“That’s right,” I say as we head for our gate. “Syracuse. You’ll be going there next year.”
“I will?” she asks, her baby blues round as she stares at me.
“You will,” I say, taking her hand and squeezing it.
“What about you?” she asks.
“I’ll be there, too,” I say, sitting down in the waiting area.
She just stares at me a second, and then she sits down across my lap. “Royal… This is way too much.”
“It’s college,” I say. “Everyone goes. It’s not even an Ivy League school.”
She links her hands behind my neck and stares into my eyes, looking like she might cry. Instead, she leans in and presses her lips to mine, hard. “Thank you.”
“Duke told me what happened yesterday,” I say, resting my hands on her little waist.
“I figured Baron would tell you we fucked or something,” she says. “Since you don’t trust me.”
“I know you wouldn’t fuck my brothers,” I say. “If you wanted them dead, you’d have killed them yourself.”
“Ah,” she says. “So Baron wouldn’t say I fucked Duke because he doesn’t want you killing him.”
“There’s too much drama here for my family right now, anyway,” I say, squeezing her to me. My brothers and Dad are all pissed about the shit she started at school, and I’d rather get her out of their way while they calm down, just in case they get any ideas about going after her behind my back. “It’ll be good to get away for a week.”
She lays her head on my chest and snuggles against me, and I cradle her small body in my arms, holding her in silence until they call for first-class boarding. When we’re settled into our seats, Harper turns to me with a nervous smile. “I’ve never been on a plane before.”
“I know.”
I don’t say the other part, that I’m proud I made it happen, that can be here for her first time on a plane. I can’t fucking stand how happy it makes me to see her smiling and looking around with so much excitement.
“I’m surprised you don’t have your own private plane,” she teases.
“Just wait,” I say, capturing her knee and pulling it against mine. I can’t keep my hands off her, and I don’t plan to let her out of my sight for the entire trip. “When I take over the business from Dad, it’s not just going to be a few candies. Dolce Sweet is going to be an empire. I’ll get you a private jet then, Cherry Pie.”
“And when will that be?” she asks carefully. I can tell she’s got something up her sleeve, that it has nothing to do with my offer to get her a private jet. For a while, I thought she was just another gold digger. But it was never about money for her. It was about escape. I know her well enough to know that now, well enough to know this is the gift she’ll treasure more than anything else I could offer, more than all the private jets in the world.
“Whenever I can get the board of directors to replace him,” I say. “You anxious for me to run my own company?”
“Who would run it if your dad got fired right now?” she asks.
“I would,” I say, watching her from the corner of my eye. “I’m eighteen. Everything’s set for me to take over when he’s out.”
“Would you want to do that before you graduate college?”
I know her scheming look by now, can almost see the wheels turning inside her head. “What are you thinking?” I ask.
“I’m not sure yet,” she says. “I’m not trying to take down your family anymore, but… I’m not going to lie to you, Royal. I think we need to get him out of Faulkner.”
“How about we get you out of Faulkner?” I say, squeezing her knee. “Who cares what happens to that shitty little town? We’ll be in Syracuse for the next four years.”
She shrugs. “I care. It’s still my hometown, even if I move. And I haven’t agreed to this, you know. You can’t just pick where I go to school.”
“Okay,” I say with a smirk.
“You’re infuriating,” she says, glowering at me.
“You’re cute,” I answer, reaching across her and pulling her seatbelt over her lap before buckling her in. “Now shut up and let me take care of you.”