Authors: Karyn Lawrence
“You’ve done a great job of proving I’m not irresistible,” he mocked, his lips by her ear. “You can continue proving it in your hotel room.”
“No,” she said. Her hands were on his chest, finding it hard beneath his suit. She’d put them there to push him away, but they remained, feeling the steady thump of his heartbeat. “You’ve made your point.”
“Which is?”
His kiss filled her with so much desire that she shuddered. “That you can turn me on when I don’t want you to.”
“You keep lying to yourself —”
Finally she found the frustration she wanted to feel and it trickled into her voice. “You’ve convinced my body to want this, but not my mind.”
He leaned back, taking the heat away and left her staring up at him, her skirt just barely covering her hips. Vulnerable. He didn’t seem to notice as his face had gone blank. There was a small part of her that wanted to wrap his tie in her fist and pull him back to her, but how he’d abruptly stopped made her nervous.
“What?” she asked, breathless, and realized the car wasn’t moving anymore. How had they made the trip so fast, and in the rain? It wasn’t possible. She’d lost all track of time once he’d descended upon her.
“I can do that,” he said, his voice unsteady. As if unsure. “I can convince your mind, too.”
“Good luck with that.” She sat up and pushed her skirt down, then wrapped her jacket closed. The more layers between them, the better. And she meant it, too. He had a significant mountain to climb to change her view on him. Her breathing had slowed to almost normal. She could do this. Climb out of his car and get him to stay there. Her words had stunned him, maybe even wounded his continent-sized ego.
One look said that was doubtful. He gave her a brilliant smile. “I don’t need luck.”
Kara used her shaky hands to grab her laptop bag off of the floor and then slung the strap over her shoulder. She went for the door, but he braced his hands on her waist.
“Am I coming up?” He claimed her mouth with his once again and the kiss tasted like sin with a side of persuasion.
Would he accept her answer or make her stay right where she was? “I don’t think so.”
“Very well.” He looked disappointed, but only for a split second. “
Ich werde Sie bald sehen
.”
Whatever that meant. She didn’t say goodbye; instead she fled from the car without looking back. It wasn’t until she was in her hotel room and flung facedown on the bed that she could breathe again. She hadn’t gotten over the jet lag and needed sleep. That and the incident with Rhodes was why she had been so weak and almost given in. If she weren’t so emotionally and physically exhausted, she’d be immune to him. Maybe immune wasn’t the right word. Resistant, perhaps.
They hadn’t taken their clothes off. Shawn hadn’t groped her — he’d barely touched her. And still, the encounter had left her desperate and shaky. Filled with need for him. Wanting him. It had easily been the hottest twenty minutes of her life.
Good-looking, her sister had warned her once about Shawn. Not even close. Jason, Shawn’s brother, was good-looking in a rough-and-tough sort of way. Her sister had always liked the bad boys, and while Jason, the head of Osterhägen security, looked more conventionally dangerous, Kara knew better: That the taller brother in the suit was cunning and manipulative, making him far, far more dangerous than the one who carried a gun.
Kara slept until two a.m. and then prepared for the return flight home. She showered and dressed in jeans and a casual top, travel-chic, leaving her hair down. It made her look like a small-town girl…the girl she’d once been.
The cab released her at the international terminal and she rolled her bag to the ticketing booth, dropping her passport on the counter. The agent began the endless typing, but then appeared confused.
“Something wrong?” Kara asked the woman.
“It looks like your ticket was canceled. Are you wanting to rebook?”
“Wait, what? No, I didn’t cancel my ticket.” Kara’s mouth went dry. “How is that even possible? When does it say it was canceled?”
“The request was logged last night.”
That bastard.
The ticketing agent typed again and peered at the screen. “That flight is already oversold. Do you want me to put you on standby for the twelve-fifty flight into Amsterdam?” The agent glanced at Kara, paused, then her eyes dropped back to the computer screen with confusion. “Kara Hayward?”
“Yes?” Kara said, desperate to keep her temper in check and not snap. It wasn’t the agent’s fault that Shawn’s action filled Kara with rage.
The agent pointed over Kara’s shoulder.
Of course.
A man in a black suit stood to the side of the bank of counters, a sign bearing Kara’s name held in his hands. She snatched up her passport, flashed a polite smile to the ticketing agent, and grabbed her roller bag.
“I take it you work for Shawn Dunn?” she asked as she approached.
“Yes, ma’am. He’d like to offer you his plane so you can return home.”
She gripped the handle on her bag so aggressively her hand began to ache. Again, Shawn had left her with no other option. She choked it out. “Fine.”
The man took her bag and led her to a limo waiting outside, and a minute later it swept her away from the international terminal. She had Shawn’s number in her phone from the flirting text messages he tried to bait her with and draw her into a conversation. He sent them like clockwork.
The messages started innocuous.
How’s your day going?
When she didn’t answer, day after day, he got direct.
Have dinner with me next time you’re visiting L.
She never responded. So he switched to German. She translated the first, and, holy crap, one was enough. She was determined not to answer since the fear was she’d cave and accept his invitation. The fluttering in her stomach whenever her phone lit up with his name on screen proved that she was weakening.
She could call him right now and give him a piece of her mind. It was ungodly early. It was doubtful he would be awake, so waking him up would be satisfying. Instead she folded her hands in her lap and forced herself to cool down. Her temper had caused her a mountain’s worth of problems in the past, and she was determined not to let it happen again.
At the private airfield, a large, white jet gleamed in the runway lights. It was impressive, and intimidating, and waiting. Her unease with wealth made her swallow hard. She thanked the driver when he loaded her luggage into the open cargo hold and gestured to the compact set of stairs leading up to the open hatch of the plane.
Stupid.
She should have known. Any excitement she had over this private plane died when she discovered the pair of warm, brown eyes waiting for her on board.
-3-
Kara fought hard not to lose it completely when Shawn gave her a victorious and seductive smile.
“No.” She couldn’t face him — it was too soon. Her eyes scanned the cabin. In any other situation she would have thought it was spacious, but it looked too impossibly small to contain Shawn Dunn. She couldn’t spend the next eight hours locked in this metal container with him. He hadn’t given her time to regroup, to recover enough to fight off his advances a second time.
“No, Shawn,” she repeated. “You said you weren’t going back today.”
“My plans have changed,” he said. “Why don’t you have a seat?”
“No. I’ll take a later flight.”
He latched a hand onto her wrist, stopping her when she went to turn. “Don’t be ridiculous, you’re already here and we’re ready to go.” He said that with authority, and the pretty, female cabin attendant Kara hadn’t noticed until that moment, began to retract the stairs.
“Wait.” Kara spoke a half-second before the hatch thudded shut.
“I’ll let the captain know,” the woman said, a British accent flavoring her words. “Can I get either of you something to drink?”
“Bourbon and a water for me. Kara?”
“It’s, like, five in the morning.”
“Not in Munich.” She wanted to point out that it was still too early, but when she didn’t speak immediately, he added, “Thank you, Victoria.”
The attendant didn’t hesitate and disappeared. Kara stood in the center aisle of the cabin, Shawn only a few feet away, looking confident and at ease in his suit without a tie. She was surrounded by oversized white chairs that were wrapped in soft leather and a desk in the center of the plane. An Osterhägen logo danced on the screen of one of the built-in monitors. Every inch of this aircraft screamed luxury and expense.
“Why did you do this?” She was angry, nervous… and maybe a tiny bit thrilled.
“You forced me to. You gave me the impression you wouldn’t see me again.”
“So you trapped me on your plane.”
He laughed. “Yes, I suppose so.”
He sat down on the chair closest to her and motioned for her to sit beside him. She stood in defiance, towering over him. If she sat, she knew this would be the last time she’d be in a position of power. She should run. Demand they open the door and she’d take a later flight just to spite him.
It’s like he could read her mind.
“No strings with this one.”
Victoria was there with a tray, two glasses of water in fancy goblets and a tumbler half full with bourbon and ice. Shawn snapped up his glass and drained the entire thing. Kara’s mouth fell open with shock.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He looked uncomfortable. Nervous. “I don’t enjoy flying.”
“You don’t…? Really?” She could hardly fathom it, a CEO of an international company who was also a nervous flier.
“Yes, it’s only the takeoffs.” He both sounded and looked sincere. “And landings.”
“And everything in between?”
He gave her a tight smile. “Join me. Distract me.”
Victoria passed the water to Kara. “Can you take your seat, please?”
Kara stared at the empty seat beside his. Eight hours on a private jet with a subdued Shawn might work. Plus, he looked tired and like he might sleep a good portion of the trip. She couldn’t let him scare her off, give him that kind of power.
Fine. She sighed and dropped down into the luxury seat, still clutching the chilled glass of water. He appeared pleased and stretched his long legs out.
“Thanks for telling L that I kissed you.”
She was mid-gulp and choked on the water. Perhaps mentioning that on the phone call to Laurel last night hadn’t been the best idea.
“Don’t worry,” he continued, “I filled in the gaps on the story she got.”
Oh, no.
Kara had conveniently left out the part where they made out in the back of his limo.
“What did she say?”
“She told me to leave you alone.”
“To which you responded by canceling my ticket and forcing me onto your plane.”
A smile teased his lips. “I’ve never been to Maastricht.”
New panic seized on her. “Why would you go there?”
“To make sure you get in safe. It’s practically on the way home for me.”
“No, it’s not. No.”
Victoria flitted through the cabin, double-checking that the hatch was secure and everything stowed as the plane set in motion. Confident Shawn disappeared. His eyes fixed forward and he looked tense. It was unsettling.
“We’re completely safe,” Kara said.
“I know that, logically, but it’s a control thing.”
He was all about control, just like Paul. “You let your driver drive you around.”
“Because I, like most of the drivers in New York, have no idea how to drive in that city.” He subtly tightened his seat belt when the engines ramped up.
“Yeah, I don’t miss that, the traffic
—
”
“Tell me about Paul now.”
How did he do that? She constantly underestimated her opponent. Her guard was down, thinking he was too preoccupied with his fear to launch an attack. But maybe this was a good thing. Get it over with quickly, and if he pressed her… she could just stay silent the rest of the flight.
The plane rocketed down the runway, rumbling as it went along, Shawn’s tension increasing as the plane’s nose lifted into the air.
“Paul doesn’t love me. I’m not sure he ever did.”
That comment was distracting, for the brown eyes shifted to her face. “Why do you say that?”
“Because he said it was too much work to love me.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“You’d have to ask him.”
The wings carried them up and up, the ground disappearing quickly below. Shawn had one hand in his lap balled in a fist, and for a split second she wondered if it was the ascent or her words that caused this.
“Do you still love him?”
“No. I mean, part of me will always care about him, even though he’s incredibly selfish and controlling.”
Shawn was quiet for a long while.
When the plane leveled out, he began to look better and more dangerous. He confirmed her suspicions when he took the half-empty glass of water from her hand and set it down.