"A glass of champagne?"

Thorne took two flutes from the ever-smiling flight attendant, handed one to Cress, and took a sip of the other. He couldn't help but smile when he saw Cress's wide-eyed gaze as she took in the luxury of business class. "Here, darling." He rather enjoyed their play-pretend of being engaged. This whole charade hadn't worked quite according to plan, but it had worked nonetheless. Still, credit where credit was due ... "To the couple from hell. Thanks for getting us into business class."

"To the couple from hell," Cress agreed, clinking his glass against his. There was a nervous smile on her lips though as she took a sip.

"Relax." He leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially into her ear, "Everything's fine. You're allowed to be here."

Standing so close to Cress, he caught the faintest hint of her scent – something flowery with the faintest hint of lemon. It took him right back to the night at the beach in L.A. Close to the sea, the lights of the city flickering around them, the spot secluded enough to make the whole world disappear. He should have kissed her there and not in the bright light of the terminal, in front of the security staff.

He had worried slightly that their first kiss hadn't been good enough. Thorne did like to think that he was a great kisser and knew how to seize those amazing moments where a kiss was just ... right.

But he hadn't been sure about the kiss he had shared with Cress. It had been spontaneous but maybe not in the right way. Not in the way that he usually practiced those 'spontaneous' kisses (that were usually a well-planned string of moments on Thorne's part).

That night though ... just when he thought he had missed his chance, Cress had been ... irresistible.

But now she was here, with him, and it didn't seem like he had screwed up his chances after all.

"I know." She took a deep breath. "It's hard to relax though. I'm really excited."

"Good. I'm all about having a great time and don't mind sharing," he told her with a wink to give his words a more playful touch. "Just remember, we're engaged and on our way to meet my parents in case anyone asks." He doubted anyone would even know that this was the story he had told Mrs. Tashmi, but he guessed it would ease Cress's mind to fall back to that narrative.

He just finished his glass when a hand settled on his shoulder. "Hey, Thorne, good to see you."

Thorne swiveled around, a grin on his face. "Kai, my man!" He shook the other guy's hand before turning Cress to make introductions. "Cress, this is Kai. My favorite flight buddy—aside from you, of course," he added, though 'buddy' wasn't the way he would use to describe Cress. Not least because this was their first time actually flying together. "Kai, this is Cress."

"His fiancée," Cress added happily, if slightly mumbled. She did that funny thing again where she waved her left hand with her ring as if to prove her point.

Thorne had to give it to Kai, he caught himself pretty quickly.

After gaping at Cress in slack-jawed confusion for about five seconds, that is.

For that alone, Thorne could have kissed Cress right there. If he knew that this could be so much fun, he would have gotten fake engaged years ago. Add that to probably tons of other advantages that might bring.

Giving a small cough, Kai reached out to shake Cress's hand. "Very happy to meet you, Cress. And congratulations on the ... engagement." He turned to Thorne, an eyebrow raised in a question he didn't dare ask. "To the both of you. We should catch up. Seems a lot has been going on in your life."

Hardly suppressing a snicker, Thorne agreed. "Definitely."

The flight attendant led them to their seats with Thorne offering Cress the window seat. He could feel Kai's gaze on them as he took his own seat one row behind them across the aisle. Thorne probably had to set the record straight at some point.

Thorne ordered a whiskey. Cress after some recommendations settled on a margarita. He could still feel her trepidation at asking for any of the amenities business class had to offer and ordered several things for the both of them. She should enjoy her flight as much as possible.

A/N: My thanks to kanouchi for all the time she spends on correcting my stories! ^.^