Chapter 20
Jayden froze completely, his heart suddenly hammering like he was some nervous teenager again instead of a grown–ass surgeon.
“Are you-” he started, his voice
coming out rough and uncertain.
But before he could finish the thought, Arianna was already pushing him toward the bathroom with
both hands.
“Go shower first,” she said, not quite meeting his eyes. “And brush your teeth. Seriously. I can still smell the cigarettes.”
“Also,” she added, her cheeks turning pink, “you really need to quit smoking. I’m literally a heart patient. Secondhand smoke could kill me.”
As she shut the bathroom door between them, Jayden caught a glimpse of her face–red as a tomato from her nose to her ears.
So underneath all that newfound boldness, she was still the same shy girl who used to blush whenever he so much as looked at her. The realization made his chest feel impossibly warm.
When he emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later–clean, minty fresh, and trying not to have a panic attack about what was happening–he found Arianna fighting a losing battle with sleep.
She was sitting up against the headboard, her eyes drooping shut every few seconds before she’d jerk herself awake with determination that was both adorable and completely unnecessary.
“Hey,” he said softly, sliding into bed beside her. “Stop fighting it. Just sleep.”
The second he pulled her into his arms, she melted against him like she’d been waiting for permission. Within seconds, she was completely out.
Jayden lay there in the dark, holding her sleeping form and feeling like his heart might actually explode from how perfect this moment was. Having her here, safe and warm and trusting him enough to be this vulnerable–it was everything he’d never let himself dream about.
He pressed the softest kiss to her hair and let himself drift off, more at peace than he’d felt in a decade.
But when he woke up the next morning, the bed beside him was cold and empty.
Terror shot through him like ice water. His eyes flew open and he bolted upright, his heart immediately going into overdrive.
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Chapter 20
“Arianna?” he called out, his voice cracking with panic.
No Orange curled up on her pillow. No sound from the bathroom. Nothing.
He threw himself out of bed and ran from the room barefoot, nearly tripping over his own feet in his
haste.
The relief that crashed over him when he spotted her in the kitchen almost brought him to his knees.
She was humming quietly to herself while she moved around making breakfast, Orange weaving between her legs and clearly hoping for scraps to fall.
Jayden approached her from behind, his hands still shaking slightly from the adrenaline crash. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck.
“Jesus Christ,” he breathed against her skin. “I thought–when I woke up and you weren’t there-”
“Hey, I’m right here,” she said softly, leaning back against him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I told you I’d handle the cooking,” he said, his voice still rough with residual panic. “What’s the point of
having a boyfriend if he doesn’t take care of you?”
Arianna laughed, reaching up to untie her apron and loop it around his neck instead.
“Fine, you win,” she said, giving him a gentle push toward the stove. “Show me what you’ve got, chef.”
There was something deeply satisfying about taking over for her, about being useful in this simple, domestic way.
Over coffee and scrambled eggs, Jayden pulled out the travel guide he’d been obsessing over for the past few days.
“So,” he said, sliding the book across the table with nervous energy. “I was thinking… we’ve never taken a
real trip together. Would you want to get away for a weekend? Just us?”
Arianna’s entire face lit up like Christmas morning. “Are you kidding? Yes! God, yes!”
He’d known she’d react like that. Even back in high school, she’d been the one with wanderlust, always collecting travel magazines and making lists of places she wanted to visit.
He remembered the scrapbook she’d made sophomore year–pages and pages of photos and notes about destinations she dreamed of seeing.
He also remembered destroying it in a fit of rage senior year, ripping out every single page and throwing the whole thing in the trash like the asshole teenager he’d been.
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Chapter 20
The memory made his stomach clench with guilt, but he pushed it down. He couldn’t undo the past, but he could give her new dreams.
“Pick anywhere,” he said. “Money’s no object.”
Arianna flipped through the pages with the excitement of a kid in a candy store, her finger finally stopping on a spread showing pottery wheels and rustic studios.
North Carolina. Look at all these “Seagrove,” she said, pointing at the photos. “It’s this pottery town amazing studios! They’ve been making pottery there for like two hundred years.”
Jayden glanced at the pictures–red clay vessels, traditional wood–fired kilns, artisans covered in dust. It looked peaceful. Exactly what they both needed.
“Perfect,” he said without hesitation. “I’ll book everything.”
Within two hours, he’d arranged flights, found a charming bed and breakfast, and even booked Orange into a pet hotel that looked fancier than most human accommodations.
That afternoon, they stood in the security line at Burlington International, each dragging a carry–on and looking like the happy couple they were pretending to be.
Jayden went through the TSA checkpoint first, collecting his shoes and belt on the other side while he
waited for Arianna.
But when she approached the metal detector, something bizarre happened.
The TSA agent barely glanced at her–didn’t check her boarding pass, didn’t ask for ID, didn’t tell her to remove her shoes. Just waved her through like she was invisible.
“Wow, that was easy,” Arianna said with a grin as she joined him. “Guess I have one of those trustworthy
faces.”
Jayden forced a smile and took her hand, but ice was forming in his stomach. That wasn’t normal. That wasn’t how airport security worked.
After a smooth two–hour flight, they landed in the humid embrace of North Carolina–a world away from
Vermont’s crisp spring air.
Mig at May from
Their bed and breakfast had sent a driver to meet them, and soon they were standing at the front desk of
a gorgeous Victorian house draped in Spanish moss.
As Jayden filled out the registration–paperwork, trying not to overthink the weird airport incident, Arianna suddenly spoke up with exaggerated innocence.
“Wait just a minute, Mr. Hiddleston,” she said, loud enough for the desk clerk to hear. “We’re not married.
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Chapter 20
Sharing a room seems a bit… improper, don’t you think?”
Jayden looked up from the forms, his anxiety melting away at her obvious teasing. He reached for her hand and pulled her closer, grinning.
“What’s this ‘Mr. Hiddleston‘ crap? I’m your boyfriend, remember?”
