Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(47)

Sasha reached for his waist.

Push him away.

She loved the feel of a man’s waist as it narrowed to his hips. AJ wasn’t a stranger to moving his muscles. Thick. Masculine.

She wanted to purr.

His arms wrapped around her, made her feel small in his embrace. And he kissed her. Assaulted her lips with a fever she was starting to catch.

Hot. So hot . . .

Sasha wanted her clothes off, and that single thought had her opening her mouth to catch her breath, her lips still pressed against his.

This road was dangerous.

Not something she was ready for.

She gripped his hips, hips she’d been fondling, and held him away.

AJ started to say something. She stopped him. “You made your point.”

Their eyes met. His were soft and charged all at the same time.

What did hers look like?

His hands fell to her arms. “You’re wrong.”

She questioned him with a look.

“I do want this.” Without saying anything else, he walked behind her to the private bathroom and closed the door.





Chapter Eighteen



By the time their flight landed on a private airstrip in Texas, it was past eight in the evening, but for those on the flight, their clocks told them it was well past two in the morning.

They stepped out of the jet and onto a nearly deserted tarmac. There were two cars, one for their party and the other for the flight crew.

Neil shuffled them to a waiting limousine and climbed in the front with the driver.

Sasha took a seat beside AJ and encouraged Claire to go back to sleep.

“We have a good hour before we’ll get where we’re going.”

Claire didn’t need to be told twice.

AJ ran his hand along the leather seat. “Let me guess, this is Mr. Harrison’s, too.”

“No. This is my sister-in-law’s.”

“Your late half brother’s wife.”

“You’ve been paying attention.” She liked that in a man.

He looked out the window. “Following the bouncing ball.” His voice was distant, like it had been the rest of the time they were on the plane after he’d kissed her.

“Well, keep your head up. Trina has remarried. Their home is the easiest to disappear in without the fear of being spotted.”

“Remote?”

Sasha followed his gaze into the vastness of nothing that made up the long spans of space in Texas.

“Secure.”

“Wouldn’t Pohl think to look for you at her home?”

She’d considered that. Which was why she didn’t plan on staying long. Make sure Claire was taken care of, find a direction, and move. Only now she needed to figure out how to do that with a 190-pound man at her side. “Maybe if there were some happy family photos of us. We’re not that kind of a family.”

AJ looked over his shoulder. “You and Trina don’t get along?”

“No. We’re just not . . .” Sasha couldn’t even name what they weren’t. She still felt the need to protect Trina, long after the threats of her father were gone. Trina’s high-profile life kept Neil’s security team on alert from time to time. Sasha was right there to lend a hand. “We’re just not” was all Sasha could say.

AJ stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned his head back. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I’ll drop when we’re inside.” While they were moving, she needed to be alert. Even if she wasn’t the one driving. Once she was at the ranch and had access to a gun, she’d feel better.

AJ closed his eyes. “You’ll have to show me how you do it someday.”

“Do what?”

“Hide the toothpicks holding your eyes open.”

“It’s adrenaline.”

He smiled, even with his eyes closed. “Chemicals.”

The memory of their conversation on the plane repeated in her head. “I aced chemistry.”

AJ reached out, eyes still closed, and grabbed her hand. “So did I.”

Sasha stiffened, not sure what to do.

“Relax, Stick. It’s just a hand.” He tucked her hand in his and sank deeper in the seat.

Pulling it away felt childish.

Leaving it there was awkward.

Claire was sound asleep, and from the way AJ was breathing, it wouldn’t be long for him to nod off, too. She’d slip her hand away from his when he did.



For forty-five minutes, AJ held her hand. Not since junior high had he measured time while holding a girl’s hand.

He let his mind rest, and every time he felt Sasha attempting to pull away, he moved a little and held it tighter.

It was comical just how uncomfortable she was with such a simple thing. For one brief moment he had wanted to make a joke and ask if she wasn’t hugged as a child.

Thank God he’d been taught to think before he spoke. Because after hearing Sasha’s story, he realized that no . . . she hadn’t been hugged as a child. Affection was probably as foreign to her as hunger was to him. Yeah, his father could be a self-centered ass, but his mom had always been there to hug and kiss away the pain.

Who had done that for Sasha?

His heart hurt just thinking about it.

He felt the car slowing down and Sasha shifting in her seat.