*Isabella's POV*
we finally landed in Arizona after several hours, stepping out into a blast of dry, unfamiliar heat at a small, private airport. I got out slowly, stretching my legs after being in the plane for so long, taking a deep breath to clear my head.
"Well, we're taking a helicopter from here," Damien said, his voice calm, as if he'd just said we were taking a taxi.
"A helicopter?" I asked, my brow furrowed. "Why a helicopter?"
"My plane's not allowed to fly above the canyon," he said, a small, proud smile touching his lips.
"Wait, what?" I asked, my heart starting to beat a little faster. "We're... we're gonna fly above it?" A wave of pure, unadulterated excitement washed over me.
"We will," he confirmed.
"You know, this is among my..." I was saying, my mind racing back to that list, when he finished my sentence for me.
My mouth fell open. "How would you even know that, really?" I asked, completely baffled.
"I promise I wasn't a creep or anything," he said, a genuine look on his face. "I just happened to be in the breakroom while you were talking to Mr Estrada about it."
And then it hit me. Fucking hell. He was in the room with us. He heard that conversation and he remembered. After all this time. I thought he was just my cold, distant boss, but he was listening. He was listening to my conversations with Cole, and he memorised things, things about me
"And you remembered? And planned this as our first date?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He just nodded.
With that, I launched myself at him, jumping into his arms and hugging him tight, before pulling back just enough to kiss him. "Thank you," I said between soft, happy kisses.
When we finally pulled apart, he looked a little dazed. "This sweet kiss is more than I expected in return," he said, making me blush.
"I'd do anything for you," he added, his voice thick with emotion.
"Oh, but you're gonna get more in return tonight," I said with a wink, my sassy persona snapping back into place to cover my mushy feelings.
"Let's face it, I would've gotten lucky either way," he said with a chuckle, making me pout playfully.
"Smug," I countered, and we both laughed.
We hopped into the waiting helicopter, the sound of the blades whipping up into a deafening roar. My heart was doing a fucking drum against my ribs. As we lifted off the ground, the world tilted, and soon we were soaring over a landscape that looked like it belonged on another planet.
And then I saw it.
The Grand Canyon.
It wasn't just beautiful, it was a fucking masterpiece. A giant, raw tear in the earth, layered with colours that glowed in the morning sun. It was so vast, so ancient, it made my own problems, my own messy life, feel like fucking dust mounts in comparison. I pressed my face against the cool glass of the window, my eyes wide, trying to take it all in, to burn it into my memory. I could barely contain myself, a constant stream of "wows" and "oh my gods" escaping my lips.
Eventually, we landed near a cliff edge with a gentle bump, the whirring of the blades slowly dying down. I was out of my seat before the pilot had even given us the all-clear, scrambling out onto the dusty ground. I immediately ran towards the edge, my heart pounding with a mix of fear and pure awe.
It was even more incredible up close. The sheer drop, the endless expanse, the wind whipping at my hair... it was humbling. And so fucking beautiful.
Suddenly, I felt a pair of strong, warm hands wrap around my waist from behind. I didn't jump. I just leaned back into him. He rested his head on my shoulder, his chin a comfortable weight, and we stood there in silence, just watching the scenery. No words were needed. In that moment, there was no past, no rules, no Jacob, no drama. There was just us, and the magnificent, soul-crushing beauty of the Grand Canyon.
"This is amazing," I said, turning to face him, my heart still doing flips against my ribs. The sheer scale of it was humbling.
"How do you feel about the entire experience now that you've fulfilled your dream? Was it like you imagined?"
"No," I replied, and for a second, I saw it. A flicker of something, a slight, almost unnoticeable change in his expression that he tried to cover up. A flash of disappointment, so quick I might have imagined it. "It was better," I added, my voice thick with emotion. "It is better." Seeing him light up, that guarded, careful look on his face replaced by genuine warmth, was worth more than any view.
"Why the fascination in the Grand Canyon, though?" he asked, his voice gentle, probing.
I took a deep breath, turning away from his intense gaze to look back at the vast, colourful canyon.
"I've been fascinated with it since I saw a picture in a book when I was a child," I admitted. "I... I think I was born grown up." The words felt heavy, true. "I always had fucking responsibilities. Either I gave the responsibility to myself or they were given to me. Be a straight-A student, get into the best university. Leave the Midwest. Take care of your sick mother." I sighed, the weight of it all settling on my shoulders again, even out here. "I always felt like I was big. Truth is I was a little girl in a grown-up world." I confessed, feeling a little vulnerable, turning away to look at the canyon again. "The Grand Canyon makes me feel... just little. So incredibly small. For once... I can be little."
His arms wrapped around me from behind again, pulling me back against his chest, a solid, warm wall of strength. "Isabella... My sweet Isabella," he began, his voice a low, raw rumble that vibrated through my entire body. He started turning me, gently but firmly, so I had to face him. "You can take a break now," he said, his eyes burning with an intensity that stole my breath. "I'll take care of you. You don't have to worry about anything ever again." And with that, he pulled me into his arms, a hug so tight, so full of a promise I desperately wanted to believe, it felt like it could hold all my broken pieces together.