Page 204 of Lovers' Dance

“Humph.” I huffed, enjoying the way my fingers interlaced with his. Matt continued chuckling to himself while I stared out the window. I wasn’t going to stress out over it. Then the plane pitched and my grip on Matt’s fingers tightened. It pitched again and I squeaked, turning my head to face Matt with wide eyes.

“It’s fine, poppet,” he assured me. “Probably turbul—”

The violent jerking of the plane cut him off mid-sentence. Matt eased his hand from mine and, keeping his expression calm, he silently fastened my seatbelt, then double-checked it was secure.

“Matt,” I said nervously as he got up.

“I’ll be right back,” he replied. “Don’t worry.” He walked towards the cockpit, needing to steady himself as the plane continued to pitch. I looked around to see Belinda making her way unsteadily down the aisle to strap herself into the cream leather three-seater couch in the back. Oh, fuck.I was going to die.No one had shown me the exit points. Did this stupid plane have air masks? How high up were we? We were over the ocean, how far was it to land? Could I swim that far? Sharks. Oh God. What about the sharks? How would we survive? Visions of the movie Cast Away danced before my eyes. What the hell was I thinking? There was no freaking deserted island between where we were and the States.

Matt was coming back, wearing that calm expression on his face. He carefully made his way to his seat and buckled up.

“Just turbulence, poppet. We should be fine in a few moments,” he said with confidence as he took my hand in his and squeezed tightly.

The plane was pitching about and I forced a smile to my trembling lips. Matt squeezed my hand again as we stared at each other.

“Are there enough parachutes?” I asked.

Matt gave me a look. A ‘don’t be silly, poppet’ look.Screw that shit.If this plane went down, I didn’t want to be inside it when it crashed into the ocean.

“Have you used a parachute before?” Matt teased.

I stole a glimpse out the window, then returned my gaze to him. “No, but I’m a fast learner. And, just so you know, if we survive the crash and somehow end up on an unknown deserted island, I’m going cannibal on your ass. I have responsibilities so I can’t die.”

Matt let out a deep laugh, leaning over to kiss the tip of my nose. “How about I eat you right now, poppet?” He wagged his eyebrows with a lecherous smirk. “I daresay it’ll take your mind of any impending crash.”

I scowled at him. The man had no sense of propriety, not one ounce. I looked over my seat to where Belinda sat…reading a magazine. The hell?

“You’d better save me before her,” I muttered in warning. “Children should always be saved first, and I have a child-like outlook on life. Heck, I’m the youngest person in this flying death trap.”

Matt chuckled as he whispered back, “She’s a year younger than you, poppet, but you do have a child-like disposition. Chatting incessantly, always wanting your own way, petulant…shall I continue?”

“Ha, ha, ha.” I made sure the sarcasm was thick in my voice. “Laugh it up, Mr Bradley.”

He kissed me. And everything else disappeared. Matt snogged me like there was no tomorrow. If his plane went down, there wouldn’t be a tomorrow for us. At least I would crash and burn with the man I loved. Or was that crash and drown? Maybe crash and get eaten by sharks?

“See?” he murmured quietly as he rubbed his nose against mine. “I told you everything would be all right.”

His eyes were so close to mine, I could see the tiny, almost golden flecks in his irises. The plane wasn’t bucking about anymore, but our momentary possible crash was the last thing on my mind.

“Matt, I’m scared.”

“Don’t be. It was turbulence—” he started, pausing when I eased away from the closeness of our faces.

“Not that.” I chewed my inner cheeks before clasping my hands together. “I’m scared to go home.” A sigh whispered past my lips. “With you.”

Matt rubbed his clean-shaven jaw slowly, a contemplative air surrounding him as he observed me for a moment.

“Right,” he muttered, then unbuckled his seat belt and stood up. “I’ll be two minutes. Keep your belt on.”

He strode towards the back of the plane, while I twisted my body and strained upwards against the belt to keep my gaze on him. What was he up to?

I caught Belinda staring over at me and sent her a polite smile. Had Matt sexed her in these seats? In the cockpit? Where had the pilot been when they bumped uglies? Was he an onlooker? Did he join in, making it a mile-high threesome? Matt was such a slut.

Aforementioned slut was coming back with a briefcase and a grim look on his face.Shit.Had he picked up on my thoughts with his uncanny mind reading abilities? He motioned soundlessly to Belinda with a jerk of his head, and she immediately unbuckled herself and headed to the back. Guess he wanted us to have privacy. Matt took his seat and cracked the briefcase open. I shook my head at the contents. His laptop and tablet, a lot of paperwork, pads and pens. This was supposed to be a vacation. Matt took out a couple of notepads and pens, which he placed on the table. He picked up his tablet and turned it on. I gave it ten seconds, eyeing the screen closely. When I saw the bold font of Bradley Industries, I cleared my throat in a threatening manner, twice.

Matt shot me a guilty look. “I simply wanted to check—”

“No work, Matt,” I said firmly. “You promised.”

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