I exhale an annoyed breath as I buckle my seatbelt.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Ian asks in a hushed voice.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” I reply, my tone sharp.
“Okaaay.” He doesn’t believe me, but I’m grateful he lets it drop.
I close my eyes and drop my head back against the headrest. I need to decide how to move forward when I’m not so confused and emotions aren’t running so high, for both me and Olive.
I must have dozed off for a few minutes when a hand grazing my shoulder jolts me awake. For a moment, my mind thinks it’s Olive, and my dick responds to her touch. Instead, my eyes pop open to Jenny’s smiling face hovering in front of mine.
“Nate, sorry to wake you, but I had a few things I wanted to discuss with you about the next stop. Do you mind coming back and sitting with me for a few so I can go over them with you?”
I turn my head in Ian’s direction and immediately knowhe’s faking being asleep. Internally sighing, I look back at Jenny. “You bet, Miss Bell.”
She moves back, but not enough for me to be able to get out of my seat without my body brushing hers. I gesture for her to lead the way back to the table at the back of the plane, and she slides onto the bench and pats the seat beside her.
My teeth clench as I sit next to her, leaving as many inches as I can between us, which is pointless when she shimmies back across the seat and closes the distance.
I clear my throat as I look at her with what I hope is a professional smile. “What did you want to talk about, Miss Bell?”
Her eyes flick to the front of the plane, and then her hand slides over high on my thigh. My lips press into a flat line, and my muscles tense when, from the other side of me, I hear, “Here’s your coffee, Miss Bell.”
I hold my breath as I shift my gaze from Jenny to Olive. The urge to throw Jenny’s hand off my thigh when Olive’s broken stare locks onto it overwhelms me.
If I wasn’t already miserable and regretting every time I didn’t push back on Jenny’s advances more, the shaky voice Olive addresses me with would be my undoing. “Mr. Carson, you were sleeping, so I didn’t want to wake you. Do you need anything?”
With my mind, I try to force Olive to meet my stare so I can try to communicate with her in the only way I can right now and hope she understands what I’m trying to tell her. But she doesn’t. She keeps her eyes averted. “No, thank you. I don’t need anything.”
She gives a quick nod, pivoting on her heels before rushing to the front of the plane.
Jenny’s other hand goes to my chest. “Now, about the next city.”
I can’t take it anymore. I gently grasp the wrist of the hand on my chest, removing her hand and placing in on the table. Next, I move the hand on my thigh to the seat between us now that I’ve scooted so I’m half off the end. Standing, I place a hand on the table and one on the back of the seat, leaning over so only Jenny can hear me. “Alright, Miss Bell. I’m going to tell you how the rest of this tour is going to go. You’ll keep your hands and your sexual advances to yourself when it comes to me and my partner. That also goes for any other security employee we may assign to your detail. We’re here for your safety. We’re not here to do anything with you outside that capacity.” I glance toward the front of the plane before looking back at her shocked and reddened face. “You’ll also treat the flight crew with respect. They’re trying to do their job and have done nothing to be disrespected. Is that understood?”
Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she gives me a sheepish nod.
Without another word, I return to my seat and roll out the tension in my shoulders. I was so distracted, I didn’t even notice Ian wasn’t in his seat until he stepped out of the bathroom near the front of the plane.
He’s turning to join me when he stops and pivots back to the galley kitchen.
I watch him say something to, I assume, Olive, though I can’t see where Cade is, so it could be him. He nods at the response given to whatever he said. My teeth clench when his arm extends and disappears into the opening in front of him.
Another fucking person touching my Olive when I cannot.
Ian steps back with a few parting words, stalking backtoward me and retaking his seat with a scowl aimed my way. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but you better not let me be right about this. You need to fix it.”
Returning his scowl with a glower of my own, I spit out, “Why do you automatically assume I’m the one who did something?” Anger flames across my skin. “And since you think you can butt into my relationship, you want to talk about what the fuck is going on with the woman at the engagement party?”
The flurry of emotion that blasts across his face almost has me apologizing. “You can deflect all you want; that doesn’t make what I’m saying any less true. Quit being a dumbass. I don’t give a shit which one of you started this. All I’m saying is, you need to fix it.” He juts his chin toward the front of the plane. “That woman up there cares about you, and that’s all you need to know.”
I huff out a breath and don’t respond. I wish I knew how to fix this, and I wish I could fully believe she does care about me. But my conflicting emotions have me reeling.
How the fuck did we go from having the best sex of my life and spending every day for the past couple of weeks laughing and enjoying each other’s company to whatever this new dynamic that I cannot wrap my mind around.
Guilt starts to chip away at the anger. I can’t get the look on Olive’s face when she saw Jenny touching me. It guts me, even if Jenny’s hands on me were the last thing I wanted.
Olive never emerges from the galley, except for the few times she moves across to the other side of the plane. Cade delivers the drinks and food, checking in with all the passengers. It doesn’t go unnoticed when he only addresses Ian and doesn’t spare me even a fleeting glance. I don’t bother making any requests. Even I’m starting to recognize that I’m deserving of every disdainful glare in my direction.
