She’d kept herself busy, working by day and socialising by evening. It was the nights that were unbearable. Despite the mild heatwave sweeping through the UK, her nights were always cold.
Somehow she would find a way to forget him.
The plane had reached the place where it would turn around and face the runway.
The woman sitting beside her gripped the armrests, her knuckles turning white in anticipation of take-off.
But no sooner had the plane started its journey down the runway than it was brought to a stop.
It took a while before the passengers realised something was wrong, and then low murmurs began spreading throughout the plane.
The voice of a stewardesses came over the speaker. ‘Could passenger Miss Amy Green please make herself known to a member of the cabin crew?’
Amy barely heard, her attention caught by a motorcyclist, speeding over the tarmac, heading towards them. Behind him was a buggy, with two men in orange high-visibility jackets towing metal steps. There was something about the figure riding the motorbike...
‘Amy Green? Miss Amy Green—please make yourself known to a member of the cabin crew.’
With a jolt she realised it was her they were asking for. Tearing her gaze away from the window, she raised a hesitant hand.
A stewardess bustled over to her, looking harassed. ‘Amy Green?’
Amy nodded, bemused and not a little scared.
‘I need you to come with me.’
‘Why?’
‘We’ve been asked to escort you off this flight.’
‘But why? Have I done something wrong?’
The stewardess shook her head. ‘I don’t know why.’
The couple she was sitting next to had to get out of their seats to let her pass, but it wasn’t long before she was trailing the stewardess to the exit, her face burning with mortification, her brain burning with confusion.
What the hell was going on...?
At the rear exit of the plane the crew were all staring at her unabashedly, no doubt wondering if she was some kind of fugitive.
Was she a fugitive? Had she unwittingly committed a crime that necessitated her being escorted off a plane and arrested?
And then the door opened, the metal stairs were hastily bolted on and she stood at the threshold, looking to see if a dozen police officers were waiting at the bottom to take her into custody.
The only person waiting for her was the motorcyclist she’d spotted. He sat astride the bike, his helmet resting under an arm...
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AMY’S HEART LEAPT so hard it almost jumped out of her mouth.
Behind her came a collective sigh from the crew. One of them squeezed her shoulder. ‘Go to him.’
But she couldn’t. Her legs had turned to jelly.
She covered her mouth, unable to believe her eyes.
What was he doing here?
His handsome face immobile, he got off his bike, placed the helmet on the seat and climbed the stairs with heavy treads.
It was only when he was at eye level with her and she was able to gaze into the liquid dark brown eyes she loved so much that Amy dared to breathe.
‘Helios,’ she whispered, raising a hand to brush it against his cheek, to feel for herself that he truly was there and that this wasn’t some dream she’d fallen into.
But no. No dream.
His cheek was warm and smooth, his jawline rough, at the stage where stubble was just starting to poke through the skin. His warm, familiar scent played under her nose.
‘Sneaking away again?’ he asked, in a voice that was meant to be humorous but that cracked on the last syllable.
‘What...? What are you doing here?’
His eyes bored into her, emotion seeping out of them. ‘I’m taking you home.’ Then he took the final step up and lifted her into his arms. ‘I’m taking you home,’ he repeated.
Another collective ‘Ooh...’ sounded from behind her, and as Helios carried her down the steps a round of applause broke out. One of the men in high-visibility jackets, who was waiting by the buggy, wolf-whistled.
Amy heard it all, but none of it penetrated. All her senses were focused so intensely on her lover that everything else had become a blur.
At the bottom of the steps Helios placed her carefully on her feet.
Suddenly the biggest, widest grin spread over his face. ‘Would Despinis Green like a ride on my bike?’
Laughter bubbled up in her throat and broke through her daze. She flung her arms around him. ‘Yes. Please. Take me anywhere.’
* * *
Amy kept a tight hold on Helios as he drove them through the streets of Resina. She didn’t have to hold him tightly—the dense throng of partying people meant he had to ride at a snail’s pace—but she needed to. Keeping her cheek pressed into the solidity of his back and her arms around his waist grounded her, helped her accept the reality of what had just happened.