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“Nova, you have folded and refolded that same pair of shorts four times.” Juliet stuffed the shorts into my suitcase. “You have nothing to worry about! I’ve seen you and Ryzen together and believe me, you guys are believable.”
“You’re right. You. Are. Right. I’ve got this.” I pulled the shorts out of my suitcase and put them back in my dresser. “But—”
“No buts!” She walked over and put her hands on my shoulders, looking me up and down. “You need wine. And if you don’t stop with these damn shorts, I’m going to strangle you with them.”
I laughed, the tension leaving my shoulders a bit. She was right. I needed wine. Wine would fix me right up. I grabbed a bottle from the kitchen and when I got back to my bedroom, Juliet was rummaging in my closet.
“Oooh, bring this.” She held up a silk lavender nightie against her body. “Ryzen would die if he saw you in this.”
“Uh, no.” I took the hanger from her and hung the nightie back in the closet. “We are not even going there. We are only pretending to be in a relationship, and there will be no hanky-panky happening.” Supposedly. I mean, almost no hanky-panky. OK, maybe a bit.
“Boo.” She stuck her tongue out at me and gave me a thumbs down. “Twenty bucks says you sleep with him before the week is up.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Make it fifty, St. James. I could use the cash.”
“See, there’s the spirit, La Roux.” She grabbed the bottle of wine from my dresser. “Hmm, maybe it won’t be Ryzen, though. Maybe it will be the big dangerous man who licked the cherry off your face. I bet that’s not all he wanted to lick.” She wiggled her tongue at me and shrieked when I reached over and smacked her butt.
“That would never happen.” I took a sip from the bottle because nowadays we didn’t drink wine from glasses. That had been for the old Nova. Pre-engaged Nova. “Now help me finish packing before I’m late.”
It seemed like I blinked and two hours had gone by, mostly because Juliet kept feeding me bottles of wine, all the while trying to sneak lingerie into my suitcase. I had given up on trying to stop her. She seemed to believe I was in for a sex-filled week, and the more I tried to convince her it wouldn’t happen, the more I thought I was lying to myself.
Ryzen showed up exactly on time and helped carry my suitcases down to the waiting town car. He looked sexier than ever in his dark slacks and button-down shirt. The wine had given me a slight buzz and was making me want to do very bad things to him. The ride to the airport was torture as he held my hand in his, softly stroking little circles in my palm. That was OK though, right? Even though we weren’t in public, we still had to feel comfortable doing these types of things.
Right?
Right.
We walked down the tarmac, Ryzen’s security ahead of us, and boarded his private jet a short time later. I had never been on one before. I felt out of place. Uncomfortable. I had fought my whole life to avoid the very same image I was portraying now. However, those thoughts went straight out the window when Ryzen sat down and pulled me onto his lap. My lips parted in an “O” when his cock pressed against my ass. I looked over my shoulder at him as his hands gripped my waist, holding me in place.
“Want to join the mile-high club, Nova?” His voice was teasing, yet the look he gave me let me know he was dead serious. “You’re so fucking sexy.” He held me tighter, and my skin heated at the contact.
Hell yeah, I do!
The flight attendant cleared her throat from behind us and I froze. It was one of those moments where I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole. It wasn’t like I was a prude, but I didn’t need some stranger watching me dry-hump some guy while I moaned out, “Yes, Daddy.” I turned my head slowly in her direction, and she didn’t even blink an eye at me spread wide-legged over his lap. I stood up quickly and pulled my dress down, heat rushing up my chest and to my face.
“My apologies, ma’am.” She nodded at me and held out a cell phone to Ryzen. “Your brother, sir. He insists on speaking with you immediately.”
Ryzen cursed under his breath and grabbed the phone. “I’ll be right back.” He kissed me on my cheek and headed to the back of the jet, the flight attendant on his heels.
She came back a few moments later with a bottle of champagne and a platter of assorted fruits and cheeses. “Mr. Goodacre will be in a meeting for the duration of the flight. Champagne?”
“Yes, thanks.” I grabbed the flute of champagne as she laid out the assortment on the table in front of me. “Sorry about that. Um, you know—the indecent exposure.”
She poofed up the pillows on the seat across from me. “No need to apologize, ma’am. I’m used to it.”
I froze mid-sip and puckered my lips. “Oh, uh…” I wasn’t sure how to take that. I opened my mouth to respond, but she cut me off.
“Congratulations on your engagement, ma’am. Please buzz me if you need anything further.” She eyed the engagement ring on my hand and gave me a strange look that I couldn’t decipher.
I spent the next hour catching up on work emails and responding to a collaboration request from a plus-size lingerie company. It was owned by two friends, and their story was so similar to ours that I couldn’t help but say yes to their request for a meeting next month. Things were going great for us. The company was thriving; we were about to expand operations, and all we needed was to secure the warehouse and get our biggest order ever out on time. It was a make-or-break moment, and I wouldn’t let anything get in the way.
I fell asleep with my phone in my hand, mid-text to Juliet. When I opened my eyes, I realized the jet was no longer moving, just making a soft humming sound. There was a note in my lap from Ryzen, saying we had to make a quick stop in Memphis for business, but that he would be right back. I grinned at the little heart he put next to his name at the bottom.
It was well after midnight by the time we reached Dallas and landed at a private airport, over two hours later than planned. Some of Ryzen’s security was there and took care of unloading our luggage while we stepped into a stretch limousine. Thirty minutes later we were pulling up to the gate of Covington’s estate.
The first thing I noticed was they sure did everything big in Texas. The gate was at least thirty feet high with a large black and gold-encrusted horseshoe and the letter “C” right in the center. As the limo drove down the lit-up dirt path, all you could see were trees upon trees on each side. It was another five minutes down a winding road before we reached another, much smaller gate, with the same emblem on it.
The gate opened, and the limo drove around a massive waterfall structure in front of the house. It had to have been at least fifty feet in diameter, with water cascading down and splashing over the sides. Juliet would laugh at the gaudiness of it all, and she would be right, although it was beautiful at the same time.
