“Get your hand off me,” I snapped.
He complied immediately and his face flooded with remorse. He sensed he’d pushed too far, but it was too late. I’d seen the true version of him now, and there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.
“In fact, you don’t get to touch me again,” I declared. “Ever.”
He took a deep breath, and thoughts churned in his eyes. His lips parted, perhaps to offer an apology, but his mouth abruptly snapped shut and his whole demeanor changed.
“Well, then, that’s disappointing,” he said finally. His gaze turned forward. He picked up his iPad and scrolled back to his work as if nothing had happened between us.
Like he couldn’t care less.
I was stunned speechless. I’d thrown down the gauntlet, and all he’d done was walk away.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, and I spent it wondering what the hell had happened. Shawn didn’t speak again. He also didn’t flinch when we hit another patch of turbulence during the descent into Maastricht.
After six months of pursuit, had he decided to give up? Maybe it was for the best. We were from different worlds. Me, the naïve American, who not too long ago was in grad school, getting drunk on Thursday nights when the beer was half-priced.
Hisbeer. From the enormous company he ran in Germany.
Once we landed, it was night outside, and we waited inside the lit cabin, the engines powering down with a mechanical whine and rain pattering against the metal exterior of the plane. The on-duty immigration official boarded to check us in. Shawn produced two passports from his interior suit pocket, one navy blue that matched mine, and the other a deep red.Deutschland.The immigration official stamped our passports, welcomed us to the Netherlands, and then departed.
Shawn put his passports away, raked a hand through his dark hair, and set his attention on me. “Are you ready to go?”
I nodded. I didn’t live far from the airport, so the awkward tension between us would be over soon.
“What are you doing?” I asked when we were outside and Shawn’s suitcase was extracted from the plane. He set a hand on it, indicating he was taking his luggage with him. My stomach twisted the same way it did whenever I received one of his text messages. “I said you could escort me home. I didn’t say a thing about you staying.”
He shrugged. “I’d like to be prepared should that opportunity present itself.”
My mouth went slack at his nerve. “You are unbelievable.”
“Yes.” His smile was faint, yet full of innuendo. “I’ve been told that.”
At what point would his arrogance stop shocking me? I looked around the tarmac, surprised not to see a car waiting.
“How were you planning on getting home?” he said.
“I was going to walk.”
The rain had slowed to a stop but looked like it could resume at any moment. He nodded, tilting his bag onto its wheels as if ready to follow me.
“It’s fifteen blocks,” I added.
He considered my statement and shook his head as if amused. “Should that bother me? I’m European. It’s you Americans who dislike walking.”
His bag looked heavier than mine.Good.
Without a word, I took off for the gate. I dragged my suitcase along as fast as I could manage, challenging him to keep up and doing everything I could to try to lose him.
The sooner I got home, the sooner I’d be rid of him.
9
SHAWN
I was sofrustrated with myself, thoughts were difficult. I wasn’t sure how to get back on track with Kara.
As I pulled alongside her, she looked like she longed for a shower and a bed. Yeah, me too. But I longed for her even more, and the feeling was powerful and intense. We needed to fuck and get it over with. Deal with our lust and dispel the sexual tension.
