AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’d have to go with nature. When the sun does shine, there’s no better place. The Cascades are less than an hour away.”
An adorable furrow seizes the space between her brows. “I can’t picture you camping and hiking and doing all of that outdoorsy stuff.”
“Don’t judge a man by his clothes.”
She lowers her eyes, and I feel the heat of her gaze at my throat, where I’d left the top two buttons of my collar undone. Then her attention drifts to my slacks.
“It’s hard to imagine you in jeans.”
I’m hard, period. Christ, I hope she doesn’t notice.
“So,” I say, swallowing past the thick lump of desire clogging my throat. “Think you’ll stick around and find some favorites of your own?”
“I hope so,” she says, her voice softening. “I can’t go back home.”
I want to ask why. There is so much about this woman I want to know. What she does for a living. What she does for fun. What kind of music she listens to.
The sounds she makes when she comes.
Jesus.
Clearing my throat, I lean forward and nod toward the window. “Looks like we’re getting close.” A glittering blanket of lights breaks through the dark, and for a long while, Jules gazes through the glass, seemingly relaxed. But when the pilot announces descent into Seattle, she stiffens beside me. Holding her hand seems natural by now, and yet the spark of awareness that shoots through me as I lace our fingers together isn’t. I ignore the buzz zapping along my skin and focus on trying to keep her calm.
“We’ll be on the ground again in no time,” I assure her.
She lets out a nervous huff. “I could’ve used you on my flight to Denver earlier.”
“Was the turbulence bad?”
“Not as bad as tonight.”
Silence settles over us for several minutes as the aircraft decreases in altitude. We bank left, and she squeezes my hand. I surpassed maintaining personal space long ago. As I return the tight grip of her fingers, I lean into her, hyper aware of the warmth radiating from her skin, and watch the lights of the city from over her shoulder. That glittering ground comes closer with each second that goes by. I think she might be holding her breath.
“Jules, breathe.” My words drift across her cheek, and I’m certain she’s shivering. Gripping my hand to the point of pain, she lets out a shaky exhale as the wheels touch the runway with a jolt. As soon as we’re safely on the ground, and the plane begins to taxi, she releases my hand before giving me a sheepish smile.
“Sorry if I crushed your fingers.”
“I’m not complaining.”
We lock eyes for several heated moments, in which time seems to freeze. It isn’t until the seat belt light dings off that the spell is broken. As passengers start to move, I unbuckle and grab my computer bag, then stand to fetch my carry-on. Adrenaline is coursing through me, and I’m not sure if it’s from the woman I just spent the last three hours with, or from the impending argument I’m expecting with Monica.
“Do you have luggage up here?” I ask Jules as I pull my bag from the overhead bin.
Gripping a large purse between her dainty hands, she shakes her head. “I checked my suitcase.”
She seems so small and scared sitting in that seat. I wasn’t lying when I called her gutsy, and I’m finding her more alluring for it. Because it takes guts to be brave and vulnerable at the same time, and she does both with such openness that it makes my heart clench. Stepping back in the aisle to give her room, I gesture for her to go first.
“Thank you,” she murmurs with an endearing shyness as she slides over and stands.
Hell, she’s tiny. Her soft hair spills down her back, almost reaching her ass.
Her ass…
Don’t even go there.
We shuffle along until we reach the exit, and I follow her across the jet bridge, the wheels of my carry-on drowning out the mad pace of my heartbeat. She’s done something to me.
Made me lose my head.
