“No trace. You don’t work around these programs for ten years without picking up a few cheats of your own.”
Elle did her magic and then helped Louise with check-in procedures, making fast work of the line.
Suddenly, she noticed Louise had stilled and was gulping. “Umm, Elle?”
Following Louise’s scared eyes, Elle turned around and saw Jack, looking frigging pissed off, his bulging arms crossed over his broad chest. Fuming.
Damn, that was the risk of being at the counter. Open access to the public.
That would have never happened on the tarmac. And there she had other means of escaping.
Before she could get a single word out, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
“You’ve been bugging the shit out of me for over half a year with inconsequential e-mails, and when you find yourself in trouble you decide to ditch me?” he growled.
“How did you find me?”
“Check your purse.”
Her jaw dropped. “Oh. My. God. You put a bug in my purse? Do you know what kind of privacy invasion that is?”
Apparently he didn’t consider it such a big deal, because he snorted.
He dragged her to a far corner, and then he got in her face, his expression menacing. “What the fuck were you thinking? Is it all a big fucking joke to you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what the hell are you doing? What part of ‘stay home until I get back’ didn’t you get?” he snarled.
“I had to go to work. I have a life, you know?”
He obviously didn’t think so. “You had to stay home, sleeping like we agreed. Or what do you think, that I don’t have anything else to do than chase you around Boston? You unhappy with this arrangement? Because I’m not bouncing from happiness either. There are a million places I’d rather be than here, stuck with you.”
That did it. She wasn’t going to take any more of that shit. “We agreed? In what frigging universe did that happen? I agreed to nothing! You just ordered me around and expected me to comply. I told you I don’t do shit on command!” she yelled at him, going up on her tiptoes and jabbing at his chest with her finger.
“Shut it and listen to me,” Jack ordered menacingly, but she was too far gone to stop now.
“No way in hell! We agreed? Ha! That’s so rich. As if I had a chance to get a word in. You’ve done nothing but shoot orders at me and now you think you can come to my work and start bullying me? Well, let me tell you, mister, I won’t—”
“Quiet, pet,” he interrupted her, the cords at either side of his neck standing out. The guy looked bigger and scarier by the second, but she didn’t let it intimidate her.
“Oh, and newsflash, buddy! There are a million places I’d rather be too, hell included, than with you. I’m sorry being stuck with me is such a burden, that you find me so repulsive and unbearable that you can’t stand being around me, but don’t worry. I liberate you from it! Beat it and don’t let the door hit your ass on your—”
Suddenly Jack cupped her neck and brought her to him, pressing their lips together.
Surprised, Elle froze. God, for such a hard man, he had soft lips.
“Finally,” he said after releasing her mouth.
Then it dawned on her. Talk about adding insult to injury. “You kissed me to shut me up? How dare you—”
But she couldn’t continue because he took her mouth again, and this time he didn’t just press his lips against hers. This time he forced his way in, kissing her deep and hard. Thoroughly. His stubble rubbing her skin. And suddenly she wasn’t clutching his arms trying to get him off but holding on to him for dear life.
His speech skills were limited, true, but when it came to kissing, he sure knew what to do with his mouth.
When he released her, she was dazzled and her lips felt puffy and on fire. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her, cooling her. His ice-blue eyes were ablaze.
They stayed silent for a long second, their harsh breathing the only thing she could hear even though they were in a packed airport.
“You drive me insane,” he growled, his voice gravelly, his gaze never leaving hers.
“Same here, buddy. And so you know, I’m not okay with you kissing me to shut me up.”
“Tough shit. Try to be less annoying and don’t fight me. Talk less and listen more.”
Man, he needed manners. If she went on a rant, he would kiss her again, which she wasn’t too much against, but it would defeat the purpose.
“We need to leave, pet. You’re going into your supervisor’s office and putting in for holiday time. Now.” His tone brooked no argument, yet it wasn’t as cut-and-dried as before.
“Do you have a clue how notoriously understaffed airlines are? I need to file dozens of forms to ask for personal days, let alone a vacation.”
“Get family leave. You need a family crisis for that. I say this constitute a crisis.”
She looked at him. Yes, he did constitute a crisis. A major one. “I can’t leave right now. I need to wait for the asshole who put a restraining order on me.”