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“God, no! It’s just I’m nervous about seeing him.”
“You don’t have to see him unless you want to. You should know how to avoid him if you need to.”
“That’s true. It’s just, well . . . he knows I’m coming up there.”
“What? How?”
“Well, for one, we used to work together at his family’s restaurant. I had to put them down as a reference, even though I didn’t want to. But it wouldn’t look good if I didn’t, you know?”
“Makes sense. He’s not going to give you a bad recommendation, is he?”
“No. It’d be his mother they’d talk to anyway, so I’m not too worried about it.”
“Then I wouldn’t stress about it. Unless he’s harassing you or
something.” I looked at her, dead serious. “He’s not, is he?” I wasn’t trying to be possessive. Call it protective. Okay, call it possessive, if need be. But I didn’t want anybody messing with her.
“No. He’s not harassing me. He’s harmless.”
“Okay, then. Don’t stress about him. Focus on your interviews. Don’t let him creep back into your head and psyche you out.”
Her plump, pouty lips turned up into a half-smile.
“You got this, Siena.” I watched her chest rise with a deep breath.
“It’s just . . . he really fucked me up. Fucked me over bad.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“Are you still hung up on him?” I tried to sound more casual than I felt.
“No!” she answered quickly. “No.” She touched my arm. Sparks. “It’s nothing like that.” She looked at me directly in the eye. “I started thinking about what happened the last time I was up there. And I guess it just kind of all came rushing back to me.”
“Well, if you want to talk, I’m here. But don’t sweat it. You’re good. Everything will be all right.”
“I think you mean ‘all righty.’” She poked me in the thigh, laughing.
I chuckled at what had now become our own inside joke. What in the actual fuck made me sayall righty? Didn’t matter. Saying it made her smile. And I was becoming addicted to that smile.
Siena began rifling through the in-flight magazine. I wasn’t going to let the energy between us dissipate. “I’ve kissed a lot of people.A lot. But damn. That kiss.” I whistled my amazement, shaking my head in disbelief, hoping to egg her into a replay of the other night.
She barely gave me a sideways glance, but I could see the corner of her mouth turn up. Got her.
“I’m not trying to brag. I’m sure you’ve kissed a lot of people too.”
The familiar exasperated look which told me I was starting to get her riled up crossed her face as she rolled her eyes. Perfect.
“What I’m trying to say is that we’vebothkissed a lot of people—”
“It’s not a competition, Michael.”
“I’m just merely pointing out that . . .”
“What? You’re a man whore?” She laughed.
“No. Thatourkiss was different. Amazing.”
