My plane lands at six o’clock.
Madness. It was pure madness. I kept telling myself that I hadn’t lost my head over Neil, but my every thought and action suggested otherwise.
I mean, where was I even going to sleep? Obviously not at my father’s house.
I brushed off my worries, though, and packed a couple of dresses, a pair of high-heeled shoes, and two sets of underwear (not the juvenile kind I usually wore) into my overnight bag. I’d bought them on a shopping trip to the mall with my friends, not knowing how soon I’d have a chance to wear them.
I had asked Neil to be exclusive with me, and he’d said no, right? So all that remained was for me to prove to him that my body was just as good as those belonging to his lovers and that I also knew how to be sexy and alluring. Once I was ready, Bailey and I headed out after I told my mother goodbye and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
* * *
The trip from Detroit to New York felt much longer than I had been expecting, perhaps because of my nerves.
Once I arrived at the airport, I headed for the passenger pickup area, where the air was heavy with smog and exhaust fumes. There were so many cars and taxis as well as people on foot walking every which way. I had a moment of déjà vu, recalling the day Matt Anderson, asshole father, had taken me to meet Mia and her children.
It felt like an eternity had passed since then.
I tossed my head, shaking off the memories, and looked around, afraid that I might not be able to find Neil or that he’d completely forgotten I wascoming. I’d sent him another text as soon as we landed, but he still hadn’t said anything back.
Where the hell was he? And, more important…what was he doing?
I dropped my bag on the ground and stretched, the bones in my sore back crackling. I was sore not from sitting so long on the plane but from the way my Disaster had taken me.
His hands, his kisses, his tongue…everything about him exuded this unstoppable energy and aggression that often transformed into pure passion.
Neil didn’t just love sex; he was also really good at it, and…
“Knock it off, Selene,” I snapped at myself, trying to derail my lusty train of thought, which was particularly inappropriate for that moment, and instead concentrate on watching the cars speed by ahead of me. I began to get truly afraid that I was going to have to take a cab back to the house by myself when a black Maserati pulled up with a roar, catching my attention. My gaze was immediately drawn to the gleaming paint job and the chrome trident that made it look so majestic. I couldn’t tell if Neil was inside when it pulled up next to me, but then he lowered the window to greet me with a sensual smile. So I bent down to pick up my overnight bag and opened the door to get in the passenger seat. The leather smell of the interior, combined with the scent of clean musk, wrapped around me, and I turned to face Neil.
I regretted it immediately because every time he got near me, I ceased to be myself and became the inelegant, inane…in-love girl that he’d made me into.
“Hey, Tinkerbell,” he said softly, eyeing my body at length. I wasn’t wearing anything fancy. A wool hat, dark jeans, a heavy sweater, and a white coat with some low-heeled ankle boots. And why the hell hadn’t I worn something with higher heels?
I looked like a high school student rather than a young woman. I turned red, imagining that he had to be thinking—not for the first time—about how basic and unfeminine I was.
“I thought you forgot that I was coming,” I murmured, hoping to distract from the blush that I was sure had spread over my cheeks. The air aroundme felt blazing hot, and I wasn’t sure whether to blame it on the car’s heater or Neil’s proximity.
The electricity between us was palpable, just like the powerful attraction that neither of us knew what to do with.
“I was only ten minutes late. I had a small hitch.” He stepped on the gas, making the engine rumble, before pulling out into the airport’s traffic.
“What does that mean?” I asked him, looking around the car’s interior, which looked like it had just been detailed. There wasn’t so much as a scratch or speck of dust on the dashboard, the numerous controls, or the multimedia display—signs of Neil’s mania and fixation on cleanliness. I remembered how he’d once told me that he refused to have sex in the car.
“Nothing major. Had to wash my baby,” he said lightly and patted the steering wheel. I turned my gaze to him as he focused on driving and thought he looked even more handsome than usual. He was wearing a leather jacket with a fur collar, a dark sweater, and jeans. He wasn’t wearing anything fancy either, but he could still turn any woman’s head.
“Don’t start with the staring,” he chided me roughly, like always.
“Wh-where are we going?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t a stupid question.
I knew we were probably going to Matt’s house, but I wanted him to say it so I could tell him that I’d rather go to a hotel than set foot inside that place. There were too many painful memories in that house, especially in the pool house. Maybe Neil wouldn’t agree with my suggestion that we should find another place to stay, but I needed to at least try.
“To one of the apartments my mother keeps in the city,” he answered, stunning me instead.
“In one of…” I muttered. “What?” I blinked in shock and reached up to adjust my hat anxiously.
Neil just smiled and kept driving.
“I lifted her keys. It’s an apartment she bought last year. She only goes there when she needs to relax, so no one will bother us,” he explained, turning onto an unfamiliar street. Of course, I’d only visited New York briefly, so I couldn’t possibly know it as well as Neil did.
