Roman-2(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(171)

They sped through the drizzly streets of Chicago in the blacked out car. Thomas didn’t seem in the mood to talk, so as they went, Sasha looked out the window at the city she’d tried to make her home. She’d worked so hard to get here, to leave her small town upbringing and her lack of prospects. There were points when it had felt like the whole world was against her - with her mother’s illness and her father’s abandonment - but against the odds she’d come within a hair’s breadth of the life she’d always wanted. And now she was just leaving it all behind. She couldn’t bear to think how disappointed her mother would be.

Thomas’s private jet was waiting for them at the airport. His team - a publicist and two bodyguards - were already congregated by the entrance, huddled under umbrellas. So were the paps.

As the car pulled up to the entrance, Thomas leaned over to Sasha.

“Don’t let me down, okay?” he whispered in her ear.

His breath was hot. It made her gasp.

A woman knocked on the window. Thomas wound it down. “Pippa,” he said.

The woman leaned right in and spoke in a whisper.

“I could kill you right now, Thomas.” She had a posh, English accent. She started straightening his shirt and mussing his hair. “Now, you’re in love remember. Protect her. Hold her. Caress her.” Then her gaze flicked to Sasha. “And you need to laugh at his jokes. Got it?”

Sasha nodded.

“And for God’s sake act relaxed. You’re not supposed to give half a hoot about this whole drama.”

The woman popped back out of the window.

Thomas took Sasha’s hand in his.

The car door was opened from the outside. Hand in hand, Thomas and Sasha stepped out into a heavy downpour, a cacophony of shouting, and bright, blinding lights.

Thomas’s team swarmed around the couple, trying to shield them from the flashing lights. Thomas pulled Sasha inside the entrance to the airport, then all the way through it, ignoring the paparazzi’s prying questions. Though Sasha knew it was all an act, she still reveled in the feel of his skin on hers. She just loved being so close to him, feeling the warmth radiate from him...

But as soon as they were up the steps and in the airplane, Thomas let go.

The interior of his private jet was beautiful. Everything was decorated in cream colored leather with dark varnished wood finish. The seats were closer to armchair’s than the economy budget airplane seats she was used. They faced inwards as though set up for a business meeting.

Everyone buckled up and the plane took to the sky. As soon as the pilot told them they could remove their seat belts, Thomas stood.

“I need a drink,” he said, going over to the fridge in the corner and pulling out a bottle of wine. “Anyone else?”

The rest of his team declined. Sasha didn’t say anything, assuming that Thomas wasn’t including her in the invitation. So it came as something of a shock to her when Thomas poured himself a large glass of wine then plunked another in front of her.

“Thanks,” she said, immediately remembering the way he’d licked wine from her lips the first time they’d had sex.

She glanced up and saw that there was a look in Thomas’s eyes, a hungry look just like the one she’d seen back in the Hilton hotel. He was remembering that moment too, replaying the taste of her, the smell of her, the feel of her as he’d thrust himself deep inside of her.

A thrill of excitement ran through Sasha as she realized his desire for her was still there. Maybe there was still a chance she could get what she craved from Thomas Lloyd. Maybe she hadn’t ruined everything between them...

Thomas’s team busied themselves talking through how best to negotiate the scandal. Sasha sat silently, sipping her wine. Thomas stared out the window of the plane, completely preoccupied with his thoughts. Sasha yearned to speak to him. He seemed so lost. He must have been reeling from Crystal’s betrayal and yet he clearly had no one to confide in. Sasha wanted to be that someone. But right now he saw her as another betrayer. Another person who’d used him. She set her mind to changing that. Not now, not tomorrow, but at some point she was going to convince Thomas Lloyd to give her a second chance.

Sasha yawned. The events of the last few days had exhausted her. She could never have anticipated when her editor Kelly picked her to interview Thomas Lloyd that it would lead her to this place, thousands of feet in the air in a private jet running off to an island halfway across the globe. She’d hoped the article would be the big break that would change her life. It had certainly changed her life, but not in the way she was expecting.

“Excuse me,” Sasha asked the brunette woman. “How long is the flight?”