British Black Sheep - Lauren Smith Page 0,1

then she saw him…

Mr. Gorgeous-as-a-God. He had to be six foot two with a trim, muscled physique all poured into an expensive tailored business suit. He had a rolling attaché briefcase made of what looked to be brown Italian leather. His dark golden hair was long enough for a woman to run her fingers through and grip tightly if she wanted. And she wanted. She wanted to commit his features for later mental replay. It was a long flight, after all.

He had a chiseled look that made her want to trace his face with her fingertips and memorize all the hard angles from his jaw to the straight nose and proud chin. He had a cell phone out and was casually texting with one hand while holding the handle of his briefcase with the other. Such an ordinary everyday thing to do shouldn’t have been attractive, but there was nothing more enticing than a man who looked like he meant serious business. Maybe it was because men like that could be so damn hot when they unleashed all that focus and intensity on a woman. Brie couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. He was just so gorgeous.

Most people in the airport had that harried, frantic look or they appeared disgruntled and rumpled. But this man looked like he’d walked off one of those video billboards in the terminal that featured attractive men in Gucci or Armani suits.

“First class passengers group 1, please line up for boarding,” the flight attendant announced.

A small collection of thirty people got up along with Brie to jockey for position at the entrance of the gate. Brie winced as her backpack straps dug into her shoulders. She wished she could have put more items in her checked suitcase, but she needed to work during the flight. If she didn’t stay busy, she would freak out.

Mr. Gorgeous was at the front of the line and he held out his phone, swiped his boarding pass and went straight onto the plane. The rest of the passengers ahead of her weren’t as organized and most had to dig for their boarding passes. By the time Brie was at the attendant station, she had her pass out.

As she headed down the gangplank, her stomach knotted with nerves. Flying always made her anxious. She just repeated Bridget’s words in her head over and over.

You won’t die. Everything will be fine.

As she boarded the plane, she glanced around the first-class seats and scanned for 4D. It was a window seat.

A window seat next to Mr. Gorgeous.

No…No…No. She did not want to sit down next to this guy. Sure, he was insanely hot, but he was the very opposite of her type. Okay, that was a lie, he was totally her type, but she was refusing to have a type right now. She’d married too young and divorced too soon, and Brie was not about to make the mistake of falling in lust with someone like her ex ever again. And this guy was just like Preston, all suave and sexy with that corporate alpha male sex appeal. Love and lust were two different things, and she’d confused the two badly.

It’s just seven hours. He probably won’t even talk to you. He’ll be glued to his phone or laptop, and you will be too.

She halted next to his seat as she shoved her purse into the overhead bin and then looked expectantly at him. He didn’t look up. Just like she thought. Arrogant asshole.

“Hi, I’m so sorry, but I have the window seat. We can switch if you want…”

He lifted his dark gold brows and his light hazel eyes flicked up to hers. With an exaggerated sigh, he rose from his seat and stepped into the aisle, allowing her to squeeze by him to the window seat. She shoved her backpack under the seat in front of her and settled into the cushy first-class seat.

Oh yeah, first class was definitely amazing. She was going to owe the countess one heck of a Christmas present for this plane ticket.

Her not-so-charming seatmate removed his jacket and folded it, stowing it in the overhead compartment. He was facing her, but his face wasn’t visible because of the overhead bin. He rolled up the sleeves of his pale blue dress shirt. Even though their seats weren’t squished together like they would be in coach, she could smell a soft blend of pine and spice with a natural masculine aroma. Damn, so Mr. Gorgeous smelled amazing. Well,