Chapter 101

Such pride and independence. Here she was, all ready to whip out her five-thousand-dollar-limit credit card.

“Are you always this proud, or is it because it's me and you don’t want to accept handouts from me?”

She clenched her jaw as a blush flooded her cheeks. “I don’t accept handouts from anyone.”

But she’d waited a little too long to say it. So while that might be true in general, he could tell she was being particularly vigilant when it came to him. Fair enough. Things weren't the same between them anymore, and he understood that feeling like the object of pity wouldn't help matters.

“If it makes you feel better, you can handle your own incidentals once we get there. But you can’t pay for your own plane fare. We’re taking a private jet.”

She stared at him blankly as his words sank in. “A private jet?” she finally repeated. “You rented a jet for this?”

As she asked the question, the limo pulled off the tollway and turned.

“I didn’t rent the jet. It’s a company jet.”

“Owned by Messina Diamonds or Carrington Security?”

“By Carrington.”

“Great. It’s your jet.” She spoke through gritted teeth. “You own a jet.”

“It’s a company jet,” he repeated.

“Right. Which I’m sure you need to jet off to all your exotic international locations.” She waved a hand dismissively, as if she wasn’t bothered by the discussion, when obviously she was. “So half of the cost of taking a private jet to the Celestria Islands is…” She did a few exaggerated computations on her fingers. “Oh, let’s see, that figures out to be about my annual salary. What do you think, is that about right?”

“So you can’t pay for your airfare. It’s no big deal.”

“It’s no big deal to you,” she said pointedly, as if money were the issue between them.

“Hey.” He gently nudged her chin up so she was forced to meet his gaze. “You've let me take care of you before. Maybe not something this big but you didn't have an issue then. What’s different now?”

“That was different and you know it.” Her tone was short and she wouldn’t quite meet his gaze.

“Different how?”

She glared at him. “Because we were a couple then. We were dating, even if it lasted for only a few weeks. It’s one thing to accept help from someone you’re in love with, it’s —”

Then she floundered, clearly not knowing how to finish the sentence. But he could guess what it was she didn’t want to say aloud. It was something else entirely to accept help from someone you weren’t in love with. She frowned, an expression that could have been either guilt or doubt. He didn’t know which.

“Nolan, I—”

“I understand.” He released her and shifted to face the front of the limo. “Things are different between us now. But there’s nothing I can do about the jet. It’s ready to go. We couldn’t get a commercial flight for hours and time is of the essence.”

She gave a tight nod. “I’ll—”

“And don’t tell me you’ll pay me back.” His words came out curter than he intended. But, jeez, what was he supposed to say?

A moment later the limo pulled up on the tarmac. As soon as they were settled on the plane, she opened her mouth as if she wanted to say more, but he cut her off.

“You’re exhausted,” he reminded her. “Try to get some sleep on the plane. It’s about a four-hour flight.”

Once they got to the island, there’d be enough time and privacy there for her to tell him in more detail about how she didn’t love him anymore. Not that he had thought she did love him. He just hadn’t known it would hurt so much to find out she didn’t.

Candace was sure she’d never sleep under the circumstances. Despite that, she fell asleep curled up on one of the luxuriant leather seats not long after takeoff. She blamed the chair itself, which was extremely cozy than her decade-old mattress. The comfortable seat, combined with the white noise of the plane, lulled her to sleep.

She woke a few hours later to see Nolan still seated in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the plane, Bluetooth headset on. He was simultaneously talking on the phone in a hushed voice while typing on his laptop. She could see nothing out the window except the bright blue ocean and a scattering of clouds.

Nolan was so busy working he didn’t notice she’d woken, so she took the opportunity to watch him unobserved. When they’d first gotten on the plane, she’d used the restroom. She’d been unable to ignore how worn her reflection had looked in the mirror. Though she’d managed some quick repairs to her hair, she could only hope the sleep she’d gotten just now had moved her appearance from scary to presentable.

Naturally Nolan looked fantastic. He wore a charcoal-gray suit that seemed as though it had been tailored to fit his broad shoulders. For all she knew, it actually had been. His face bore signs of concern just like hers did, but the lines made him appear more rugged than haggard.

Before she could get overly depressed about that realization, Nolan stood and crossed the cabin to the seat next to her. As he buckled himself in, he said, “You look better. Did you sleep well?”

Feeling as emotionally raw as she was at the moment, she couldn’t bear his kindness. So instead of answering, she said, “It looked like you were working. Have you learned anything new?”

“We’ll be landing soon. There’s no point in going over it until we’re settled at the house.”

“I’d rather—” she began.

But he ignored her. “Why don’t you tell me how things went at Quinley. The job…your grandparents…Your mom,”

Obviously he was trying to change the subject. He didn’t want to talk about her brother? Fine. That’s what she’d asked for, right?

Of the four leather chairs facing each other, he sat in the one catty-corner to hers. So she swiveled her chair to face his head-on. Tucking one leg up under the other, she asked him, “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Being so nice. So polite. As if I’m some sad little social obligation. Because you should know, it’s seriously pissing me off.”

His lips twitched and he looked as though he wanted to laugh. But there was still something sad in his gaze. Which, she noticed, pointedly wouldn’t meet her own. Ah. So the polite behavior she found so annoying must be motivated by something she’d like even less.