Page 37 of A Kiss at Midnight

“You might be crazier than I ever imagined,” I tell him. I’m still frozen in my seat. “I’d say mixing sex and flying isn’t the smartest decision in your life.”

“Nope, that was worth it,” he tells me. He then smiles. “You might want to get dressed before we land,” he offers. I was so scared I forgot I’m nearly naked. He just has to put himself back in his pants and he’s fine. I’m a wreck.

“I’m not sure I can move to get dressed,” I tell him, my voice barely more than a whisper.

“We’re fine, Jewel. Spins happen. Pilots are trained for them,” he says, not seeming shaken up at all by our near disaster.

“Well, I’m not trained for it,” I say, my voice growing stronger.

“Give it some time,” he says with a chuckle.

I finally look away from him as I try to get my clothes on with the seatbelt in place. I’m not willing to take it off for even a second. Nope. Been there, done that. Not happening again. I get somewhat dressed as sadness washes through me.

We don’t have enough time for me to get used to this. We most likely won’t have enough time together for me to fly with him again. I’m okay with the not flying part... I’m not okay with this ending so fast. I’m not thrilled about it, but I’m getting used to being with Blake. I want to shout out a Mayday, but it might already be too late.

Chapter Review

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jewel

I wake in the morningwith Blake’s hands rubbing along my naked back. Undoubtedly I’ll never be in a real relationship with him, and I’d be wise to keep him at a distance. Even knowing this, I’m well aware that a piece of me will always belong to him. This frightens me.

“Tell me, Jewel, why are you doing this? You haven’t told me why you need someone at court with you. It’s clear you’re not stupid, and many normal men would want to be in a relationship with you. Knowing this, you clearly don’t seem the sort of woman to sell your body.”

“We’ve discussed this before; I need someone standing at my side in court.”

“Why do you need someone at court? Did you kill someone? Did you shoplift? What’s so important that you’re willing to do something you don’t want to do?”

“You wouldn’t believe me, Blake. Let’s just say I want to keep my personal life separate from this transaction.”

“If you have nothing to hide, tell me. It doesn’t have to make things personal.

I take a breath, fighting whether or not to share this with him. I want to tell him about Justin, to have someone understand, and for some reason, I want Blake to know I’mnota scarlet woman. But at the same time, I fear falling for him. Sharing this with him might make me more vulnerable. That would be foolish.

“Maybe I like to screw hot men,” I say as cavalierly and crudely as possible. His arms tense around me, telling me he doesn’t like my answer.

“I don’t buy that, Jewel. You were a virgin. Women don’t wake up one day and decide to sell themselves. There has to be something behind this. Is there really a reason? Were you hoping to hook yourself a billionaire?” He asks this question as if the answer must be a yes. This ignites my wrath. Why does he need to go for the jugular, to say the meanest thing he can think of?

“Does it give you pleasure to be this cruel? Maybe we’re more alike than either of us wants to admit. Maybe I do want to hook a billionaire. Maybe I’ll indeed do that,” I say.

Blake fastens on my question. “Yes, it usually pleases me to be an ass. That way people know where they stand. They don’t have expectations of me.”

The slight vulnerability in his tone makes me want to open up a bit more. I reflect on my conversation with Bill, and the pain Blake and his brothers suffered. I desperately want to know his story, but today isn’t going to be the day I learn what happened to him in his past. I most likely will never find out how his parents died. So I decide to tell him nothing.

“Well, since we’re only together for a short time, Blake, you don’t have to worry about my intentions. We’ll go our separate ways and never have to bother each other again.”

He isn’t the devil I initially thought he was, but he’s far from a saint. I don’t know exactly who or what he is. His company doesn’t repulse me, and the sex is beyond anything I could’ve imagined sex to be.

Still, sex isn’t enough. It’s wonderful in the moment, but when it’s over, emptiness swamps me, even while lying in his arms, because it isn’t where I’m supposed to be, and I know he’ll have another woman lying with him before the bedsheets grow cold.

“I hate repeating myself, Jewel... but I will.Tell me why you’re doing this.”

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“No. You should know this by now.”

My time with him will be miserable if I keep fighting him at every turn in the road. I’m doing this for a noble reason, aren’t I? It scares me that I’m doing this more for myself than for my brother. It’s not a hardship being with Blake. I’ll walk away from him once I have my brother, but it will haunt me. That means I’m still doing this for Justin... doesn’t it? I can’t keep fighting this man every step of the way. I give a long sigh.

---