his expression reminiscent of a deer in headlights. “Yes. Back to the airport now. Thank you,” his voice came out all scratchy and husky.
Taylor swiveled to face forward, too, scooting a few inches toward her door to put a bit of separation between them. Meanwhile, her heart slammed against her rib cage and her mouth watered like she’d just inhaled the scent of fresh warm bread straight from the oven. Then there was the place between her legs. Dammit. The man hadn’t even used tongue with that kiss, yet she’d felt completely worked over. I think there’s steam coming from my panties.
Staring forward, her mind a fog, she whooshed out a breath. “What was that?” she asked, refusing to make eye contact, and thoroughly afraid of what she might do if he happened to look as blown away as she felt.
“I don’t know,” he said, stiffly. “But it never happened.”
“Nope. Never happened,” she agreed.
Yeah, but it did.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him slide on his glasses, cross his arms, and lean back his head.
Taylor didn’t take offense. If she had remembered her sunglasses, she’d be hiding behind them, too.
He’s right. That never should’ve happened. Never. And they didn’t have any convenient excuses. There was no liquor, no near catastrophe—like a plane crash that sometimes heightened people’s emotions—no nothing. It was nearly eleven in the morning and except for a little sleep deprivation, they’d both been of sound mind.
And I completely loathe the despicable man. It must’ve been that odd house. Or the cookie. Not that she believed for a moment it had supernatural powers. Ridiculous. But the mind worked in mysterious ways, and clearly they’d both—on a subliminal level—been thinking about falling in love. Sure, if there were a cookie that could magically summon your special someone like in a fairytale, how wonderful would that be? But that wasn’t real. Real was waiting and dating. Then waiting and dating some more until you gave up or finally…settled.
Oh, crap. She resisted covering her mouth. He’s right. I’m a settler. He’d said that about her yesterday in his office, and he’d been right. No she hadn’t settled yet, but she’d been planning to. She’d planned to meet some guy who was nice enough, and when ready, she’d “settle” down. Not passion down. Not head-over-heels down. Settle down. No wonder she was avoiding relationships like the plague, focusing entirely on her career instead.
And now her true desire—to find someone who made her feel like she was being carried off on a ride filled with peril and lust and discovery and triumph and failures and crazy hot love—had bubbled to the surface.
Okay, maybe I’m not a settler. I just didn’t know what I wanted.
But now she did. Not with Bennett, of course—the man was a player, not a stayer, and she loathed him. But he’d given her a glimpse into her own heart’s desire.
Seven days, huh? Well, I will be traveling. That meant she’d be meeting a lot of new people, right? Taylor decided to keep an open mind. What was there to lose?
Bennett’s phone suddenly went off, jarring her from her thoughts. He tipped the phone toward his face, read whatever message was on it, and then tilted his head back again. After several moments, he finally said, “It worked. Mary accepted.”
Taylor grinned proudly. “You’re welcome.”
—
Is the man all right? Taylor squinted at Bennett sleeping in the reclined seat, but with the dimmed airplane cabin lights, it was difficult to tell. He kept mumbling the name “Kate.” No actually, it wasn’t a mumble, it was more like a growl. Candy had said Kate was his ex, but he also kept repeating a sad-sounding word she didn’t recognize: waya or wayang? She didn’t know, but every time he said it, something tugged at her heartstrings.
On the other hand, she was a firm believer in reaping what you sowed, and he’d clearly done this poor Kate some wrong and felt bad about it. Maybe? Taylor returned to her laptop; she had been taking advantage of Bennett being asleep by doing some work on her fake training course, but now she wanted to snoop.
She pulled up her web browser and typed in “Kate and Bennett Wade,” but nothing came up. That only piqued her curiosity even more. Maybe I’ll ask him? On the other hand, Candy had said it made him angry when anyone mentioned his nightmares or his ex, so he probably wouldn’t open up.
And you’re not here for that. Back