Lost In Love | ✔️

1

~Clementine's POV~

My butt hit the seat as I plopped down on the plane, scowling at the man across from me. He just smirked, knowing how much I really hated having to be here with him, and how much I disliked needing him.

"Don't look so smug." I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest as I relaxed as best as I could. He just snorted and rolled his brown eyes, probably thinking I was being over dramatic. "Be pissy all you want to, sweetheart, but you must admit I saved your ass. If it weren't for me and my kindness, you wouldn't even be able to go to this wedding." He stated, and I clenched my jaw, refraining from grinding my teeth together out of frustration. I hated him, but I hated even more that he was actually right about that.

Because I lived on the opposite side of the country, I needed a way to get back home fast for my dad's wedding, which was actually tomorrow. I had been scrambling around for days, trying to find enough money to afford a last minute plane ticket, but I just didn't have enough. Nobody had even given me a heads up that there was a wedding until it was too late for me to get some money saved up. I didn't have enough money to get home, and Ryder was so filthy rich that he had his own fucking private plane. Even though I despised him, I also didn't have any other option but to seek help from him—perhaps the only person I didn't want to get help from. He was materialistic, and to me, there was not much more that could irritate me than that.

"You're an idiot, Ryder." I grumbled, looking out the window of the plane as we flew through the clouds. He shook his head and eyed me closely, his brown eyes trained on the side of my face. "And you're stubborn. You hardly know me, yet you hate me." He retorted, making my gaze snap over to him. I scoffed, leaning forward a little bit. "If I'm so stubborn, then why do you keep trying to talk to me? It's not like you like me, either." I snapped, causing him to clench his jaw strongly. "Let's just agree to shut up until we get there." I said before he could speak, not wanting to have to converse with him any further.

Ryder pursed his full lips but, luckily for both of us, he did as I said and kept quiet. I huffed softly to myself, continuing to stare out the window as we flew. Although I knew I probably seemed rude, even ungrateful, I would be lying if I said I liked him or that I was happy to be on this plane with him. None of that had anything to do with the fact that he was helping me.

I hadn't known Ryder for very long, only about two or three months now. The only reason that I had met him in the first place was because we both knew my boss, Mr. Soto, and even then I had only met Ryder three or four times before this. While I worked for Mr. Soto, Ryder worked with him, or at least sometimes he did. They were business associates, so it wasn't unusual for me to see him around, but I was lucky this time that he had even been here. Even I could admit that, though probably not to him.

However, just because I had only known him for around two or three months didn't mean I was oblivious to his existence beforehand. Ryder Arellano was a very rich, successful man, which, of course, meant that he was very well known. It certainly didn't hurt that he was hot as all hell, either. He had been featured in many magazines, on several TV shows, and had been gossiped about through many mouths. Honestly, it was probably harder to not have heard of him at this point.

**

I must have fallen asleep at some point while I was looking out the window, and when I woke up it was due to Ryder shaking me awake. Groaning in annoyance, I swatted at him, almost certain that he was just trying to annoy me or bother me about something that I didn't give a shit about. "Clementine." He said my name, his large hand resting on my forearm still. "We're landing for a bit." He told me.

That was what made my eyes snap open, catching my attention immediately. I pulled away from him, furrowing my brows in confusion as he stood and I tilted my head back to peer up at him. "Landing?" I echoed, glancing out the window. We were flying directly over the ocean. "Where? We're not even close to land!" I asked incredulously. He rolled his eyes at my hysterics, crouching down in front of me to point out my window with a long finger. "There." He said. I followed where he was pointing and in the very distance, I could spot an island, and a large one at that. "An island?" I frowned, my brows knitting together. "What are we landing there for?" I wondered.

Ryder stood straight again, looking all kinds of sinful from where I was sitting, staring up at him. "That's my island." He told me, causing my brows to shoot up in surprise. That was not the answer I had been expecting. "I'm sorry, what?" I blinked. "You have your own island? How rich are you, exactly?" I gaped up at him, shocked. I'd known he was filthy rich, but who the hell could afford to have their own fucking private island?

His pink lips twitched up into an amused, smug little smile. "Rich enough." He said simply, leaning against the seat in front of me. "And the reason we're landing there, to answer your first question, is because I have something I need to get from my house down there. Important shit." He explained, probably as vague as could be. I gave him a flat look. "Really? You can't wait to get this thing?" I grunted, annoyed. He raised his brows and crossed his very muscular arms over his broad chest, most likely not appreciating my sass. "We'd be flying right over it, Clementine. I might as well." He said, shaking his head.

Though I rolled my eyes, I didn't bother saying anything about it, since it wasn't like it was going to change anything. I just looked out the window, waiting for us to land. It was all going pretty smooth, at first, but when the plane began shaking rapidly, I became a little on edge. However, I assumed it was just turbulence or something and tried to ignore it, not wanting to freak out.

But when I glanced out the window and saw that the plane was not flying but rather seemingly beginning to nose dive, right towards the ocean, I knew it wasn't turbulence. We were about to crash.