“Yes,” he said flatly.
“Harrison,” I said, unable to contain my bubble of laughter. “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”
He scowled at me before reaching over and plucking the book from my clutches.
“What are you doing? Give that back.” I tried to retrieve it, but he held it high, just out of my reach.
“No. Apparently I need to broaden my views,” he said.
“You’re seriously going to read my book?” I asked, trying not to gape.
“I can’t critique something I haven’t tried.”
“Why do I feel like that hasn’t stopped you in the past?”
Harrison held my book in front of him and held up a finger to his mouth. “Excuse me. Can you please keep it down? I’m trying to read.”
I let out a laugh at the sight.
The flight attendants came through to prepare us for take-off. Soon our plane was taxiing out of the gate, and we were airborne. I glued my face to the window, keeping an eye on the ground. As it got farther away, so did my real life.
“You really do like flying.”
I turned back around to see Harrison staring at me openly, my book sitting forgotten on his lap.
“I love it.”
He frowned in a pensive way before nodding. “I think I’m going to watch a movie and pass out. It’s a long flight.”
“Enjoy,” I said, knowing that I’d probably be up for hours savoring every second of this experience. I mean, business was doing well, but realistically, when could I expect to fly first-class again?
Harrison shifted in his seat, his expression hard as ever. I tried my best to tune out his presence, but the heat crawling up my skin wasn’t going anywhere. Could this little crush be any more humiliating? The urge to peel off my sweatshirt hit me, but it was actually freezing in here. The last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to the fact that I was nearly combusting.
Instead, I slipped on my giant noise-canceling headphones, selected whatever latest comedy the airline had to offer, and settled into my seat, pretending I didn’t even notice my very attractive, attention-consuming seatmate.
Warily optimistic. That’s how I would describe my feelings toward him. Our newfound truce was unexpected and welcome. But knowing Harrison, his mood could shift as easily as a leaf floating gently to the ground could be whipped back into the air by a rogue gust of wind.
He might change his mind about all this, or simply forget the second an opportunity arose to make a snide remark directed at me. Even if he did revert, though, only two international flights separated us from our friends. Charlie, Oliver—even Nathan. They’d be the buffers we desperately needed. Once we were all reunited, Harrison and I would barely have to interact.
For the sake of my racing heart and the nervous energy swelling inside of me, I was immensely grateful for that.
EIGHT
Harrison
Applause rattledthrough the cabin the instant the wheels hit the tarmac in Munich. Annoyance simmered in my chest. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but something about clapping for a landing—especially on such a smooth flight, with close to zero turbulence—irritated the hell out of me.
The commotion caused Lila to lift her cheek from the window where she’d been passed out and blink her eyes open. Almost as soon as she snapped to attention, she smiled and clapped along with everyone else.
“Stop that,” I said, my face unintentionally contorted into one of disgust.
She narrowed her eyes before dropping her hands to her lap. “Can you just let me be excited? It’s not like it’s affecting you.”
“It’s obnoxious and it’s in my vicinity,” I grumbled.
Not my best line, but I was irritable. Well, more irritable than usual. While I should have had no issue sleeping, given this lavish setup, I couldn’t get a certain perky redhead off my mind. Her presence was like a magnetic field. I could sense her, and for whatever reason, that kept me wide awake.
And surprise, surprise—I didn’t do well on lack of sleep.
