Dana nodded and opened her book again, this time with the right side up.It was for the best anyway.She didn’t want to talk to him, she didn’t want to talk about her dad, and she definitely didn’t want to talk to him about her dad.Somehow, she needed to make sure she stayed as far away from him as possible.
From now on, she would find excuses not to attend the Sutherland and Cavallo gatherings.At least until these foolish feelings had vanished.
Finding a way to tell Caitlin she would not be attending all the family get-togethers from now on without alerting her friend to the fact that she had the hots for her brother-in-law would be tricky, but surely Dana could come up with a good enough reason?
Exasperated with herself, Dana slowly reread the first line of the story.She couldn’t believe what she was thinking!Having the hots for David Cavallo was not what should be happening; her life was complicated enough already.
She glanced up.David was staring at his computer, a frown carved into his forehead.Her eyes trailed over his face, down his muscled upper body, and she had to force her gaze down to the book.
Every fiber of her being was aware of the man sitting a few meters away from her.
For the umpteenth time, she reread the first few lines of the book.Maybe if she had a gory thriller to read, she would have been able to forget about the man sitting nearby.A love story where the hero was described as sexy as sin was way too close a description of the situation with the real flesh-and-blood man sitting near her.
Chapter Four
David swore underhis breath.Normally, this would have taken him only minutes to finish.But with Dana close by, he had a hard time trying to focus on what had to be done.And he’d just become aware she was looking at him.That wasn’t helping his concentration.
He looked up.She was reading again.Or at least she was looking down at the book.Whether she was actually taking in anything was another matter altogether.She shifted and dropped the book onto her lap.The thin T-shirt revealed she was either cold or…
Groaning softly, he raked his hands through his hair.He wanted to throw his computer away, lock everyone else in the cockpit, and take Dana to the big bed tucked away in the corner so he could put his hands on her in every way he’d imagined.He wanted her, and this craving was driving him insane.
He willed his body to behave and forced his attention back to his computer.He and Darryn were responsible for the advertising and marketing of the hotel group he and his brothers owned.Darryn used to be a photographer, and part of his job still entailed taking photographs.David did all the copywriting for the ads, and between the two of them they had to make sure everyone knew about their hotels.
If he didn’t fix this problem now, his brothers would not be too happy with him.A glance in Dana’s direction showed him she had slid down in the seat and closed her eyes.Good.A sleeping Dana he could handle.It was the wide-awake one that was giving him problems.
As he stared, she rolled onto her side, and the T-shirt moved up to reveal a tiny part of her golden skin.Swearing softly, he grabbed his computer and moved to the seats farthest from her.What the hell?He had work to finish, damn it.He didn’t have time to sit and drool over a bloody woman.
*
Dana stopped breathingin anticipation.
David’s fingers found their way underneath her T-shirt and he slipped his hands higher and higher.Wantonly she moved closer to him so she could give him better access…
“Dana!Dana!”
He was calling out her name.She frowned.But why was he doing it so loudly?She opened her eyes and there he was.David.For a minute she stared up at him, until she heard the other voices behind him and realized they had landed.She’d been dreaming, and his hands weren’t under her T-shirt.
She sat up quickly and looked at her watch.Oh, hell, she’d slept the whole time, undoubtedly because she’d hardly slept the night before.Quickly she combed her fingers through her hair and got up.Her makeup was probably smudged, her hair a tangled mess.
“I’m sorry, I must look terrible.I didn’t think I would sleep this long…” she started babbling, but David took her hand and she stopped speaking.
“You look beautiful.”His eyes darkened and he kissed her.
Before her befuddled brain could construe a sentence, he ran his fingers through her hair.
“I want to talk to you, but I can’t now, and I won’t be able to come to Hermanus before the weekend.Can I see you then?”
She opened her mouth to say no, but someone called him and he moved away.The very last thing she wanted to do was to make a date with this man who had been occupying her mind every waking and sleeping moment for the last few hours.It was ridiculous to feel this way, to react this way to his presence.Nothing could ever come of it; she knew that.
The flight attendant opened the door of the plane and showed Dana out.Before she could descend the stairs, David was there, his arm held protectively around her.His phone rang, and he talked to someone until they entered what looked like a VIP lounge.
Dana looked around, trying to orient herself.Two days ago, she’d driven to the airport with her own car and had parked it in one of the parking garages.It was an expense she couldn’t really afford, but in the end it was much cheaper than a shuttle service from and to Hermanus.And asking her mother was not an option.
Dana spotted her luggage near the door and grabbed her bag.David was still on his phone, and she motioned to the flight attendant that she was leaving.Quickly, she slipped past the milling people, her only thought to get away quickly.
*
The client finallyran out of things to say and David was able to end the call.Irritated, he put his cell phone in his pocket.Some people simply talked way too much.But Gary was one of their biggest clients and David had to stay nice.
