Page 59 of BillionHeir
“Was he?” she asks innocently before looking back out the window.
Apparently, Chloe is much sassier than I ever imagined.
“Cheers,” I say as I lift the glass that the flight attendant has just served us before scurrying back to his hideout near the cockpit. It seems my look conveyed the exact message I was trying to express.
Without so much as a blink in my direction, Chloe lifts her glass to her lips, ignoring me completely.
“Look, I am sorry,” I say quickly. She coughs into her drink and lowers the glass. That is not exactly the reaction I was going for, but I will take whatever I can get. “I didn’t know what to tell my friends about what was developing between us. When they mentioned it, I panicked. I have been alone for so long that myfeelings for you freaked me out. I didn’t handle it well. I sincerely apologize.”
Chloe listens to my speech and hardly reacts, giving me nothing. When I am finished, she takes another small sip of her champagne.
“You are forgiven,” she answers curtly before turning back toward the window.
I realize how difficult it is going to be to get her to give me another chance.
“Is there anything I can say to convince you to come back with me?”
“Maxwell, we both know that you don’t need a nurse anymore. I think it is best if we go our separate ways, don’t you?”
“You are right. I don’t need a nurse anymore. I just need you.”
She frowns. “You don’t need me. I am fairly convinced that you don’t need anyone. The way you made me feel earlier today, for the last few days actually. I really thought you were different, you know? I thought you were someone who I could trust. But instead you pushed me away. Rather effectively, I might add. I can’t just forget that, Maxwell. I am not coming back with you. I will be in the UK for the foreseeable future.”
I feel terrible that my actions have caused her this much distress. Before she can turn back to the window and shut me out once again, I stop her by putting my hand on hers.
“What can I do to show you that I won’t make the same mistakes again?” I search her eyes for any sign that she can be swayed. All that I find there is pain and heartache. The fact that I am the person who made her feel that way threatens to destroy me from the inside out.
“I am afraid I don’t have the answer for that, Maxwell.” She pulls her hand out from under mine leaving me feeling intensely alone.
She opens her mouth as if she is going to say something else, but instead of speaking, her eyes fill with tears. I have a moment of hope, but then the pilot comes over the speaker to make an announcement, disrupting the moment. She turns back toward the window, shifting her entire body to shut me out completely.
But I am not going to give up on her.
If Chloe is going to be in the UK, then I will be too. And I will stay until she forgives me. I am committed to win her back. To move past this and find a way forward together.
I know it is going to be an uphill climb.
But I have never met someone who was more deserving of my efforts.
Chapter 22
_______________________
Chloe
“Well, I guess I will be seeing you,” I say, taking one last glance at Maxwell before we exit the plane.
“I have a car waiting for me. Let me take you wherever you are going.”
“Actually, my mum is picking me up,” I fib. She would be here if she could, but she is still in the hospital with another full day of doctors and tests.
Maxwell will not be deterred. “Please? I can take you both.”
“Honestly, Maxwell,” I say,frustrated.
“I am sorry. I just want to make sure that you are taken care of.”
His admission cuts right through my anger and pierces my heart that I spent the entire flight guarding. I swore to myself that once we got off the airplane, I was going to put Maxwell Banks in the past. But he is clearly on a mission to do everything he can to work his way back in.
