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My yelp rattled off the walls as he rolled on top of me to press his naked body against mine.

“I'll take care of it.” The happy, boyish smile he wore warmed my heart. I loved seeing him like that. Carefree and happy.

After a deep, leave-me-breathless kiss, he leaped from the bed. One elbow against the mattress, I propped myself up to watch him pull last night’s jeans over his bare ass.

With one last confident smirk, he stepped out the door, disappearing down the hall.

In the quiet of the morning, I stretched out along the bed, savoring the soft cotton against my skin. They were way better than the Dollar General ones I bought the previous year.

After wiping the morning out of my eyes, I groaned at the black on my fingers.

Of course tipsy and horny me didn't think about washing my face.

With a sigh, I sat up, flipped the covers back and tiptoed to the en suite bathroom.

After a long hot shower, the sense of someone watching had me shutting off the hair dryer and flipping my dark hair back over to survey the room. Brenton stood expressionless, leaning against the doorframe. The distant look in his eyes ticked up my nerves.

“Everything okay?” I asked, clutching the towel wrapped around me tighter to my chest. His eyes stayed fixed on the wall behind me. “Brenton?”

“Your bag is on the bed. I need to shower too. Then we go,” he muttered more to himself than me. After removing his dark denim jeans, he stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

That was odd.

“Hey,” he called when I stepped out to rummage through the bag he’d packed. “We need to talk. Do not go anywhere.” The harshness of his words and intenseness of his tone left no room for debate.

While he showered, I dug through the clothes, searching for something to wear on the plane. I was still looking for my underwear when the water shut off.

“Seriously?” I shouted. “You didn't pack me any underwear?”

In all his freshly showered, naked glory, he stepped into the bedroom while rubbing his dark hair with a towel. “I didn't want them getting in the way again,” he said with a smirk and turned back into the bathroom.

The man had a point.

**

WOW.

I turned, my mouth gaping, to a grinning Brenton. Inside the small jet, I took the seat he pointed to and immediately fiddled with all the gadgets around me.

“Brenton, this is way over the top.” I shifted side to side in the seat, amazed at the comfort of the soft leather. “Is this yours?”

“Technically it's the company’s. The board bought it a few years back and let the family use it whenever we want.” He took the seat directly across from me but kept his gaze out the window, almost like he was lost in thought.

“Okay, I'm done with this avoiding shit. Spit it out, Graves,” I demanded with a sigh. The entire ride here, the tension between us had gnawed at my nerves, and I was done. “What the hell do we have to talk about?”

His green eyes flicked to mine. A nervous pulse of energy passed through his brief glance before he looked to the still-open door. “I need a drink.”

“Do I?” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest while giving him my best annoyed glare.

Instead of responding, he shook his head and moved to the front of the plane. When he returned, he slid a Coke across the table and popped the top of a flavored sparkling water.

“It takes the edge off even if there isn't any alcohol in it. Buckle up,” he ordered as he snapped his own seat belt together. “We're about to take off.”

The door slammed shut and the plane rolled smoothly toward the runway. I stared out the window, watching the surrounding buildings whiz by as we took off when he said, “I remembered.”

My stomach dropped as the plane lifted off the ground. “Remembered what?”

Reaching across the small table between us, he gripped my clammy hand. “Today, I walked into your dad's place, straight to your room, and started packing your bag. Your dad came in yelling about something and I froze.”