Chapter 2
Tyler booked first class.
The second we boarded, he put on oversized headphones and gave me a look that clearly said don’t speak unless the plane is on fire.
I was more than happy to leave him alone.
I leaned back, closed my eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly.
And then it happened again.
That strange dream.
That impossible man.
I was curled up in his arms, my skin burning, my body far too aware of every inch of his. It wasn’t the first time. At this point, I’d lost count of how many times he’d appeared in my sleep.
His voice dropped low beside my ear.
“Still not enough?”
My face flamed.
He tilted my chin up with two fingers. Even in dreams, he was devastatingly handsome. Sharp features. Cool eyes. A body so unfairly perfect it bordered on offensive. Broad shoulders. Narrow waist. Lean muscle under warm skin.
I had absolutely no defense against him.
He studied me for a second, then asked softly, “You look beautiful today. Where are you going?”
“To my boyfriend’s house.”
The second the words left my mouth, something shifted in his expression.
“You have a boyfriend?”
“Yes,” I snapped, suddenly irritated. “I do.”
Silence.
Then I looked up and met the dark current in his eyes.
He was too striking to be unreal. Too detailed. Too vivid. No dream should be able to create a man like this over and over again with such precision.
“Break up with him,” he said.
His voice was calm, almost coaxing.
“No.”
“Why not?”
I laughed bitterly. “Because what exactly am I supposed to do with a man from my dreams? Spend the rest of my life in my sleep?”
That seemed to hit something.
He went quiet.
And then the plane jolted during landing, and I woke with a start.
Tyler was looking at me from the seat beside mine, frowning.
“Why are you sweating?”
I wiped the thin layer of sweat from my forehead. “I’m fine.”
Another dream. Again.
They’d started about six months ago.
At first they were harmless. Strange, but harmless. Then one night I realized the mystery man wasn’t just handsome. He was built like every fantasy I’d ever had and never admitted out loud.
After that, the dreams spiraled.
Fast.
I still didn’t know who he was. Every time I asked his name in the dream, I forgot it the instant I woke up. All I remembered were fragments. His voice. His hands. The way being near him felt so real it left me breathless long after I opened my eyes.
I’d even gone to a doctor once, quietly, half-embarrassed.
The doctor had laughed and told me it was just a dream. Stress. Youth. Hormones.
Maybe.
I was twenty-two and had never had a real relationship in the way most people imagined one. Tyler thought I was beneath him. I thought he was useful. That left us with a very polite distance.
“Your face is red,” Tyler said, still staring at me.
“A little warm, that’s all.”
He smirked. “First time flying?”
I looked at him and answered honestly. “Yeah. First time.”
The smirk faltered.
Sometimes the truth embarrasses people more than any lie ever could.
He cleared his throat. “My parents are easy. Just be careful around my brother.”
“Why? Does he bite?”
Tyler gave me a strange look. Usually I played sweet and meek with him. Lately, with the money nearly saved and the finish line in sight, I found myself less interested in performing.
“My brother has a bad temper,” Tyler said. “He’s controlling. At home, what he says goes. At work too. Even my parents don’t really go against him.”
That was the first time all day he’d sounded genuinely wary.
“Just keep your head down around him.”
I looked out the window at the runway and said, “Got it.”
I didn’t care about Tyler’s family.
Not yet.