3 BOOK BUNDLE: Flown By The Billionaire I, II, & III Read Free Page B

apologized. “I’m sorry,”
he stated. “I didn’t mean to…I mean, I…”
    “It’s all right,” I responded getting up. “It wasn’t your
fault, I was just startled.”
    “Melissa,” he urged. “The thing is,” he added, his head
dropping for a second before returning to me. “I’m not going to pretend that I
don’t like you,” he said, “because I do, and if we’d met under different
circumstances, I think that…” He didn’t complete the thought. Instead, he
changed tact. “I don’t ever date people that I work with, it just makes things
messy.”
    “Absolutely,” I concurred, nodding. “I agree.”
    “I know you need this job, so I promise from now on, I will
behave more professionally,” he concluded.
    I won’t pretend that I wasn’t disappointed, but I was
grateful. We’d reached an agreement, and despite the fact an attraction
remained between us, knowing we’d agreed not to act upon it eased my
mind…somewhat.
    The truth was, I thought about him all the time when I
wasn’t at work. When we flew alone together, I found myself focused on
minuscule things; like the way his hands wrapped around a coffee mug, the
movement of his throat as he swallowed, the handful of hairs that strayed from
his side parting and crept onto his forehead, and the way his fingers tapped
lightly on the keyboard of his laptop when he was focused on his work.
    Sometimes, I would feel the heat of his gaze and wondered if
he was looking at small aspects of my movement. It was impossible to say,
because he never let me catch him.
    What was most difficult about that period was that in order
to help retain a professional distance, Alex had stopped asking me to sit and
chat with him. His friendship was something I quickly came to miss. I’d been
able to talk to him in a way that I couldn’t talk to anyone else in my life -
I’d never been able to talk to anyone as I had him.
    Looking back, I think that it was a mistake to try to avoid
each other. The only purpose it served was to create a tension between us that
gradually ballooned, until one day the inevitable happened: it burst.

Chapter Three
    W e were on our way back
from Los Angeles where Alex had been attending a conference. During the journey,
he’d remained in the front of the cabin and I’d been tucked away behind the bar,
finding pointless jobs to do. About two hours from landing, he called me over.
    “Melissa,” he said, rising from his seat. “I wanted to say
I’m sorry for the awkwardness between us lately.”
    “No need to apologize,” I said, smiling and turning in the
hope that would be all he had to say.
    However, he quickly grasped my wrist to prevent me from
leaving. “Please don’t go,” he said. “I…” he glanced down at the fingers he
held firmly, but not roughly, around my wrist and gradually withdrew them. When
his focus moved back to my face, his eyes were filled with something I could
not define.
    Then, unexpectedly, his head moved toward mine, not in a
sudden rush; but a measured, deliberately slow pace. I had plenty of time to
step away from him, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. Even though a part of me
knew that the consequences could be disastrous both professionally and
personally, the larger part disregarded all thoughts of next week, tomorrow, or
even an hour from that moment.
    It felt like an eternity. His warmth gradually closing in on
me, the sandalwood scent of his cologne growing stronger, and his presence
becoming more powerful. Then, gently, oh so gently, he melded his soft lips to
mine.
    I stood there, my hands by my sides, unsure of what to do
with them. My eyes dropped heavily and I moved my lips beneath his, pursing and
molding them gently until our two mouths seemed to fit perfectly.
    Until that moment, I’d never experienced a kiss quite as
delicious and sweet as his. He hummed contentedly and the low rumble in his
chest vibrated against my breasts. I hadn’t even realized he’d stepped