Beautiful Broken Promises(66)
He confessed that this wasn’t where he wanted to raise Kate, and I couldn’t agree more in regards to Braden. When I moved to New York at eleven years old, I never traveled outside of it—not unless you counted New Jersey—since my aunt didn’t really have any extra money. Then when I had Braden, any plans on seeing more of the United States went out the window. So even though I basically had never been outside of New York, Lane’s house in Texas sounded amazing. He said it was little, but that it would fit us just fine.
I knew I should start thinking about getting a job and finding my own place for Braden and me to live. The idea of Lane and me living together after only really knowing each other a few weeks just seemed ludicrous. But for just a little while, I would stay. Separating Kate and Braden like that would have to be approached delicately.
Another reason it would be good to head to Dallas was that Lane really needed to get back to work. He said Jace would probably start threatening to replace him soon, although based on the way Lane talked about him, I had a feeling Jace would never do that.
So two days after my very public panic in the park, we found ourselves boarding Flight 65 from John F. Kennedy Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth. Thanks to Jace, and much to Lane’s discomfort, we boarded as first-class passengers. I was giddy. I hadn’t been on many airplanes and definitely nowhere near those first four rows. Kate and Braden sat in seats 3A and 3B, while Lane and I took our seats directly behind them.
The plush leather seats were comfortable and there was a console in between each seat, allowing everyone plenty of elbow room. There were TVs tucked into the arms of our seats, but I didn’t think Kate and Braden had realized that yet.
Lane had grumbled and groaned all morning after he finally got a look at our tickets. I could tell he didn’t like Jace buying them, let alone upgrading us. His large forearm moved over the middle console and he grunted as he leaned toward me dramatically.
“See, first class sucks already. I can’t lift this huge divider and now you might as well be sitting across the aisle from me,” he complained.
I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness. Then to appease him, I leaned across the not-so-huge divider and kissed his delicious lips. I realized a few days ago it would be a long time before I would ever get tired of his lips. They were full and powerful, and I wanted them on me as often as I could have them.
“No, no, don’t start pushing that sexy bottom lip on me now,” he scolded sullenly.
I pulled back and giggled. I couldn’t help it with him. He knew how to push all my buttons just right, and it seemed that my favorite button was the way he sucked my bottom lip in between his teeth.
“Just enjoy this now. You can hash it out with Jace later.” I smiled up at him. “Besides, I’ve never heard of anyone complaining about extra leg room, especially someone of your size.” I reached to pinch his side, but snatched up my fingers before they could make contact, which only made me break out into uproarious laughter.
His body instantly moved closer to mine, console be damned. “God, babe…” he murmured, his voice husky. “I love that sound.”
In front of us, Kate started laughing and we both peeked through the small space between the seats to see her and Braden playing a made-up game together. “Love that sound-from both my girls,” he added.
I grabbed his bicep and hugged it tightly. I didn’t release it when I was done, deciding to keep my fingers wrapped securely around him and laying my head against his muscles. When the flight attendants came down the aisle offering pre-flight drinks, he didn’t move his arm, instead grabbing both of our cups with his opposite hand.
“Hey, Kit Kat,” Lane called quietly to the seats in front of us. Both she and Braden turned to look at us. “Make sure your seat belts are snug, please.”
“Braden snapped mine for me, daddy,” she said back.
“Good job looking out for your sister, B,” Lane said to my little boy. The moment they turned back around, I instantly buried my face into his arm and sniffled.
“What’s up, Rae?” he asked.
I rubbed the side of my face against his arm as if I were a cat vying for attention and whispered, “I’ve never heard you say that before.”
“Well, we haven’t been in any cars, so why would I tell them to buckle up?”
“No, not that. You said she was his sister.” I squeezed him tighter, and he responded by kissing my forehead. All of this was a learning curve for him. What Kate, Braden, and I had felt for years, he was just now absorbing. I understood that it must be tough. He had expected to get his daughter back… not a whole crew. I just hoped that he was fully aware of what that entailed before we traveled down this dangerous path.