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A small whimper escapes me, loud enough for Alex to hear. “Are you okay?” he asks knowingly. My eyes widen, and he smirks. “What are you listening to?”
He tucks my hair behind my ear, and I swallow thickly as he traces the shell of it, taking out my earbud and putting it in his own. After listening for a minute, a wide grin splits his face.
Alex’s cheek brushing mine, he whispers darkly beside my ear, “Political autobiographies get you wet, Jaclyn?” His voice is silk, sending shivers down my limbs and lighting me up inside.
“I’m not,” I insist, though the fib is heavy on my tongue.
“You know, you shouldn’t lie to your husband,” he taunts. Alex looks around to make sure no one is listening, then groans, “Why do I want to slide my hand under your dress to find out for myself?”
My breath catches, my voice shaky as inside thoughts slip past my lips. “You should.”
Alex’s eyes darken, and his jaw tightens. He presses a sweet kiss to my cheek and sighs, “Fuck, I’m sorry, shouldn’t have joked about that. You have no idea how much I want to, but… you’re not mine.” He hands me the earbud and sits back as pain mars his features. When he brings the Old Fashioned to his lips, he doesn’t drink. Instead, he sets it back down. “That’s not something I want to celebrate.”
The lines have blurred so much between us since we began the charade. It’s gone beyond flirting into unfamiliar territory. Chris cheated for years, and I’m confident his accident was because he wasn’t able to keep his cock in his pants. And he killed Cara. It isn’t sitting right with me.
Snapped?
Someone’s neck doesn’t break from an airbag deploying.
Unless…
“Her head was in his lap,” I mutter to myself. Unable to help myself, I ask Alex, “Did you know about her?” He gives a look of warning. Anyone could be listening in, but I still repeat, “Did you know?”
“Yes,” he replies simply. The admission hurts more than Chris’ indiscretions and omissions. Chris had another woman’s mouth around his cock on our wedding day…
Am I really that unlovable? That undesirable?
“Sn—” Alex presses two fingers to my lips.Why is my instinct to run my tongue along them, maybe pull them into my mouth to tease him?
“My father and the person I hired definitely have a twisted sense of humor by making that the code word.”
I quickly pull back before I do something to further embarrass myself. “Why would you let me go through with it? Why not insist we cancel, like you originally suggested?”
“You deserve a happily ever after.”
I shake my head, chewing on my lip. Being married to Chris would boost his political career, setting him up for a presidential run. He doesn’t love me, and after he killed a woman, I’m certain I’ll never love him. After the past forty-eight hours, I have no right to be upset. I’m as guilty as Chris is, even if I haven’t physically acted on my attraction to Alex. How is that a happily ever after? If Chris hadn't survived that crash, maybe I would have had a chance at a fairytale ending. Instead, I’m married to one man while I’m craving another.
“What aboutyourhappily ever after?” I take a sip of my drink, the whiskey burning my tongue.
“Not everyone gets one in this story, princess.”
“Good evening, this is your captain speaking. We will be landing in Honolulu in thirty minutes. It’ll be a warm few days, still in the high eighties when we land. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, so we should have a smooth touchdown. Your flight attendants will be coming around to collect any trash or unfinished beverages shortly. Welcome to Hawaii.”
“Shoot, I was supposed to approve the final seating chart for the gala.” I reach for my laptop, but he places his hand on mine. “It was due yesterday.”
“It’s okay, you can send it when we get to the airport or the resort.”
Alex finishes his drink in three gulps, setting it down carefully, without the clang I’m accustomed to when Chris finishes hard liquor. I do the same, tossing it back, and my throat stings, making me cough.
“Easy there. You didn’t need to finish it,” Alex chuckles.
“Yes, I did. Need the liquid courage.”
He frowns. “For what?”
“Tonight.”
Chapter 15
