He had a vague thought about how he should’ve checked what time their flight was leaving, and then he thought about nothing at all.
Chapter 9
Maisie, sitting in the back of a taxi as it whizzed through the early morning lack of traffic to Sydney Airport, was doing her best not to let what would probably be the world’s biggest and most unflattering yawn break free from her mouth.
He already probably saw you napping on the couch with your mouth hanging open,she reminded herself as she looked at Rhys out of the corner of her eye.You really don’t need to reveal your most unattractive facial expressions to him again.
Despite the fact she really had been basically falling asleep where she stood last night, she basically hadn’t slept a wink – thoughnotbecause the bed Shaz had shown her to was uncomfortable or covered in pizza boxes. In fact, it had beenlovely, with a pink coverlet and lacy little doilies on the bedside table. Maisie never would have thought someone like Shaz would enjoy such a… afemininehobby as crochet, but apparently she’d made them all herself, as well as picked out all the pale pink and white linens.
No, that definitely wasn’t the issue.
Whathadbeen the issue was the… theawareness, somehow, that Rhys was only a few rooms away, probably sleeping like ababy, his face slack with sleep, his long, thick eyelashes draped over his high cheekbones, his hair all mussed, and perhaps his shirt rucked up a little over his stomach, revealing his – his –
Don’t think about it!
Maisie shook her head vehemently, trying to rid herself of the forbidden,tantalizingmental image of Rhys sprawled back on amuchnicer couch than the one at Michael and Shaz’s, in a state of what her mother would calldishabille, and what she would callcompletely shirtless and about to lose the pants too.
“Everything all right?”
Maisie jumped – as if she hadn’t known Rhys was sitting across the other side of the taxi seat, less than a foot and a half away from her.
“Yep!” she said, with probably just alittlebit too much false cheer. “Totally. Everything’s totally dandy.”
Dandy. Oh my God.
She resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands and groan loudly.
What the hell was I thinking?!
She really couldn’t figure it out now that the harsh glare of the morning sunrise was cresting the city skyline.
What had possessed her to invite Rhys to Burr Island with her, on the holiday she had beensupposedto be taking with her now very much ex-boyfriend?
She really couldn’t say, except for the fact that it had seemed like a good idea, in the moment she’d actually beensayingthe words.
It must have been sleep deprivation, she decided. She’d been so barely with it last night she hadn’t known what she’d been saying.
Don’t forget,her brain helpfully reminded her,not only is he the hottest, most incredibly attractive man you’ve ever seen in your life, but he can also turn into a griffin.
Maisie really hadn’t been up to interrogating Rhys about that just yet, mainly because she had a feeling he’d just look at her with a look of supreme confusion and ask her what she was talking about.
Ithadto have been a dream… right?
That really was the only explanation. Sure, it had been a very detailed and – quokkas and cassowaries and griffins aside – realistic dream. But it couldn’tactuallyhave happened, right? She hadn’tactuallystroked her fingers through the soft feathers of Rhys’s neck, seen him turn from a human to a half-eagle, half-lion mythical creature and then back again?
Well,she supposed,there’s really only one way to find out.
The taxi driver wasn’t listening – even through the plastic divider that separated him from the back seats, she could hear the sound of early morning radio hosts laughing about something completely inane. Clearly, the sound in the front had to be blaringly loud.
“Um,” she began, turning to Rhys. “So… just so we’re clear, you turn into a griffin, right?”
Rhys stared at her, blinking as if surprised.
Oh,Maisie thought, her heart inexplicably sinking. Had she kind ofwantedhim to be able to turn into a griffin?I guess Iwasjust dreaming. Or hallucinating. Or something.
“Uh, yeah,” Rhys said after a moment. “Sorry, I thought you were pretty clear about that last night. Though I guess it might take some getting used to.”
He is! He is a griffin! I didn’t hallucinate a thing!
