***
Outside the plane window, the world passed by as the jet taxied down the runway. Sara gripped the armrests and squeezed her eyes shut. In no time they'd be in the air. Planes took off amazingly quickly, though it felt like forever to her. She felt a slight push into the seat as the plane picked up speed.
"I talked to Jake, did I tell you?"
Her eyes flew open at Christopher's question, all thoughts of the takeoff gone. "Um, no." She knew the two would talk eventually, she just hadn't expected it to happen this week.
"He told me you don't have enough fun."
She felt the plane tilt as the wheels left the ground and kept her gaze averted from the window, staring straight at Christopher. "I'm not sure I like you two talking about me."
He shrugged one shoulder his face expressionless. "Nothing for you to worry about. I told him how we slept together after his wedding and that I'm whisking you away to my private bachelor pad."
Sara's mouth dropped down toward her knees. They agreed not to tell anyone about that night. Her brain searched for the right words to express her outrage. "How could you...” Was he smiling at her? The dimple she noticed before in his cheek now teased her. "You're joking?"
"The takeoff is over."
He remembered how much she hated flying, especially the takeoffs and landings. Her heart swelled. Even her own family forgot how much she hated it. "Thank you." Her face burned with embarrassment. “I think.” She didn't like people to see her weakness.
"I did talk to him though. He suggested I make sure you have fun while you're out here."
The way he looked at her when he said fun sent a shiver down her spine and she knew the type of fun Christopher had in mind was not what her brother meant.
"He also apologized for bailing on us after the wedding.” Christopher's voice took on a more serious tone. "I don't know about you, but I'm not sorry he did."
They hadn't spoken much about that night since it happened, and Sara rather liked it that way. She didn't think she could put her feelings about that night into a single sentence. "No, of course not." The answer flew from her mouth. "But he doesn't need to know about it." Or about them now. It felt wrong to keep it a secret from Jake, but at the same time she didn't want to mess up their relationship for something that may end in a few weeks.
"He thinks you're flying back to Washington after we finish the commercial." Once again he seemed able to read her mind.
“You scared me for a minute. I don't want him to ever know what happened in Hawaii,” Sara said. At some point in the future Jake may need to know about their relationship but he would never need to know she'd slept with Christopher after his wedding. That ranked too high on the embarrassment scale for her comfort.
“He won't find out from me.” Christopher leaned forward. “I'd rather he not find out about that either.”
Relief spread through her. She should have realized that. Her only excuse for getting so upset by his earlier statement was overworked emotions. Flying always took a toll on her emotionally. “Next time you try to distract me during a takeoff can you do it without giving me a heart attack, please?”
Christopher graced her with a grin. “It worked though didn't it?”
She tried not to let her smile show, but it slipped out anyway. “Let’s talk about something else. What should we do this weekend?”
For the remainder of the flight they discussed possible options for Sara's time in California, and not once did she think of her brother or how he might react when he learned about her new relationship.