Strong And Sexy

Chapter 22

Shayne carried Dani through the lobby. He had a strand of her hair in his mouth and her belt was cutting his ribs. But she felt warm and soft, and was looking at him as if she wanted to jump his bones.

“Shayne?”

“Yeah?”

She looped her arms around his neck and grinned at him. “Have I mentioned I like it when you carry me?”

She had brandy breath, and he still wanted to kiss her.

“Shayne?”

“Yeah?”

“I also like it when you look at me like I’m someone special to you. Because you’re someone special to me.”

“You’re going to be sorry you admitted that when you’re sober.”

“Why?”

“Because when you’re sober you don’t like me as much, unless we’re in bed.”

Her smile faded as she stared up at him. “Then I must be a very stupid woman when I’m sober.”

He used his foot to open the door to the tarmac. A gust of wind rolled over them and he hunched over her to protect her from it, which effectively brought his face closer to hers.

She sighed. “Very stupid.”

He took her down to the first hangar, where he’d had his Cessna fueled up for their trip.

Inside the plane she looked around. “It’s tiny,” she said in an extremely small voice. “Very tiny.”

“It’s a six-seater.” He plopped her down across the two seats behind the pilot seat, then grabbed a blanket and spread it over her. “Plenty big enough.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m assuming you got yourself in this condition so you can sleep through the flight.”

“Well, there’s that…”

He turned back and looked down at her, so sweetly sprawled in the seats. “And what else?”

She covered her eyes.

Huh. He crouched beside her. “Dani?”

Uncovering her eyes, she hit him with the full potency of her gaze, which if he’d been standing would have staggered him.

“Can you handle the truth?” she whispered.

No. “Yes.”

“You’re freaking me out as much as this flight is.”

“Me? Why?”

“Because…” She shook her head. “I don’t think I’m drunk enough for this.”

“Talk to me, Dani.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Sky High Air exists all because of you? That without you it wouldn’t exist?”

“Because that’s not true.”

“It’s your money.”

“And without it, we’d have come up with something else.”

“You handle all the client relations. You bring in all the clients.”

“I’m president of operations. You know that.”

“You are Sky High Air.”

He shook his head. “Why are we having this conversation?”

“Because you’re not who I thought you were, okay? Because you’re not just the laid-back, easygoing, fun-loving playboy who sleeps with anyone with a pretty smile. You’re…” She sighed. “More. A lot more. And I don’t know what to do with that.”

“You’re not making sense. At first you didn’t want to be with me because I was that guy. Now you’re pissed because I’m not?” He shook his head. “Maybe I should be the one drinking.”

She rolled away from him. “You know what? Don’t listen to me.”

“Now that’s a deal.” Rising, he turned away too, happy to not have this conversation, because he was this close to humiliating himself and begging her to want him for more than just sex. “I have to do the preflight check. Wait here.”

Grateful for the fresh air, he stepped off the plane, and as he did, a shadow stepped in front of him.

Michelle.

He bit back his sigh. She had a private jet that they housed here in this hangar. She was a frequent flier, a real jet-setter who lived and loved the lifestyle, so it wasn’t unusual for her to be here.

What was unusual was for her to be here and him not know it. Maddie usually kept him apprised of which client was on the premises.

But then again, Maddie had apparently clocked out early today to have shots with Dani.

In any case, Michelle smiled at him. A tall, gorgeous, stacked brunette who’d graced many a lingerie catalog in her modeling days, which she’d just recently left for higher, loftier aspirations-acting-she was so beautiful it actually hurt to look at her, and Shayne had definitely enjoyed their two dates.

And their activities on that second date.

But even as she lifted her gaze to his, he remembered what had driven him away-her naked, overwhelming ambition to have a diamond on the ring finger of her left hand.

And then there was the other thing. She’d never made him ache. She’d never made him think of her 24/7, even when he was in the air.

Even when he was sleeping.

And she sure as hell never drove him to complete and utter frustration the way the woman on the plane behind him did.

“I have a change in plans,” Michelle said. “I need a flight to San Diego.”

“I can’t.”

She arched a brow in surprise. Not many people told Michelle no. “You can’t?”

“I can’t. Did you talk to Maddie?”

“She said you were booked and that Noah could take me.”

“Great.” He pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll check your takeoff status.”

“But I want you-” Michelle broke off and cocked her head at something behind him. “Hello. Who are you? A Sky High employee?”

Dani had poked her head out of the plane. “No. I don’t like planes.”

Shayne sighed and when Dani stepped down to the tarmac, he introduced the two of them, and when Michelle shook Dani’s hand, she asked, “So you’re a client?”

“Then…” Michelle glanced back at Shayne. “You’re his date.”

“I don’t think so,” Dani said. “Because I told him I didn’t want to date and he believed me, so…no. No, we’re not dating. We’re just…Well. I’m not exactly sure.”

Shayne felt Michelle’s gaze sizzling his skin. “Calling Noah,” he said, punching in Noah’s number.

“No, don’t. I can find him myself.” Michelle didn’t move, instead looking Dani over. “Good luck with him. You’re going to need it.” And with that, she turned around and walked away.

Dani arched a brow, or tried, but in her inebriated state, she couldn’t quite pull it off. “You really do have a special way with women.”

“Yeah. I’m a keeper, all right.”

She didn’t say anything to that, just sort of weaved, and then turned to take the few steps back up into the plane. On the last one, she tripped, abruptly vanishing into the plane with a thud.

“Dani?” Leaping up the steps, he peered into the interior of the plane.

She’d hit the floor. Rolling to her back, she waved a hand. “I meant to do that.”

With a sigh, he scooped her back up and got her into a seat.

“I’m okay,” she said, eyes closed.

His gaze touched over her face, and he felt his heart constrict. “Yeah. You are.”

Her eyes opened, and though they were more than a little glossy, she gazed up at him. “I like him, you know,” she whispered.

“Who?”

“The guy you really are.” Lifting a hand, she tried to cup his face, ended up smacking him instead. “You ought to show him more often.”

He just stared down at her.

She laughed a little, then closed her eyes again, and with a shuddery sigh, fell asleep.

Shayne landed in Tahoe, arranged for tie-down services, ran through his postflight check, and still Dani didn’t stir. He went into the lobby, grabbed a tray of food from the café there, and went back to the Cessna.

As he entered, Dani lifted her head, then winced and held it. “Is it morning? It feels like morning.”

“It’s seven. At night. How’s the head?”

“Concussion plus hangover. Not pleasant.”

Setting the tray down beside her, he watched with some amusement as her nose wriggled and her eyes lit. “Burger and fries?”

“It’s all yours.”

She dug in with gusto and a smile, and when she’d plowed through most of it, she sat back and sighed. “Thanks. You do good morning-afters. Or evening-afters.”

He never had. Normally he was running for the hills from any kind of “after.”

When she saw his expression, her smile faded. She stood, straightening her clothes and her hair. “Sorry. I forgot there for a moment. You don’t do afters.”

“Dani-”

“Nope, it’s okay. I knew that about you going in. It’s why I didn’t want to date you. What do we do now, rent a car?”

“Maddie arranged for one already. Dani-”

“No, let’s just go.” Nodding, she moved around him to the door, careful not to touch or look at him, so he pulled her back around.

The look on her face dared him to say what was on his mind. “Dani, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here. I don’t know what comes next.”

“Well, let me help you. Nothing comes next.”

“Maybe that’s not what I want.”

“Really? What do you want?”

He wanted to say whatever makes you happy, or anything that would make her stop looking at him like she was looking at him now, as if he was about to disappoint her and she was okay with that.

“Tell you what. You let me know when you know.” Pulling free, she stepped off the plane.

Resisting the urge to thunk his head against the wall, he followed her out.

“Don’t say anything about my job.” Dani whispered this to Shayne on the porch of her mother’s Tahoe house. Somewhere inside were her siblings, on a weekend getaway. “The job makes them crazy.”

“Okay.”

Nodding, she went to knock, then turned back to him. “And don’t say anything about my car either. When they’re reminded of my financial situation, they’re always afraid I’m going to change my mind and need their money.”

He nodded.

But again she hesitated before knocking. “And nothing about-”

“Dani.”

“Right.” She nodded. “I’m stalling. I realize that.”

“Then knock.”

“Okay.” But she just stood there, heart thumping in her chest.

“Dani? You okay?”

“Terrific.” But she wasn’t. She wasn’t even close. She was being stalked by someone who wanted her to look crazy. She was falling in love with a man she’d told she didn’t want to do anything with but have sex. Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes, then drew in a deep breath. “Just terrific.” And she would be, even knowing that when they got to the bottom of her rather unique problem, it would be over between them.

And she was okay with that.

Or she would be, soon as she repeated it enough. You’re not keeping him, you’re not keeping him…

Damn it, she wanted to keep him.

But she’d known what would happen, known it from that first night when she’d been stupid enough to think one kiss would be enough.

One kiss would never be enough, not for her, not with this man. But that was her own damn fault, and she’d get over it.

On her own.

Shayne sighed, reached past her, and gave a decisive knock-knock-knock. She glared at him but he just shook his head.

Such a damn guy.

A damn guy who didn’t know how to take the just-sex thing to the next level, and she was okay with that. She had to be, because she’d told him she was.

Her stepbrother opened the door with a glass of champagne in one hand and a ski bunny in the other. He had an unlit cigar hanging out a corner of his mouth and a ridiculous party hat tipped to one side of his head. “Surprise-” He broke off, then sighed. “Oh. It’s you.”

“We need to talk.”

Tony sighed. “Hang on.” He shut the door in her face.

“Ah. Family love.” Shayne nodded. “It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?”

And just like that, the tension drained from her and she laughed. Laughed. So did he. He got it. He got her. And something else. Even though she didn’t want to, she got him too. “Thanks,” she whispered, and turning to him, pressed her mouth to his jaw, meaning to just give him a quick little peck for being there, just to let him know that even though she knew that he knew that he was a big chicken shit when it came to them, she still was grateful for him being here with her.

But at the last moment he turned his head and she accidentally caught his mouth with hers, and the quick little kiss didn’t feel so quick or so little when his hands tightened, pulling her in against him.

The front door opened again, and Dani broke free, a little blown away by how quickly he could draw her in and make her forget absolutely everything.

Her stepsister stood there this time, wearing a frown and a little black dress that surely cost more than a month’s salary. She glanced at Shayne in surprise, obviously not able to figure out how Dani had possibly snagged him. “Dani? What are you doing here? Someone tell you about the party?”

“What party?”

“We’re having a surprise party for Mom.”

No. No one had told her, mostly because clearly she hadn’t been invited, but that didn’t surprise her. “I just need to talk to you a moment.”

Eliza glanced at her watch. “I’ve got half a minute.”

Dani let out a breath. “Okay, well, someone’s trying to make me look crazy. There’s a dead body-”

“A what?”

“A dead body,” Dani repeated. “And it keeps disappearing and then reappearing. And then there’s the fact that someone was in my apartment, and then shooting at me in the parking lot at work, and then the dead body again, this time in my office, and then the concussion. And frankly, the police are starting to doubt my sanity.”

Eliza laughed. “Starting?”

“My half a minute,” Dani said. “Someone isn’t trying to kill me so much as trying to make me look crazy. Maybe so that a certain someone and her brother could ensure their full inheritance.”

Eliza gave one slow blink. “You mean me.”

“Is it? Is it you trying to get me committed to the loony bin?”

Eliza lifted her champagne glass and drained it. “Tony,” she called weakly over her shoulder. “Do you by any chance have a plan to have Dani committed to the…” She looked at Dani.

“Loony bin,” Dani provided helpfully.

“Loony bin?”

Tony reappeared, minus the ski bunny. “What the fuck?”

“Well…” Eliza grabbed her brother’s drink and drained that too. “Danielle’s just stopped by to ask us a question, a simple one, really. She’d like to know if we’re the ones who have a dead body, one that keeps disappearing and reappearing, and are we also the ones who have entered her apartment without permission, shot at her in her work parking lot, and…” She turned to Dani. “I’m sorry. I forgot what came next.”

“The dead body again,” Dani said helpfully. “In my office.”

“Right. And then the…”

“Concussion. Which led to the someone trying to make me look crazy to the police.”

Eliza turned to Tony. “This is where we come in, apparently.”

Tony looked at Eliza, and then together they both burst into laughter.

Shayne frowned. “What the hell is so funny?”

Eliza had to lean on her brother, but finally she wiped away her tears of mirth and sniffed. “Oh, God. It’s beautiful, really.”

“What? What is beautiful?” Dani demanded.

“Your ridiculous need to prove yourself all on your own, without family or friends or help of any kind, has finally come back to bite you on the ass.”

“I don’t have a ridiculous need…” Dani trailed off when Tony lifted a brow. “Okay, maybe I do. A little. It’s just that you guys never wanted to include me.”

“Oh, no,” Eliza said. “You’re not putting this on us. I’m drunk, but not that drunk. From day one you looked down your perfect, surgery-free nose at us. Face it, Dani. It wasn’t that we were too good for you, but that you were too good for us.”

Dani just stared at them, letting the words sink in. Was that-could that be true? Really?

Eliza sighed, and as a waiter passed behind her with a tray full of drinks, she nabbed two and handed one to Dani.

Dani stared at it. “I can’t.”

“See? Too good for us.”

“No, it’s just that I overindulged earlier.” Had she disliked Tony and Eliza just because they’d had money? Had she distanced herself as if she was too good for them? She’d certainly had the fiercely independent thing down by the time they’d come into her life…Oh, God. Was this all her fault? “So this has nothing to do with your dad’s money?”

“Did you by any chance see how many zeroes are on the end of our trust-fund accounts?” Eliza smiled, and it was surprisingly free of cynicism and sarcasm. “I don’t think you’ve ever really looked, but let me tell you what. We have enough, Dani, more than enough, without what was set aside for you.”

She could only stare at them. “So you don’t care if I go after it.”

“Nope. And here’s the kicker,” Tony said. “We don’t even care if you’re really crazy.”

“But hey, as long as you’re here,” Eliza added, “you could come in and pretend we’re all one big loving family, and yell ‘surprise’ when your mom gets here. That would be nice.”

“She already had a party,” Dani pointed out.

“Yes, but this is your mother. She likes multiple parties.”