At a vast aircraft hangar, Maddock strolled over to a waiting helicopter, greeting a person who I guessed to be a mechanic.
What the ever-loving fuck was I doing?
I took out my phone and sent a quick message to my sister.
Rory: If you never see me again, I leave you my legacy of 500 sketchbooks and a vault of digital art.
Elise: Should I be worried?
Rory: I’m going up in a helicopter with Maddock.
Elise: [shockedface] But why? You hate heights.
Rory: I probably should have told you this, but last week I accidentally kissed him, thinking he was Max. Now I want to kiss him on purpose.
In my rattled state, I gave up a confession that I hadn’t meant to share. But I’d been embarrassed. Not an hour into my vacation and I’d already acted like the hot mess.
Dots danced on the screen; my sister writing a reply, but I tapped out another faster than her no doubt outraged response.
Rory: If fooling around with Cameron’s relative is going to cause you any problems then let me know. Give me a reason not to get on this helicopter.
The dots vanished … and then returned.
Elise: I’m going to need you to do allll the kissing. Then marry Maddock, move here, and live near me forever.
Rory: That’s a big jump on from fooling around.
Elise: A girl can dream. Have fun!
Maddock finished his conversation and turned around, stealing my attention. He stepped up to me, and I had to raise my gaze to his much taller height.
“Ready for the ride of your life?” he teased.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I quipped back, then I pushed my nerves down and allowed Maddock to help me inside the helicopter.
A minute later, and I was regretting my bravado.
With practised ease, Maddock started the blades whirring over our heads. He’d set me up with headphones and explained what he was going to do. I curled in my seat, panic flashing through me.
I could do this. I wanted every new experience life could throw at me. My mother had been cut down by an unpredictable disease when she was thirty years old. Who knew what was around the corner?
“Are ye ready?” Maddock asked.
No, I wasn’t. Not at all.
Yet I still raised a cheery thumbs-up.
The helicopter lifted from the ground. My stomach cramped with pure fear, and I slammed my eyes closed.
The sensation of rising strengthened, then the engine sound changed and the movement altered. Still, I couldn’t peek.
“It’s bonny, the view from here, aye?” Maddock said through the headphones.
“Wouldn’t know,” I mumbled.
A chuckle followed then his touch landed on my arm. A short, electric touch to gain my focus.
“I’ve been flying for years. You’re safe.”
“It’s heights that worry me, not you. We have to be so far off the ground. If I see it, I’ll throw up.”
“And ruin my shirt like the puppy did? Nah, ye won’t. But if ye can’t check out the view, watch me instead.”
I cracked an eye. “Huh?”
He waggled his head at me, his grin broad. “I’m naw so bad. If ye ask, I’ll strip again to distract ye.”
I couldn’t help it. His ridiculousness eased a small amount of my fright. And he wasn’t wrong about being nice to look at.
At the controls of the craft, with dark headphones and a cocky expression, a pastel late-afternoon sky fading out behind him, Maddock was seriously gorgeous.
I already liked his appearance. I’d gotten used to that when I met his twin—they were both too pretty for their own good. But our past couple of meetings had filled in the dots with Maddock’s personality.
He was funny, competent, and in control.
The sight of him as a pilot paled to the knowledge of him as a person.
So I stared, letting myself focus on him alone.
He traded glances ahead and at his glowing instruments with lingering looks at me. “How’s that?”
I rolled my shoulders in pretend nonchalance. “Could be worse.”
He watched me for a long moment then tore his gaze away. “Tell me how ye met my brother. It was during the summer, I think?”
“Yep. At a festival. Elise was there to perform, but she was totally gaga for Cameron, so we all hung out together. Max and I ended up paired off because they kept disappearing for alone time.”
He chewed on that, not answering immediately.
I continued. “On the second evening, we all went on a Ferris wheel, but it broke down. Did Max tell you about that?”
Maddock gave a short headshake. “We’ve naw talked much recently.”
“The big wheel cranked to a halt, right as we reached the very top. Already, I was in a panic from being on the thing, but that had me in pieces. I thought I was going to die. Like it was poised to topple over just because the machinery had broken down. Max was a hero. He helped me climb out of the seat and down through the mechanism. First time I’d ever done anything like that.”
Now, Maddock sighed. “I can see why the two of ye became tight.”
“I don’t know about that. We got on okay as friends. Anything more would have been a mistake.”
His brow furrowed, and the weight of his attention fell on me once more. “I thought ye were dating?”
“What? No.”
Maddock’s jaw dropped. He went to speak, but the same second, the helicopter veered to the left, dipping with a jolt.
Unable to help myself, I let out a small shriek and curled deeper into my seat.
“Dinna fash,” Maddock said on a laugh.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Don’t worry,” he translated. “I told ye to trust me. A change in pressure or gust of wind can’t harm us. There’s nothing up here to crash into.”
The helicopter regained a smooth path.
But the shock of it had cowed me. I hunkered down for the rest of the short flight, relieved beyond words when Maddock announced we’d reached our destination.
Faint light streaked the horizon, and I took Maddock’s hand to hop down to the grassy hilltop, squinting to see in the gloom.
“Where are we?”
“Borders. Lucas, a friend of mine, lives down the hill.” He turned me by the shoulders and pointed. “Over there is England.”
“No shit! Can I step into it? That will be a trip. This is my first time outside of the States, and I’d love to say I went to England, too, even if just for a minute.”
He peered between me and the view, considering my request. “Ye want to? Let’s see if we can once we have the part.”
He gestured for me to walk, and we set off down an open footpath for his friend’s place.
A farmhouse was our destination. In the yard, the gate lay open, hanging off one hinge, and a half-loaded van waited, doors open. The lack of lights and general air of abandonment had me creeping closer to Maddock.
He hammered on the door of the darkened building. It flew open, and a man glared out, no light behind him.
“What?” he snapped.
“Is Lucas here? I arranged to meet him,” Maddock said.
The man peered at us then turned and strode away.
I took a half step forward. “Are we meant to follow?”
Maddock reached out and pulled me to him, releasing my fingers as fast as he’d taken them. “We’ll wait here.”
His tone gave me pause.
But then another face appeared at the door, a younger man. Lucas, I guessed.
“Just in time. Catch.” He tossed a box.
Maddock caught it and opened the flap. “Sure this is the right one?”
“Do I look stupid?”
Maddock didn’t answer but rotated the motorbike part in his hands then turned to me. “Can ye hold this for me?”
I took it, and he grabbed his phone.
“How much?” he asked Lucas.
“Four hundred. Better if ye pay cash.”
“I don’t have that much on me.”
Lucas glowered and scratched his buzz-cut hair. “Fine. Give me whatever ye have and do the rest on your phone.”
Something about the whole transaction felt off. The dark home, the shifty men, but Maddock paid the bill in two parts, and we left the place.
Climbing the hill again, I chewed my lip. “How well do you know Lucas?”
“We were in the same accommodation for our first year at uni, then we occasionally hung out after. He’s a good guy. Why?”
I raised a shoulder, glad I’d borrowed my sister’s warm jacket. The wind had picked up in the grey November evening, and the temperature dropped. “I’m not sure. That place just struck me as strange. Shouldn’t a farm have animals, or machinery? Both men seemed…”
“Shifty? Lucas was always like that. I’m pretty sure they repair cars, not run the place for agriculture. I’m just glad to have the piece I need to fix Max’s bike, and at half the price it’s going for online.”
I shook off the feeling, and we returned to the helicopter.
Standing in front of it, Maddock gestured to the opposite hill, almost invisible now in the dusk. “Here’s the plan. I’ll take off from here, and we’ll touch down on that opposite hillside, then ye can jump out and set your feet on English soil. But then we’ll have to get back in and go home. It looks like there’s a weather system coming in, and I don’t want ye to get freaked out if we end up in a storm.”
I shuddered, earning a laugh from him.
But I liked the sound of the plan. I really liked the fact he’d do that for me.
Maddock helped me back inside the helicopter, and this time, as we prepped for takeoff, I tried to notice more of what he was doing. Overhead, the rotor blades spun, picking up speed. Maddock flipped switches and checked an iPad screen, saying something into his radio. There were pedals at his feet, and a kind of joystick for his hand.
Even amidst his practised routine, he caught me staring and sent me a wink.
Then we were lifting into the air again, the transition smooth.
Sickness wound through my belly, but it was a mixed feeling now. Part anxiety and part excitement.
A short hop over the border, and we touched down in another country. Maddock settled the helicopter, then spoke to me through the headphones.
“Step out, but keep your head down.”
I unclipped myself and opened my door, the blades chopping up the air above me. Bright lights from the helicopter lit our surroundings, and I landed on the grass and did a happy dance.
“Great to meet you, England,” I chirped.
I searched the ground for a pebble, pocketed it, and climbed back into my seat. Then we were once more in the air and flying away.
“How was it?” Maddock said with a laugh.
“In thirty seconds, you doubled the number of countries I’ve visited outside of the States. You’ve blown my mind.”
He ran his teeth over his lip, his grin infectious. “If you’re impressed with thirty seconds, ye should see what I can do with no time restraint.”
God. He’d meant it as a joke, but my whole body zinged with heavy need. Now, watching him was giving me all kinds of other ideas.
For the rest of the trip home, the distraction of looking at him was pleasantly tinged with imagining him in bed. All that confidence and control focused on me. Yes, please.
This time, when we landed, it wasn’t at the hangar. I recognised the moor above Elise and Cameron’s crofthouse.
“This is my equivalent of dropping ye off at the doorstep.”
“You’re very sweet. It’s not like this was a date or anything.” I unbuckled myself but kept my headphones on. “Thank you for taking me with you.”
“Thank ye for coming. I’ll be leaving in the morning. I’ll try to bring Max home with me, but I’m naw sure he’ll come. Either way, I’ll set him straight and you’ll get your friend back. If I don’t see ye again—” He paused, his words hanging.
There was more to be said. Or at least it felt that way, but I barely knew Maddock. We likely wouldn’t get to spend time together again. Tonight had been amazing. A tantalising flash of fun, the type you could only have on vacation with no restraints.
“That will be a huge pity,” I said and leaned across the helicopter’s cab and planted a kiss on Maddock’s cheek.
Before he could react, I slipped off my headphones, climbed out, and walked away.
Elise was already at the door of the crofthouse, warm light spilling around her. She widened her eyes. “Oh my God, he brought you home in it?”
I linked arms with her and relayed my evening’s excitement. But as I spoke, my mind stayed with Maddock.
The fact he was leaving.
Of the route he’d take that Isobel at the garage had described.
In the kitchen, Elise poured two large glasses of wine. She pulled a guilty-looking smile and handed me one of the glasses.
“I need to talk to you about something. This is really bad, but I need to go down to London tomorrow. It’s for a meeting about a movie I really want to do, and the director is only in the country for a day. Cameron is coming with me, and you can, too. But it means exploring on your own, and then having dinner with us and the production people in the evening. I’m so sorry, but we should be able to find ways to make it fun.”
She took a long swig of her wine, and I followed suit, my mind whirring.
Elise continued. “Or you can stay here, but I don’t want you to be lonely. I know you wanted to go to England, so there’s that.”
“It’s just two days?” I asked. Then before I could put too much consideration to it, I hurried on with the thought taking shape in my head. “What if I had another trip in mind? Would it bother you if I did something else instead?”
Elise furrowed her brow. “Of course not, but what? And with whom?”
Good question. “Somewhere I haven’t been invited, but I really want to go.”
If I’d believed the nerves from the helicopter flight were the strongest emotion I’d feel today, I was wrong. I took another deep drink of the cool, crisp wine.
Now I needed to frame my request to Maddock, and somehow persuade him to take me along for another ride.
