I shut my eyes for what seemed like only a moment, but when I opened them, I realized I’d fallen asleep as well. A glass of white wine waited for me on the tray table.
Shawn was awake.
He set his glass down and swiped a finger on the screen of his iPad, then picked up the glass again with the same hand. That was odd. Why didn’t he use his left?
Holy crap.Because my hand, the one closest to him, was on his leg... and he had his left hand resting comfortably on top of that. How was it that this felt much more intimate than when he’d moved his hand between my legs?
His fingers were long and curled slightly around mine. The connection felt natural, and I couldn’t pull away, didn’t want to. It was unsettling how much I craved his touch.
“I did not put your hand on my leg,” he said, when he noticed what I was staring at.
“I don’t believe that for a second.” I snatched my hand free and reached for my glass, the wine sloshing and threatening to spill.
He shrugged. “Your body knows what your brain won’t admit.”
“How long until we land?” I asked, ignoring his arrogance.
“Are you eager to take me home?”
I shot him a dirty look. “No, I was wondering how soon until I get to see you scared again.”
“I wasn’t scared. More like uneasy.”
“I’m familiar with the feeling.”
He gave a wicked smile. Which evaporated instantly when we hit turbulence and the plane dropped in an air pocket. I liked the feeling it created in my stomach, but I liked the other feeling I had right now even more. The upper hand.
Hewasscared, or at least nervous, whereas I was calm and collected. “I’m going to decline your offer for security, but thank you.”
The idea of strangers watching over mecaused my stomach to clench. I liked my privacy and hated that my sister had to live under constant supervision from a bodyguard, even with Jason around. It was just another reason for me to hate Juric.Please let him be dead.
Shawn frowned. “Why are you saying no? Kara, I want to do this for you.”
“What about what I want? I don’t like being told what to do, trust me.”
His face softened. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I don’t have any motive for installing a security team, other than to make sure you’re protected.”
“Right,” I said. “It’s definitely not just another way for you to insert yourself into my life.”
“This is silly.” He peered at me like I was being unreasonable. “Let me do this for you.”
Not a denial, my brain whispered.
He straightened in his seat like the matter had been settled. “Let’s talk about something else.”
Other people didn’t get to make decisions for me. “I want to talk about this.”
Once again, he set his hand on my thigh, perhaps as an attempt to distract me. He forced lightness into his tone, like he was serious but pretended not to be. “It’s not up for discussion.”
Was he joking? “Like hell it’s not.”
“It’s already done, so we’re not going to talk about it anymore.”
His eyes went dark and his expression hardened, like I was a bad employee this CEO needed to get back in line. I inhaled sharply, stunned by this version of him. There was nothing playful. The look he gave me was stern, authoritative.It said he’d just issued a command, and I needed to obey.
My eyes burned. I tore my gaze away from him to stare at the hand on my lap, as fire flared deep inside me.Noone ordered me around.
Not anymore.
