by Lexi Blake
Shit. She looked at the freaking plane. It was the smaller of the two her dad used. Damn it. There had been a mistake. She and her sister called this one the love jet because it was the one their dad used when he escorted his mistresses around. It came complete with a bedroom.
She groaned as she walked up the stairs because the driver had taken off. She would have to get answers from the pilot or the attendant. They couldn’t fit everyone in this stupid plane.
And she still hadn’t figured out what she was going to tell her sister. The day was turning into one massive cluster fuck and she wasn’t even looking forward to yelling at someone.
Her cell trilled, signaling a text was coming through, and she pulled it out of her bag as she entered the plane.
Shit. Speak of the devil. Her sister. Damn, but she hated the fact that she’d let Amy down. She touched the screen to read the message.
Can’t wait ’til you get here. Frankie is fabulous. You’ll love him like I do. And we both love your guy. So sweet. Have a great flight and give Will a big kiss for me. I know this is a fake engagement, but after talking to him, I think it should become the real thing. That man is a keeper. See you soon.
Bridget frowned. When the hell had Amy talked to Will?
She stepped on the plane, ready for some answers.
“Hello? Does anyone realize this is the wrong plane? Where are we going to put the seven of us and the baby? He can’t go in the damn cargo hold.”
A polished and perfectly made up flight attendant greeted her with a glass of wine in hand. She had to give it to her father; the man did know how to fly. Oh, he’d gotten there on the backs of the little people, but he wasn’t chintzy with the good wine. “Ms. Slaten, it’s a pleasure to have you with us today. Your sister is a favorite of ours. She’s asked us to take excellent care of you and we’re happy to do so. Dinner will be served once we reach our cruising altitude and you’ll find I’ve already turned down the bed. Our flight time is seven hours and fifty minutes. I’ll make sure you’re awake an hour before we land. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Yeah, I need to know where everyone else is.” She took the wine though. She would need it to get through the whole shebang. Maybe if she stayed drunk for the next week, it would fly by.
The flight attendant shook her head. “The other party went out on the larger jet about an hour ago. Your sister changed the plans last night. This is her gift to you. Privacy. Enjoy.”
She shook her head as she made her way into the luxurious lounge. To the back of the plane would be the kitchen, bar, study, and bedroom complete with thousand thread count sheets.
Yeah. Why had Amy thought she would need privacy? Well, at least she knew now when Amy had talked to Will.
“How did you know her phone number, Daley?” She wasn’t a complete idiot.
He stepped out of the hall that led to the bar. He looked utterly delicious in slacks and an open-necked white dress shirt. “I called Serena last night and told her I wanted to set up a surprise for you. She was willing to help. Do you like the wine? I made sure they had the Sauvignon Blanc you love.”
She took a drink because it was not the grapes’ fault and they shouldn’t go to waste. “You should leave now.”
She heard the thud as the airplane door was closed and sealed. Well, that was her fault for almost being late. He’d used that to his advantage, too.
He stared at her with big, gorgeous dark eyes. Stupid eyes that made her want to melt at his surprisingly attractive feet. She normally didn’t like feet, but his were the exception. “I understand you’re angry, but you don’t have any reason to be. That woman means nothing to me.”
She’d meant enough to him to blow up their evening. “She did once.”
“And she doesn’t now. She has no effect on us whatsoever. I understand why you locked the door.”
That surprised her. Now that she thought about it, he was very tolerant of her emotional reactions. “What? You’re not going to accuse me of being childish?”
“No, I’m not. You often overreact to situations, but once you calm down, you see reason. I’ve gotten used to it. You’re a passionate woman. It’s one of the things I like about you. You needed to show me how you felt. Well, I understand. I can promise you that it won’t happen again. I’ve taken steps to make sure she never bothers us again.”
“I would like to know why she was bothering us in the first place.”
His jaw tightened. “She’s a former submissive of mine. It didn’t work out, but I make it a habit to not talk about my relationships. I would give you the same courtesy.”
Anger welled. He thought he’d seen her overreact? “So you’re lumping me in with the girl who tried to pin a couple of murders on you?”
His face went white. “How do you know about that?”
He thought she didn’t know? “We talk in the club. Everyone knows, Will. Every single person in that club knows that you fell in love with a perfect sub and she turned out to be a crazy bitch who was using you for the man she really loved. It’s a juicy story. You couldn’t expect that no one would tell it.”
His face went blank, but not before she’d seen the startled hurt in his eyes.
Damn her mouth. She never knew when to shut up. But wasn’t she in the right? He was the one who told her it was none of her business.
He nodded. “I’ll see if I can stop the plane.”
He moved past her and she rushed into the study to get away from him. She couldn’t freaking breathe. He hadn’t argued with her. Hadn’t violently protested that her account was wrong. Maybe she was right and he did love that crazy woman.
It was good to have it out. She wasn’t anyone’s rebound girl. She strode into the bedroom because she wasn’t going to watch him leave now that she’d called him out.
She stopped. The bed was covered in rose petals. White ones. Her favorites. And there was a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries. Also her favorites. He’d gone to a lot of trouble for the rebound girl.
She’d been mean. Maybe he’d been mean, too, but now that she thought about it, a story like that getting around would hurt Will’s pride. And to hear it coming from the woman he’d been sleeping with? Yeah, that had to hurt.
Was she going to let him walk away like that? At the very least, she should apologize.
She turned, but he was standing in the doorway, blocking her way.
“I need to get my kit and I’ll go. I can call a cab at the office.”
All of her anger fled and she was left with a sadness that threatened to bring her low. “I’m sorry.”
He held a hand up. “Hey, it’s no problem. I thought I could keep it quiet. You’re right. It’s a juicy story.”
Deflecting. He was good at that. He was also damn good at calming her down, but he was the one who needed soothing. Was he embarrassed? Was that the reason he’d cut her out and tried to hide the meeting? “Please don’t go. You don’t have to go to the wedding with me, but could we talk for a minute?”
“I don’t think there’s anything left to say.”
She’d thought about nothing but herself and her own issues since the horrible night before began. She hadn’t once thought about what he needed. He’d been honest with her, even when it hurt his cause. “I think there is. I’m sorry. I was so mad at you for leaving with her. No. I’m lying. It wasn’t anger, Will. It was blinding jealousy. I was so jealous.”
He didn’t move, but she saw the moment his eyes softened. “You had nothing to be jealous of.”
“She’s beautiful, Will.”
“Maybe on the outside, but I’ll be honest, she was always too thin for my tastes. If you’re looking for someone to tell you you’re beautiful, I believe I’ve done that about a thousand times. Now, I’d like to get out of here with some dignity. The plane needs to take off.”
She wouldn’t see him again if she let him get off the plane. He was right. She did overreact and then she put herself in a corner she
couldn’t get out of. Was she going to let that one incident sour everything else? She’d spent the best week of her life with him and then she’d turned on him the minute he did something she didn’t like.
“Please don’t leave. I’m sorry I said what I said.”
“You told me the truth.”
“No. I said something meant to hurt you. Will, I’ve known about what happened since before we started dating. I didn’t think less of you when I heard that story.”
“Sure.” He was obviously tense, every line of his body rigid. He seemed to be simply trying to survive until she let him go.
He’d gotten so good at soothing her. How could she not know how to do the same for him? Affection. He responded to affection and he struggled to reject it.
She stepped up and before he could move away from her, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I don’t think less of you, Will. God, that would be the most hypocritical thing I could do. Did you listen to my dating life? I’ve gotten used by every man I’ve dated up to you. Does that make me a fool? An idiot?”
“No, sweetheart.” His voice had softened. “It makes you a little naïve and that’s not a bad thing. But we’re talking about two completely different things here.”
“Nope. They’re the same. Why is this a problem? Are you mad that I asked about you?”
He stayed still and after a moment, she felt his hands on her hair. “Gossiping is a spankable offense. It’s in our contract.” He breathed again, his hands tightening. “You really don’t think less of me?”
She turned her face up. “Are you freaking kidding me? Will, think about it for two seconds. Would I have signed that contract if I thought you were some sort of pathetic loser? I knew what had happened to you before I ever agreed to sub for you. I was being a bitch because I was hurt that you chose her over me.”
His fingers tangled in her hair and he forced her to look into his eyes. “I did no such thing. I chose to handle a situation without drawing you into my problems. I didn’t know that you were a nosy brat so I was trying to keep my sad past from you.”
She still had so many questions. “What did you see in her?”
He sighed, but she felt a shift. He wasn’t so anxious. He’d relaxed slightly. “I don’t think that’s important, but let’s get the plane in the air and we’ll talk about it. Can we agree to spend this last week together?”
“Two weeks.” She wanted all the time she could get with him. If he had two weeks of vacation, she wanted it. Anyhow, anyway she could get it.
“Tell me why.”
There was only one reason. She was so tired of lying. He knew her. He seemed to see right through her, and there was comfort in that. “Because I love you.”
“And I don’t believe in the word.”
Maybe her love was the important thing here. Maybe it was more important to love than to have it returned. It would be perfect if he could love her back, but this feeling she had made her better. Loving him made her better. “So we agree to disagree. It’s okay. Do you want to be with me?”
“So much it hurts, sweetheart.”
That was all she could ask. It would end. It was inevitable. He would say he didn’t believe in love right up until the moment he found the woman who made him. But she was pretty sure he was the love of her life. She would take these weeks and hold them close to her heart, and she would let him go at the end so he could find the woman who would set him free.
Damn it, growing up hurt like hell. “Then let’s go to a wedding. Let’s have our vacation.”
He smiled, the sight pleasing her more than she could imagine. “Let’s do it.”
* * * *
Will polished off the last of the very excellent steak the attendant had served them. The rich really were different. Apparently they employed gourmet chefs who made perfectly cooked steaks at thirty thousand feet and knew how a martini should be shaken.
He set down his glass. If he had much more he wouldn’t be able to play with her, and that was definitely going to happen. He needed it. He needed to be back in control even if it was only in the bedroom.
He’d managed to talk about innocuous things throughout dinner. They’d talked about her sister and how Bridget and Amy had grown up. Private schools and nannies. There had been one in particular Bridget talked about. Nanny Christine. She’d been with her from third grade through Amy’s graduation. From what Will could tell, she’d been more of a mother to the two girls than their biological mom.
Bridget sat back. “That was so good. Did you tell them what to cook?”
He knew what she liked. He’d explained everything he wanted to Amy the night before. He wanted perfection. He wanted her smiling. Damn it. He wanted her to forgive him. “You like steak. You also like potatoes. And you like chocolate and strawberries. They’re in the bedroom, though.”
“Then we should probably head that way.” She took another long sip of the wine he’d specifically ordered for her.
She was so fucking pretty with her raven black hair lazing past her shoulders and pointing the way right to those breasts he wanted to put his mouth on. She didn’t think he was an idiot for what had happened. She wasn’t shirking away from his trouble. Though maybe she didn’t understand that it wasn’t over.
“You know I’ll have to go to court to testify, right?” It would be a huge pain in his ass. And the trial would likely be covered in the press.
Bridget’s eyes went wide. “Do you have to meet with a lawyer?”
Shit. She was worried. “Mitch is my lawyer, but we’ll have to go meet with the DA.”
“Can I ask questions? Do you know the DA? Do you think he would let me shadow him for a week or so? I have this great idea about a DA and the witness to a murder. Well, and the defense attorney, but you will be shocked at how I work him into that threesome. Hint. The DA is bi.”
Something relaxed inside him. Bridget wouldn’t judge him. She was far too busy trying to figure out how his tragedy would aid in her research. “I don’t think the DA will find time, but I assure you Mitch will. He owes me.” He stood up, his body thrumming with anticipation. “Is our contract still valid?”
She nodded, but he couldn’t miss the way her eyes dimmed. “Yes. I told you. I want to spend the next two weeks with you.”
His gut did a weird flip at her words. Two weeks. A vacation. He’d been the one who posited the notion, but somehow he didn’t like the idea of her thinking in terms of weeks. “I believe I offered you a contract for a month.”
A long sigh came from her chest. “A month then.”
He knew he should be satisfied that she was falling in line, but something about it unsettled him. He shoved the worry aside because he needed something from her. The plane was running smoothly. There were at a cruising altitude and it was time to spend a few hours resting before they had to meet her family.
He needed to concentrate on the positive. She knew the worst stuff about him—knew his mom was in and out of jail, currently serving a nice ten-year stint for trafficking because she was always trying to push the envelope on awfulness, knew he’d been a dumbass who thought he’d found the perfect sub when all he’d found was trouble. She knew all that and she was still sitting across from him. She’d still apologized for being a righteous bitch. He didn’t blame her for that. She’d been upset and that was how Bridget communicated. He hadn’t told her that he doubted he would have actually walked away. He’d been trying to find a way out from the moment she’d told him she knew.
He was incapable of walking away from her. God, he couldn’t even keep his freaking hands off her.
“Come here.” He wanted her close. It had been too long. Twenty-four freaking hours was too long to not have her sitting in his lap, to not be able to smell her all around him.
He’d always known he’d inherited an addictive personality from his meth-head mom. He’d taken pains to stay away from drugs, to limit himself to one or two beers or cocktails. But he couldn’t limit himself with her
. He had to have her. When he didn’t have her, he was plotting and planning ways to get her. Like a fucking addict.
Was it wrong to be addicted to a person?
She stood up and in a second, she was lowering herself onto his lap, her arms going around his shoulders, and he didn’t fucking care. If it was wrong then he didn’t want to be right. He was cool with craving her. It felt good to give in for once in his life. He was all about discipline, but he could revel in her.
She turned her face up to his and he wanted to forget about everything except getting inside her, but she was owed some answers. He brushed his mouth against hers. It would be easier to talk when they were naked.
Without another thought, he shoved his arm under her knees, his other around her back, and stood up.
She gasped, clinging to his neck. “I really love it when you carry me. I don’t want you to throw out your back though.”
“Oh, you did not say you were heavy.” He strode through the narrow confines of the hallway past the elegant study and into the bedroom. All in all, the plane was nicer than his condo. Bridget’s dad was loaded.
She flushed nicely. “No. I merely stated that I hope your back health remains well.”
He tossed her on the bed. “No. You don’t get away so easily. Strip and put your ass in the air. I want it high, sweetheart.”
She groaned but started to make quick work of her clothes. He shoved out of his too after closing the door behind them. It was definitely time to join the mile-high club, and he wanted to do it in spectacular fashion. He wanted to make sure she was so satisfied she forgot to worry about the upcoming wedding.
How bad could her parents really be?
He chucked his clothes and grabbed his kit. It was definitely nice to fly private. He didn’t have to worry about freaking out the TSA with his assorted collection of torture devices. When he turned, he had to catch his breath.
She was on her knees, that juicy, glorious ass of hers in the air. Her breasts were pressed against the silky bedsheets. He’d felt like an idiot spreading rose petals all over the bed in an attempt to please her, but now he was happy he’d done it because they looked gorgeous against her skin. She was a submissive present all for him. Only for him.
