Page 66 of Viktor

“Why aren’t you drinking now?”

He shot her a shuttered look. “You.”

“Me?”

He nodded and inhaled several deep breaths. “Your safety comes first.”

“I doubt Roger’s going to jump me on the airplane.”

His free hand came up and traced the healing cut on her lip. “I’m not drinking, Sara.”

His touch was butterfly soft, but she felt it all the way to her toes. He wasn’t even trying, and he affected her. “What can I do to help you?” She winced at the breathy sound of her own voice.

“Tell me about yourself.”

“There’s not a lot to tell.”

“Unless you want to watch me crawl out of my skin, I need a distraction. Tell me about you, pre-Roger.”

“I almost can’t remember that girl.” Sara sat back, her thumb stroking over the back of Viktor’s hand absently. “It seems like a lifetime ago.”

“I bet you were popular.” He shot her a sly grin.

“And you were a football player.”

“Hell, yeah. All my brothers played in high school, even Mason and his scrawny ass. We’re a football family.”

“I was a cheerleader,” she admitted. “I dated the captain of the football team in high school, so yes, I was popular.”

“I knew it!”

Sara smiled softly, remembering days she hadn’t let herself think about in quite a while. “I was sassy too. I knew what I wanted and how to get it. I had so many friends back then.” She shook her head. “Though now I realize most of them were probably only my friend to be able to hang out with the popular crowd.”

“Grown-ass people still do that. It’s not just high school kids,” Viktor grunted.

“God’s truth, that.”

“Were you a drinker?” Viktor hissed when the plane hit some turbulence, a common occurrence, but from the way his face slowly drained of color, you’d think they’d just announced the plane was about to go down in flames.

He snatched her hand into his lap and held on for dear life. She’d laugh if he weren’t completely terrified. This big man, who seemed fearless, was showing her a side of himself he probably hid from everyone.

“I could drink with the best of them, but I tended to get drunk only when I was home with my girls. One of the first things my dad hammered into my head was never to let myself get drunk where I couldn’t control the situation. That’s how you end up raped or worse.”

“Roy was okay with his baby girl drinking?”

“Hell, no.” Sara laughed, remembering the time he and her mom came home early from a weekend trip to find her and her three best friends passed out drunk on the couch. She’d been grounded for a month. “He only caught me once, and that was enough.”

Viktor chuckled, the sound low and deep. It hit every nerve ending she had, and it was all she could do not to snatch her hand away from him. He affected her on such a deep level.

“What are you laughing about?” Now she was the one who needed distracting.

“I was thinking about Delia and how she is going to handle me and all five of her very overprotective uncles when she gets old enough to drink. She’ll never manage to sneak anything over on us.”

“You know I haven’t agreed to any of that.”

“But you will.” He pulled her hand up and kissed her knuckles.

How the hell was she supposed to argue with the promise of forever shining in his eyes?