Page 85 of Movers and Fakers

“Don’t say it’s too much, or else I’ll be forced to wear the shirt with your face on it to dinner tonight.”

Her mouth drops. “You’re bluffing.”

I grin and reach for my duffel that Mac left near our seats. Unzipping it, I reach in and pull out the pink shirt.

“Why did you bring that?” she laughs. “Just to blackmail me?”

“It’s my new favorite shirt. I almost wore it this morning.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten in the car with you, much less on a plane.”

Her nose scrunches when I reach out and tap it with my finger.

“Hence why I didn’t wear it. But now you know I have it and I’m not afraid to use it.”

She shakes her head.

“Fine, I won’t say it, I’ll just think it. A lot.”

I laugh. “That feels like a roundabout way of saying it, but I’ll let it pass this time. Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

We dig into breakfast, talking about what we’ll do first when we get in. I want to take her to a few tourist spots, as well as some of my favorite local ones, plus I’ve got a surprise for her. It becomes apparent that there won’t be enough time to do everything we want to do.

“We’ll come back,” I assure her, though my heart twinges at the words.

I hope we will. Aurora isn’t the type to back down easily, so I don’t think my parents will intimidate her out of being with me. But the chance of her deciding she doesn’t want all that comes with being with a Rosewood is still higher than I’m comfortable with. If this were a fight, I’d think twice before betting.

Once we’re done with breakfast and the attendant takes everything away, I slide my shoes off, trying to get more comfortable for the rest of our short trip. It’s only two and a half hours to New York, so we don’t have long before we’re there. Aurora slides off her tennis shoes and winces.

“Everything okay?” I ask her and she gives me a weak smile.

“Yeah, my feet are just aching a little. Comes with the life of a dancer. I’m used to it.”

I frown. We’ll have to do a lot of walking around the city today to explore it properly, and the surprise I have planned is something I want her to feel her best for. I pat my knee.

“Put your feet up here. Elevating them might help.”

“Are you sure?” she asks warily.

I nod and she adjusts in her seat, placing a pillow behind her back, then places her feet in my lap. Her socks are white with tiny pink hearts on them. Adorable, I think to myself, but manage to keep the word inside.

When I grab one of her feet, she jerks back.

“What are you doing?”

“I was going to rub your feet, unless you think that would hurt too much?” Suddenly I worry I overstepped and made things worse.

Aurora settles back down, her expression softening.

“Oh, that would be … nice.”

I smile and grab the remote from the holder on the side of my seat.

“How about a movie, too?”

She returns my smile and nods.

“Sounds good.”