Owen stared at me. Immediately, I bit my tongue. I was talking too much, and way too fast. The time had come to can it.
Owen came and sat down on the step next to me, only a foot away. “Those sound nice. What do you want to do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t really care. What do you like?”
His eyes fell to my mouth, then he quickly turned away, looking out across the yard. “I was thinking we could just stay home and hang out. But it’s up to you.”
My stomach lurched. Stay home and hang out… and then have sex. Hot, sweaty sex.
Perhaps it wasn’t part of Owen’s plan for the night, but there would be no way to fight it once we got alone. No. We needed to be out in public, around other people.
“Uh, that sounds nice,” I managed while struggling to find some kind of excuse.
“Or not,” Owen added. “If you wanted to go out somewhere, we can.”
“Yes!” I said. “That sounds great. I haven’t eaten yet. How does dinner sound?”
I bolted up from the steps and bounded into the grass. “Let’s go somewhere.”
Owen stood, a slight smile on his face. “All right.”
I clapped my hands together. “Great. So, where to?”
Owen pursed his lips and looked thoughtful. “How much time do you have?”
“All night. I’m done with work for the day.”
He smiled. “Can I take you somewhere special? As a surprise?”
“Sure. Let’s go.”
He nodded. “Let me go inside and grab my stuff. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Okey-dokey.”
I cringed at my awful word choice as he turned and went back into the house.
While I waited, I ambled around in the grass. So far, so good. I may have been talking like I’d just stumbled out of a fifties’ sitcom, but at least I wasn’t humping Owen’s leg.
After a few minutes, he came back out. “I’m ready. I can drive.”
“Are you sure? I can.”
He waved the offer away. “No, this is part of the surprise.”
I looked at him with hesitation. “I’m not sure how I feel about a surprise.”
“I can blindfold you if you like.”
“Hell, no.” I studied his face. “Wait. Were you being serious?”
He grinned. “Only if you were.”
Something sparkled in his eyes that did something to my nether regions. Quickly, I turned from him and headed for the driveway. “Definitely not.”
We climbed into Owen’s car. He rolled his window down, and I did the same, then he navigated his way around my own vehicle and out into the street. The houses went by, then the outskirts of downtown.
“So we’re not going downtown.” I eyed him. “Are you abducting me and killing me?”
He laughed. “What?”
“I’m just asking, because if so I need to text my friend Radha and let her know she was right.”
His face crinkled. “Again… what?”
“She’s a safety freak,” I explained.
After a few more minutes it became obvious that we were headed in the direction of the interstate. I bit my tongue and refrained from making another joke related to kidnapping and the use of interstates in getaways.
“So we’re going to a different town,” I said instead. “Or city.” I looked at him, but his face remained passive, without any clues whatsoever.
“How long can you stay away?” he asked.
“Hold on,” I joked. “Let me just call my mom and see if my old curfew is still in effect. You know, come to think of it, my parents never officially ended it. So yeah, I should probably be back by ten.”
Owen chuckled. The sound put me more at ease. When in doubt, use humor. When uncomfortable, use humor. Really, it worked in every kind of situation. I’d figured that much out years ago.
“Didn’t you already ask me how much time I had?” I inquired.
“Yeah,” he slowly said. “I guess what I really meant was… how far from home are you willing to go?”
I glanced at his profile. “Huh? Are we driving to the beach?”
“Do you want to?”
“Well, that’s kind of a big question to throw out there.”
“Okay, how about this?” He licked his bottom lip. “I take you to where we’re going, keeping it a surprise, but we’ll make this agreement. Any time along the way, you can say no. And if you do, I’ll take you back home. No hard feelings. No questions asked.”
I stared at him, my throat feeling thicker by the second. Half a dozen jokes were forming in my brain, any of which I could have made, but all humor seemed to have drained out of me.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked.
He looked at me, seeming to not understand. “What?”
The words were hard to get out, but I did it anyway. “After what I did… why don’t you hate me?”
Owen sighed. “You’re talking about that night.”
“Yes. That night.”
Owen cleared his throat. “That hurt me. I’m not going to lie.”
“Owen. His name came out as a groan — not because I was surprised, but because talking about it proved to be more painful than I had anticipated. “God… I’m so sorry.”
“I know. And I held onto it for a while. I tried to not be angry. I tried to not be hurt… but it was hard.”
I stared at the dashboard. “You’re not still holding onto it? It doesn’t still hurt you?”
A long silence followed. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Owen, couldn’t bring myself to take stock of the damage I’d done.
“Don’t answer that,” I said quickly. “You don’t have to answer that.”
“I was going to. Eventually.”
I smirked, though it was probably wrong to find anything about the situation humorous. Of course he still hurt over what happened. I’d probably made him feel like he wasn’t good enough, like he’d failed even in the simplest of ways. Like he’d been used and discarded.
“So why?” I asked again. “Why the kindness?”
He just looked at me like the answer was supposed to be obvious. “You need some kindness, Claire. We all do.” His next breath came out labored. The knuckles on the steering wheel turned white. “It doesn’t matter what happened between us.”
Yes, he was definitely hurt by it all. I nibbled my lower lip. Was there really nothing that I could do to make it up to him?
Never seeing him again was probably the best answer. With zero interaction, the chances of me hurting him also remained at that level.
Too late for that.
I stared out the window, ashamed and angry at my own selfishness. Why was I even in the car with Owen? What had I hoped to give him? What had I even hoped to gain for myself? Things were already fucked up between us. I should have just accepted it and walked away.
For so many weeks, I’d managed to steer clear of him, and then suddenly I couldn’t keep away. I had to be near him, even if there was no satisfaction whatsoever to be gained.
Really. What was wrong with me?
“Do you want me to turn the car around?”
My head whipped towards him. “Is that what you want?”
“No, but I asked what you wanted.”
“No… I don’t want to do that.”
“Okay. Good.”
His words were nearly flat, impossible to read. I went back to alternating between staring at the dashboard and staring out the window. The exits flew by, and with each one we didn’t take, I became more and more curious.
I bit my tongue, though, and stopped myself from saying anything. If Owen wanted to give me a surprise, then I would let it happen.
After a while, he signaled to take the exit for the airport. I sat up a little straighter.
“Wait. Hold on. Why are we going here?”
There was nothing near the airport but a strip mall. Had Owen driven me all that way for bad Mexican food?
“Didn’t you wa
nt it to be a surprise?”
I didn’t say anything. The car took the turn to the right, and we glided in the direction of the airport then down into the main entrance.
Owen looked at me, the slightest hint of a smile there.
I had to speak up. “So we’re going to watch planes take off?”
“Do you really want an answer?”
“We’re going to watch planes land?”
Owen just kept driving, which was fine. At that point, I’d come to thoroughly enjoy the whole mystery of the adventure.
By the time we had parked, gone inside the airport, gone down a hallway I’d never noticed before, had Owen show some ID to a few workers, and begun walking again, I had to start asking questions.
“Owen,” I began, just finding the question itself preposterous. “Are we getting on an airplane?”
He grinned at me. “Are you sure you’re ready for an answer?”
We stopped at the entrance to a plane tunnel, and he showed his ID to the attendant waiting there.
“Yes,” I answered with conviction. “I think now is about the time I should go ahead and start asking questions.”
The smiling, female attendant spoke up. “Right this way, Mr. Burke.”
She removed the red velvet rope from the entryway. Owen spread his hand, suggesting that I should go ahead. With a stagger, I did.
“Where are we going?” I whispered into the air.
“Do you want to know?”
I opened my mouth to say yes but then considered it. So far I was having what was perhaps one of the craziest adventures of my life. Did I really want to spoil it by finding out what was next?
“No,” I decided. “I don’t want to know.”
I smiled at him, and he grinned back, lighting up the whole tunnel with his smile.
A stewardess greeted us by calling Owen Mr. Burke and offering us two glasses of champagne on a silver tray. Tentatively, I took mine.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, then stepped forward into the plane.
The aircraft I found myself in was much smaller than I had expected. On top of that, it was unoccupied. Not a single passenger was in it. Nine black leather seats sat gratuitously spaced around it, some facing frontwards and some facing back. There were polished wooden tables next to a few of the chairs and a large flat screen TV right above my head.
I took a few steps farther in. Owen brushed by me, his shoulder tickling mine.
“Have a seat anywhere you like,” he said.
“Okay,” I dumbly answered, then teetered over to the closest one.
Owen sat opposite me.
The flight attendant appeared in the doorway. “Mr. Burke, is there anything you or Ms. Lawrence would like before we depart?”
Owen looked at me with a raised brow.
“Uh, n-no thanks,” I stammered. “Champagne is great.”
I set my glass down on the table next to me, way too light-headed already. The stewardess disappeared, drawing the blue curtain closed behind her.
I looked at Owen. “This is a private plane.”
“Yes,” he agreed.
I slowly shook my head. “I didn’t know we were getting on a private plane.”
He didn’t so much as smile. “If I’d told you it wouldn’t have been a surprise.”
I hooked my thumb in the direction of the cockpit. “How did she know my name?”
He lifted one shoulder then let it drop.
“Oh come on,” I said. “This game is fun, but really. I just got on a plane with you, with no idea whatsoever of where we’re going. I’d say that’s both adventurous and trusting.”
“I made a call. When I went inside to get my things.”
I shook my head. “Just like that? A one-minute phone call and the jet is here.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him, trying to figure it out.
Then I realized he must own the jet we sat in. Surely. There could be no other way it was ready for us so quickly.
I blinked, still sifting through the last bit of the details. “So the crew was just here waiting?”
He didn’t answer.
“Oh.” I fell back in my seat, my head hitting the soft cushion there. “You had them on call, didn’t you?”
Owen licked his lips, a smile playing at the corners. “Yes.”
“So you planned this yesterday.”
“Kind of. It wasn’t a sure go until you got to my house and I made the call.”
I slowly nodded. “Right. I see that now.”
“I feel like that just ruined a lot of the surprise.”
I guffawed. “No, trust me. It didn’t. I’m still thoroughly surprised by everything that’s happening.”
“You still don’t know where we’re going.”
“I don’t want to know.”
Something softened in his eyes. “You trust me that much?”
“There are witnesses,” I quickly spat back. “So if you’re planning on dumping my body in the middle of the Atlantic, you’ll have to think again.”
“Those witnesses get paid well.”
He smiled, satisfied with himself.
“Touché,” I smirked. “Well played.”
The stewardess’ voice came over the intercom, announcing the upcoming lift-off.
I buckled myself in and then grabbed my champagne so that it wouldn’t spill all over the place. The plane began to move, creeping its way to the runway.
“No one knows where I am,” I said, mostly to myself. “It’s odd.”
Owen didn’t say anything.
I looked over at him. “Except you.”
“Is that weird?”
“This whole thing is weird.”
The plane picked up a bit of speed and began to take off. I averted my eyes from the open windows, not wanting to see the shrinking ground outside, lest it make me sick. I smiled at Owen when he placed his palm over my glass, saving the bubbly liquid from spilling all over me.
Once we were smoothly in the air, I glanced back at Owen. He sipped his champagne and then set it down. His eyes lifted up and locked onto mine. An immediate blush burst across my face.
“I still don’t get it,” I said. “Why you’re doing all this.”
He ducked his head, and he looked down at his lap. “It’s nothing,” he said to his legs.
“No one else I know whisks me away to mysterious lands for… for…” An intense bout of lovemaking.
“I was thinking dinner.”
I laughed. “Right.”
There was a ding, and I looked up to see the seatbelt sign flashing, showing us it was all right to unbuckle. The appearance of such a normal looking feature in a lavish, private jet seemed funny to me. I smiled to myself as I undid my seatbelt.
“How’s your family?” Owen asked.
“They’re… good. Gwen is freaking out, but she always is.”
“That’s the impression I’ve gotten from her.”
“Danny is doing his thing, I guess. He still wants to be an actor.”
“Oh, really?”
I nodded. “Yeah, for years now. It’s kind of causing some conflict at home. Our parents want him to go to school — not drama school. He just doesn’t see the point.”
“And what about your parents?”
“They’re… doing well.” I shrugged, not knowing what else to say there.
“What about you?” he murmured.
I blinked heavily. “You know about me.”
Owen’s lashes fluttered, and he looked away.
“What about your family?” I asked.
“They just came to visit, actually.”
I perked up. “Really?”
“Mm-hmm. They left a few days ago.”
“How was that?”
He took a moment to think about it. “It was great… really great.” He grinned. “I think I really like being an only child.”
I barked out a laugh. “Yeah, what’s that like?”
“Sometimes I think
my mom is still under the impression that I’m four, but other than that it’s pretty fantastic.”
“How long were they here?”
“Just a couple days. They had to get back to their vineyard.”
“Oh, cool.”
Something twitched in his face. “They, uh, asked me if I wanted to go and work there.”
Unexpectedly, a bit of panic rose in my chest. My throat got dry. My vision blurred.
Owen continued. “But I don’t know.”
I swallowed hard then attempted to speak. “You just got that house here. You’re still renovating it. You would leave it behind?”
You would leave Crystal Brook behind? You would leave… me behind?
It wasn’t my place to say any of that. After all, Owen and I weren’t even officially friends. Our relationship would probably be strained for the rest of the days we knew each other. I had no right to expect anything from him. I didn’t even allow myself to ask anything from him. So far, all I’d done was use him.
And yet I still freaked out over the idea of him disappearing from my life forever.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what I would do. It’s just one option.”
I took a drink of champagne to hide my inability to have anything to say to that.
“Did you ever get the bridesmaids dress thing sorted out?”
I laughed into my drink. “Yeah. It wasn’t simple though.”
From there the talk turned to other innocuous things, the sky outside growing darker as we discussed the events around Crystal Brook and my job.
“Jason is selling the company,” I revealed.
Owen leaned forward in his seat. My body responded by jerking as if shocked by electricity, but I ignored it.
“Really? Will you stay there?”
I looked out the window beyond his head. Urban lights sparkled. We were flying closer to the ground than we had been just ten minutes before.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “He says my position is secure there, but I think… I think maybe it would be a good time to just leave New York.” I pressed my lips together. Thinking it was one thing. Saying it was another. For each rough side of the city, there was a good one. The memories I held there might have been painful, but they were — in essence — sweet ones. At least the times that had made them were good ones.
Crushed (Crystal Brook Billionaires) Page 18