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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I CAN'T SLEEP. I've been so excited to see Edmund that I lie awake in bed, thinking about him. I watch the clock on my phone as the clock strikes midnight—it's finally Friday. I roll out of bed and get ready to catch my flight. Before I go, I text Jordan with a bit of a white lie. Since I'll be away on the days that we usually get together, I tell him that I'll be off touring several universities on the east coast to see if they might be able to tempt me into actually attending. Already knowing that Jordan doesn't tend to ask too many questions, I'm satisfied that he'll accept that without much fuss. If he ends up poking around a bit, I decide to leave a note for Mother.

It's just a hair past one in the morning by the time I find myself going through all of the familiar hassles and tedious minutiae of getting through all of the checks at SFO. Since my arrival at Heathrow will be in the night, I figure I shouldn't sleep too much on the flight, that way, I'll be plenty tired enough to sleep at a more appropriate hour in regards to the local time—Edmund's time. That should also help with any jet lag that I'm sure to experience when I get there. Since I'll only be there for the weekend, getting a full night's rest as soon as I'm there, should allow me to have the best time that I can possibly have with Edmund.

~ ~ ~

It's about nine at night by the time my plane lands, although, technically, for me, it's the afternoon. It's a little jarring to see how dark it is outside and doubly so, because I've been awake for nearly two whole days now. Even though I'm excited, by the time that I see Edmund I'm so fatigued that I border on a state of delirium. I'm not altogether sure if I'm actually here, because I feel as if I'm in a dream—I can't discount the notion that I may actually be at home, asleep in my bed right now. Like a mindless zombie, I meet up with Edmund with my luggage in tow, awkwardly offering up a discreet handshake as soon as we're near. His smile widens as he surprises me, bypassing my hand as he pulls me into a hug.

"If it were at all possible, I'd have you now," he whispers, his lips nuzzling my ear. I smile, picturing the thought as he draws back, trying to hide the naughtiness from his smirk as he reaches for my carry-on bag. Walking ahead of me, leading the way, he adds, "that will all have to wait until you've had your rest."

"Perhaps, I'll sleep easier if we did," I say, subduing my smirk as he turns back to see me while we continue to walk with hardly a pause. He smiles at one corner of his lips, raising his brow as I suggestively add, "I'll manage."

~ ~ ~

As soon as I'm inside, he shuts the front door with obvious haste. My hands find his waist as he cups the back of my head, drawing me in for a passionate kiss. As eager tongues desperately reunite, my fingers find his button. He draws back a bit and pays me a quick smile.

"I'm sorry, we can't be long," he says, kissing my neck while his hands lift my shirt off and over my head. "I have an appointment in the morning."

"An appointment?" I ask, hardly masking the disappointment from my voice as I pull away to look at him.

"Sorry, I tried, but couldn't have it rescheduled." His hand reaches to take off his shirt, but stops as he seems to catch my expression, the disappointment clearly beginning to set into my features. "You're upset."

"No, I'm just..." My voice trails off as I stop myself from saying aloud how I feel, realizing how selfish it would be of me to imply that he should put his livelihood on hold just because I'm here. He's famous. Of course, he has obligations and engagements to keep. "I don't want to intrude on any of your obligations, I'm sure that you're quite busy and I appreciate—"

"It's not that. I was sure to clear my schedule for the weekend, so that we could have as much time together as possible to visit all of those bridges that I promised to take you to. It's just a health appointment—I couldn't get out of it," he says, pausing as he seems to notice my disappointment immediately turn to worry. "I went to have my headaches checked out. They're just headaches—nothing to worry about."