Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,57
something.
“He’s my guy. Since these negotiations are taking longer than I’d anticipated, and I hate living out of a hotel anyway, one of my assistants is driving him down.”
I smiled privately, imagining the bony dog riding in the back of a limousine with sunglasses. “Sounds like Sir Duke certainly lives a charmed life.”
“He deserves it,” Nick said, and I frowned at the dissonant note in his voice. “He’s had a hard life up until now.”
I listened as Nick extolled Sir Duke’s virtues. I watched a video he’d taken of the dog racing through the park and collecting thrown balls.
And I wondered if Nick even realized that he was talking about himself.
Nick
This was the flight from hell.
Zora’s head rested on my chest. Her hand had started out resting against my collarbone then slowly descended down my side until it clasped my hip. I held my breath, fighting against the tickle of her pineapple-scented curls under my nose, the softness of her hip against mine, the fullness of her breast against my chest.
Bravely, I kept my eyes ahead where a large monitor tracked the flight’s progress. Only two and half hours from New York to Knoxville. Only an hour and forty-five minutes to go.
I could not think of a more effective form of torture.
The flight attendant smiled at Zora’s snuggle-assault and tucked the blanket more securely around us. Zora tightened her hold on me, nuzzled more closely into my chest. One of her legs intruded between mine.
I swallowed back the sawdust in my mouth, ran through the stats for each of the Yankees. I needed to suppress the lurid thoughts that accompanied the press of Zora softness against the entire right side of my body.
After days of Zora staring at me with accusing eyes, of her watching me with all the caution of a spooked deer, here she was. In sleep she’d come to me the way she had so many times before. Her body still conformed to mine that same way, twelve years later.
Her body remembered my body. My body remembered hers.
But when she woke up, she’d retreat. The spell would be broken. All that separated us before would again divide us again.
I allowed myself to rest my chin against her forehead. Closed my eyes and listened as her breath whistled in and out. I meditated on the little kitten noises, the tiny stretch she made when I slid my numb hand from under her and rested it chastely against her back.
“Does she know?”
I glanced over to find Adesola standing in the aisle between us, learning against the seat, arms folded. I wondered how long she’d stood there. Ever since she’d migrated over to my seat, Zora had been my only reality.
“Know what?” My fingers splayed against Zora’s back as I internally assured myself she was real. She was actually in my arms after all these years.
“That you’re here for her.” Her head tilted, her eyes going soft as she regarded me. “We both know you’re not here for that app. I met at least five of your employees yesterday who are more than capable of doing this.” She sent me a tell the truth look. “You’re here for her.”
I gave my attention to the window and stretches of clouds hundreds of miles beneath us. Zora’s chest expanded against mine in regular intervals, her breathing still deep.
“She’s with someone.” The words angered me even as I spoke them. Fucking Jackson James, of all people.
Adesola made a scornful noise and I looked back to see her wave a hand as if I’d irritated her. “I never hear her talk about that guy. She doesn’t bring him to functions. He doesn’t check on her, doesn’t see about her, I don’t even know if he knows about the position she’s in now—”
What? “What do you mean?”
She hesitated, worrying her lip as she regarded me. “What do you want from her?”
The answer came far more quickly than I’d anticipated. “Everything.”
“I like you, I do. I like seeing the two of you together. Zora’s . . . different with you. Off-balance. I think that’s good for her and I think you remind her of the things she’s given up on or forgotten. She deserves to be happy more than anyone I know. God knows she does so much for everyone else.” She pinned me in place with a glare. “But if you so much as hurt a hair on her hair, I swear to God—”