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TATE
I couldn’t have been more wrong. I wasn’t going to kiss Wren again before the end of the trip.
I was going to kiss her again before we touched down in Rome.
At least three times.
Because we had a stopover in Madrid, and judging by the way she was squirming in her seat, and the vice-like grip she had once again on my hand the moment the captain called for the cabin crew to prepare for landing, she was just as terrified of landing as she was of taking off.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before releasing her breath slowly, much like the way she breathes when she practices yoga.
Or meditates.
I may have watched her once or twice.
“You okay?” I asked, relaxing back in my seat.
“No.” She shook her head and tapped her foot.
The seatbelt sign was on and the plane was slowly losing altitude. With every few feet the plane dropped, Wren mumbled something about dying.
“Tate,” she whispered and turned to face me. She was white as a ghost, her eyes glazed over.
“Just focus on me, okay?” I wrapped my free hand around the back of her neck and pulled her until our foreheads touched. “Breathe.”
The plane wobbled slightly as it flew through the clouds.
“We’re going to crash.” She squeezed my hand tighter.
“We’re not going to crash.” I rubbed her neck, trying to ease some of the tension and help her relax a little. Her eyebrows pinched together.
“You don’t know that, Tate.”
My eyes dropped to her lips as she wet them with her tongue.
“Trust me.”
“No.”
“Kiss me.” It worked the first time so...
She leaned in and hesitated, her eyes darting from my mouth to my eyes, unsure of what she wanted to do. I could see the conflict in her eyes mixed with the fear of dying in a plane crash, so I made the decision for her.
I captured her mouth with mine, held her close and got lost in the small moans she made every time my tongue brushed against hers.
My heart thudded in my chest, and I found myself wanting to hold her tighter and not let go. She was everything I wasn’t used to. She came into my life a whirlwind of color and eccentricity and unknowingly showed me a different side of myself. A better side. She made me better.
The realization of that hit me like a blow to the head.
When did that happen?
I turned my life upside down for her.
Risked my career and dumped my fake girlfriend, because I didn’t like the way she treated Wren.
Negotiated the biggest contract of my career to ensure she was included and taken care of.
Spent a small fortune paying a dude I didn’t know so he could afford his father’s medical bills, all the while saving Wren from spending unnecessary dollars.
I spent more time in my backyard by the pool hoping to see her than I did in the house. All because I was falling for her.
Her teeth skimmed my bottom lip, pulling me out of my thoughts and back to the kiss. My hand was on her hip, under her shirt, brushing my fingers over her soft skin. I wanted to feel more. I wanted to pull her shirt over her head.
Someone cleared their throat beside me, and I reluctantly pulled back to see who had rudely interrupted us. The air hostess was standing there with an amused smile plastered on her face. “Sorry to interrupt, sir, but will you be disembarking the aircraft?”
Disembarking? I glanced around and that was when I noticed the plane was empty. We’d kissed for so long the plane had landed and everyone was gone.
Shit.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “Sorry. We’ll leave now.” I unbuckled both our seatbelts and pulled Wren into the aisle.
She punched me in the arm again.
“What was that for?” I hissed at her.
“For violating me with your mouth again.”
“I’d like to violate you with something else,” I muttered, slipping my hand into hers and pulling her toward the exit.
“You did not just say that!” She gasped before laughing.
“I did. And it’s terrible. Sorry. But it’s still true.”
Wren stumbled. Probably over her own uncoordinated feet but I chose to believe it was my words that tripped her up.
“Where are we?” she asked as we got off the plane.
“Madrid.”