She sat down on the couch, suddenly feeling taxed. “You also make me crazy. I do stupid things when you’re around.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t. Can you at least get me an orange juice?”
“That, I could manage.” He pushed a button on his arm rest and gave the order.
She leaned back and crossed her arms. “Where are we going, anyway?”
“Back to my house. Away from the media firestorm that will no doubt ensue when they realize the bride has failed to show up for the wedding of the century. You’ll have to face the fallout eventually, but why not put it off for a while?”
It really did sound good. To avoid reality for just a bit.
“You can text your sister now.”
Oh, yes, that was a bit of reality she really couldn’t avoid. Otherwise her family would be sending the police after them. For a couple of seconds she entertained the idea of letting them arrest Alex for kidnapping. But that was a news story she didn’t really want her child going back and reading, so she decided against it.
Rachel pulled out her phone, her fingers hovering above the letters on the screen. What did you say when you did something like this?
“Why aren’t you texting Ajax, by the way?”
“Because I’d rather roll around in honey and get thrown into a badger den.”
Short and sweet, Rach. Don’t tell all yet. She looked across at Alex, who was now sprawled in the armchair like a lazy big cat. Twitching his tail, waiting for his prey to make a false move.
Yes, the less she said about the situation, the better. She knew next to nothing about it except that she couldn’t marry Ajax. And that she had to figure out what she was going to do about Alex.
I’m not coming. I need to be with Alex. I’m sorry. Please tell Jax that I’m sorry.
She took a deep breath, then hit Send on the exhale.
“Done. I told them.”
“What exactly?”
“That I’m not coming. Nothing more. Well, I mentioned you. Your first name.”
“We’ll see how long it takes Ajax to send a hit man.”
“Actually,” she said, as the plane engine started and they began to taxi around the runway, “I’m curious.”
“About?”
“Why didn’t you stop the wedding? Why didn’t you call Ajax and gloat? Why weren’t you hanging your sheet stained with my virgin’s blood out your window like some kind of marauding knight or whatever?”
He cleared his throat. “You kicked me out—I didn’t have time to take the sheet.”
“And that foiled your evil plan?” He said nothing in response. “I’m serious,” she said.
“Did it occur to you that maybe things changed because you were the one who found me?” he asked.