And So I Ran - Complete

Chapter 11

I was relieved beyond words when Jack and I were seated twelve or so rows away from one another.

From the moment he'd picked me up that morning, I'd felt uncomfortable. Which was ridiculous given Jack had been nothing other than professional! The whole way to Sea-Tac he'd kept up a friendly description of what to expect at the book fair. Even though a lot of my duties would be administrative and boring, he stressed that even getting to know the other assistants would be profitable, at this stage, as they were the ones who would become editors in the future.

The more I heard, the more I appreciated what a big deal attending the book fair was. I did appreciate Jack bringing me along, but it didn't diminish my misgivings. And more than anything, I was worried that I hadn't heard from Christian. I'd texted him at 10:00 pm last night explaining I'd be away for the weekend, and here we were, twelve hours later, and nothing. I hoped he wasn't going to be angry, but I feared he would be.

It certainly didn't help that I was disappointed I wouldn't see Christian tonight. Since his email more than a week ago requesting dinner, I'd been cautiously optimistic we might be able to find a way to make things work. I'd been horrified when he'd showed me what a real flogging felt like, but I was hoping that maybe we could take that off the menu? I was hoping that he cared enough to meet me half way.

When Jack and I arrived at the airport, Jack had tried every trick in his arsenal at check-in to get us seated together. However it hadn't been possible, and I'd happily accepted another seat. I'd ended up situated between two elderly ladies in coach at the rear of the plane. Still, I was grateful. I'd prefer six hours of innocuous, friendly chitchat than sitting beside Jack with his intrusive questions.

After a couple of hours, my travel companions settled in for a nap, and I decided to do likewise. I closed my eyes, my mind wandering to the last time I flew. I'd been blown away when I'd been upgraded to first class. It was just another example of the sweet things Christian did to look after me. My darling fifty. In the short weeks I'd known him, Christian had come to mean so much to me. Not only had he taken my virginity, I now knew he'd taken my heart.

I must have had a pleasant nap because I had a smile on my face when the flight attendant woke me a few hours later for a meal ahead of landing. My companions were also awake, so I settled into listening to more talk about grandchildren, craft, and social clubs.

I was one of the last to disembark at New York, but Jack was waiting for me in the arrivals lounge. I'd never been to LaGuardia or New York before, so I was grateful to have Jack there to guide me.

"I'll grab a trolley for the boxes," he volunteered. We'd both brought our clothes in carry-on baggage, but we'd checked the dozen boxes of materials for the book fair, so we'd need to collect them from special baggage claim. However, in less time than I thought, Jack and I were in a taxi and on our way to the Sheraton.

"New York is enormous," I gasped, my eyes as wide as saucers as we were in the back of the taxi headed for the hotel. I'd always wanted to go to New York, and I almost had to pinch myself to believe here I was.

Jack chuckled, shifting over toward me on the back seat of the taxi on the pretext of leaning over to point out some sights on my side of the vehicle. He was close enough that I could feel the heat of his body on my back, his breath on my neck making the hair there prickle uncomfortably. I wish he wouldn't sit so close, I thought, easing myself closer to the door.

"What's that over there?" I asked, spinning to point to something on his side of the taxi. I'd moved quickly, and rather than follow my gesture, Jack was regarding me with more interest than I liked. The expression on his face was unfathomable, but it gave me an uneasy feeling. Not for the first time I questioned the wisdom of coming on this trip. While it was indisputably an excellent opportunity, my subconscious kept warning me to keep my wits about me. Meanwhile, my inner goddess was sulking. Two days in New York meant two days more without Christian. As if seeing evidence of alarm on my face, Jack slowly turned to face the other window, moving back to his seat as he pointed out sights on his side of the vehicle. And then we were pulling up to the hotel.