Page 39 of My Forbidden Boss

Oh, no… no, no, no… No! Are you kidding me?

It took a long pause for me to realize that I was still holding his arm. My hands withdrew quickly, and I openly groaned in dismay. With my next thought, the back of my hand flew toward my mouth. At the same time, my eyes dropped to Hollis’s arm.

For a split second, I felt relieved.

Oh, thank god.

Luckily, no puddle of drool seemed present where I had apparently cuddled up with him, but still, I self-consciously wiped the back of my hand over my lips, just in case.

“Well, hey! Good morning there, beautiful. … or, afternoon, I suppose. Either way, did you sleep alright?”

Knots tangled me up inside. “Uh… Hollis, I… um…”

He laughed politely, spreading his big hands over the tops of his thighs.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. That’s what I get for taking the armrest, anyway. Besides, I swear I’ve done the same thing. I took a flight to see my brother when he was off at college and woke up with my head practically laying in some old lady’s lap.”

I couldn’t help the smile spreading across my lips, even though the embarrassment in my guts still had me ready to scream. I steadied myself, smoothing my sweater down to my skirt while trying my best to come across as cool and calm.

“Uh, well… I see that we’ve landed.”

Hollis nodded, smiling. There was light streaming through the airplane’s open hatch, and the pilot soon reappeared up the steps.

He looked from Hollis to me and back again, obviously gauging the awkwardness between us before opening his mouth.

“Right, Mr. Fleming, Miss… Your ride is ready with your belongings already loaded beneath the hood. Um… Take your time, though. No rush.”

Hollis looked up and nodded. “Alright, thanks. You’re the man, George. You be safe heading back.”

I blinked from one to the other, watching the pilot’s polite smile until he nodded appreciatively and bowed back into the cockpit, out of sight.

I leaned sideways and hissed a whisper at Hollis.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

He smirked. “I did, didn’t I?”

I scowled. “That isn’t what I meant, and you know it. Besides, how long was I like that? I would have moved!”

“I know, but you looked so comfortable. Oh, and it was like… the whole time. Seriously, George announced, ‘Okay, we’re going to take off now,’ and you were already rolling over, ready to snuggle.”

I felt my face burning, but I could see from the grin on Hollis’ face that none of what he said should be trusted.

I buried my sense of shame and scoffed. “Oh, shut it. You’re so full of shit… I bet it wasn’t until we landed, and the jolt jostled me over or something.”

His grin only widened, but he shrugged ambiguously, leaving me to wonder, without an answer.

Hollis smoothly stood and stretched in place, imposing above me with his towering size.

“I guess that you will never know for sure. Isn’t that right, Miss Crawford?”

I sneered impudently and eased myself upward, sassily snagging my purse from beside my feet before raising my chin to his chest.

“Look, you won this round. Alright? Happy? Yeah, I bet you are. You probably drugged me and dragged me over while I was sleeping. Don’t you think for one second that I’ve forgotten how you set this whole thing up to begin with. This hasn’t changed a thing. But you have got to stop calling me, ‘Miss Crawford,’ or I, seriously, am going to start throwing things at you.”

Hollis smiled and looked back as he moved toward the door, widening his eyes with supposed fear. The effort didn’t last long, though, as a thought clearly crossed beneath his brow.

He smirked slyly as his gaze squinted and sparked into life.

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