to speak to me again.
A few days ago, I couldn’t have cared less about what the public thought of me.
Now, I cared. I cared a lot. All because of the woman sitting beside me who had been treating me like a total stranger from the minute she’d woken up a quarter of an hour ago.
I hope you have a pleasant visit to the US…?
What was that statement all about?
I was fairly certain it was a brush-off, but I couldn’t say for sure since nobody had ever brushed me off before.
Maybe Nicole was embarrassed about our discussions and that damn kiss, now that she was sober.
“I’m hoping it will be,” I answered vaguely, stalling for time to think as I made myself a cup of tea.
What exactly were my choices here?
I could either spill my guts, or just walk away from Nicole like I’d never experienced this mind-blowing attraction I had to her.
I’d forget about her, right?
Oh, hell no. Who in the hell was I trying to convince? This wasn’t going to be an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation. I’d remember her, the way I’d felt when her gorgeous body had been plastered to mine, the frank discussions we’d had, and that kiss. That damn kiss!
“How long are you staying?” she asked in a polite voice that I instantly decided I hated.
Jesus! What had happened to that sexy, breathless voice that had gotten my cock so hard that I’d been desperate to fuck her?
Really? Like I’m still not trying to control my dick, sexy voice or not?
“I have no idea,” I told her honestly. “However long it takes to get my business done here.”
Dammit! Having this superficial discussion grinded on me after we’d been so damn close the night before, but what fucking choice did I have?
Obviously, she wanted to put distance between us, maybe because she was embarrassed, but there was also the distinct possibility that she’d woken up, looked at me, and decided I just wasn’t her type.
Her comments had been short and disinterested since she opened her eyes earlier.
Was it possible that she’d only confided in me, kissed me like I was the only man in the world for her, because she’d had one too many cocktails?
Let it go, Damian. It was one kiss. Okay, it was one extraordinary kiss, but it’s not like you formed some kind of relationship with this woman in a matter of hours.
Besides, I couldn’t find a way out of my current situation, and I’d rather see a polite look on her gorgeous face than one that said that she completely hated my guts.
In any event, now was not the time to become infatuated with a woman. I had Dylan and my corporation to worry about, and those two things consumed every waking moment of my day.
Not that I’d ever experienced an infatuation with any female, but if it was going to happen at some point in my life, I’d like it to happen later, when all of this mess with Dylan was resolved.
I was the sole partner in Lancaster who didn’t have his mind all screwed up right now, so it was important for me to stay rational.
I was silent until the flight attendant came around to pick up all of the plates, utensils, and trash in preparation for landing.
Ignoring the fact that saying goodbye to Nicole didn’t feel right, I buckled my seat belt and brought my seat into landing position.
But as the jet descended, I couldn’t seem to keep my mouth shut. “Can I offer you a ride home?”
Now why in the hell did I just say that?
Hadn’t I already convinced myself to let this whole encounter go?
Yeah, I had, but instinct had overridden my rationale for just a moment.
“No, thank you,” she said in a courteous, aloof voice that irritated the hell out of me. “My friend is picking me up. I don’t live in Los Angeles.”
“You don’t?” I asked with more curiosity in my tone than I would have liked. “Where do you live? Isn’t your office in Los Angeles?”
“Newport Beach,” she replied. “But since there’s a nonstop through Transatlantic, it’s easier to do the drive to LA from Newport than deal with layovers to get out of a smaller airport.”
I wasn’t familiar with much of California outside of Los Angeles. “Where exactly is Newport Beach?”
“Orange County. A fifty-minute drive from LAX in good traffic. Of course, decent traffic on the 405 Freeway doesn’t happen all that often.”
I turned my head to look at her. She sounded a little more