Chapter Ten #4
Hallie laughed and it felt as warm as a shot of whisky hitting my chest. I took a step closer to her.
I had to. Her smile faded a little as I did, and heat filled her eyes.
Before I knew what I was doing, I took hold of the hoodie’s string around her neck, rubbing it between my fingers.
“This outfit may be casual, but I’m sure you could wear a hessian sack and still look beautiful. ”
Hallie exhaled a rushed breath. The air grew to thick static between us. Hallie cleared her throat and gestured around us. “Y’all have yourselves a fancy getup with this plane, Jasper,” she said, her country accent thick and strong.
It was nerves, I realized. My proximity, bringing out the cowgirl in her. I shouldn’t have loved that as much as I did.
Averting my attention, I glanced around at the wood, gold, and cream finishes of the Gulfstream I bought a few years ago. I didn’t know whether Hallie would find this private plane too excessive or impressive. For some reason, I needed it to be the former. “You think it’s a waste of money?”
Hallie rolled her eyes and sputtered an incredulous laugh.
“Fuck, no,” she said, “I spent the first fifteen minutes on board checking the place out like a kid at a new playground. This plane is insane. And it sure as shit beats waiting in line at the TSA or being crammed in economy class next to someone who doesn’t understand basic hygiene. ”
I fought a laugh. “Well, I’m glad you approve.”
Hallie nudged her chin in the direction of the bedroom.
“That’s an interesting feature.” My blood went from warm to scalding in naught point two seconds when the image of Hallie, naked and on all fours in the middle of my bed, came to mind.
She must have seen the heat on my face as her eyelids lowered and she said, “Use it much?”
We held each other’s stares for several beats, the air pulsing between us.
With this turn in conversation, we were treading into dangerous waters.
Hallie reached out and plucked a piece of lint that had gathered on the shoulder of my gilet.
I fought back a vision of grabbing her hand, putting it over my stirring dick, and crushing her mouth to mine.
But I behaved myself. “If I travel at night, I will,” I said.
Hallie nodded, then, “That’s all? You only use it for sleep? How . . . vanilla.” A playful smirk pulled on her full red lips.
I was fucked. I’d never met this level of temptation before in my entire thirty-two years. Hallie Oakley was my living-fucking-wet dream, and now she was asking me if I fucked in my plane’s private bedroom.
I inched closer until Hallie’s back hit the wall behind her.
Her breathing was rough. “Vanilla?” I said, catching the rasp in my voice.
“I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, Hallie, but never that.
” I pushed back a fallen strand of her dark hair from her cheek.
Hallie sucked in a stuttered breath. “Never that.”
One night. I would need just one night, one fucking hour with this woman, and I’d show her I was far from vanilla. I’d wreck her for fucking life. And she’d be a good adversary for me. I liked control, craved it. Hallie would fight back, giving me the challenge of a lifetime.
I almost groaned aloud just picturing it. Hallie’s eyes fixed on mine and didn’t shift. We were close, very close, but if I just leaned in, just a little bit more . . .
“Hals! Never fucking leave me with that prick again . . .” Sage came barreling through the curtain, shattering the moment. She immediately froze, seeing us pressed against the wall, and I instantly stepped back and cleared my throat. Sage smiled smugly. “Sorry to interrupt.”
I waved her off. “Nothing to interrupt,” I said, and pushed past them.
“Have a nice flight, ladies,” I added, and quickly sat down.
I could hear heated whispers from Sage and Hallie, so I put my AirPods back in my ears and ate my meal, ignoring the hammering of my heart in my chest and the fact that my cock was now as hard as nails.
Sage and Hallie eventually moved past me, back to their seats, and I picked up my laptop and briefcase and took myself to the bedroom. I locked myself inside and slumped down on the side of the bed. I ran my hands through my hair.
Watching over Hallie on this trip would test every limit I had. I could still smell her rose and vanilla perfume on my shirt. My dick hardened to a painful degree, and all I could see were her piercing blue eyes as she stared up at me.
But she was in the cabin with Sage and my cousin, where she belonged. And not in here with me.
I ran my finger over my lip. In a perfect world, I would have kissed her there and then.
I would have steered her back to this room, thrown her to the bed, bound her hands and licked that woman from head to foot before slamming inside her and making her scream.
I’d have spent every hour of this journey making her fall apart, not giving one single fuck as to who heard her.
But this wasn’t a perfect world. This was the one I’d been given.
My only job was to protect her.
I just wished I could convince my heart of that too.