The Cinderella Promise (Adult Rucas AU)

Chapter 4 - Home, for now

They rode to the airstrip in the back of a limo, the two of them had to sneak out of the hotel through a side entrance to avoid the press, they had camped out in front of the hotel and wouldn't leave. Riley had never thought that she was going to be riding a limo to a private airplane in all of her life. It was surreal, and then the nerves began to kick in. She didn't like airplanes and now she was going to get into a small private one. Although he family traveled around when she was younger, she never got over the sickening feeling that something would go horribly wrong while the plane was in the air. She knew that planes were safe to travel in but it was still a fear that she hadn't been able to let go of.

As the car pulled up to the small airport Riley was trying to psych herself out of her fear as she normally did whenever she was forced into a plane.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked when he looked over at her. "You're as white as a sheet."

She took a deep breath before answering him, "Sorry I'm not very fond of airplanes."

"I can distract you if you want," he said smiling before taking her hand. The warmth of his palm had already distracted her, when she looked up at his face she felt herself getting lost in his eyes.

"Don't worry," she said quietly. "I have to get over it eventually, I just need to take deep breaths."

She didn't want to worry him because she didn't want to be a burden on him, since he was already helping her get out of the life she had at home. He nodded and let go of her hand, and for a brief moment she felt sorry for the loss of his hand. The two walked up to the airplane quietly as their bags were stored inside. When she walked inside she was surprised at how big the small plane was, instead of standard seats, the plane had plush champagne gold couches with seatbelts. The floor was an off white carpet that looked so comfortable she wanted to take off her shoes just to feel the fibers underneath her feet. There was a bar in the back as well as two doors, she automatically knew one was the bathroom but didn't know where the other lead to. An attendant came out from the front of the plane and handed her a glass of white wine and smiled at her before handing Lucas a bottle of sparkling water.

"Is it okay to drink? It's so early," she said looking down at the wine remembering how she got in this situation in the first place.

"It's for your nerves, I thought it would help relax you. It's not very alcoholic," he said smiling at her. "Sit next to me that way if you get nervous I'll be there for you."

Riley nodded trying to smile but the nerves had shifted from the fear of flying to how her mind and body reacted to this man. She barely knew him but for some reason she was attracted to him, she knew that she couldn't act on it because he just wanted a business relationship between the two of them so she tried to bottle up the feeling. She sat down in the seat next to him and near gulped down her wine as a way to distract herself from him. She made sure to put on her seatbelt and stare at the empty cup but since she didn't want to get drunk, even though he said it wasn't a very alcoholic drink, she didn't want to let her guard down near him.

She felt herself relax next to Lucas as he started to look at papers from his suitcase, she hadn't even seen a suitcase when they were at the hotel but it was there next to him. The plane started moving and she could feel herself stiffen up, she didn't like it at all it was like giving too much control of your life to someone flying a small metal contraption. She gripped the hand rest as the plane slowly started to rise and felt every bit of food she had eaten in her entire life rise in her throat.

"Riley let go of the hand rest," Lucas said trying to pry her fingers from the seat. She shook her head at him because she was afraid that the moment she let go she would start falling apart. But he continued to pull her hands up and when he finally succeeded he looked her in the eyes and she was drowning in his green eyes.