Consequences(149)

Suddenly, Claire realized the implication of her blanket. If they’d reached their destination, she needed to dress and quickly. “Are we at our honeymoon?”

He turned from his computer and smiled. “You didn’t need to wake. You look so beautiful and peaceful.”

Keeping the blanket wrapped around her, she went to him and knelt beside his chair. “I think I was worn-out.” Her emerald eyes glowed as she put her arms around his exposed midsection. Looking into his milk chocolate eyes, feeling his warmth, and inhaling his scent, she thought to herself, he’s really my husband.

Tony’s eyes met hers, then scanned toward her blanket. Smiling, he said, “It was a busy day, Mrs. Rawlings.” The Mrs. Rawlings made Claire’s eyes sparkle. He gently kissed his wife and playfully attempted to see under her blanket.

“And an eventful night, Mr. Rawlings.”

“It isn’t over. We’re just stopping in LA to refuel. We have much more flying before we reach our destination.”

This made Claire think. “So, we’re going to Hawaii?”

“Would you like to go to Hawaii?” Claire said she would, she’d never been. He loved to make her squirm. “Well, we’ll have to find out where we end up—won’t we?” He kissed her again.

The plane was now standing still. Eric and the pilot entered the cabin and bid hello to Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings. Apologizing for the interruption, they promised to be airborne in less than thirty minutes. Tony told them it was fine, just please do whatever was necessary, as soon as possible—they had a honeymoon to get to. The two men promised they would and opened the outside door to the cabin. The rush of fresh air was no longer cold—they definitely weren’t in Iowa anymore.

Tony placed the laptop on the floor and invited Claire to his lap. She climbed up, rested her head on his strong chest and listened to the beat of his heart as he spoke about Los Angeles. His hands tenderly explored under her blanket, gently caressing her soft skin. He asked if she’d ever been there. Claire said no, she’d been to northern California, San Francisco when she was young on a family vacation. She remembered going to Alcatraz. Her dad, being a policeman, thought it was neat. But she didn’t. She recalled during the tour actually going into cells. There were audiotaped voices and sounds of cell doors closing, she didn’t like it at all. He hugged her. “I promise not to plan a visit to Alcatraz in our future. How old were you when you went there?”

“I think I was twelve”—Claire looked up at his face—“Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I was just wondering.” Tony went on to tell her about Eli and MaryAnn’s home in LA—actually in Malibu. Tony said he’ll need to bring Claire to one of their parties. He wasn’t much into the whole Hollywood scene, but even he had to admit, Eli and MaryAnn could throw an awesome party. Eli’s guests usually included people Claire had seen in movies or on TV. Eli could be an ass, but he was great at what he did, and there were multitudes of people who would kill to attend his parties. Tony described MaryAnn and Eli’s house as an architectural marvel situated on Malibu beach, hanging off a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

“I would love to see it sometime. Do you stay with them when you travel to LA?”

“No, I—I mean—we”—he smiled—“we have an apartment in Hollywood—not far from Malibu.”

Claire smirked. “Maybe sometime you could tell me how many apartments we have?”

“We have many residences. It’ll take time to familiarize you with all of them.”