“Ms. Blackwell?” My name, muffled and hesitant, is punctuated by a polite knock on the closed bedroom door. “The pilot is asking that you prepare for landing.”
In other words,it’s time to stop being a coward and come out of hiding.
Sitting up, I throw my legs over the side of the bed. “Thank you, Tonya,” I answer her while I stand. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Making my way to the small en suite bathroom, I take a look at myself in the mirror. Nearly six hours of crying off layers of expertly applied bridal make-up has left me looking like a drowned raccoon. Using several washcloths and the make-up remover someone was thoughtful enough to leave in one of the drawers, I scrub what’s left of it off before brushing my hair. Dislodging a few more pins, I gather them up and use them to secure my hair into a messy bun on top of my head before looking at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes are still a bit puffy and my cheeks are red from the scrubbing but at least I don’t look like someone tried to drown me.
If you can stand in front of three hundred people and a priest, and tell them that Allister never loved you, you can walkout that door and pretend that the prospect of being stuck in this plane with Dean Mercer doesn’t make you wish for a parachute.
Right.
I can do this.
Exiting the bathroom, there’s another knock on the door. This one louder. Heavier. “Come on, Megalodon—stop being such a?—”
Reaching for the door, I throw it open before he can finish insulting me. “You know my name—my full name. I know you do because you said it earlier,” I remind him while glaring up at his stupid, perfect face. “So, why do you still insist on calling me by every ridiculous name you can think of?”
“Because I like watching your eye twitch,” he tells me with a grin. “Are you done hiding?”
“Hiding?” I give him anas ifeye roll even though that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. “Who would I possibly be hiding from?”
“Me.” He says it softly, his electric blue gaze hooking itself into mine. “You’re hiding from me, Mills.” Leaning forward just a bit, he drops his tone to a whisper. “From what I said to you earlier.”
He’s just baiting you, Millie.
Trying to get under your skin.
Trying to make you squirm.
Just like he always does.
“That would be silly of me, considering we both know you didn’t mean a word of it.” Forcing myself to stand my ground, I don’t look away. “You only said it to get a rise out of me.”
He makes a rough sound in the back of his throat while his gaze drops to my mouth. “Did I?”
“Yes,” I bark at him even though I’m suddenly not sure of anything anymore. “Just like you’re trying to get a rise out of me now.”
Lifting his gaze to mine again, he gives me that maddening smirk of his. “Is it working?”
Giving into the urge to run, I push my way past him, into the main cabin. “Has anyone ever told you how unbearably and unwarrantedly full of yourself you are?”
“Just you,” he says while he follows behind me down the aisle. “And trust me, Mills—it’s warranted. It’swarrantedas fuck.”
“Yes, well…” Sitting in the first seat I see, I buckle my safety belt before looking out the window. “I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it, won’t I?”
I can see land, a line of intense green, bracketed by the deep blue of sea and sky. A wall of white, sparkling like a jewel, nestled in its center. From the corner of my eye, I watch while Dean moves to sit in the seat directly across from me and buckles his own belt.
“You ever consider the alternative?”
Genuinely confused, I look at him. “Alternative to what?”
“To whatever bullshit scenario you’ve got cooked up in your head.” Dean’s jaw tightens, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You ever think maybe I was telling you the truth?”
Watching you, fighting with you—fuck,getting the shit slapped out of me by you—all I could think about was how good your pussy would feel, wrapped around my cock. How badly I wanted to know what your cum tastes like. What kinds of sounds you’d make for me while I filled you up with mine…
He’s just baiting you, Millie. Even though he’d never admit it, his ego is bruised over what happened between Allister and Paige and he’s just using you for a boost.
Don’t fall for it.
