“I think I’ll wait till I’m there.”
“It won’t be long now.”
“Good.” She was ready to get off this thing and have her feet planted on the ground. “I’ll see if Vickie can meet us and give us a ride to the hospital.”
“I’ve made arrangements for a car to meet us.”
She smiled up at him. “You’ve thought of everything.” She wanted to ask him why. He could’ve easily stayed in New York, or let her leave and make her way back home on her own. She knew he had plenty of things he needed to take care of. Mostly things she wasn’t supposed to either know or talk about. Roger seemed to be surrounded by a world of secrets and mystery. And all she knew was what they’d learned in regards to the photo yesterday. But the look in his eyes said he meant it; he wasn’t leaving her. It felt nice. But remember, this is all a dream. Eventually, we have to face reality and this will . . . end. Gia was glad this wasn’t the day. She needed Roger, even though she wasn’t willing to admit it to him. If she did, it’d probably send him running in the opposite direction.
“I know you had more important things on your mind.”
That’s for damn sure.“I’m really sorry about having to cut the trip short.”
“Nothing there appealed to me,” he said, then added, “besides you.”
There was no hint that he was teasing her as he spoke. “At least we had last night.”
With a wink he added, “And this morning.”
“Yes, that too.” How quickly everything had gone from amazing and into panic mode. “I’m glad I heard the phone.”
“Me too. This is where you belong.”
“You’ve been so sweet to me, Roger. I can’t even imagine how much this flight cost, never mind the hotel stay.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Roger said.
But she did. Gia didn’t want to feel as though she owed him anything. It was one thing to have a romantic night together, one where he paid for dinner. But what was she bringing into this? She didn’t want to feel as though he was out of her league, but how else could she feel?
“Roger, let me at least pay for the flight.” God only knew how much that would be or where she’d come up with the money, but somehow, she would.
“It didn’t cost anything,” Roger replied.
“Free? I have a hard time believing that.”
“It’s true.”
She gave him a questioning look. “Did you win it?”
“No. But I own it.”
Gia was shocked. He had to be kidding, right? This was a luxurious helicopter, and even a cheap one wasn’t cheap. “This is yours?”
“Yes. I don’t like to fly, but my job requires me to do things I’d rather not at times.”
That explained how he was able to request one so quickly. If she hadn’t been so focused on packing, she would’ve asked more questions.
“Neither of us enjoy flying, but here we are.”
“And there is Providence,” Roger said as he pointed out the state house.
“Hope you don’t mind if I don’t lean over to look.”
He chuckled. “I understand perfectly.” Squeezing her hand gently, he added, “I’m really proud of you.”
“What for?”
“It takes courage to do something that terrifies you. If you hadn’t told me about your fear before, I never would’ve known how hard this was for you.”