Seconds later,he sat back in his seat and frowned at the direction his mind wasgoing. Resting his head in his hand, he inwardly chastised himself.He was his own worst enemy and he knew it. Whatever this was, thisattraction he was feeling, it had to stop. Or at least, he had tokeep it in check. Clearly, he was doing it again, unwillinglyforming a bond with yet another person who would only end updisappointing him.
Of course, shewasn’t helping his cause when she turned her head and rested it onhis shoulder, and as if that weren’t bad enough, she snuggled, yes,snuggled into him, her hand around his arm like it was hers for thetaking.
“Pardon me, young miss,” he hissed loud enough to rouse herawake. When she blinked her sleepy blue-grey eyes open in a momentof bewilderment, he almost lost his resolve, but then steeledhimself. “What have I said about clinging to me?”
Chapter 8
“Sorry.” Gwensat up straight and averted her eyes, embarrassed. But what couldshe say, really? Was it her fault that the man radiated magneticwarmth? Moments later, she felt herself fade off once again. If shecould manage it, she would curl herself into a ball and sleep forhours.
“Best you wake up for lunch is being served.” Crispin brushedhimself off, stowed away his songbook and lowered his pull-outtable. As if on auto-pilot, he reached out and did the same forher.
“Mmm hmm…” she murmured in response to his arm brushing acrossher lap. She then turned her head away from him, content andoblivious to the flurry of activity beyond Crispin’s steelypresence beside her. Let him look after itall, she thought dreamily to herself. She’dbeen so tense earlier and now she was exhausted. His wanting theaisle seat was the best thing he could have done. In forcing her totake the window seat, he’d created a cozy alcove of security forher and she was quite enjoying it. The only thing she might requireto make this an even more pleasant experience might be a blanket orperhaps even her coat. The temperature had dropped the last littlewhile and she was feeling a slight chill. It was no wonder she’dsnuggled into Crispin. That’s what she told herself,anyway.
“Coffee or tea?” asked Anne after having placed the food trayon the tables in front of them.
“Coffee for me,” Crispin said, quirking an eyebrow at Gwenstill off in la-la land. For some reason, he recalled her drinkingtea at the café and figured she’d prefer it. “She’ll havetea.”
“Aw… it’s nice to see her so relaxed,” said Anne before makingher way to the next aisle.
Yes, and why exactly was she suddenly so at ease?Crispin couldn’t help but wonder. Had he beenplayed? Had she simply acted like the damsel in distress to gainhis sympathy, or was he right in his suspicions? First thingsfirst, though, he was hungry and surely so was she.
“Come on, waky-waky.” He took her hand and gaveit a squeeze. Finally, she stirred and greeted him with a smile asbright as the sunshine peeking in through the slit in the window.She then noticed the food tray and tea. “Is that all right? Youwere out cold and I had to make the call between coffee ortea.”
“It’s perfect, thanks,” she said, quite pleased, taking asoothing sip of tea. And so areyou, she thought with a covertsmile.
***
Followinglunch, Crispin continued to write while Gwen slept away themajority of the flight. They’d been given blankets and she waspresently quite happily burrowed underneath both hers and his sincehe hadn’t needed it. After a few failed attempts at keeping her offhim, Crispin gave up and figured he’d make the most of theremaining time on the plane to rest his eyes. He had justreadjusted her head onto his shoulder in a mutually beneficialposition so he could use hers as a pillow when she stirred awakeand blinked up at him, a worried look in her eyes.
“Yes?” He couldn’t help but smile, amused at the expression onher face.
“Washroom,” she whispered.
“Ah, yes, of course.” He quickly stood up to allow her to pass.That’s when he noticed the fear coming over her once again. Everymove she made was with great trepidation. No way was she fakingthis. This fear of flying was quite something to be sure. Unable tostand by, he once again, accompanied her. This time, he took holdof her hand and led the way. After all, it had been a few hours andhe too needed to go.
Gwen smiled andfollowed his lead. It was exactly this type of gesture that filledher heart with hope that in his company, she could face anything.What she didn’t realize was that she was about to put that theoryto the test in more ways than one.
***
Before long,the plane started its descent into Heathrow airport. With a worriedintake of breath, Gwen white-knuckle grasped her armrests and satback in her chair.
“Fuck…” Crispin grimaced at the pain from the pressure in hisears. Looking around at the other passengers, he noticed a few wereexperiencing the same discomfort. He’d never flown before but hehad heard about this and although he wasn’t surprised, he hadn’tanticipated the extent of the discomfort.
It was a slowdescent due to all the planes circling awaiting their turn. Leaningacross Gwen who was too preoccupied to notice him, he poked hishead out to see a distant parade of flashing lights. It amazed himto count so many jets in such close proximity and it gave him awhole new respect for air traffic controllers.
“Are we ever going to land?” Gwen’s shaky voice stirred himfrom his observations. “I don’t know how much more of this I cantake.”
“I’m sure it won’t be long,” he said, sitting back in his seatand taking a deep breath. Again, he placed his hand
