Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Carter
“Nope,” I say as Nash drops his black backpack into the seat next to mine on the plane. No way am I spending this sixteen-hour flight to Tokyo with anyone but the woman who completely upended my world this morning. “Kelsey and I are using the flight to get some work done.”
It’s not a lie per se.
“It’s okay, Nash,” Kelsey says from behind him in the aisle. “You don’t want to spend the whole flight listening to him whine about how sore he is, anyway.”
Nash flashes a smile at Kelsey, and I flex my hand to resist punching him in his stupid face.
“I can’t believe you convinced him to go on a six-mile run,” Nash says as he moves farther down the aisle. “I tried to get him to go on a jog in Vancouver, and he didn’t even answer—just shook his head as he walked away.”
Kelsey’s eyes sparkle with mischief as they catch mine.
“Turns out, Carter will do anything if you bet him he can’t.”
I grab Kelsey’s black backpack and place it on the middle seat as she shoves her carry-on into the storage bin over her head.
“You know he’s going to start betting me to do the most random shit now, right?” I ask Kelsey once she’s sitting down.
“That was the goal,” she says as she leans toward me to pull her laptop and headphones out of her backpack.
Do not kiss her. Do not kiss her.
“Wipe that look off your face, Carter Mitchell,” Kelsey hisses at me so low, I can barely hear her.
“What look?” I ask, grabbing the safety card out of the back of the seat and focusing on the drawings.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Kelsey’s narrowed eyes, but I continue my perusal of the features of our CloudBus C220 airplane.
Kelsey pulls out her phone, her fingers flying over the screen for a moment before a text pops up.
Kelsey
You look like you want to eat me.
Me
I do want to eat you.
You’re fucking delicious.
I’d eat you every day if I could.
I’ve always thought the mile-high club was overrated…small bathrooms, big guy and all…but I’m starting to see the appeal.
Kelsey rolls her eyes.
I lean over and whisper, “I didn’t peg you for a coward, Kels.”
“I didn’t peg you for an idiot, Cart.”
She opens her laptop as she says it, clearly trying to indicate the conversation is over.
This has been, without a doubt, the best twelve hours of my life.
January 28 will live on forever as the day I finally became more to Kelsey Harper than just some guy.
The sex—the sex was fucking mind-blowing.
But sleeping with Kelsey isn’t what makes today worth remembering.
No, it’s that I’m finally able to drop the carefully constructed mask I’ve worn around her since high school.
It’s freeing to show just how interested I am in everything she has to say.
Just how captivated I am by every move she makes.
Even if this stupid rivalry between our two companies is making it so she can’t officially be mine, I will take any piece of Kelsey she’s willing to give me—even the ones she’s trying so hard to keep hidden.
And I will do anything to make it happen, anything except lose this contract.
Kelsey taps her fingers on the edge of her laptop, focused on whatever email or message she’s working on. But I can feel the connection still humming between us—the energy lingering in the air like static.
I know she wants me to act like nothing happened, but I can’t look away.
Shit, maybe I should’ve let Nash sit next to me.
At least then I wouldn’t be spending the entire flight with a semi.
And I wouldn’t be obsessing over the fact that Kelsey’s hair has every color in the spectrum, from almost silvery blonde to deep browns.
Now that I really look at it, some people might even call her hair brunette rather than blonde—I might be overlaying her beach-blonde waves from high school over the darker shades that currently dance their way down her head and shoulders.
Forcing my gaze away from her, I place my headphones in my ears and pull up the “World War II meets zombies” movie I downloaded this morning after our run.
I don’t care that she’s pretending to be absorbed in her work. I know she’s trying to rebuild the boundaries we upended this morning. Because if there’s one thing I know about Kelsey, it’s that she needs to be in control.
And right now, she’s pretending we didn’t just fully lose control this morning.
“So we’re just going to pretend like we’re both not thinking about this morning?” I ask, my voice low enough for only her to hear.
The crew turned the lights off about five minutes after we were airborne, knowing everyone is trying to get some sleep, so it feels less risky to talk to her.
Her fingers pause on her keyboard, and she bites her lip, clearly trying to figure out how to get the upper hand.
“I’m not thinking about it,” she mutters, her eyes still glued to her screen.
“Liar,” I tease.
“I have to work, Carter. You can flirt with me all you want, but I’m not going to play this game.”
“Of course you are.” I grin, leaning in closer. “I know you better than that. You love a challenge.”
A small smirk forms on her lips. “Oh, really?”
“Yep.” I pop the sound at the end just to annoy her. “What I don’t know is if you’re too scared to meet me in the bathroom in a minute. The one on the starboard side.” I nod my head toward the back, where the last two rows of people are all in headphones, attempting to sleep.
“I’m not doing that.”
I shrug like I don’t care either way. “It’s for the best, you probably wouldn’t be able to be quiet with what I have planned for you anyway.”
I hold her gaze as I stand up, waiting for her to put her things down so I can slip out of the aisle next to her.
As I pass by, I whisper into her ear, “This morning was real for me, and whether you join me in that bathroom or not, I will be tasting you again, very, very soon.”
With that, I stride down the aisle and into the bathroom, which is much smaller than I remembered. Shit. How do people have sex in airplane bathrooms?
I check my watch for the fourth time in two and a half minutes, just about to give up, when there is a soft knock on the door.
I don’t even try to hide my smile as I press my body against the wall, making room for both the folding door and Kelsey to push their way inside.
“You came,” I whisper into her hair as I pull her tight against me, locking the door behind her.
“Did you think I would—”
I cut her off with my lips, my tongue diving into the warmth of her mouth. Her arm slides around my neck as her back presses into the sink. Grabbing her hips, I lift her up, her legs wrapped around my waist.
She lets out a soft moan as our centers press together, and I chuckle against her lips.
Turning us slightly so that she’s above the toilet, I set her on the closed seat so she’s standing before me.
“Pants off,” I whisper as I pull down her black joggers. I kiss the exposed flesh at her hips before fully exposing her.
“Carter, I—” she starts, but her words change into a small squeak as I lightly nuzzle her clit with my nose.
“Quiet, Kels,” I whisper, running my fingers along her strong, lean thighs, moving slowly up to the apex. Her hands fist my hair, tugging gently.
Knowing my time is limited, I begin feasting on Kelsey, my tongue and lips quickly finding a rhythm of licking and sucking that causes her hands to tighten, directing my motion.
The memory of this morning is forever burned into my mind, so I add a finger, then two, curling them in time with my mouth.
Kelsey’s movements against me become erratic, and she lets go of my hair with one hand. Seconds later, she breaks with a muffled moan.
Still in my slightly bent-over position, I look up into her eyes as I lick her from my lips before wiping a hand to clear her release off my face. Seeing the arm she still has pressed across her mouth, I chuckle, a wave of pride flowing through me at the image.
Standing up fully, I kiss her collarbone and then her cheek.
“I’ll see you back out there,” I whisper, checking my face in the mirror to ensure I’m presentable.
Her eyes widen. “Wait. What about you?” she asks softly, moving to sit down in front of me and my raging erection.
“I’ll manage,” I say, adjusting myself. “I needed to taste you again. Everything else can wait until we get to another hotel room.”
She looks like she’s about to argue with me, so I say, “Plus, I don’t think we can be gone much longer without someone noticing.”
I lean in and give her another kiss, this time a soft one on her lips. Fucking delicious.
“See you soon,” I say before I slide out the door, thankful there isn’t anyone waiting.
Once I’m back in my seat, I start my movie again, but I’m interrupted by a large man sitting down in Kelsey’s seat.
“Oh, hey, Jaxon,” I say, pulling my earbuds out. “Do you want to go over the security plans for Japan?”
“God, no,” he says with a halfhearted wave, running a hand through his dark hair. He’s clearly exhausted, and I can tell it’s not just from the flight.
“You all right?” I ask, genuinely concerned.
“Just tired,” Jaxon mutters, slouching back into the seat.
“Do you need me to…” I trail off. “I actually don’t know how to help with that.”
Jaxon laughs. “I just need someone to treat me like a normal person for five minutes.”
“Well, as I’ve never considered you anything but a normal person, I think I can handle that.”
As we exchange the usual banter, Kelsey walks past our row, her face illuminated by whatever she’s typing on her phone. She pauses for a moment, eyeing us both. I notice the brief flicker of curiosity in her eyes, but she quickly masks it with a practiced smile.
Jaxon follows my gaze to Kelsey and makes to get up. “I can move.”
While his attention is elsewhere, I subtly shake my head, answering her unspoken question about whether Jaxon’s noticed anything strange between us. She seems to accept the answer, nodding in return.