She could feel his breath on her ear, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes and look at him. It was safer to keep them firmly shut.
They were silent for several minutes when the plane came to a stop. “We’re waiting for our turn to take off,” he said, his tone soothing. “You need to breathe, sweetheart. I can tell you’re holding your breath.”
“I…I just hate this part. I know it’s coming and I can’t—” She paused and took a few breaths. “I can’t relax.”
“Okay,” he said.
The next thing she knew, Riley pried one of her hands off the sofa and held it in his. It felt good. Warm. Comforting. Then his other hand came around and cupped her cheek, and she felt him rest his head against hers. It felt good, and Savannah felt as if she was drawing strength from him. For a few minutes, touching was all they did, but as soon as the plane started to move again, she immediately tensed up.
“Look at me,” he whispered. “Open your eyes and look at me. Focus on my face and nothing else.”
She opened her eyes, but the rest was impossible. How could she focus on his face and not think of how handsome he was? Or how kind and understanding his eyes were?
The plane began to pick up speed, and Savannah knew she was seconds away from a full-on panic attack. There was no way she wanted to do that in front of Riley—or anyone for that matter—so she did the only thing she could.
“Kiss me,” she said.
To give him credit, Riley didn’t question it. He simply closed the distance between them and captured her lips with his. It wasn’t the sweet and gentle kiss of the other night. No. This one was all-consuming and deep and wonderful, and Savannah sighed into it as she pulled her hand free of his and let it rake up into his hair.
So many things were going through Savannah’s mind as she touched him, but the most prevalent was more. She wanted to be free to touch more of him and for him to do the same in return. While Riley’s lips and tongue were doing things to hers she never imagined possible, his hand had stayed in fairly chaste positions—her cheek, her nape. His fingers felt rough against her skin and she could only dream of how they’d feel on other parts of her body.
She cursed the seat belts, the couch, their clothes. Crowding closer to him, she tried to mentally tell him what she wanted. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it was crazy—this wasn’t the kind of person she normally was. Wasn’t the kind of woman who threw herself at a man—any man—even a rock star! But there was something about Riley that made her feel differently, act differently, and want differently.
The plane kept moving, time kept moving, and yet Savannah had no recollection of any of it. It was as if everything around them had ceased to exist and it was only the two of them.
And it was absolutely perfect.
There was a sound off in the distance that finally seemed to break through their haze and had Savannah hesitantly removing her lips from his. “What…what was that?” she asked dazedly.
Riley seemed just as disoriented as she was. Lifting his head, he looked around and then smiled. “The seat belt sign is off. It means we can get up and move around.”
She looked around in confusion. “But…how…? We just…?” Then she focused on Riley. “Didn’t we just take off?”
His hand stroked her cheek as he chuckled. “That was about ten minutes ago.”
Her eyes went wide. “Really? I didn’t even… I mean… I had no idea…”
His smile widened. “Yeah. Me too.” He leaned in and gave her another quick kiss before releasing his seat belt and standing. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. How about I get Lisa?”
“We still have this fruit and muffin tray,” she reminded him.
“Yeah, but it’s not what I’m in the mood for. What do you say?”
Honestly, she didn’t know what to say. She was still baffled by the fact they were in the air and she hadn’t even been aware of it. And besides that, she couldn’t believe she had just had one of the longest make-out sessions ever—at least for her—with one of the biggest rock stars in the world. And now he wanted to talk about breakfast!
Who was she and what had happened to her uncomplicated life?
Unbuckling her own seat belt, Savannah slowly rose to her feet and was surprised how…normal everything felt. She wasn’t nervous. She wasn’t panicking. And, if she thought about it, she was hungry. Interesting. She wondered if Tommy would agree to budgeting private jets to get her to all her future assignments. She chuckled at the look of shock that would undoubtedly be his response to her request.
Riley came up behind her, put his hands on her hips, and gently squeezed. “Food will be out in about five minutes. You doing okay?”
Nodding, she said, “I am. I was just sort of standing here marveling at the whole thing.” Turning in his arms, she smiled up at him—not realizing until just now how tall he was. At five foot seven, Savannah knew most guys were at least a little taller than she was, but she was always wearing some sort of footwear with heels. Today she had gone for flats, and next to Riley’s six-foot frame, she felt a little small. And the way he was looking at her made her want to curl around him and dive back in for another taste.
“It’s not hard to relax when you’re in this kind of an environment,” he said easily, his eyes scanning her face.
“It’s not only the environment, Riley. You…you really helped me.”
He rested his forehead against hers. “Anytime you need help like that, Savannah, don’t hesitate to ask. Ever. I’m serious.”
She was ready to ask for it right now, but Lisa discreetly cleared her throat as she walked over and placed another tray of food on the coffee table along with new hot beverages. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted another hot chocolate, Miss Daly, so I also put a cup of coffee on the tray for you.”
Savannah smiled. “Thank you, Lisa.”
“I’ll be back in the galley if either of you need anything,” she said and then walked away.
Looking over at the new tray of food, Savannah groaned playfully. “What did you do?”
He grinned like the Cheshire cat. “What? What’s wrong with this?”
Sitting down, Savannah examined her plate. “Is that bacon on there?”
“Extra crispy,” Riley confirmed as he sat down and reached for his own plate. When she looked over at him, he shrugged. “You said you enjoyed bagels and cream cheese with crispy bacon. I merely relayed the information to the crew when they were stocking the kitchen.” He nodded toward her plate. “Now eat up. It’s late, and I’m sure you didn’t eat before we picked you up.”
He was right, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. Instead she picked up her bagel, took a bite, and groaned. “Oh, that’s good.”
“I must admit, I never tried this combination before, but it really is good. It may become my new breakfast of choice.”
“What do you normally eat?”
He shrugged. “I like all kinds of breakfast food, from pancakes to Pop-Tarts. If you looked in my pantry at home, you’d see a huge variety of cereals—although I’m partial to Frosted Flakes. When I’m on the road, I take full advantage of room service and order all the things I’m too lazy to make myself at home.”
“Like eggs Benedict and omelets?”
“More like Belgian waffles. I’m a sucker for those if they’re on the menu.”
Savannah chuckled. “I think I could write an article about you and your food choices alone. We seem to talk about it a lot.”
“Food’s important,” he said simply.
“What about when you were growing up? What was your favorite food then?”
“Ooo…good one,” he said, sitting back and relaxing, balancing his plate on his leg. “I come from a big Irish family, and my mom used to cook a lot of traditional Irish meals. But as much as I loved those, she was an incredible bak
er. She used to bake all kinds of cakes and cookies, and we all used to go crazy when we’d come home from school and find a batch of warm cookies waiting in the kitchen.”
Savannah smiled. “That sounds like a great memory.”
He nodded, his smile a little sad. “It is. She used those same treats as a weapon.” Then he chuckled. “If you were bad or misbehaved? Then you couldn’t have any. You’d have to sit there and watch everyone else eat them while you didn’t.”
“I’m sure that was torture.”
“You have no idea!” He started to laugh harder as the memories came to him. “I didn’t get punished often, but when I did, Owen would always sneak one to me so I didn’t miss out.”
“He’s your twin, right?”
Riley nodded. “We always looked out for each other. Still do.” He chuckled. “My brother Quinn, however, was the worst. When one of us was grounded and couldn’t eat any, he was the one who would just taunt the hell out of the poor guy. He’d dance around waving the cookie. But on the flip side, he was the one who was normally in trouble and missed out.”
“I hope you teased him right back!” Savannah cried, chuckling with him.
“We rarely got the chance to. He would disappear when it was time for our snack or dessert. It wasn’t until years later that we found out our next-door neighbor Anna—who is now engaged to Quinn—used to sneak some of her mom’s homemade cookies to him whenever he was grounded.”
“Aww…that’s kind of sweet! And they’re getting married?”
Riley nodded. “She’s been in love with him since she was little, and my brother was oblivious.”
“Most men are,” Savannah muttered and took a bite of her bagel.
“Hey!” he said with a mock pout. “I’m a man and I take offense to that.”
“It’s true and you know it. I’m sure you’re no different.”
“I don’t know about that—”
“Tell me more about your brother and Anna. How did he finally find out?”
“I’d have to take credit for that one. It was priceless seeing the look on his face when I finally said what we all knew—that Anna was in love with him. We were at my brother Aidan’s wedding and Quinn was hitting on all the married bridesmaids—”
“That’s horrible!”
Riley held up a hand. “In his defense, he didn’t know they were married. But even while he was busy making the biggest faux pas of the wedding, his eyes never left Anna. It had been like that for a while. She’d watch him and he didn’t notice, but he watched her just as much.”
She sighed. “Okay, and now we’re back to sweet.”
“Yeah, well, I was making fun of him for striking out with the bridal party when I noticed how pretty Anna looked. I commented on it and said I was going over to chat with her, and he nearly bit my head off. Now that I think about it, it was the rehearsal dinner, not the wedding.” He took another bite of his breakfast. “Like I said, the rest of the family? We all knew the score and we were just waiting for him to open his eyes and see what was right in front of him. I merely poked the bear.”
“So they hooked up?”
He shook his head. “Not right away, but that weekend definitely set things in motion. They got engaged not too long ago and bought a house, and in three months they’re getting married.”
“Wow, that’s fast.”
“They’ve known each other for about twenty-five years,” he said, frowning. “So really, it’s not as fast as you would think.”
She nodded and together they finished their meals and sat back with a sigh. “That was so good,” she said, her hand on her belly.
“Agreed.” He paused. “Do you want to watch a movie or maybe do some work on the interview?”
Savannah knew they really needed to get to work on the interview. After almost four days she didn’t have anything beyond the basics on him. Although with this trip, they were going to have more time together than she ever imagined—essentially 24-7. Maybe that was why she wasn’t overly anxious to get started right now. She was enjoying this easy camaraderie. And really, a lot of what they had talked about was helping her get a better picture of who Riley Shaughnessy was.
It was also serving to reshape how she saw this article going.
She just needed to remind herself to stay professional; otherwise, she had a feeling she’d end up with a piece that belonged in a teen magazine with her name and Riley’s in a big giant heart.
Ugh.
Realizing he was still watching her, she cleared her throat. “Um…a movie would be great. Another way to pass the time.”
“And by the time it’s over, it will be lunch time.”
“Are you always hungry?” she asked with a laugh, but it quickly died when she saw his expression had turned serious and his gaze had gone dark and heated.
Riley nodded. “Lately? It seems like I am.”
Oh my…
Forcing herself to look away, Savannah put a little distance between them. “So, a movie. What are our options?”
At least Riley didn’t call her out on being a coward and changing the subject. He rattled off a list of movies they had on board, most of which were ones he and Savannah had talked about the other day at his house. She discovered he was a man who paid attention to the little things and remembered them.
It was a damn fine and admirable quality.
Like she really needed another reason to like him!
“What do you think?” he asked, standing next to the media cabinet. “Any of them sound better than the others?”
“I think since we both had so much fun with our Neil Simon movie the other day, we should try another one. How about Murder by Death?”
Riley grinned.
“What? What’s that smile about?” She couldn’t understand why he was smiling like that.
“You are clearly a woman after my own heart because that is a personal favorite of mine and I never seem to remember it. Whenever I get together with friends and we pick a movie, we end up with more recent titles. You’re letting me indulge in some classics I haven’t seen in a while.”
That made her smile. “They don’t make movies like they used to. After this movie, we may have to move on to a couple of Mel Brooks films. Those are amazing!”
“I hope you’re talking about Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles.”
“Um…what Mel Brooks marathon would be complete without those as a starting point?” she teased.
Riley put in the movie and sat back down beside her. Before she knew what he was doing, he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “If you can quote lines from either of those two movies, I may ask you to marry me.”
His eyes twinkled as Savannah laughed at his play on the similar statement she’d made to him days ago. It was so tempting to quote multiple lines from each movie just to see his reaction, but she refrained. Instead she gave him a sweet smile, kicked off her shoes, and made herself comfortable as the opening credits began.
* * *
“We should be on the ground in thirty minutes,” Lisa said as she took away the last of their lunch—gourmet deli sandwiches and salads followed by iced fudge brownies. She smiled at them both as she walked away.
“I may need assistance getting off the plane,” Savannah said, slouching down in her seat.
Riley chuckled and studied her. He loved how she wasn’t afraid to enjoy her food—other than Darcy and his brother’s wives, most of the women he spent time with tended to always be dieting and would pick at their food. Of course, he lived in California, and most of the women there dreamed of becoming a star of some kind.
“I will gladly help in any way I can,” he said as he stood and stretched. “I’m not going to lie to you. As comfortable as this plane is, I’m still anxious to be on the ground and smell some fresh air.”
“That would be
nice,” she agreed. “Is your father picking us up at the airport?”
“That’s the plan. I can’t wait for you to meet him. He’s an amazing man.”
They hadn’t talked about it yet, but Savannah had done enough research on him to know his mother had passed away when he was ten. Knowing there were six Shaughnessy children who all seemed to be very successful, she understood Riley wasn’t throwing out a blanket compliment about his father. It was the truth and she couldn’t wait to meet him.
“We should probably sit back down,” he said, motioning to the seats they’d vacated just moments ago. The chairs were large and covered in soft leather and served as recliners as well. Taking Savannah by the hand, he led her back over and waited for her to take a seat.
Savannah sat down and found her seat belt and Riley took his seat across from her. It was farther away than he wanted to be.
“Could we… Could we maybe go sit in the back again?” she asked nervously.
Riley nodded and they moved the few feet back to the sofa they had used during takeoff. “How come back here?” he asked softly.
“I’m not much better at landings than I am at takeoffs,” she said, her head hanging down, her long hair shielding her face. She shrugged. “I feel a little bit safer in the back of the plane.”
Reaching out, Riley tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered her name. When she looked up at him, he saw the fear and anxiety of earlier was back. “It’s going to be okay. Have I been wrong about this trip yet?”
She shook her head. “I know, I know. Everything has been wonderful, but I’m afraid to let my guard down.”
It didn’t matter what her reasoning was, she needed him and he was here for her. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her in close. “Whatever you need, Savannah. I told you. Whatever you need from me, I’ll do.”
Then he watched the play of emotion on her face. God, was it really so easy? Was she that trusting of him? It was humbling, and the look of sheer gratitude on her face was almost enough to bring him to his knees. She’d done this for him. Had faced her fears for him. How could she think there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her in return?
This Is Our Song Page 10
