: Chapter 5

Blue was Bailey. Blue, his Blue , was Bailey Sheppard the goddamned PR account manager that he had been emailing back and forth with for months. He’d been going out of his fucking mind because he hadn’t been able to find her and she had been right there all along.

Fuck.

If only he’d known her name. But that had been the point of that night, hadn’t it? She had wanted to lose herself in anonymous sex because his fucking stepbrother had broken her heart. God, what a mess. He should walk away now before it got any more complicated.

He turned his head to look at her. Her eyes were closed as she slept on his shoulder, her long dark lashes resting on her fair, smooth cheeks. Her mouth was slightly parted, her plump bottom lip just begging to be kissed and the pulse in her throat throbbed steadily, reminding him of what it felt like to have his mouth there.

Fuck.

There was no way he could walk away from this woman. He’d only had one taste of her and there was no way he could go through the rest of his life without another one. There was just something about Blue that called to him. His body reacted to her whenever she was near and he wanted to explore that. He wanted to explore her.

And he was goddamned sure that he wasn’t going to let his fucking stepbrother have her. That little shit didn’t deserve someone like her, especially if he was going to treat her like a fucking booty call. Blue deserved someone who would cherish her and worship her. She deserved someone who would treat her like the fucking goddess she was.

He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the seat. He’d just found her again and he didn’t want to do anything to scare her away. He couldn’t believe that Nick was walking away from her. Except he wasn’t, was he? He was marrying the ‘Jackie’ to please his father, but keeping his ‘Marilyn’ on the side. And Blue was worth so much more than that.

“Mr. Green,” the flight attendant approached him quietly, “we’ll be landing in a few minutes. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?”

He opened his eyes and sat up. “Yes,” he said, “can you see if the captain has a moment to speak with me?”

“Certainly,” she said before moving towards the front of the plane. He’d wanted to talk with the captain and the rest of the crew while he was on the flight to see how everything was going, but his plans had been derailed the moment he’d seen Blue in the lounge.

He turned to her and swept a lock of her rose gold hair from her cheek and pressed a soft kiss on her temple.

“Blue,” he whispered against her ear. “Wake up, honey, we’ll be landing soon.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at him sleepily. His cock jumped in his pants as he looked down at her sleepy eyes and soft mouth. He leant towards her and brushed his lips across hers, physically unable to stop himself.

“Time to rise and shine,” he mumbled against her lips and he felt them turn up in a smile before she kissed him back. It was just a light kiss, a peck really, but it shot desire straight through him causing his cock to go from mildly interested to full attention in seconds.

“Sir,” the flight attendant cleared her throat. “The captain will see you now.”

Hunter sighed and then lifted his head, staring down into Blue’s large doe eyes. “There’s a restroom towards the back of the plane if you need to freshen up before we land,” he said, his voice huskier than he’d like. “I just need to chat with our pilot for a moment.”

She bit her lip and he had to suppress a groan. “Oh, okay,” she said, the sleepiness leaving her eyes as she came fully awake.

He stood from his seat, adjusting himself surreptitiously as he followed the flight attendant towards the front of the plane. Keeping his hands off Blue this week was going to be torture, but a sweet kind of torture. Hopefully by the end of it, she’d see he was a much better option than the arrangement she had with his idiot stepbrother.

Bailey walked into the restroom at the back of the plane and her jaw dropped. This wasn’t some tiny cubicle sized water closet, it was a full on restroom like you’d find in a fancy club. It had lighted mirrors, fresh towels, sample bottles of perfume and body spray and several bottles of hand and body lotion. It was also beautifully decorated and if she wasn’t being thrust through thin air in a metal tube, then she would’ve been happy to sit in the upholstered chair and take her time repairing her makeup.

But she knew they were landing soon and she was paranoid about being caught in there while they landed. The only thing worse than take off was landing and she fully intended to be in her seat, her safety belt buckled tightly, her eyes clenched shut and a death grip on Irish’s hand while the pilots landed this metal rust bucket.

Except that it wasn’t a rust bucket and if she was a frequent flyer, then she would probably be happy to pay the extra money to fly this way all the time. But then again, maybe it had been the company that had made the experience so pleasurable.

Waking up with Irish’s green eyes staring down at her like he wanted to devour her whole did wonders for her self-esteem. He was so intense and when all that intensity was turned on her, it did weird and wonderful things to her body and her brain. No one had ever made her feel like the epicentre of their attention before and it was a heady thing. Almost too much to bear…almost.

She gave herself a shake and touched up her makeup. She was here for a reason, to win back Nick and stop his wedding. She loved Nick, she wanted Nick. Irish was just a distraction. A sweet, wonderful, delicious distraction, but a distraction none the less. She was about to see Nick for the first time in six months and she needed to be on her game. Having the confusing thoughts of the tall, dark, and handsome Irish swirling around in her head was not going to help her cause.

She ran a brush through her hair and spritzed herself with one of the perfumes on offer before walking back to her seat. Irish wasn’t back from speaking to the captain yet, so she settled into her seat, closed her eyes and started to do her breathing exercises in preparation for landing. She needed to clear her head and find her Zen before coming face to face with Nick and she needed to banish all thoughts of Irish and what he did to her body.

“Hey,” he whispered in her ear and she suppressed another full body shiver. It seemed to be her default reaction to him.

“Hey,” she replied, opening her eyes as the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign dinged.

He fidgeted in his seat, clicking his belt together and smoothing his suit coat.

“So,” he said, glancing over at her when he was settled, “are you going to tell me your real name?”

She smiled and shook her head, “Nope,” she said, “not until I know whether I need your services this week or not.”

He grimaced, “Really Blue?” he asked. “You’re going to leave me hanging?”

“Yep,” she giggled, “I need to keep some mystery about me.”

He growled low in his throat and her stomach fluttered at the sound.

“Okay,” he said with a sigh. “So what’s the plan? I assume you want me to stay out of sight while you have your big reunion.”

“Yeah,” she said softly, feeling bad. “That would probably be best.”

“And he’ll drive you to your hotel and spill his guts along the way…”

“Right,” she said. Nick had wanted to talk to her, said he couldn’t wait to see her. Her stomach turned over at the thought of what he might want to say to her.

“And you’ll meet me in the lobby of Oceans at seven to tell me whether the mission is a go.”

She tipped her head to the side and smiled up at him. “You don’t have to do this, you know,” she said.

“I know,” he said, leaning close to her. “I want to.”

She felt the bump and heard the squeal of tires as they touched down. The jostling of the plane caused Irish’s already close mouth to come even closer to hers and he brushed a kiss over her lips before he straightened, a Cheshire cat smile on his face. Her breath whooshed out of her as the plane slowed and taxied towards the terminal.

The butterflies in her stomach? They were because she was about to see Nick and had absolutely nothing to do with the way Irish’s beard had teased her lips when he kissed her. They had nothing to do with the way his eyes seemed to strip her naked and devour her. No. She was just excited to see Nick, that’s all it was.

The aircraft pulled up to the terminal and the other passengers, who she had completely forgotten were even there, started to move around, gathering handbags and carry-ons.

“I’ll just wait here,” Irish said, “and let you leave first so I don’t intrude on your reunion.”

She nodded as she stood and gathered her handbag and laptop bag. She didn’t know what to say to him. It wasn’t goodbye, exactly, but all being well, she wouldn’t see him again. If things with Nick went the way she wanted them to, then there would be no need for him to pretend to be her boyfriend for the following week. There would be no need for her to see him again.

She squeezed past him and into the aisle. He reached out and circled her wrist with his large hand, halting her progress towards the exit.

“Good luck,” he said softly as he gently caressed the delicate skin of her arm.

“Thanks,” she stammered, reluctantly pulling away from him. She looked back once, just before she stepped out of the plane and his green eyes were staring intently at her, specifically at her ass. She smiled, her heart lifting. She could always trust Irish to make her feel better about herself.

With renewed vigour, she strutted down the air tunnel and into the terminal. She was the last to deplane – apart from Irish – and Nick was standing there waiting for her. He was a sight for sore eyes. He leant casually against a wall, one hand in his pocket, the other hand swiping through his phone. She stopped and just took him in, her eyes hungry to devour every inch of him. His blonde hair fell long over his forehead, except it was shorter than he’d worn it for a while. It looked good, but it wasn’t the image she had of him in her brain.

The barely-there scruff on his jawline was still there and his body was as trim and toned as she remembered. He wore pale chinos and a blue button up, the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing his forearms. No tattoos marred the slightly tanned skin below his shirtsleeves and they seemed…lacking somehow.

He looked up and caught her in his hazel gaze. A grin split his face and it spurred her into action. She ran to him and he opened his arms, catching her as she threw herself at him. He held her close, and she squeezed him tight in return.

“I’ve missed you,” she said, fighting back the tears.

“I’ve missed you too Bae,” he murmured close to her ear. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

She disentangled herself from him and turned to follow him towards the luggage carousel. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her tall, dark and insanely handsome seat mate as he walked out of the tunnel and in to the terminal. He winked at her and she grinned as she followed Nick.

She hustled to keep up with Nick’s long-legged stride and caught his hand in hers.

“Slow down, Nick,” she said breathlessly. “My legs are like two feet shorter than yours.”

He slowed and laughed, catching her in another hug. “God, it’s good to see you.”

They walked to the baggage claim, at a more sustainable pace for her this time, and waited for her luggage to pass by. Nick grabbed it off the carousel and then tugged on her hand, pulling her to the exit.

“Come on,” he said, “I parked just out here.”

He led her to a big chunky Chrysler with dark tinted windows and shiny chrome grill. He popped the trunk and loaded in her bags before opening the door for her. She slid into the passenger seat and was immediately enveloped in buttery leather. It was an ugly, executive car, but damn it was comfortable.

He slid into the driver’s seat and turned to smile at her.

“I know, it’s pretentious,” he said, “but it impresses the clients.”

That made sense, of course it did. She just nodded and smiled and let him manoeuvre the tank of a car out of the parking garage and onto the highway.

“So, Nick,” she began nervously, “what did you have to talk to me about?”

“Oh, right,” he said, “I nearly forgot.” He shot her a quick glance. “I have a big favour to ask you.”

“Oh, sure,” she said, disappointed that it wasn’t the declaration of love that she had expected. “Anything.”

“One of Ainsley’s bridesmaids dropped out,” he said. “She got sick or broke her leg or something, I can’t remember the details. Anyway, we need someone to fill in for her. I wouldn’t ask, except she was the partner of my stepbrother and I can’t exactly ask him to step down as a groomsman because my stepmother would have a fit.”

“Ooh, the mysterious stepbrother,” she said trying to mask the crushing disappointment she felt at being asked to be one of his bride’s attendants. “You mean I actually get to meet him?”

He snorted. “Don’t get your hopes up,” he said. “He’s a bit of a dick and completely stuck up.”

“Isn’t he like, Australia’s youngest billionaire?” she asked. “And doesn’t he own an airline?”

“You should know,” he said. “Didn’t you just arrive on a Green Aviation plane? How’d you afford that anyway? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Oh God, he owns Green Aviation?” she gasped. “Holy crap, it’s a small world. They’re one of my clients and they comped me the tickets. Your brother is Hunter Green?”

“Yeah, that’s him. So, you’ve met him then?”

She shook her head. “No,” she said, “we’ve only corresponded by email, and I was probably really communicating with his assistant. I doubt he answers his own email.”

Nick grunted. “So anyway,” he said, “do you think you could do it? I know it’s short notice and everything, but Ainsley is having a meltdown about the photos being lopsided or some crap.”

“Sure,” she answered, not really sure it was such a good idea after all, “but you don’t think it will be awkward?”

“Awkward?” he asked, puzzled.

“Well…given our history?”

He snorted. “Nah, she doesn’t know anything about that. She just knows that you’re an old family friend.”

“Oh,” Bailey replied, stung. She hadn’t expected him to tell his bride-to-be that his long-time fuck buddy was coming to the wedding, but she did expect a little bit more than just being categorised as a family friend.

He reached over the console and took her hand. “Hey, if it makes you uncomfortable, you can say no,” he said.

“No,” she said shaking herself, “it’s fine. Wouldn’t want lopsided photos of your big day.”

“You’re a lifesaver Bae,” he said, lifting her knuckles to his lips for a kiss.

If she had her way there wouldn’t be a wedding, so it wouldn’t matter anyway. And wouldn’t she have a better chance of sabotaging the relationship from inside the wedding than from outside it? It did mean that she would have to take Irish up on his offer though.

“Um, so I have some news,” she said tentatively.

“Yeah?” he asked, giving her a quick look.

“I’m seeing someone,” she said in a rush. “He’ll be here tonight.”

Nick’s face blanked and she saw a muscle jump in his jaw. He didn’t turn to look at her.

“Oh? Are you bringing him to the wedding?” he asked in a carefully measured voice.

“Oh, well, I didn’t RSVP that I was bringing a guest, so I don’t expect him to be included.”

“I’m sure we can make room for him,” Nick said through gritted teeth. “What’s one more among the hundreds that are coming?”

She smiled tightly. Nick’s cool manner was a sign of his unhappiness at her news. It angered her a bit and she had to clamp down on her tongue to stop a nasty comment from flying out. Nick’s reaction to her bringing a date was so unfair. Why could he date and not her? He was getting fucking married for God’s sake, why couldn’t she have a simple date?

Hunter closed his eyes and settled back into the seat of the limousine, putting away his tablet. The car coasted along the highway heading north towards the new home of his mother. She had offered him a room in their McMansion, but he couldn’t think of anything worse than spending the week in close proximity to his stepbrother, and that was before he found out he was Blue’s ex.

He’d spent the majority of the drive going over emails and sending Madeline updated task lists that needed to get done while he was away. He hated leaving the office, even though it was for a short amount of time and he could be completely in touch remotely. There was something about being in the office with his finger on the pulse that soothed his need to be in control.

But it hadn’t been that need to feel in control that had been the reason for his working while they drove. No, that honour belonged to Blue. He had tried desperately to bury himself in work so that he wouldn’t have to think about her and Nick alone together. He wouldn’t put it past his stepbrother to pull over into a motel on his way home for a quick fuck with his mistress.

Fuck. Blue was Nick’s mistress. No, Bailey was Nick’s mistress. Blue was all his.

Who was he kidding? This was messed up and Nick was going to be pissed when he found out that Hunter had slept with her. Not that Hunter cared how Nick felt about it, he just didn’t want Blue to get caught up in the crossfire.

But then again, maybe Nick had taken one look at Blue and realised what he was giving up. Maybe the idiot that was his stepbrother finally had a moment of brilliance and saw what an amazing woman Blue was and how incredible it would be to have her in his life full time. Isn’t that what she wanted, after all? And didn’t he want her to be happy?

Of course he did, he just didn’t want her to be happy with Nick. Hunter wanted to be the one who made her happy. He wanted to be the one who made her eyes light up and her breath hitch. He wanted to be the one who made her panties wet and her nipples peak and he wanted to be the one who felt her legs wrap around him as she cried out in the throes of passion. He certainly didn’t want Nick to be the one doing any of that.

The limousine pulled to a stop and Hunter looked out the window at the over-the-top home that was his stepfather’s domain. For all the money he had, he had godawful taste.

The driver got out and came around to open his door. Hunter climbed out of the car and thanked the driver.

“Just leave my bags in the foyer,” Hunter told the other man, “I have a car here that I will drive to my hotel.”

“Very good sir,” the driver replied as Hunter turned and headed up the stairs to the front door. He buttoned his suit jacket and pressed the doorbell.

The door opened and his mother greeted him with open arms. He allowed her to pull him into a hug, wrapping his arms around her small body and holding her close.

“You’re here,” she said with a sob.

“I’m here,” he said into her hair.

She pulled away from him with a laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Come in, come in. Patrick and Nick are in the den.”

He followed her into the house and down the hall. She opened the door with a flourish and Hunter stepped into the smokey interior. Nick and his father Patrick were sitting in a couple of chunky leather chesterfields smoking cigars.

Patrick stood and stuck his hand out to him. “Hunter, good to see you again son,” he said, pumping Hunter’s hand.

Nick stood too. “Good to see you, man,” Nick said shaking Hunter’s hand with a limp wrist. It was like shaking a dead fish.

“Good to be here,” Hunter replied, a fake smile on his face. He would really rather be anywhere but here and preferably with Blue.

“Hey, thanks for being a groomsman,” Nick said sheepishly. “Ainsley had so many bridesmaids that I was scrambling a bit for a while there.”

“No problem,” Hunter said cordially.

“I do have a favour to ask, though,” he said, slinging an arm around Hunter and steering him away from their parents. “The bridesmaid that was meant to be your partner had to bow out and Ainsley was having a little melt down.”

“Oh?” Hunter raised an eyebrow in question. “And what can I do to fix that?”

“Oh nothing,” Nick said, waving his concern away. “No, what I need has nothing to do with that. Well, it sort of does…”

“Why don’t you just explain the problem to me and I’ll see what I can do to help,” Hunter said, his patience thinning.

“Right, okay, well it’s kind of delicate. You see my, ah, good friend is here at the wedding and I asked her to fill in for Ainsley’s bridesmaid.”

“O-kay,” Hunter said, drawing the word out as he tried to make sense of what Nick was trying to say.

“Well, she’s going to be your partner in the wedding and I was wondering if you could, you know, look after her. It’s a little awkward, I know that, but I’d hate for her to let something slip and let on to Ainsley that, you know, we have history.”

“And is it, you know, history?” Hunter asked.

Nick smiled and shrugged. “Well, at the moment it is,” he said with a wink and a back slap.

Hunter gritted his teeth and clenched his fist wanting nothing more than to plough it through his stepbrother’s smug face. Instead he cracked his neck and took a deep breath.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Hunter replied, “but I have to warn you that I brought a date.”

“Did I hear you say you brought a date to the wedding?” his mother asked, coming over with a big grin on her face.

Hunter’s own face softened at the look his mother was giving him. “I did,” he said.

“And when do we get to meet her?” Maree asked.

“Tonight, if you don’t have plans,” he said.

His mother clapped her hands. “Wonderful,” she said.

“Ainsley and I have plans tonight,” Nick said, “but we can meet her tomorrow at the luncheon.”

Hunter nodded. Nick was going to get the surprise of his life when he walked into that luncheon with Blue. And if he was correct in the way he had pieced together Nick’s babbling earlier, Blue was going to be his partner at the wedding which was both hilarious and wonderful at the same time. But he wasn’t sure how to feel about Nick asking him to look after Blue for him so she didn’t spill the beans to Ainsley. He didn’t want Blue to break up the wedding so she could be with Nick, but he didn’t want Nick to get everything he wanted either. It was a conundrum.