Unforgettable (3 page)

A few minutes later, he returned to
find Krista finally unbuckled. “Feeling better?” He took a sip from
his glass, holding the bottle loosely in his other hand.

She nodded; her face appeared more
relaxed. She was beautiful. Her curls looked like she’d spent hours
on them and all he really wanted to do was run his fingers through
it. “Yes, that second glass really helped.”

“
You could’ve told me you
were afraid of flying when we got here. I would have made other
arrangements.” Though, he had kind of thrown this whole night on
her.

“
I’m not afraid of
flying.”

He took a seat next to her. “Is it
me?”

Krista’s gaze darted away. How silly of
him. She wasn’t like the typical woman he took out. She was down to
earth and completely out of her element.

“
I apologize.”

Krista looked back at him. “Don’t be.
It’s just…just…”

He rubbed her knee, needing to touch
her. “I understand.”

“
You do?” She raised an
eyebrow.

“
Yes. I kinda go after what
I want at full force, as I mentioned, and I’ve done that to you and
scared you, which wasn’t my attention. I wanted to take you out on
a date and show you a really good time and hope that, perhaps when
it was over, you’d like to see me again.”

“
You have whisked me away. I
feel like I’m in a dream or something. I’ve never had a date like
this before and I do appreciate the effort.”

“
But.” He could feel it. She
didn’t want this.

“
This isn’t my life and I
can’t just drop everything and do this on a regular
basis.”

Neil took her small hand between his,
hoping to soothe her. “We don’t have to do anything you’re not
comfortable with. If you’d like to end this date now, just tell
me.”

He could feel her body relax and he was
thankful.

She sighed as a small grin formed on
her red lips. “No, no. You’ve gone to all this trouble. I’d like to
continue it. I am enjoying it, really.”

Raising her hand to his mouth, he
pressed a light kiss to it. “I’m glad. Dinner should be arriving
any minute.”

* * *

Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Krista stared into
the mirror in the tiny bathroom.

She had to go back out there. She’d
already been in here much longer than a normal person would be. Oh
God, what if he thought she was pooping? How
embarrassing!

With one last glance in the mirror and
a tug at her dress, she opened the door and left. As she exited the
short hallway, she gasped. A table was set up with a beautiful
white tablecloth on and several candles burning in the center. The
food had arrived, and Neil smiled in her direction as he waited on
her.

Damn it, someone pinch her and wake her
up. How had she gotten here? Twenty-four hours ago she never
would’ve imagined she’d be here tonight. But here she was. It was
best to enjoy this evening, chances were as he got to know her
better, he’d change his mind about her.

“
I can’t take my eyes off of
you,” Neil said from behind her chair as she sat down. Gently, he
pushed her closer to the table before seating himself.

Her cheeks burned. She glanced at the
food that was presented. It looked really tasty and her stomach
growled.

“
I hope chicken is okay. I
had wanted to go with lamb, but wasn’t sure yet of your
tastes.”

“
I’ve never had lamb.” The
thought of eating one didn’t appeal to her.

“
Glad I made this decision.”
He pulled his napkin from the table and placed it on his
lap.

The stewardess appeared. “Is there
anything else I can get you?”

Neil eyed Krista. Krista looked up at
the woman. “Uh, I think I’m good.”

“
Same here.”

The woman turned and walked away,
returning to wherever she’d been hiding all this time.

Neil had something to him that she
couldn’t pinpoint. He was older, yes, but the way he spoke, people
simply responded. Oh crap, maybe he was a Dom. She’d hopped on the
book craze recently with every other woman and read a few of the
popular BDSM books. But never in her life had she thought she’d
encounter a man like the Doms she read about.

“
Are you okay?” He took a
sip of his wine.

“
Are you…are you a
Dom?”

Neil chuckled. “A what?”

Oh, she was embarrassed now. If her
cheeks hadn’t been red before, they were now. She picked up her
glass and took a big sip from it.

With an amused expression, he said,
“No, I’m not a Dom. Why would you think that?”

“
You just have this way
about you and you’re in such control. I just thought…that maybe you
were.”

“
I assure you, I’m not.
Though, you are correct. I do like to be in control. But when it
comes to the bedroom, I don’t want to be in full control. I like to
be touched as much as I like to touch.”

Thank God. Because if she got into the
bedroom with him, she’d want to touch. It’d be absolute torture not
to.

Silence ensued and the awkwardness
began to set in. Grabbing her fork, she stabbed a green bean and
slid it into her mouth. A sweet and tangy flavor hit her
tongue.

She thought about asking him
what he did for a living, but then wasn’t sure she wanted to know,
not with the amount of money he had. She didn’t want to come across
as a gold digger. Then again,
he
was the one pursuing
her
.

“
Do you have kids?” she
asked.

He cut into the chicken.
“No.”

“
How come?”

After he finished a bite of chicken, he
set his fork down. “Never made the time for that. Now at my age,
it’s out of the question.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Is that a
problem?”

“
No,” she lied, even though
it was a problem. A very big one.

“
It isn’t that I don’t like
children. I haven’t met the right woman, and well, now at my age
it’s sorta out of the question. I’d be in my sixties with a
teenager.”

“
I understand.”

Neil set his napkin on the table.
“Would you like to dance?”

Dance?
Now?
“Aren’t we eating?”

“
I think we’re more picking
at it like birds.” He leaned closer. “To be honest, I need an
excuse to be close to you. I want to feel your body in my
hands.”

Krista took a moment to imagine it.
They’d be intertwined; his hand would be on her bare back, right
above her ass. He’d probably rub his hand up and down her spine,
and it would send chills. She was turned on just thinking about it.
But he had a point, she wasn’t going eat each much. Her nerves were
on the high end.

“
Sure,” she
answered.

From his phone, he did something and
soft music started to play. Neil stood and offered his hand to her.
He led her to the middle of the plane and pulled her into his
embrace. Both of his hands settled on her waist, and hers laced
around his neck.

It felt right. Like she was where she
was supposed to be. She stared up into his eyes and wondered if he
tried to kiss her, would she let him? The feel of his lips on hers.
Ugh, she was falling in much too deep. But how could she not? An
older—and obviously rich man—had her on his private jet for a date.
This didn’t happen every day.

She might as well enjoy it, because
this could be the only time this happened.

“
You feel so right in my
arms,” he whispered against her cheek.

Krista nodded, knowing she couldn’t
form any words.

She laid her head on his shoulder and
almost moaned out loud when one of his fingers traced her
spine.

“
It’s taking every ounce of
my control to not kiss you right now, Krista.”

It was taking everything in her not to
shove him down on this floor and have sex. If his hand even went
inside of her dress, she’d throw all inhibitions out the door and
get down and dirty with this man.

The plane jerked and she clutched his
shoulder. “What was that?”

“
Just
turbulence.”

But then it jerked again, and she
almost lost footing.

The pilot’s voice sounded over the
intercom. “Mr. Clark, we are hitting some extreme weather
conditions. You and your companion may wish to take your seats and
buckle your seatbelts.”

Oh my God! We’re going to
crash!
The plane jerked again and Krista
practically sprinted to her seat to buckle.

“
It’s okay.” Neil squeezed
her hand.

The stewardess retuned. “I apologize.
We’ve hit a thunderstorm. Would you like us to land as soon as we
can?”

Neil glanced at Krista, then back at
the stewardess and nodded. Krista let out a sigh of relief. She
couldn’t wait to firmly plant her feet back on the ground and get
home to EJ.

Krista sipped her morning coffee. She’d tossed and turned all
night. Once the plane was back on the ground, they’d taken the limo
straight back here. The storm had been her wake-up call.

Neil had walked her to the door and
left with only a kiss to her cheek. All night she did her best to
find the peace of sleep, but it hadn’t come. She hated to admit it,
but she really liked the guy. It would never work, and she wasn’t
the type of girl who played. She needed something serious and
real.

Setting the mug down on the table, she
propped her head on her hand and sighed. What fun it would be to be
whisked away by a rich man to all sorts of places for dinner. They
could easily head to Paris for a day and spend the next in China.
It would be a thrill in life, until he got bored of her and moved
on to impress the next woman. And she’d be left broken hearted.
However, that type of life didn’t fit into hers.

Krista wasn’t sure if she’d hear from
Neil again. When he’d left, he hadn’t mentioned calling on her.
Perhaps her little freak-out on the plane chased him off and he
realized what a loser she was.

The front door opened and shut. Jamie
and EJ must have arrived. She pushed back in her chair and stood.
She watched from the kitchen doorway as they kicked their shoes off
in the foyer. Jamie smiled at her and as soon as EJ had his shoes
off, he turned and ran toward her, wrapping his arms around her
waist.

“
I missed you,
Mom!”

Squeezing him back, she said, “I missed
you too.”

“
I had so much fun with Ms.
Jamie though. She let me stay up late and play video
games.”

It warmed her heart to have such a good
and dependable friend who loved her son almost as much as her. “She
did. Well, that’s awesome.”

“
Oh, yeah. It totally was.”
He released Krista and turned to Jamie. “Can I have the Legos you
bought me?”

Jamie handed him the bag. “Sure
thing.”

EJ removed the box, discarding the bag
on the floor. “I’m going to go to my room and do these,
okay?”

She picked up the bag. Usually she’d
scold him for the mess, but not this time. “Sounds
good.”

As soon as EJ was out of sight, Jamie
grabbed Krista’s hand and led her back to the kitchen.

“
Dish.” She made herself at
home—like usual—and got a coffee cup out of the cabinet and a few
moments later joined Krista at the table, steam rising from the
mug.

Where to begin? Her friend would never
believe the date she’d had. “Last night was something. Dinner was
on a private jet in the sky.”

Jamie’s mouth dropped open. For once,
her friend was speechless.

Rubbing her nails along the table, she
continued, “We talk and danced, but then a storm hit and I
panicked. He brought me home and that was it.”

“
Did you kiss? Are you going
out again?” her friend questioned. “Can I add that I’m
jealous?”