Page 4 of My Wildest Obsession

I want to rip them off, but then I notice Clara smiling down at them and I can’t bring myself to take them off.

We’re close to landing now. I can tell by the way that Clara is squirming around in her seat like an anxious, hyper squirrel.

“It’s going to be fine,” I whisper at her, and she rolls her eyes.

“I hate when you say that,” she complains, and I roll my eyes right back.

“You’d rather I told you that we were going to die?” I ask her sarcastically, and she tries to kick me but I move before she can.

She reaches for her bag to dig that damn diary of hers. She thinks that I don’t know what she’s doing with that, but I know everything about her. I know that she keeps track of our verbal sparring in the back of it. I also know that after this plane ride, I’m winning.

I keep track of things with Clara too. Mine is all just mental though.

For instance, this is the fifth time this month that she’s worn that tight black skirt, the first time this week that she’s pulled her hair up, and the millionth time that I’ve thought about kissing her.

The buckle seat belt sign dings and they announce that we’ll be landing soon. Clara’s grip tightens painfully around my fingers and I swear that she’s close to breaking a few of them. My ears pop as we get closer to the ground and I stuff my papers in to my bag and get ready to deplane.

As soon as the wheels touch the ground, Clara and I release each other like our hands are on fire. We both ignore the other as we gather our things and then stand and make our way off the plane.

“This way,” I say, taking off at a quick pace towards the exit.

I hired a car to take us to the meeting and then our hotel, and I scan the people holding boards until I spot my name.

“Keep up,” I say over my shoulder, and Clara’s bag hits the back of my legs.

I don’t glance back at her. I know that she did that on purpose.

We walk in silence behind the driver to the black sedan and I open the door. Clara elbows past me, leaving her bags at my side and I bite back a grin as she climbs in.

God, I love her sassiness and confidence.

My eyes zero in on her ass as she climbs across the seats to the other side.

“In the trunk, sir?” The driver asks, and my head snaps to the side as I glare at him.

“What?” I snarl.

“The bags. Should I put them in the trunk?” He asks again, and I blink.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

I slide into the car and slam the door closed behind me. Clara is busy texting on her phone, her diary lying in her lap. I glare at it, knowing that she counted getting into the car before me as a win for her.

“To the hotel, sir?” The driver asks, and I shake my head.

“No, we’re running late. Take us straight to High Tower Market.”

“Please,” Clara adds, giving me a stern look that I choose to ignore.

“Right away.”

The car pulls away from the curb and I grab my briefcase to go back to reviewing the documents. My phone buzzes and I pull it out, freezing when I see my aunt’s name on the screen. I silence the call and tuck the phone back in my pocket.

“You know that she’s just going to call me if you don’t answer,” Clara says.

“Tell her I said hi.”

“You could have just told her yourself,” she points out as her phone starts to ring.

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