Clay? At this point, she could barely remember Clay at all.
To be honest, Caroline wasn’t sure if she’d ever encountered feelings like this before. She was instantly attracted to Clay because he was so handsome, but this stranger ignited something new inside of her. In a way it was almost primal…she literally felt pulled toward his body. It was as though some invisible cord connected them.
Her body wanted to do things that her mind had to fight off. She stopped herself, more than once, from resting her hand on his thigh, as though that was the most natural place for it to be. She could feel beads of sweat starting to drip down the front of her shirt. He made her nervous and she struggled to stop herself from shaking.
The attraction between them lingered in the air. They looked into each other’s eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time before the teenager interrupted.
“Are you two dating?” he asked politely.
Caroline nodded and before she could say a word, her handsome stranger tossed his arm around her and pulled her close. “We are,” he answered and then quickly kissed the side of her head.
Caroline’s insides were unhinging. What had she gotten herself into? She could pretend she didn’t enjoy the fact that his lips had just touched her skin, but that would be a lie. Before she could think another thought, he leaned near her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”
She turned and looked into his eyes. “I didn’t mind.” Her words made him smile and she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from turning upright in return.
Caroline fumbled underneath her seat for her purse. When she found it, she pulled it onto her lap. Her new “boyfriend” watched her every move with curious eyes. When she reached inside and pulled out her camera, he smiled in approval. She handed her camera across him to the teenager and asked, “Can you take a picture of us, please?”
Hot Guy scooted his body as close to hers as he could and she felt tiny prickles of energy all around her. It reminded her of when one of her body parts woke up after it had fallen asleep. With her cheek pressed firmly into his, her body buzzed with an unfamiliar feeling, a feeling so foreign and strong, it almost made her jump out of her seat. But the hot guy didn’t react at all, so Caroline figured it was all in her head.
“I like it when your face touches mine,” he whispered, right before the picture was taken. Her cheeks flushed with warmth.
She thanked the teenager while the stranger looked at the picture and deemed it worthy of keeping. “You look gorgeous. I look like a schmuck,” he told her with a scowl.
“Shut up! You look amazing. Your eyes—they’re gorgeous.” She ran her finger across his face on her camera screen and looked at the blue eyes staring back at her.
He gently took her face in his hands and looked into her soft green eyes. He moved his face toward hers as her heart pounded and her mind felt muddled. He kissed her softly above her ear. “You have beautiful eyes, too.”
Heat instantly rushed through every pore of her body. Clumsily, she grabbed her purse and shoved the camera back in before telling him, “Thank you,” for the compliment.
“Any time, babe.” He winked and she felt lost as she looked at him.
“Excuse me, sir, you have to turn your phone off,” the flight attendant told him.
“Yeah, hon, turn off your phone,” Caroline smirked. “I’m sorry. He always does this.” She rolled her eyes toward the attendant.
He gave her a quick glance and threw his arm around her waist, pulling her into him, “Oh I do, do I?”
His arms were muscular and his chest and shoulders were hard, but Caroline didn’t mind. She couldn’t remember the last time she was so intensely attracted to someone. Her entire body was aware of his. She briefly thought about Clay, but only to compare the differences between him and her new friend. She told herself to stop touching this stranger, stop flirting, stop doing everything she wouldn’t want Clay to be doing. But her body and emotions had their own agenda. And on that agenda was a five-hour meeting with this new, attractive stranger.
When the plane started to take off, she realized immediately how tired she was. She yawned and fought to keep her eyelids from closing when she heard, “Did you want to sleep, babe?”
When he talked to her like they were a couple, she got a rush of jittery emotions. “Maybe just for a little. Don’t let me sleep too long, though.” She looked up at his seemingly chiseled features before her hand brushed down the side of his face. What was she doing? She didn’t know this guy; why the hell did she touch his face like that? This was inappropriate and she knew if Clay were doing this, she’d be livid.
But she couldn’t stop herself. Everything about this guy intrigued her. She wanted to be near his body. She wanted to touch him. Her hands wanted to be all over him. She had to fight the urge to kiss him every time she looked in his direction.
He bent down, reached into the black sport bag under the seat, and pulled out a faded gray sweatshirt. He folded it into a loose ball and placed it between his shoulder and her head. Then he gently pulled her body toward his and kissed the top of her head. As he stroked her long blonde hair, she reminded him, “Not too long. Promise me.”
“Sure…but why?”
“Because I don’t want to waste the whole flight with you sleeping.” She nuzzled into his neck and felt his cheek pressed against her head. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she stopped fighting the sleep that came for her. Her last waking thoughts were how the sweatshirt pillow smelled just like him and she drifted off while she breathed him in.