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“That turns into a bed,” Daniel says, coming up behind me. “So if you’re feeling sleepy later, I’ll have the staff do a turndown for you.”
A turndown. My brain goes straight to my pyjamas.
So thin I can see your nipples through it, and so short I’m almost salivating to find out if you’re wearing anything at all underneath.
His words swirl in my head. For some reason, thinking about Daniel watching me climb into bed, seeing those secret parts of me that I touched for him, sends a shiver down my spine. A dull ache gathers between my thighs, but I squeeze them together.
For a second, I have the sense I’m floating, looking down on myself in some kind of out-of-body experience. Am I really on a private jet about to fly across the globe? Am I really thinking about a guy who isn’t simply out of my league, but is basically another species?
“There’s only one bed,” I mutter, completely meaning to speak those words only in my head. But when a darkly amused chuckle comes out of Daniel’s mouth, I suck in a breath. Is he thinking about last night, too? “Just an observation.”
Smooth, Ava. Like forty-grit sandpaper.
“Yes, there’s only one bed,” he replies. His dark eyes glitter, as if his mind has goneexactlywhere mine has—straight into the gutter. “Don’t worry, I’ll be a gentleman.”
I wish you wouldn’t.
I clear my throat and whip around as though I have somethingvery importantto dig out of my handbag. “Good, well that’s...excellent.”
“I’ve got to get some work done,” Daniel says, settling in to one of the plush leather chairs and plugging his laptop in. “There’s a TV screen back there with movies and TV shows preloaded. I saw you’d raided my bookshelf, as well.”
Busted. I’ve stashed the rest of the Takeshi Kovacs series into my carry-on, along with two Philip K. Dick novels. “What can I say, you have a large collection.”
Large. Couldn’t you have used literally any other descriptor?
“I’m glad you appreciate my large collection.” His eyes sweep over me, and though I’m wearing a simple dress that keeps me perfectly covered, I feel like he can see every inch of me. “I’m rather proud of it.”
I try to swallow, but my mouth is bone-dry. “You should be.”
Daniel’s lip twitches, but he turns his attention to the screen in front of him, mercifully giving me a chance to die of embarrassment without his onyx eyes picking me apart. How have I been reduced to thinking about sex no matter how innocent the conversation?
I scurry to the sectional sofa and settle in, slipping a pair of headphones on and trying to find something to watch that won’t have my mind leaping to anythinglargebelonging to Daniel. They must have kids on the plane sometimes, because there’s a collection of Disney movies. I popMoanaon and smile at the flight attendant as she delivers my water, along with a little plate of fruit and cheese.
I can do this. Spending a couple of days in France in complete luxury won’t be a hardship, and I know I should try to relax and enjoy the experience. This tension between Daniel and me is nothing more than animal instincts. He’s hot, single and we’re in close proximity. It’s not surprising there’s sexual chemistry.
But even as I think those safe, logical thoughts there’s a dark corner of my brain that whispers to me, telling me I’m wrong. That this is more. That Daniel lights up something inside me that nobody else ever has. When he got his sexy revenge for me watching him, the way it turned my body liquid, the almost forbidden nature of it... That was new.
Which means I am well and truly screwed. Or rather, I want to be.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Daniel
IALMOSTDOZEoff between combing through documents for the acquisition negotiations that are supposed to take place next week. But Henry Livingstone is avoiding my emails and I can feel the deal slipping through my fingers. Even if Marc hasn’t gotten in his ear, one look at the media makes our company seem like we’re one bad headline away from having our own trashy reality TV show.
And the worst thing of all... I feel numb.
My heart is hollow and my brain spins like a tire slipping against an icy road. Everything I have worked for, everything my grandfather and uncle built our company for...is family. Even while my parents’ marriage fell apart, my mother would hold Marc and me and tell us over and over: family is everything. Blood is thicker than water. You must love each other.
But maybe familial relationships are just as risky as love relationships. When your guards are down, you’re inviting someone to take aim with their strongest weapon.
Shaking off the pointless ruminations, I reach my hands above my head and stretch. My body is tight from hours of sitting. Ava has spent the first part of the trip watching movies, her giggles cutting through the silence every so often in a way that makes me smile. But when I look at her now, she’s curled into the couch and her eyes are shut. The flicker of the screen makes light play over her face.
She can’t be comfortable squished up like that. What’s the point of owning a luxury jet if you can’t have a decent sleep on an overnight flight?
I push up from my chair and go to her. She’s snoring lightly, her long hair tangled beneath her head. At some point she’s kicked off her sandals and they lie haphazardly on the floor. She looks so peaceful. Content.
I push a button on the wall to call one of the staff and a second later the cabin chief, Marisa, appears. “Can you make the bed up?” I ask.
