Chapter 38:
ELLIE
I was the last to board, and the gate agent almost didn’t let me through, informing me that the final boarding call had been made over ten minutes ago. I had to beg her to let me on the plane, and I may have even resorted to a little white lie, claiming my grandfather was gravely ill and this might be my only chance to see him alive.
Panting, I dragged my carry-on down the aisle, searching for my seat. I spotted a few familiar faces as I walked through the first-class section. Anna waved at me from her seat next to Will, and I also noticed Zara and Jack sitting a bit further ahead.
When I finally found my seat, my entire body froze, and irritation surged through me. *No. No. This can’t be happening.*
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, catching his attention and trying to ignore how damn good he looked, dressed casually in dark blue jeans and a white shirt with the top buttons undone, his messy hair just as sexy as ever.
His eyes moved from the papers in his hand up to my face. He looked only slightly surprised before he returned his attention to the papers.
“Hello, Miss Brown,” he said, without a hint of emotion.
*Hello? Hello?* What kind of joke was this?
“What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” he sighed, forcing a smile.
“This definitely can’t be your seat.”
“Oh, this is definitely my seat.”
Before I could argue that he had to be out of his mind if he thought I was flying next to him, a female voice behind me drew my attention.
“Excuse me, miss, is there a problem?” the flight attendant asked, stopping beside me.
“Oh, yes, this man is sitting in the wrong seat,” I said, making her look toward Mr. Morgan.
He shook his head, the corners of his lips curling into an amused smirk.
“Ex-girlfriend, you know how it is. We didn’t exactly end on good terms,” he said, smiling at her with an exaggerated charm.
God! What a bastard. He was trying to make me look crazy.
“Miss, I need you to take your seat so we can depart,” the flight attendant said, her tone firm.
“Isn’t there any other seat available?” I insisted.
“Oh, please, sit down. You’re drawing attention from everyone,” Mr. Morgan said, making me glance around. Curious and irritated faces were staring back at me.
Great, now everyone hated me for delaying the flight.
“Please, miss,” the flight attendant gave me a stern look.
Damn it.
“Okay, okay.” I gave in, realizing I’d have to face the daunting task of squeezing past him to get to my window seat.
I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of checking out my ass, because I knew he’d enjoy that.
“Excuse me,” I muttered through gritted teeth, lifting my carry-on and carefully maneuvering past his legs, focused on not brushing against him.
I managed to sit down after shoving my bag under the seat in front of me, then fastened my seatbelt and closed my eyes with a sigh. I sank into the seat, trying to calm my growing irritation.
But it was impossible with him sitting next to me. Even with my eyes closed, my body was all too aware of his presence. Traitorous body. Why the hell did I think this would be easy?
“So… you let Zoe book your ticket and didn’t expect this to happen?” he asked, making me open one eye and glance at his face.
A week. It had been a week since the night he’d proposed we keep sleeping together. The jerk had the audacity to offer me casual sex, knowing full well that wasn’t what I wanted or why.
*“We don’t need to complicate things.”*
That’s what he’d said, and I still couldn’t believe he had the nerve to say such crap. And now, sitting right next to him after all that, I couldn’t stop myself from being attracted to him.
Even though I hated him, I couldn’t help but notice how inviting his lips looked and how much I’d love to feel that scruff between my thighs. Damn it. Stop drooling over this asshole.
I turned my face forward, avoiding his gaze.
“I thought that would be too low even for her,” I said, closing my eyes again.
*Mental note: never let Zoe book my tickets again.* She was going to hear it from me later.
It hadn’t crossed my mind that Zoe would pull something like this, especially since she knew what had happened between us that night. I didn’t think she’d still be trying to push me into Morgan’s arms, knowing I’d never accept what he was offering.
“So you’re more naive than I thought,” he said.
“Listen, just because I’m sitting next to you doesn’t mean you get to talk to me.”
It was already bad enough knowing I’d have to spend a week in the same space as this jerk, and now this. Over the past week, I’d considered backing out of the trip a million times. But then I started asking myself why I should be the one to give up on this vacation with my friends because of him.
We’d been planning this trip for so long. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. He should have been the one to back out.
“So you plan to spend the next seven hours without talking to me?” he asked.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I plan to do. Keep pretending you don’t exist,” I said, still refusing to open my eyes and look at him.
“Oh, sure. I bet that’s harder when you’re alone in bed at night.”
Bastard. As true as that was, and as much as the last week had been hell, filled with desire, memories, and dreams, there was no way he could know, so I was safe continuing to pretend.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“And you keep pretending.”
“No one likes arrogant assholes.”
“Are you sure? Because if I remember correctly, you were the one who knocked on this arrogant asshole’s door,” he said, making me glare at him, feeling my anger rise.
“You’re just an idiot who thinks having a big dick gives you the right to act like a cocky bastard.”
He leaned back in his seat, the corner of his lips lifting into a wicked smile.
“I like hearing you say my dick is big.”
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