Why did he still have to be so gorgeous? It just wasn’t fair. Why did he have to look like a bigger, stronger version of the guy he’d been? There was no guy left about him now—he was all man.
He didn’t speak, but he got up to let her out. Standing this close to him was some kind of cruel and unusual punishment. Why didn’t he just sit back down? He didn’t. He just stood there, facing her. Smelling all sexy and making her heart beat wildly. Dammit! Her heart was only doing that because she hated him.
It was hard to remember why, though, when he was looking down into her eyes like that.
The moment seemed to drag on forever before she understood what was really going on. He was waiting for her to go up to the front to use the bathroom. She was waiting for him to sit back down so that she could walk to the back and use the one there instead. She liked to at least stretch her legs once she was up.
She pointed past him. “I’m going that way.”
He stepped closer. Oh, God! She’d promised herself that she would never be this close to him again. Just the feel of him overwhelmed her senses—or it would if she let it. She stepped back quickly, and he sat down with a little smirk on his face.
Asshole! What did he think he was smiling about? He hadn’t gotten to her. He’d just thrown her, that was all. She hurried down the aisle to the back of the plane with a scowl on her face.
She took her time in the bathroom, fixing her makeup and brushing her hair. If she had to guess, she’d say that he still found her attractive, too. He might hate her, though not nearly as much as she hated him, but she’d seen it in his eyes back there. There’d been a hunger in them, a desire. But then he’d always been a horny bastard with a huge sexual appetite. What did she expect?
She rolled her eyes as she made her way back up the aisle. The flight attendant was standing over him, her hand on the back of his seat. He was no doubt charming her. He probably had her panties wet by now. Hopefully, he’d be able to talk the poor girl into a bedroom at one of the airport hotels. Leanne wouldn’t mind having the car to herself if he wanted to stay behind and get lucky.
The flight attendant looked up when Leanne stopped and cleared her throat. She looked embarrassed, only confirming Leanne’s suspicions that Ryan had been trying to talk his way into her panties.
She bit her tongue. Any nasty comments would only embarrass the girl further—and would no doubt roll off Ryan’s back. He didn’t care. He’d probably enjoy seeing that he’d gotten to her. No! He hadn’t gotten to her. He just disgusted her, that was all.
The flight attendant smiled at her and then at Ryan again before turning and going back to the little galley at the front.
Ryan got up to let Leanne back into her seat.
He didn’t give her enough room and stood facing the spot where she’d have to slide in. No way was she going to stand that close to him. She’d have to look directly into his eyes, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.
Instead, she turned her back to him and kind of scrambled over the seats in the most undignified move she’d made in years.
Once she was settled in her seat, he sat back down beside her. She expected some comment—something—but he didn’t say a word.
This was driving her batshit crazy! Against her better judgment, she turned to look at him. “Do we need to clear the air?”
He held her gaze for a long moment, his beautiful blue eyes looking deep into her own. There was no amusement in them. There was no snappy comeback like she’d half expected. Instead, he raised an eyebrow.
She shrugged. “We still have a couple hours ahead of us in the back of a car when we get off.”
The corners of his lips turned up in the hint of a smile. “And you want us to be on good terms before I get you in the back of a car—and we get off?”
She should have known he’d make it sound like that. “Jesus, Ryan! Is that all you ever think about?” She nodded toward the flight attendant. “It’s on offer there if you want it, and I’m sure you have plenty of other options. But I’m not one of them.”
His face turned hard. All the amusement gone as he stared back at her. “You never found your sense of humor again, then?”
She let out a harsh little laugh. “Not for some things, no—you killed it.”
He blew out a sigh and sat back in his seat. He stared ahead before he spoke again. “I guess we’ve answered your question about clearing the air. It’s not possible, is it? You were right to start with. Our best option is to just avoid each other.”
She nodded. She should be pleased. That would make life so much easier. But for some stupid reason, she felt a heavy weight of disappointment settle in her chest. And that stupid lump was back in her throat.
~ ~ ~
Ryan got to his feet as soon as the seat belt sign turned off. He couldn’t stand to sit next to her for another second. He had to get away from her. He’d rent his own damned car and drive back up to the lake. Dan was crazy if he thought that cooping him up with Leanne was a good idea. It’d most likely end in murder—and he wasn’t even sure whose.
He stepped out into the aisle and Leanne got up and moved to the space in front of his seat. Ryan couldn’t explain how he knew, but he could feel that the guy behind him in the aisle was eyeing her up. He turned. He was right. He scowled at the guy, and he took a step back. People seemed to do that a lot.
Leanne was looking at the overhead bins. She must have a bag in there that she wanted down. He wiped his palms on his pants. His choices were to get it for her himself or to give the asshole behind him an in.
“Do you need a bag down?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. She’d probably assumed—just as he had—that he wasn’t going to speak to her again.
It felt like a truce when she nodded. “Please.” She pointed above his head. “It’s the pink one in there.”
He couldn’t hold the smile in. “Of course, it is.”
As he lifted it down and handed it to her, it took him right back to that first weekend again. From the look on her face, it had the same effect on her.
“Thanks.”
He nodded. He wanted to say something. Maybe they could call a truce. Maybe they could find a way to be okay with each other. If they could do that, then perhaps, they could even work together … Jesus! What was his problem when it came to her? Why did he always try to find a way for things to be okay between them? And why, after all these years, had he not gotten it through his thick skull that things could never be okay between Leanne and him? What did okay even mean? He didn’t know what exactly it meant, but he did know that it meant something tame, something ordinary. Neither of which were words that could be applied to Leanne or to him and certainly not to what happened when they came together.
He knew that what he should do was get off the plane and go find himself a rental car. He should walk away and not look back, but he’d never been able to do that when it came to her. Instead, when the door was open and the people in the first row left, he stood back to let her out in front of him. He wasn’t sure if he did it so that the guy behind him wouldn’t get the chance to talk to her, or so that he could watch her ass as she walked ahead of him—and he didn’t know which was worse. He shouldn’t care about either, but he wasn’t a liar. Well, he could be, it was an occupational hazard. But he wasn’t big on lying to himself.