Stranded with the Billionaire

I R E N A

Irena shivered as she opened her eyes. She looked at the bowl of embers, Titan  lying a few feet away and the white snow in front of the window. Damned. The plane crash is not a nightmare. Right. That means  the embrace around her belongs only to  Sage Kennedy. She could feel his chest rise and fall under her head. His heart pounded in his ears.

She slept on  Sage. Why did she sleep on top of him? What did she do last night?

She pulled her body away from him. Once at a safe distance, she jumped off the floor and into the bathroom as her mind tried to follow.

The snap made her shiver. Turning around, she sat down on the toilet lid in front of her. When she is alone, she is free to control her emotions. Her shoulders shook as memories of the past flooded her mind.

She knew why she climbed into Sage Kenned’s bed. She was very scared. All that she had tried to lock down since childhood spilled out. Every detail is terrible.

She tried to hold back her sobs by turning her face to the ceiling. Why couldn’t she be stronger? Why did she let what her father did to her mother creep into her life? She nibbled the inside of her cheek. She’s not a little girl anymore and such a reaction makes her look ridiculous.

But there’s something about the utter helplessness she felt as the plane fell from the sky that revealed past emotions. Emotions caused her to hide under her little daughter’s bed  to escape the quarrels of her parents. This is where she will cover her ears and recite the information she read earlier in the day. Anything to drown out their war.

When her parents died in a car accident when she was sixteen years old, she thought she had overcome all her past emotions. Apparently, after the ridiculous panic she showed Sage, that wasn’t the case. She was as weak and scared as when she was a child.

Wiping her tears, she calmed down. She needed to get over the past and move on. Exposing her weakness to anyone, let alone Sage, was not something she wanted to do right now. She has worked her whole life to build a protective wall around her heart, and there is no need to start tearing it down now.

She unrolled the toilet paper roll, tore a piece and dabbed it on her cheek. There. She’s had her pity party, and now it’s time to move on. It’s time to put on the big girl’s panties and focus on what she needs to do to get out of the desert and back into civilization.

“And stay away from Sage Kennedy,” she whispered.

She ran her hand through her hair and rubbed her face. Anything to make her feel a little better. She pressed the faucet and the water came out. After filling her hands, she splashed all over her face. The cold jolted her  system and helped her calm.

Waiting for a few more minutes, she adjusted her clothes and opened the bathroom door. When she opened it, she screamed. sage was leaning against the wall, inches away from her.

There was an expression on his face that she couldn’t read. It was a mixture of excitement and anxiety. His deep gaze and sly smile made his heart pound in his ears. Stupid feelings. They broke.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Hello,” he said stepping away from the wall.

“Hello,” she said, in a professional voice. There was no way she wanted to talk about what had happened last night, and she hoped her cold temper would imply that.

He watched her pass. “Did you sleep well?” There was a playfulness in his voice that made his cheeks heat up.

“Well, I was on a plane that crashed where God knows. What do you think?” She couldn’t let his apparent attempts at flirting distract her. She couldn’t let people into her life. They hurt her. They always hurt her.

Assuming he didn’t answer, she glanced at him. His jaw twitched as he looked at her.

“I’m in a bad mood,” he said.

She shrugged.

He looked at her for a moment before groaning, going into the bathroom and slamming the door.

Irena winced as regret filled her chest. As she clenched her fist, she took a deep breath. She couldn’t feel bad about it. She had to stay away from Sage. Distant. It’s better for her and better for him. He was over the limit. She agreed as soon as possible.

Though her heart tightened at that thought. Her head prevailed. Sage Kennedy has been banned.