Читать книгу Kiss And Makeup - Taryn Taylor Leigh - Страница 12
ОглавлениеBEN STEPPED FROM the jet bridge onto the plane, stifling a yawn. He was definitely feeling the lack of sleep. Not that he was complaining. The mere memory of Chloe writhing beneath him, his hands on her skin, her tongue in his mouth... Ben shifted with discomfort as his dick stirred at the erotic recollection.
What he planned to complain about when he saw Chloe again was the fact that he’d woken up alone this morning. But first he had to make it to his seat. He shuffled farther into the plane, waiting as the gentleman in front of him hoisted his suitcase into the overhead compartment.
Jesus, he could still smell her. It was an unfortunate by-product of an overactive imagination and this morning’s shower. He’d used what she’d left in the tiny bottle of complimentary hotel shampoo, and now the achingly familiar perfume of flowers lingered around him. Normally it would have made him nauseous, but thanks to the wrestling match on the bed last night, it was making him horny.
Ben pushed a hand through his Chloe-scented hair and continued to sidestep down the narrow aisle until he arrived at row G and the object of his lust-filled fantasies came into view.
She was wearing faded jeans and a white T-shirt with a zombified Audrey Hepburn on it. Her lips were stained a deep shade of berry; her eyeliner was back with gothic vengeance. And if his cock had been mildly interested at the memory of her, the reality of Chloe had its full attention.
Her attention, though, was studiously focused on the in-flight magazine in her lap.
“Is this seat taken?”
She glanced up as he shoved his carry-on into the overhead bin. She might have sighed as he brushed past her to sit down, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Guess I should have thought this through a little better. I was trying for a dramatic and mysterious exit after a single night of passion.” She flipped a glossy page with her index finger.
“Yeah, assigned seating really messes with drama.”
She flipped another page. “Worst one-night-stand exit ever.”
“On the contrary. You were very quiet when you left—I didn’t wake up at all. Nothing was drawn on my face in permanent marker, and I still have my watch, my wallet and my credit cards,” Ben countered charitably. “As far as I’m concerned, this ranks very high on the scale.”
His joke earned him a withering glare.
“I meant that we’re stuck in forced proximity and tight confines, with no choice but to ignore each other awkwardly and try to keep our arms from touching until we can finally go our separate ways. Which reminds me, I’m claiming this now.” She laid her right arm on the armrest from elbow to wrist, completely covering it from view.
“Or...we could defy the expected and skip the awkward silence. Just keep on living life as though I didn’t ruin you for other men last night.”
She raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
“Look, Chloe. We’ve got about an hour of forced proximity left to go here. So what do you say we move on, start over?”
* * *
“STARTOVER?” she asked speculatively. Like I’m not completely and utterly mortified that I jumped you in the hotel room last night? “As in we do that lame handshake thing in all the girly movies and reintroduce ourselves?”
Ben laughed, and the rumbling sound put a dent in her defenses. “Yeah, that.”
With a shrug of acquiescence, Chloe held her hand out. “I’m Latoya.”
Ben smirked at her as they shook. “Julio.”
“Hmm. Sexy name. So tell me, Julio, what do you do for a living?”
She was expecting a smart-ass comment, like “romance novel cover model,” but instead she got: “What do you think I do?”
She arched her right eyebrow. “Honestly?”
He nodded.
“Sales.” She didn’t even hesitate. “Ad exec, maybe? That or hocking used cars.”
“Wow. Don’t take a second to think about it or anything.” Ben’s voice was light, jokey, but his forehead was a bit furrowed, and there was a gravitas to his next words. “How come?”
“Are you kidding me?”
His silence said he was not.
She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t know. The way you dress is part of it.” She eyed his attire.
“Lots of men wear suits. Newscasters. Athletes. Mob bosses. The alter-egos of superheroes.”
She remained unmoved. “Am I right?”
Ben shrugged. “I can neither confirm nor deny this line of questioning until you tell me what you do.”
“What do you think I do?” she mimicked.
He turned in his seat to look at her, really look at her, and Chloe squirmed a little under the inspection. She was this close to blushing. To counteract the uncomfortable feeling, she forced herself to square her shoulders and raise her chin a notch.
“Well, I’m gonna strike flight attendant and used car salesman from the list of possibilities, considering your obvious scorn for those professions.”
Chloe flashed him a tight smile. Ha, ha.
“Um, okay. You’re not a dentist. You’re not the vice president of anything.” His eyes darted to the zombie on her T-shirt. “And you’re not a kindergarten teacher.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why do I suddenly feel like this game is going to be less than flattering?”
“What do you mean, suddenly? Did you hear
