Page 27 of BillionHeir

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Maxwell

I stare at Chloe as I wait a painful amount of time for an older man to put his suitcase in the overhead compartment.

I am just about to offer my assistance when a flight attendant appears from behind me. I have to step out of the way to let him pass by.

“Here you go, sir,” the brown-nosing attendant says, giving the passenger a smile that is way too large to be real. I fight the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes and wait the extra ten seconds it takes for them to finish their exchange and get out of my way.

I slide into my seat next to Chloe and mutter under my breath. “This is why I prefer to fly private.”

She stays completely silent.

I have had hours to think about what I should say right now, but the right words still haven’t come to me. We can’t just sit here in silence, so I look over at her and say the only thing that comes to mind.

“You could have at least said goodbye.”

She is looking out the window, pretending that she can’t hear me, but I know she does because of the way her ears have turned pink. Her reaction gives me hope that I haven’t damaged our relationship as irreparably as I thought.

In business, I am confident, smooth, and collected. There is no deal that I can’t negotiate, but right now, I feel out of my league searching for the right thing to say.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

Liam’s response after I confessed what was really going on with Chloe rings through my head. Neither he nor Tristan were at all surprised. They could see right through me and my feelings from the very beginning.

It would have been nice if they hadn't let me show my ass before they let on just how aware they were, but that doesn't justify the way I treated her .

And now I need to apologize. More than that, I need to convince Chloe that I am not as bad as my poor behavior would suggest. I was just scared. Surely she can appreciate that.

“Can we talk about why you left?” I ask, trying to get her to at least turn and look at me.

Chloe sighs and turns to me, opening her mouth to respond when that same pompous flight attendant comes over the PA system.

This time I don't suppress my eye roll as he cracks lame jokes under the guise of teaching everyone how to buckle their seat belts. I know it is the man’s job, but for some reason everything about him is pissing me off.

“Honestly, who doesn't know how to click two pieces of metal together?” Chloe asks, sounding just as annoyed as I am. “It is not chemistry, is it?”

I chuckle to myself. She can complain to me the whole flight if that means she will talk to me.

When the flight attendant is finally done with the useless spiel, Chloe answers me.

“The reason why I left had nothing to do with you.”

After the time we spent together, and the way I hurt her, I probably shouldn’t believe her, but there is a look in her eyes that tells me she is being honest.

“I don’t mind being friends with you, Maxwell, but that is it for us. I have got too much on my plate to deal with a man child who wouldn’t know a good thing if it slapped him in the face. ”

With that, she turns her head back to the window.

The plane has just pulled away from the gate and I resign myself to the silent treatment for the long flight.

I have no doubt she is going to make this as difficult on me as possible, but Chloe is worth it.

Her friendship alone is more than I deserve, but that is not all I want with her.

If she thinks I am going to give up that easily, she has got another thing coming.

I have got just under seven hours to change her mind.

We sit in silence as the plane taxis toward the runway.

When the pilot finally comes on and tells us we have been cleared to take off, I tense a little.

This is the second time I am flying since the disastrous helicopter accident, but I was barely conscious when I was being transported to Boston from Seattle.

This time, however, I am hyper-aware of every single noise and bump.

I have never particularly enjoyed takeoff or landing, but now it seems my fear has only heightened.

I can feel sweat beading on my brow and my breathing picks up as my heart threatens to beat out of my chest.

I look over as we start our ascent to see Chloe's eyes squeezed shut. She is gripping the arm of her seat with a white knuckled ferocity even I can’t muster.

I place my hand on top of hers and run my thumb across the back of it soothingly.

She doesn’t open her eyes, but I can see her face relax slightly.

Distracting her has the same effect on me, and before I know it, we are in the air and leveling out. Chloe cracks one eye open and then the other before pulling her hand out from under mine and blushing again, this time the pink only touches her cheeks for a moment before it is gone again.

“Sorry. I have always hated take offs.”

I flex my fingers, wishing like a lovesick fool that her hand was still in mine.

I don’t agree with her or tell her just how rough that was for me, too. Instead, I play it cool.

“After everything you have done for me, it is the least I can do.”

“Can I get either of you something to drink?” Our flight attendant is back again, and if I am not mistaken, shooting a seductive look at Chloe.

My eyes bounce between the two of them. It is clear to me that she knows this guy’s game. Her eyes catch mine for a moment before they are back on him.

“I would like another glass of champagne, please.”

I note the fact that she is not blushing for him like she does for me.

If anything, she looks uncomfortable with his actions.

While it boosts my own ego, it also sets me on edge.

I am not the type of man to sit idly by while another man tries to steal the woman I want right out from underneath me.

We might not be on the best of terms right now, but that doesn’t change anything.

I shift my weight and look over at the flight attendant, giving him the full power of my stare. I have made men much stronger than this asshole crumble under the glare I am giving now. As I thought, he bows his head and looks away.

“Two, please.” There is a clear warning in my voice, one that he would do well to heed.

“Yes, sir,” he says, slinking away with his tail tucked between his legs.

I sit back in my seat, taking a quick glance at Chloe. She has a shocked look on her face.

“Fuckboy,” I say under my breath, unable to hold it in any longer.

“Was he?” she asks innocently before looking back out the window.

Apparently, Chloe is much sassier than I ever imagined.

“Cheers,” I say as I lift the glass that the flight attendant has just served us before scurrying back to his hideout near the cockpit. It seems my look conveyed the exact message I was trying to express.

Without so much as a blink in my direction, Chloe lifts her glass to her lips, ignoring me completely.

“Look, I am sorry,” I say quickly. She coughs into her drink and lowers the glass.

That is not exactly the reaction I was going for, but I will take whatever I can get.

“I didn’t know what to tell my friends about what was developing between us.

When they mentioned it, I panicked. I have been alone for so long that my feelings for you freaked me out.

I didn’t handle it well. I sincerely apologize. ”

Chloe listens to my speech and hardly reacts, giving me nothing. When I am finished, she takes another small sip of her champagne.

“You are forgiven,” she answers curtly before turning back toward the window.

I realize how difficult it is going to be to get her to give me another chance.

“Is there anything I can say to convince you to come back with me?”

“Maxwell, we both know that you don’t need a nurse anymore. I think it is best if we go our separate ways, don’t you?”

“You are right. I don’t need a nurse anymore. I just need you.”

She frowns. “You don’t need me. I am fairly convinced that you don’t need anyone.

The way you made me feel earlier today, for the last few days actually.

I really thought you were different, you know?

I thought you were someone who I could trust. But instead you pushed me away.

Rather effectively, I might add. I can’t just forget that, Maxwell.

I am not coming back with you. I will be in the UK for the foreseeable future. ”

I feel terrible that my actions have caused her this much distress. Before she can turn back to the window and shut me out once again, I stop her by putting my hand on hers .

“What can I do to show you that I won’t make the same mistakes again?” I search her eyes for any sign that she can be swayed. All that I find there is pain and heartache. The fact that I am the person who made her feel that way threatens to destroy me from the inside out.

“I am afraid I don’t have the answer for that, Maxwell.” She pulls her hand out from under mine leaving me feeling intensely alone.

She opens her mouth as if she is going to say something else, but instead of speaking, her eyes fill with tears.

I have a moment of hope, but then the pilot comes over the speaker to make an announcement, disrupting the moment.

She turns back toward the window, shifting her entire body to shut me out completely.

But I am not going to give up on her.

If Chloe is going to be in the UK, then I will be too. And I will stay until she forgives me. I am committed to win her back. To move past this and find a way forward together.

I know it is going to be an uphill climb.

But I have never met someone who was more deserving of my efforts.