Chapter 10 – Addison
Chapter Ten
ADDISON
“ A ddison.” My eyes flutter open at the sound of Carr’s voice.
He’s standing over me. I smile, thinking maybe I’m still dreaming because why else would he be so close when I’m in bed? Those things only happen in dreamland.
“Why do you always look so handsome?” I sigh. Then my heart sinks when a voice comes over an intercom letting us know the plane will be descending soon. I’m not asleep. “Oh my God.” I sit up, wiping my mouth to make sure I wasn't drooling in my sleep. Maybe he didn’t hear me.
“You think I’m handsome?” Carr smirks, letting me know he without a doubt heard every single word I said. Heat immediately rushes to my cheeks.
As if he doesn’t know he’s handsome. Not to mention charming with his quirky personality. I’m never sure what he might say, but it always surprises me. Plus, he’s crazy rich and smart. I try to halt my thoughts, knowing I can go on and on.
I don’t think he needs to hear from plain Jane me that he’s handsome. I’m sure women fall all over him. He’s the total package. So far, the only slight downfall I’ve seen in him is that he can be a bit of a workaholic. While most times, I would consider this a bad trait, I've been thankful for it over the last week. I needed to maintain some distance from him. It was in the best interest of everyone.
“The flight felt faster than I thought it would be.” I skip right over his question. “How’s Violet?” Maybe if I ask enough random things then he’ll forget what I said. I mean it’s worth a shot.
“She’s still asleep.” Carr sits down in the seat next to mine.
I raise mine back up. It reclined all the way down to lay flat like a bed. The plane is actually pretty cool. It has all these small pods, and we're the only people up in this area. Carr had booked the entire section off due to concerns about Violet's first time flying, but she turned out to be an angel.
"So you think I'm handsome?" Guess my little plan didn’t work.
"Carr." I laugh. "I think you and everyone else know you're handsome. I didn't mean to say that out loud. I thought I was dreaming."
"So you dream of me too."
"Oh my God." I cover my face with my hands.
"It's a good thing." I drop my hands, not sure where he is going with this. "It will help with what I need next." Oh shit. What can he need me to do that pairs well with me thinking he's handsome? I should probably be thinking something sexual, but I don't get those take advantage vibes from Carr.
"All right." I shift in my seat to face him more.
"I don't want to upset you." Okay, maybe I'm wrong and I’ve been misreading him this whole time.
"You know we have to keep things professional." My words come out with no power behind them. The truth is, I have a serious crush on him that keeps growing. I swear the harder I fight it, the worse it gets.
"You know how I told you they are looking for a family man."
"Yes." I don't think he'll have a problem there. He's so freaking good with Violet. Yet another reason to be attracted to him.
“Well—” He hesitates for a second as though he’s unsure if he should say whatever it is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this way before.
“Spit it out, Carr.”
“I need you to be my fiancée,” he finally blurts out.
“Seriously?” I’m not sure if he’s joking or not until he pulls out a ring. The ring should maybe shock me, but the man produced passports with the snap of his fingers. At this point, I'm starting to think he's a magician. “Is that real?”
“Of course.” I don’t know why I asked. “Hold your hand out.” I should say no, but I swear my hand moves on its own. He slips the ring onto my finger. It fits as though it was custom-made for me. The giant oval diamond sparkles even under the dim overhead lights.
“I don’t think I can wear this.” I’m scared to ask how many carats it is. Four? Five? Probably six. This man is insane.
“It’s a perfect fit.” He seems almost smug about this.
“What if I bang it or lose it?!” I should be focusing on how we are going to fake this, but the ring is so overwhelming. And, well, breathtaking. I didn't know I had a thing for jewelry until now.
“Don’t take it off and you won’t lose it.”
“It’s worth a car, I bet.”
“Or a house, depending on the area or market.”
“Carr!” I gasp.
“Congratulations,” the flight attendant says as she passes by us.
“Oh no, I?—”
Carr cuts off my protest. “Thank you.” He smiles at her, taking my hand by my fingers as he kisses the top of it.
“You’re really good at that.” I pull my hand up. He’s already pretending. Carr shrugs.
Every few seconds, my eyes drift back to the ring. I keep stroking the underside with my thumb. When we land, we’re the first off, and Carr has a vehicle waiting to zip us over to a fancy hotel.
“I kind of feel like I’m in a whole different world,” I whisper more to myself when we enter the suite.
“You must be hungry.” I just nod as I explore the giant suite. It has two rooms, but one is set up for a complete nursery. I bet he made that request, and they redid the whole room. The problem is, where the heck am I sleeping?
“Am I staying in another room?” I ask. Violet starts to fuss. I pick her up to change her diaper before making her a bottle. It’s nice that there is even a small kitchen.
“You don’t want to stay close to Violet?”
“Of course I do; it's just there is only one bed,” I point out. He might not have noticed.
“It’s a king.” He picks up the phone to order as if that’s a done matter. Does he really want us to share a bed?
He’s really taking this pretend fiancée thing seriously.