“Man, I honestly don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I haven’t shared this much private information in a decade.” He looked at her, shaking his head. “With you, though, it just slips out.”
She smiled cautiously. “So? What’s the big deal? We’re strangers and we’ll never see each other again after this night. Just the thought loosens tongues, doesn’t it?”
He narrowed his eyes. “After this night? Don’t you mean, after this flight?”
She swallowed and heat rushed to her cheeks as a latent tingle began in her chest. She was never so direct. But, then again, she had never encountered adistractionin such a pretty package! “No. After this night,” she murmured and smiled.
A leisurely smile spread across his face. “Is that so?”
That wasn’t a no, was it?
Heat gathered heavily in her abdomen and struggled against the fatigue in her limbs. And as the plane took off and vibrated beneath her, she dug her nails into Jack’s forearm as promised, her heart pumping not only adrenaline and fear through herveins but also arousal. She hadn’t wanted to go back to L.A….but now she couldn’t wait to land.
She fell asleep as the pilot performed his greeting and woke up when the plane’s wheels hit the ground. It was dark outside, one o’clock in the morning in Los Angeles, but she was wide awake. Almost psyched. The next week would undoubtedly unsettle her, make her angry, and more than exhaust her resources. But this night…this night was still hers.
“I have to go downtown,” she said loudly over the din of people leaving as she maneuvered out of her seat.
“Me, too,” Jack replied. “My car is in the airport parking garage. Should we meet at the baggage claim and…I’ll drive you home?”
She nodded, her stomach twisting strangely and her lips tingling. “Okay.”
Oh God, was she really doing this? Was she picking up the hot guy from the airport?
That was the question still floating around her mind forty-five minutes later. She nervously picked at the stains on her pants as the city lights that she had tried to ignore for the past few years passed by. Her nervousness was not due to her hometown, though, but one hundred percent to the man next to her, who, with his broad shoulders and warm skin, seemed to take up the entire interior of the ridiculously large car. If Penny had been uncertain before that Jack was a businessman who was a pretty big deal in his company, she no longer harbored those doubts after seeing his BMW 8 series.
She didn’t care, though. The shiny paint and gleaming rims had faded in importance since Jack had grazed her hand when placing her suitcase in the trunk. Tiny electrical impulses had scurried up her arm and conquered the hairs on the back of her neck. She had never been soawareof a man in her life.
And she was pretty sure that was exactly his intention. Those innocent, casual touches weren’t the first of the evening. Since she had taken a sip from his drink, she had felt his rough fingertips all over her body, even though he had only touched her hands, arms, and knees so far. None of them were really erogenous zones, but the contact was always so gentle, so light and promising that every inch of her body had been tingling for hours. And that was no accident on his part. Just as it was no accident that she had canceled the car her brother had sent and turned her cell phone off. Or was it?
Swallowing, she tore her gaze away from his muscular forearms, which had always been one of her weaknesses. She tried to get rid of the image of his large, tanned hands absently stroking the steering wheel, but in her mind, it was something completely different. If she really started to get short of breath for no reason at all, Jack might take her to the hospital. So, she concentrated on her own hands, licked her lips, and shifted restlessly in the soft seat…
“Are you okay?”
“What?” Her head shot up. “Oh, yes. I’m fine. I just can’t sit anymore.”
He nodded, but there was this slight, stealthy smile on his face that made Penny fear he could read minds.
“What was your house number again?” he asked.
“Um…” She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and said, “211.”
Stunned, Jack looked at her. “You don’t know your own house number?”
“Well, to be honest, I’ve never been to the apartment I live in now,” she admitted.
“What?”
Yes, his reaction was justified. “I had my stuff in storage because I haven’t been here in the last five years. My brotherrented an apartment for me so I wouldn’t have to go to a hotel. So I’d feel…more comfortable. Feel welcome.”So I’d stay. “He even turned on the heat for me.”
For a few endless seconds, Jack said nothing. Then, “You realize you’re becoming more mysterious by the second, right?”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I know. That’s just me.” It was always better to be mysterious than to have her private life plastered all over the internet.
Jack merely nodded before giving her a quick, questioning glance and pulling off the highway. Was he wondering if it had been a good idea to drive her home?
Silence settled over them like a soft blanket. Penny inhaled deeply, trying to calm her heartbeat, but it was hopeless. The car smelled of money, unspoken expectations, and man. Everything about it made her nervous. So, she swallowed and looked around, searching for compelling clues about Jack’s life, but all she could find was a small stuffed hawk on the back seat that she knew all too well. It was the mascot of the L.A. Hawks, the hockey team that would possibly soon be hers. Her father had made no bones about it when he called, stating that he would disinherit her if she didn’t return.
“Are you a hockey fan?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood.
