“You aren’t going to want to talk the whole time, are you?” Harrison asked gruffly as he sat down in his pod-like seat.
I pulled the airline-provided blanket over my lap.
“Nope.”
“Really?” He questioned, arching a brow. “Because you seem like the type to talk my ear off the whole time and never take a hint.”
My cheeks stained pink. Why was he always so insistent on sparring?
“Sorry that you’re going to be subjected to me for an entire flight,” I said, the sweet sarcasm dripping from my tone. “But I promise, despite what you might think, my obnoxious personality won’t rub off on you.”
I let his comment wash over me, but it still stung a bit.Of courseI liked talking, especially on airplanes when I was all excited about the end destination. If Charlie had been in Harrison’s place, you’d have been hard pressed to get us to shut up for at least the first hour or two.
To Harrison, however, that was apparently the most annoying trait imaginable. Much like every trait I possessed, it seemed. Despite the promise I’d made to myself after that day at his shop, to not let him get under my skin, his taunts still hurt. It would always drive me a little nuts that I wasn’t his cup of tea, especially since that tiny little flutter in my heart refused to fade. It was even worse now, sitting next to him without the divider up, leaving it all too easy for him to inch into my space at any moment. Plus, he smelledgood. Like distractingly good.
I shuddered and turned toward the window.
“Nothing else to say,” he probed as he picked up his leather drawing pad.
“Look who’s the chatty one now. I’m just trying to enjoy this.” I made a big display of opening my book and pressing it close to my nose. The pages had that new book smell. “Why don’t you just keep to yourself the rest of the flight?”
His deep sigh sparked my curiosity, and I glanced up.
His hard expression made him impossible to read, whereas my own face tended to show every emotion like I wore a sign across my forehead. I didn’t mind it, usually. Had it made my dating life challenging? Sure. But overall, I liked my vulnerability. People like Harrison could call it a weakness if they wanted, but I knew it was one of my biggest strengths.
“I’m sorry.” The words sounded like they were physically painful for him to deliver.
“For what?”
“For being a jerk. You can talk if you want to.”
“You said it five seconds ago. How can you already be sorry?” I asked, giving up on pretending to read and setting the book back down in my lap. “I get it. You’ve made it abundantly clear that everything about me is a giant joke. But no worries; in just ten short hours we’ll be landing in Munich, and then just one more short flight to Santorini, and then the two of us never have to be alone in the same room again. I can promise you that.”
I turned away again as the burly bear next to me shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Hey,” he started. But I opened my book back up aggressively and placed it over my face, using it as a barrier so I wouldn’t have to look at him. If he made some sexist comment about the pink cover or the fact that it was obviously a romance novel, I might lose it.
“Look—” Harrison breathed.
“Let’s not talk,” I snapped, pulling my book down for a moment to level him with a glare before returning it to eye-level again.
He sighed as if he had just completed some sort of physical labor.
“I’m trying to apologize,” he said.
I lifted the book higher.
“Are you listening?” he asked before his hand slid over the top of my book and lowered it gently.
I caved in and lowered it the rest of the way before eyeing him warily. His dark eyes looked sincere. I could honestly say in the entire time we’d known each other, he’d never given me a look like that. When I glanced behind him, I noticed our elderly seatmates across the aisle look away quickly.
“Fine. Get it over with.” The last thing I wanted was every person in the first-class cabin eavesdropping on our drama.
I shifted in my seat so that I faced him and he wouldn’t have to talk as loudly. My heart rate kicked up a couple of notches at the prolonged eye contact. Man, I’d thought he was attractive when he was being a jerk; I would have been done for if he’d shot me one of these looks every once in a while. I stuffed my sweaty palms into my sweatshirt and hoped he wouldn’t notice that he had any sort of effect on me.
“I’m really sorry for the last time we were together, okay?” He said the last word while searching my eyes, begging me to take him seriously. “That was an asshole thing to say, and it wasn’t true.”
I lifted my chin up. “Go on.”
