“Well I’m not the kind of guy to just kiss anyone,” I tell them all.
Which is true.
I’m all or nothing about most things, but anything like that? Definitely. Not just something I’d do on a whim for no good reason.
Natasha on the other hand…
“I think we’d better be going,” Natasha’s mom says again, with her friend murmuring in agreement.
They move out of the suite and hover by the door, waiting for Natasha.
“Sorry,” Natasha mumbles. “It was a stupid idea. You’re absolutely right,” she sighs bitterly, moving to join the others.
“I’m sure your wife or girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate...” she says, but I’ve stood up and gripped her by the arm again, turning her to face me.
Her eyes widen with something that’s not fear but hurt.
As if the idea of me with anyone else cuts her up the same way I feel when I think about her with anyone else.
“And you?” I almost growl. “You’re free to just kiss whoever you like?”
Yanking her arm free, she turns her back and stalks into the corridor of the train carriage, swaying a little as the train pitches slightly again.
I’m fixed to the spot, rigid.
Rigid in my pants too, and wondering what the fuck just happened.
The girl of my dreams was just presented to me on a platter, announcing her intentions to kiss me…
Now she’s walking away?
No.
“No,” I hear myself calling out behind her, lunging for the doorway and catching her eyes with mine as she turns slightly.
“I’m not married,” I growl aloud.
She doesn’t hold my gaze for long but turns away when her friend calls for her to join them.
I sure I see a coy smile on her lips as she turns, but it’s too late.
The game’s over, and all I’ve done is lost my chance, raising my voice to an empty railway car, announcing what I already know.
I’m not married.
Not even close.
It’s only a few minutes after she’s gone that I rally myself.
In four long steps, I make my way out of first class.
Determined not to let this pass me by.
I’ll find her, and yes. I’ll kiss her.
I’ll stake my claim on her so no one else can ever kiss her ever again.
Chapter Five
Natasha
“That went well,” Suzanna retorts, shooting me a dirty look once we get back to the lounge car, my mom joining her.
As if all this is my fault somehow.
I open my mouth to protest, but the pair of them seem bent on blaming me for embarrassing them both.
“All you had to do was say we had a dare and would he mind giving you a quick little kiss,” Suze says, shaking her head in disbelief.
She wields her words like a knife. If it were because of anything else, with anyone else I’d think it really was stupid.
But Michael…
The way he looked at me. The way he grabbed a hold of me.
I feel like I’ve ruined any chance I might have had with him.
Definitely ruined a repeat performance of being near the man anyway.
As if a guy like that would want to look at a girl like me, let alone actually kiss me.
I reflect for a second, wondering if Suzanna knows how cruel she can be sometimes, but I tell myself it’s just how she is.
Impulsive. Brash. Overly confident.
She’s everything I’m not.
The train clicks and sways slightly in the silence that hangs over all of us like a cloud.
I half wonder to myself if first class is actually quieter, or if it’s just the first time we’ve all been so quiet like this since starting our trip.
Mom breaks the silence, being more mature and never one to hold a grudge.
Plus, she can see the effect all this has had on me.
“I did warn you, girls,” she says, a matter of fact, and reminds me again that she’s getting off the train in a few hours.
My dad’s picking her up at the station.
“You’ll have a few minutes to see your dad,” she says, changing the subject to one I have zero interest in.
“Let’s not spend all the time we have left moping,” she adds with an awkward smile.
Suzanna ignores us both. Staring out the window, having put her earbuds in.
The twenty-first Century version of silently telling everyone around you to fuck off and leave them alone.
“What should we do then?” I ask, not trying to sound sarcastic but my emotions are joined to the world by my mouth. I can’t help it.
Suddenly there’s the sound of the railcar door opening and heavy steps.
My heart kicks in my chest, and I crane my neck around. Willing it to be Michael. Hoping that somehow he’s come. That somehow I’ll get to talk to him again, maybe even get as close as before.
It is him, and the look of determination in his eyes keeps us all quiet.
He stops right next to me. His huge body towering over me.