Page 32 of Home to Me

He handed her the upgraded boarding pass with a flourish, much the way she imagined a teenager might hand over a hard-fought-for stuffed animal he’d won for his ladylove at the county fair.

As it turned out, they had the first-class compartment almost entirely to themselves. The only other passenger was seated in the row ahead of them and across the aisle, so once they were all settled into their plush, leather seats, all trace of the man was actually obscured from view.

It felt to Lauren as if they had their own private little compartment within the airplane. She squirmed uncomfortably at the intimacy of that notion, but in a far corner of her brain, she recognized that it felt right to her as well.

After their flight had been underway for about ten minutes, Ben turned to Lauren with a sly, conspiratorial glint in his eye. He leaned in close to her and said in a low, seductive tone, "You know what I really like to do when I'm on long flights like this and I have first class almost all to myself?"

Lauren felt her throat catch but resisted the urge to clear it. She didn't want him to know how much the nearness of him, the sexy rasp in his voice, and the feeling of his hot breath on her ear affected her. She willed her tone to be even as she said, "What might that be?"

He leaned back, smiling, and in a brisk, teasing tone, said, "Look over the script and the specs of the house I'm about to shoot."

Lauren's brain was so scrambled by the rush of heat that had just thundered through it that it took her a moment to process what he’d said and the implications. When she did, her cheeks burned with embarrassment, having fallen for his little gag. But instead of showing him that he’d gotten to her, she made herself laugh it off, and about ten seconds into the chuckle, she realized that she really did find it funny.

Still, though. That didn't mean she was going to let him get away with it. She needed to turn the tables.

"Too bad," she said lightly as she pulled out her laptop. "I usually like to give blow jobs."

Although she kept her eyes determinedly straight in front of her as she said this, she managed to see out of her peripheral vision what his reaction was to this bold statement. She saw a definite spark of surprise in his eyes, which quickly darkened to what she thought (hoped?) was lust.

He grinned, although a bit uncertainly, perhaps wondering how much of the comment was a joke and how much was a serious proposition. Hedging his bets, he matched her light tone as he said, "Never too busy for that though."

She smiled serenely. "Lost your chance," she teased.

Ben was silent then, not answering, and Lauren was quickly distracted from their charged exchange as she became absorbed in reading and answering her email correspondence on her laptop. A few moments later, she noticed that Ben had pulled his own laptop out of his briefcase and opened up the electronic info packet they’d been given on the house they were heading out to host.

The flight proceeded smoothly and uneventfully for a short while until, without warning, the plane began to shake and roil. Lauren looked up at the first bump, eyes wide. At the next bump in the air, her hand involuntarily clutched Ben's arm. She looked at him, desperation no doubt written on her face.

"I don’t do well with turbulence,” she said a little tremulously.

She realized that he could’ve taken the opportunity to continue to tease her, but he didn’t. Rather, he spoke in a low, comforting tone.

"Don't worry," he said. "In this job, I have to make flights in these smaller planes all the time. It gets a little rough every once in a while, but we're always okay." He smiled at her reassuringly. "I promise we'll be fine," he soothed.

Even though there was usually nothing that could make Lauren feel better when a flight wasn't going smoothly, she found that something about Ben's manner and tone actually did make her believe him deep down inside.

However, as the plane continued to dip and shake, she found that, although she did have faith in Ben's comforting words, they didn’t have the power to take away her fear entirely. So when the captain's voice came over the loudspeaker and announced that, due to the bad weather patch, they weren't going to make it all the way to Aspen but instead were going to have to make an unscheduled landing in Grand Junction, Lauren was the only passenger on the plane who didn't groan. On the contrary, she couldn’t have been more relieved.

When the wheels touched down, she felt the tension inside of her unwind, and she whispered, "Oh, thank God." The breath, she didn’t even realize she had been holding, escaped from her in a powerful sigh of relief.

Her fists also involuntarily loosened as relief flooded through her, and it was only then that she realized that during the entire storm, she’d never let go of Ben's arm.

10

Lauren paced around the small hotel room, obviously nervous and fidgety, and her gaze kept falling onto the bed. She’d mentioned to Ben several times that she absolutely couldn't believe that the hotel had no sleeping accommodations available whatsoever with double beds. She said it again and again—it just didn't seem possible.

Ben said, “Lauren, honestly, if it makes you nervous to sleep in the bed together, I don't mind taking the floor. Or even a chair.”

Lauren looked at him, saw his face, which was telegraphing sincerity, and felt her fear drop away like an ill-fitted cape.

“You know what? I'm just being silly,” Lauren said. “We’re both adults. We both deserve to sleep in the bed. I mean, we're both professionals, even. We both have a job to do tomorrow, one for which we both need to be fresh and rested. It’s ridiculous to make you sleep on the floor while I get this huge bed to myself, particularly when I'm the one who’s being an idiot. We can survive sleeping in a bed together for one night...right?”

Ben smiled. “I tell you what? Why don't we order up some room service?”

Lauren hadn't realized how hungry she was. Fear of plummeting to the ground in a flying tin can really works up an appetite, she thought.

“That sounds good,” she said enthusiastically. “While we wait for it, I'm going to hop in the shower. I didn't have time to take one in my unplanned rush to get out the door today, and I think the hot water will do wonders for my nerves.”

Lauren gave him her order, grabbed her toiletry case, and walked into the bathroom. She was appalled at what she saw in the mirror. She looked pale. Zombie-like.

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