“I meant the presentation you got in that bag. Get your mind out of the gutter, Texas.”

I smiled. “I was beginning to think you were standing me up. The flight just began to board.”

Bennett set a box down on the seat next to me in the waiting area and held up his hands. They were covered in black dirt and grease. “Got a flat. I had to change a tire on the way to the airport.”

“A tire? You drove and parked? Why didn’t you just grab an Uber?”

“I did. But we got a blowout halfway here. And the driver was, like, seventy with a bad back. He called AAA to change the tire for him, and they said it would be a forty-five-minute wait. With rush hour traffic, I didn’t have time for that. So I changed it myself.”

“Oh, wow. That’s dedication.”

“I would’ve run here, if push came to shove.” He looked over at the line for boarding. “Looks like we have a few minutes. I’m going find a bathroom and try to get my hands clean. Can I leave my presentation with you?”

“Sure. Of course.”

“Are you sure I can trust you not to peek and steal my ideas?”

I grinned. “Probably not. But go anyway.”

When he returned, the line was just about gone. I stood. “We should get going.”

Bennett lifted his own carry-on box and then grabbed mine.

“I can carry that.”

“It’s fine. I have an ulterior motive, though. I’m accidentally going to drop it and kick it around a few times—see how good your 3D model holds up.”

Such a wiseass.

When we arrived at the end of the gangway to step onto the plane, I asked, “What row are you in?”

“The same one as you. We’re both in aisle seats, across from each other. I told Marina to put us together so we could work if we wanted to.”

“Oh. Okay.” I was afraid of that.

Bennett stored our presentations in the overhead, and we took our seats in row eleven. After I buckled in, I decided to just come out and tell him my little problem.

“Umm… Just so you know, I’m a nervous flyer.”

His brows dipped. “What does that mean? You’re going to narrate the entire flight? Taxiing down the runway. Hitting a takeoff speed of a hundred-and-fifty miles per hour. Tucking my head through my legs to kiss my fine ass goodbye…”

I let out a nervous laugh. “No. I just get panicky on flights, so I use an app that helps keep me calm. It’s a combination of meditation, music, and guided breathing techniques. If we hit turbulence, I can push a button, and a therapist walks me through calming exercises.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“I’m not sure how much work we’ll actually get done on the flight.”

He grinned. “Screw work. This is way better. I can’t wait to watch you freak out.”

Great. Just great.

Five minutes after takeoff, I opened my eyes and found Bennett watching me with a grin.

I shook my head. “Am I amusing you?”

“You are. And the way you gripped that armrest during takeoff, I’m glad I’m sitting across from you so you don’t mistakenly grab for something else if we hit turbulence. You had that thing in a death grip.”

I laughed. “Takeoff is the worst part for me. Once we’re in the air, I’m not usually so bad, unless it gets bumpy.”

“So is it all modes of transportation you don’t like, or just cars and planes?”

“Very funny.”

“You said you had an accident that made you a nervous driver. Did something happen that made you nervous to fly? Like a bad flight or something?”

I put on my best solemn face. “My dad was a pilot and died in a plane crash.”

Bennett looked freaked out. “Shit. I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

I tried to keep a straight face, but the look on his was just too funny. My smile snuck out. “I’m just screwing with you. My dad sells insurance and lives in Temecula.”

He laughed. “Nice. You got me.”

After we leveled out, it was a short flight over to L.A., and once Bennett and I started joking around, the time flew by. All flights should be that easy on my nerves.

Once we landed, the captain came on the overhead and said we were a few minutes early, so we needed to wait to pull to our gate. I turned off my flying app and took my phone out of airplane mode. Emails began to fill my inbox. Noticing one from Tobias, I opened it.

Crap. I turned to Bennett. “I just got an email from Tobias. He said he had an urgent situation pop up that needs to be dealt with, and he had to push back our lunch meeting.”

“Until when?”

I frowned, knowing what he’d think. “He said he had a meeting that got rescheduled, and he can fit you in at five tonight.”

“Just me?”

I nodded. We’d blocked him for two hours, planning to each take an hour. “He’d like me to meet him for dinner tonight at eight.”

The muscle in Bennett’s jaw flexed.

“I know what you’re thinking. But even if it were true, I’m a big girl and can take care of myself. And the fact that you’re here with me right now should tell you that I want to win this account fair and square, based on my work.”

He nodded. We were both quiet as we disembarked the plane. Once we rented a car, I realized I needed to change my return plans. If dinner was at eight, there was no way I’d be catching even the last flight of the day back. I needed Marina to book me a hotel and push my return flight to tomorrow morning.

Bennett was busy navigating through the Hertz rental parking lot, so I broke the ice. “I’m going to have Marina change my travel plans. Do you want me to have her change yours?”

“No. It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”

He didn’t speak again until we merged onto the highway and started to head toward Star Studios. “We have a whole day to kill now. You want to hit a coffee shop and set up to work?”

Neither one of us had brought our laptops, since we had presentation materials to carry on. Although we did have our phones to at least answer emails and stuff. But that wouldn’t take up an entire day. Tobias’s email had left some lingering tension between the two of us, so I thought maybe a little relaxation might actually be in order.

“I have a better idea.”

“What’s that?”

I grinned. “Foot massages.”

Chapter 24

* * *

Bennett

She had to be screwing with me.

“What are you doing?”

Annalise’s eyes fluttered open. We were sitting side by side in oversized chairs as two women rubbed our feet.

“What?”

“You look like you’re about to start moaning.”

Her eyes were actually glassy and hooded. She leaned in to whisper to me. “Honestly, I probably could…you know…from a foot rub. It’s my favorite thing to relax ever.”

Jesus Christ. I looked down at her feet. I’d never sucked a woman’s toes before, although I hadn’t been opposed to it. The right opportunity just never presented itself. But right now, I was absolutely positive I’d totally been missing out. If a little foot rub felt that good to a woman, I might have even been neglectful. I needed to remedy that shit right away, and I knew just where I wanted to start. Wonder what the two masseuses would’ve done if I’d gotten up and bumped one out of the way, replacing her hands with my mouth.

Annalise shut her eyes and went back to her happy place. I watched her for a long moment and then leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“If that’s your favorite thing to relax ever, then the douche did you a favor by breaking things off. I can think of a few things that would leave you feeling spineless.”

She laughed. Only I wasn’t kidding. And I had the strongest urge to be the one to prove that to her. I tried to relax and enjoy the rest of my rub, but it was too late. The next thirty minutes basically consisted of me fantasizing about all the things I could do to the woman sitting next to me that would make her think a foot massage was child’s play. Well, that and thinking of all the disgusting feet with funguses that the woman rubbing my feet had rubbed right before mine. I needed some way to keep the constantly threatening hard-on at bay.

After our massages were over, we walked next door to an Asian noodle house for some lunch. Annalise’s phone started to buzz while we looked at the menu.

“It’s my mom. Excuse me for a moment.”

She didn’t get up from the table, so I listened to one side of the conversation.

“Hi, Mom.”

Pause.

“Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll bring dessert.”

Pause.

“We just had dinner the other night. She said something about going to her sister’s for the weekend. But I’ll ask anyway.”

Another pause. This time, her eyes jumped to meet mine. “Umm. I doubt it. But I can ask him, I guess.”

She talked for a few more minutes and then hung up.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

Annalise sighed. “Yeah. My mother just can’t help herself. She’s having a private wine-tasting party with the first bottles of the season next weekend. She told me to invite my best friend, Madison, and then she told me to invite you. Once she locks on to the scent of an eligible bachelor for her daughter, she’s like a pit bull. I’ll tell her you’re busy.”

“Why? I don’t have any plans except work this weekend.”