13. Breaking Through Clouds

CHAPTER 13

brEAKING THROUGH CLOUDS

KALLIE

Dad cuts me with his razor-sharp, intense stare. His long drawn-out sigh pitches higher than the hum of the aircraft.

"Where's your man?" He hates having to wait. Jeremy is late for our takeoff from LAX on the company's private jet.

I'd love to tell him my cowboy is still in my hotel room. As a small reward for every mind-blowing orgasm Cody gave me last night, I let him sleep in so he could take his time leaving before checkout. As for me, I had to leave early because Dad doesn't know how to relax and he hates L.A.

I didn't sleep a wink. If Cody and I weren't fucking, we were holding each other tight, talking about my life. Cody had listened, questioned everything, then begged me to give up this fight before I got hurt.

"I can handle this. I'm a big girl and I'll be careful," I'd retorted.

"I know that. But I'd feel better being there to protect you," he'd said, and my heart melted like I was some lost princess who'd finally found her knight. "Stay with me here, Kallie. We could be so good together, and I think you know that by now."

He nuzzled my neck, holding me closer, and worked his hand down between us. I happily opened my legs, giving him full access to my clit for another ride. My fifth? Sixth? I'd lost count. We proved our night in Montana wasn't just a one-time thing, not just an anomaly.

Yes, we are in fact so good together.

"Ahem." Dad clears his throat. My cheeks flush.

"Oh, um, I'll text Jeremy. I had a headache last night, and he stayed in his own room," I explain, fumbling for my white phone. After I text the jerk, not really caring if he steps foot on this plane, I switch phones and send kiss emojis to Cody, and a few eggplants, too, in honor of his more than satisfying Big D. God also blessed him with stamina. Damn, that cowboy can fuck.

I'm stretched, legs a little achy from a few positions he had me in, but totally, undeniably, satiated. I'll take a nap on the plane to rest up. But I also plan for the next time we meet, soon, when he's in Texas for games. We'll have to be careful, though. However, I know Austin like the back of my hand and I have a few places in mind where we can hide away, just the two of us.

I get an immediate text back on the white phone.

Jeremy: Shit. I partied too late with some old friends. I'll catch a flight later today.

Kallie: Partied? Great way to keep sober.

Jeremy: I drank soda, fyi. Stayed up too late. Crashed on someone's couch.

Right. Why don't I believe him? I turn off the phone, caring less about subsequent texts from him.

"He was out late and will catch a flight later," I mumble to Dad.

After he gives the nod to the flight crew to take off, he asks the question I hoped to avoid. "Why separate rooms?"

"No matter what you think, things will never be the same between me and Jeremy—ever again. After all the cheating, there's no way I can trust him. I can't go back to him." I shake my head with an exaggerated roll of my eyes.

"Your mother overlooked my indiscretions over the years. You could learn a thing or two from her." His gruff voice agitates me. If we weren't flying down the runway, I'd get off.

It's my turn to cut him with a sharp glare. "Really? And you think the two of you are happy? That's far from the life I want with a man I love."

"The bloom of love fades over the years, sweetheart. You'll see." His gray unibrow furrows over his steely eyes.

"It already has. So excuse me if I don't want to start a marriage like that."

"I'd prefer you think of this as a business arrangement with Jeremy. That's all it has to be."

"What? Why, and why him? You used to go through that golden Rolodex of yours and fix me up with sons of billionaires, you know. They'd be infinitely better than Whittaker." I chew my cheek, dying to tell him about Cody—a semi-pro player who also rides bulls in the amateur rodeos, and doesn't exactly have a fortune in his bank account. He told me his mother lives in a "nice" trailer park outside of Lewistown and manages the local grocery store. His father was a math teacher who had died, but he didn't say how. Not exactly the pedigree Dad expects for me.

Who Cody is as a person means more to me than the rest. So far, even though we've only spent two nights together and I still question my ability to fully trust a man again, I think he's an amazing person. But Dad won't like him.

"I don't need to explain my reasons to you. But you'll marry Jeremy and that's the end of it."

"And if I don't, you take all of my money away, right?" I'm sick of this.

"I hate being so hard on you, honey, but yes. You'll marry Jeremy, and that's final. I've called a wedding planner and we'll talk soon about a new date."

"Unbelievable." In a huff, I cross my arms and train my eyes out the window as we break through the clouds above L.A. and the sun hits the silver wings. I'm reeling from his ultimatum, my head swimming with how to handle this.

In a perfect world, Dad would get to know Cody and respect him as a decent human being. I'd have my trust fund and be set for life. Cody and I could buy thousands of acres in Montana, own dozens of horses, and live happily together, pleasing each other in every way we know how.

I want so badly to tell Dad Jeremy is a fraud. He's a cheat, a stoner, an abuser, and he doesn't even know the seven P's of Marketing. But if I say one word…

Who knows what I'd be capable of under the influence again? My ex's threat comes rolling back to me.

How many times during our engagement did he want to hit me, abuse me? We'd argued often enough. He'd grabbed my arms and shook me plenty of times. Was it difficult for him to hold himself back from unleashing terror on me?

Zoe, the poor girlfriend from his past, comes to mind. I saw photos of them together in his old social media accounts. They appeared happy enough to the outside world. Given what Cody said about Zoe, though, that was probably a disguise for what was really going on behind closed doors.

That could be me, showing up with bruises up and down my arms. Or worse. I could be the abused woman. No, wait. I was the abused woman. Maybe Jeremy didn't leave bruises on me all those times he shook me, but he shouldn't have dared touch me during an argument like that, in the first place.

God, I've been so stupid. I've always considered myself a strong woman. How in the world did I end up engaged to someone like him?

I glance back at Dad, who has his nose stuck in today's papers—still a man who prefers his news in print versus online. Still a proud man believing women are beneath him.

That's how I ended up this way. Two sides of abuse, from the man I grew up with, to the man I thought I'd marry.

No wonder Mom's alcoholism only got worse year after year. Hell, she probably feels the weight of it all, too, lonely and neglected. And I've been a horrible daughter.

A shiver runs down my spine, and suddenly my body aches all over. Exhaustion seeps through my veins, rendering me weak.

No, today is not the day to tell dear old dad all of Jeremy's little secrets. I'm not strong enough yet to face off with either of them. But soon enough I will be.