “Of course I’m still here. Where would I go? Another seat?”

“I thought it was all a dream,” I tell her softly. “And when I woke up, I’d wake up alone.”

“Nope,” she says, and I brush the hair from her face, rubbing her silky strands between my fingers, as if I need further proof that she’s real. “It’s not a dream. It feels like it though, doesn’t it? I mean…I can’t believe this is happening.”

I nod slowly. “Did you sleep at all?”

She shakes her head. “Way, way too excited to sleep. I watched a bunch of movies. And then I watched you sleep for a bit, like a total creeper.”

I smile, finding that strangely endearing. “Well, I like it when you’re a total creeper, love. You’ll be doing a lot more of it when we land. I’m afraid I’ll rarely let you out of my sight in Edinburgh.”

“That should make my stalking much easier.”

The flight attendant comes by and tells me to put my seat up and raise the window shade in that scolding way that they all have, and it’s not long before the plane is descending. Kayla leans over me to look out the window, even though there’s nothing to see but patches of green between grey clouds. I can’t help but close my eyes, breathing her in. Even after being on a plane for thirteen hours, she smells incredible. It’s not soap, it’s not perfume, it’s just her. Something that can’t be bottled. Something that makes my blood rush to all the right places.

I shift in my seat, trying to ignore the stirrings of an erection. Kayla is so busy looking out the window that she doesn’t seem to notice. Which is good because I know she’d go out of her way to make me even stiffer. As soon as I get her in my flat though, I’m not holding back.

My flat. It feels right insane that I’m back here and she’s with me. I don’t even know how to properly introduce her to Edinburgh when all I want to do is lock her in my bedroom for days.

But I’m returning to a life I left on pause. There are a lot of things to catch up on. I just hope I can integrate her into the process as smoothly as possible. Once I introduce her to Amara and Thierry, I think that will help. And, if I’m brave enough, my parents and my brother Brigs. Rugby and the shelter are going to take up a lot of my time, but I’ll gladly have Kayla as involved in those as much as possible—as much as she wants to be, anyway.

The plane jostles, dropping some feet and lilting to the left. A few people in the cabin gasp while Kayla grasps my hand, holding on tight. I give her a squeeze back.

“It’s just turbulence,” I tell her with what I hope is a reassuring smile.

She nods, though her expression is pained. “I’m not a good flier,” she admits, holding tighter as the plane bumps around again, my stomach flipping.

“It’s okay,” I say, returning her grip. I look out the window to see the ground getting closer, the perimeter fence of the airport quickly approaching. “We’re almost there.”

And while I can feel her pulse racing against my skin, I know she can feel mine doing the same. But it’s not flying that I’m afraid of. It’s what happens when we land. It’s beyond complicated, feeling so happy that she’s here, and at the same time, I’m nervous about what’s going to happen next. It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve let anyone into my life, and I’m about to do that with her. I have no idea what will happen when she has to leave. Worse than that, I have no idea what will happen when and if she discovers the real me. Because I’m tempted to throw the doors wide open and let her in, to show her all the dark and ugliness inside me.

If she runs and never comes back, I’ll have no one to blame but myself. I fear the blame, my habit for self-loathing, might be my ruin once again.

The wheels touch down with a screech and the plane blasts forward on the runway for a moment before the brakes come into full effect. Once the plane slows, Kayla loosens her grip, but it turns out mine is stronger.

“I didn’t know you were afraid too,” she says as I let go.

I only smile at her. I’d much rather trade one fear for another.

It doesn’t take long before we’ve disembarked and are waiting by the luggage carousel. I laugh when I see Kayla’s luggage come around on the belt, screaming hot pink.

“What?” she says defensively. “That way I know it’s mine.”

“Kind of defeats the purpose if it blinds everyone, love,” I remind her, reaching over to pick up the suitcase. Then we head over to the oversized luggage area to pick up Emily in her dog crate.

She looks scared and the crate smells something awful, but there’s still enough drugs in her system so she’s subdued and not panicking. I whisper soothing words to her through the wire gate and she seems to understand that things will only get better.

Originally, when I was arriving alone, I was going to have my brother pick me up, but with Kayla here, and since we were on a different flight, a taxi is a much better option.

We get ourselves into a cab, and Kayla is already marveling at how different it all is.

“I forgot you drive on the other side of the road,” she says. “And this cab is crazy with your flip-down seats and everything.” She kicks the seat across from her for emphasis, which makes Emily raise her head.

“I think you need some sleep,” I say gently, putting my arm around Kayla and holding her against me.

“Sleep is the last thing I need,” she says, sliding her hand over my stomach. But five minutes into the drive and she’s asleep against me.

My flat is in the Stockbridge area of the city, so it takes a while for us to get there, battling among the morning commuters. By the time we arrive at North East Circus Place I almost don’t want to wake Kayla, she’s sleeping so deeply.

“Hey,” I whisper to her while the cabbie slides open the door and pulls our luggage out. “We’re here.” I remove my arm and shake her a bit. It takes forever for her to open her eyes, but when she does, she’s frowning in confusion. Once she seems to recognize me, she smiles.

“Wow,” she says, her voice croaking. “I was deep under.”

“As soon as I get you inside, I’ll put you to bed,” I tell her, unbuckling our seatbelts and helping her out of the cab. She leans against it, unsteady, while I pay the driver, and stares up at the building.