Page 20 of Total Obsession

"Los Angeles?" I asked her, already knowing the answer, but knowing it was also good to be wrong sometimes in these sorts of situations. It helped to keep people from getting suspicious.

She shook her head. "Back to New York."

"I think you'll like the city," I remarked to her.

"I hope so," she said, a bit to herself.

The captain came on over the intercom to let us both know that we were at cruising altitude. Zoey tried to stifle a yawn, and I chuckled. "You know, there's an entire second floor to this thing, complete with a bedroom. You're welcome to get some rest. It is quite late after all."

"That hardly seems fair," she remarked.

"How do you figure?" I asked, finishing the last sip of my drink.

"You agree to fly me in this big private plane back home, and I fall asleep on you," she said with a bit of an awkward laugh in her voice.

"What else did you think we'd do?" I asked, faking a yawn to try and make her feel more at ease.

Her eyes drifted up and down my body. "I, uh." She hesitated. "I'm not sure."

I turned towards her, fully facing her. I let my thumb graze her bottom lip as I held her gaze. "Is it something you want?" She opened her mouth to respond, but I pressed my finger into her lip, signaling her to hold her thought. "Or,is it something that you thought would be expected of you?"

"Everyone always expects things of me," she replied.

"Do I look like everyone?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No. You've never been like everyone else."

"So, then what makes you think I would expect anything of you in this situation?"

She shook her head. "I didn't. I don't!"

"So then," I said slowly. "Is it the first?"

My thumb was still grazing her luscious lower lip. I could feel it quiver beneath my touch. This close to her, her scent was intoxicating. She smelled like what home should have felt like but never was.

Becoming intimate this fast with Zoey was not the plan. It wasn't even close to the plan.

The plan was to make her fall for me.

Not for me to start falling for her.

I reminded myself of this, and my treacherous brain started to bargain with me that being intimate with her now didn't mean that I was falling for her, and didn't mean she wouldn't fall for me. I found a way to get it back under control, masking everything I was feeling.

I waited for her answer. I waited for her to confirm that this was something that she wanted. I wanted her begging for it.

It was odd because she stayed quiet, her cheeks blushed, her mouth unable to speak the words I knew she wanted to say. She wasn’t how I thought she'd be. I thought she'd be a brat. I thought the fame would have gotten to her.

Instead, she was tame.

Almost boring.

"Are you afraid to admit it?" I asked her.

She nodded her head.

"Use your voice," I instructed her. "Tell me what it is you want. It's just us," I said softly. "What are you afraid of?"

"It's scary to admit the truth," she said.

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