"Thanks, Sasha. Are you sticking around?"
She smiles softly. "I go wherever the wind blows me."
I reach out my hand to shake hers, slipping a few crisp hundred-dollar bills into her palm and exiting the lavish plane before she can react. I don't need a thank you.
A blacked-out SUV waits just off the tarmac, and Alec, one of the drivers for Dominic's organization, waits next to it with his arms crossed over his chest and a black pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. As I approach, he opens the back door for me, but instead of getting inside, I toss my bag in and shut the door.
"I'm not sitting in the back," I tell him and nudge him out of the way to get into the front passenger side.
"Yes, sir." He salutes me stiffly with a hefty dose of sarcasm and moseys his way around the front to get into the driver’s seat.
"The guys might demand you call them sir, but just stick with Miller, okay?"
"Yes, sir."
I deadpan and consider stabbing him.
"Sorry, I thought it was funny." Alec pushes the button to turn the SUV on and shifts into drive. "How was your flight?"
"Well, I'd say it was successful since we didn't fall from the sky."
"Fair enough."
I pull my phone out to call Dominic but it won't connect. I try three times before giving up. "Can I use your cell?"
"Yeah, sure."
I reach for it and he turns toward me.
"Put it in front of my face to unlock it."
"Right, yeah." I do what he says and the screen lights up, the last thing he must have been looking at is still visible on his screen.
Her.
"Are you guys friends?" I ask, realizing all too late how accusatory my tone was.
"Wh-what?" Alec does a double-take. "Oh, shit, Cora. Yeah. I forgot to swipe out of that, didn't I?"
"So you are? Friends?"
Alec pulls the SUV onto the main road and shrugs. "I mean, no. Kind of. Maybe. Why?" He looks my way. "Are you guys friends?" He repeats the same question I had asked him with a similar jealousy lingering.
I shake my head and take a closer glance at her photo, admiring the way her hair falls into soft curls onto her shoulders and leads the eye directly to her cleavage. My cock twitches, and I blink a few times to distract myself but it's no use—she's so fucking pretty it physically hurts.
The first time I saw her I was completely taken aback by her beauty, and then when I spoke to her, I knew I had to know her. God, it was the strongest pull I've ever felt, but every time since then, it's felt like she isn't interested, and I won’t force her to want me if she doesn’t. I just wish she'd give me the chance to prove myself to her. But if I'm being honest, it's better this way—I'd only let her down. People like me are meant to be alone.
"No, not really," I tell him because it's the truth. Cora and I aren't friends. Sure, we've spoken a few times, but that's it. I had an immediate crush on her, and she was oblivious to it—and to me.
"Oh," Alec says, and I can't quite figure out if he's relieved or disappointed in my answer.
"She seems great, but like, way out of my league, you know?" I find myself surprised at my admission.
Alec laughs and continues driving. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."
I don't bother containing myself and thumb through some more of the photos on her profile, a small sigh leaving me. It's not that I haven't seen these photos already, I've looked at them countless times, and somehow every time is like I'm seeing her in a new light. I shouldn't want her; I'm damn well aware of that, but it doesn't stop me. Maybe it's because I can't have her. It only makes me want her more.
Or maybe it's something else entirely.
