‘I’m not a mind-reader, Lena,’ he said. ‘You said you don’t play games, so level with me. What have I done wrong?’
She bent down to look at him direct through the car window. ‘Don’t bring me flowers for forgiveness. And if you’re going to be late or not show, just let me know.’
‘I’m sorry I’m later than you expected,’ he said. ‘I had a meeting that went on and there was some stuff that impacted from there. I have a ton to catch up on after my absence from the office last week.’
She heard the edge in his tone and felt a bitter victory at putting him in a bad mood, too.
‘Not a lot of point in my telling you the truth if you choose not to believe me,’ he said even more sharply.
‘You could have sent a message.’
‘So I could, if I hadn’t been in a dead spot.’
They were in the second largest city in New Zealand. There weren’t cell-phone dead zones in this town.
His eyes narrowed. ‘You still don’t believe me? You’re almost as untrusting as I am—now, why is that?’ He leaned across to see her face. ‘Did someone really hurt you?’
She stood upright, breaking eye contact. ‘I hurt myself.’
He waited for her to say more.
She didn’t.
Eventually he growled, ‘Can I give you a lift to wherever you’re going?’
‘No, thanks.’
‘Fine.’ He didn’t fight her. ‘Then I’ll see you later.’
She walked, head high, refusing to watch him depart. But she was so pathetic she listened for the engine long after it was gone.
She didn’t go to a bar or club or even a movie. She went to the twenty-four-hour supermarket and picked up an extremely nasty crime novel. She needed the certainty of seeing the bad guy get it.
CHAPTER TEN
SETH prowled round his apartment. Pissed off because he was tired and stressed and couldn’t sleep. So he’d been late—there were worse things to be. And how hideous of him to buy her flowers? Hell, he didn’t need the drama. It was a good thing he had to fly out first thing tomorrow. Some space would be good. He’d been seeing too much of her anyway, right? Was getting bored already, right?
Hell, no.
He paced along the windows, looking out at the quiet city. Monday—not exactly the night for raves. Where would she have gone? Who would she have met up with? He didn’t think she had that many friends. And that was weird because Lena was a team player if ever he’d met one. She thrived on the group atmosphere at the stadium. So why didn’t she have flatmates? Why did she spend her whole life working? Why was she so determined to stay single? He wanted to know who had burned her. And how. And why she refused to open up to him on that.
His mood worsened. Damn it, he’d been looking forward to seeing her. He had been getting to know her more and the more he had, the more he wanted to. Truthfully he didn’t want to go away tomorrow. He’d avoided Auckland for a long time, concentrating on building his portfolio in Christchurch and Wellington instead. But this was too good an opportunity to pass up and he was a man, not a wimpy boy. But still, he wished Lena were here now to distract him—because memories were lingering, feeding his malcontent. Stupid to let things that had happened so long ago still bother him this much.
He took another turn around his apartment. Big and empty and boring. He wished she were on the sofa and laughing about something stupid as she had last night. He wished he could take her in the plane with him tomorrow and go somewhere else altogether—away from the pressure.
Damn. That wasn’t a bad idea.
Someone banged on Lena’s door at a hideously early hour of the morning. She opened it and her vulnerable heart showered happy vibes around her body, dispelling her lingering grump from the night before.
‘Come with me today,’ he said straight off, wearing a sensational suit and an irresistible smile.
Lena wrinkled her nose and made a last stand for independence. ‘I was planning to do some shopping.’ She didn’t know what for.
‘You can do that any time. Come for a ride. I want to spend the day with you. Please.’
He got her just like that—with a line that struck at her weakest spot. Because she wanted to be wanted. She wanted him to want to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him.
‘Okay.’ Too easy, but she didn’t care. She’d missed him. ‘I need ten minutes.’
‘Sure.’ He glanced at the mess that was her hair. ‘Late night?’
She nodded. She’d read the crime story cover to cover, hadn’t switched out the light ’til after 4:00 a.m.
He drove. She didn’t pay attention to the direction, too happy to be in his company. But her curiosity leapt when he pulled into one of the side entrances of the airport.
‘Where are we going?’
‘That’s our ride.’ He pointed as he pulled into a private car park.
She looked at the gleaming machine waiting on the tarmac. ‘You don’t think I’m getting in that, do you?’
‘Why wouldn’t you?’ he asked. ‘You a nervous flier?’
‘Don’t you know it’s always the rich jerks who think they’re capable of anything who kill themselves in their private planes?’ She had no plan to become one of those statistics. ‘I’ll happily go commercial, but I’m not getting into that flying coffin.’
He walked towards the plane, not bothering to hide his amusement. ‘Lena, this is a jet. This doesn’t fly as low as those little things that go into mountains.’
‘Big planes go into mountains, too. Much bigger. Do you fly it?’
‘You don’t trust me to?’
‘Of course not,’ she said hotly. ‘You’re a glorified salesman. I’m not going up there with a part-time pilot who’s got more confidence than sense.’
‘So you’re saying no? You think you’re so good at that,’ he jeered.
She glared but he grinned—calm, at ease—while she grew both hotter and colder. Because, as tempted as she was, she wasn’t going to go up there, with him at the controls. But time pulled that trick again—it liked to bend when she looked at him. Only, he broke the moment and turned away. Belatedly she heard footsteps. She’d been too dazzled by his beautiful eyes to even blink.
‘Meet Mike.’ Seth put his hand on her waist and drew her forward.
Beneath her dress her skin sizzled. So much for thinking a night apart from him would begin to break her addiction. Her need seemed worse now.
‘Hello.’ Habit helped her smile and hold out her hand to the man who’d strolled out of the hangar. ‘Mike’s a full-time pilot,’ Seth stressed. ‘And he’ll be flying us today.’
‘Oh.’ Surprised, Lena looked harder at Mike. ‘Really?’
Mike smiled. ‘I’m just doing the final checks,’ he said to Seth. ‘Take-off in five okay for you?’
‘Great.’ Seth nodded. ‘You want to freshen up before we go?’ He turned back to her. ‘There are facilities in the hangar.’
‘No, thanks,’ she murmured, taking in the beautiful sleek lines of the machine with a smidge more enthusiasm. ‘I’m fine.’ Her gaze narrowed on the relaxed-looking pilot writing something on a clipboard.