Page 61 of Exes and Big Os

“Sam? What … what are you doing here?”

His shoulders raised and lowered. “Technically, I’m here to interview for your open pilot position.”

“You flew Angel Flights?” Callie asked while Meg seemed frozen behind her desk.

“Yeah. People needed to get to medical care, and I made it happen. Hardest but most rewarding volunteer job I ever had.”

“And pilot training?”

“Four years.”

“And tour pilot?”

“In Mexico. That’s what I did there. I flew day trips to the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Los Cabos, and basically wherever the tour company needed me to. Until I had enough money to just live for a while, at least.”

He could plan his own flights. That would be helpful.

What was she thinking? She couldn’t hire him. He’d lied, too.

“You lied to me,” Meg said out loud what Callie was thinking. Sam’s charcoal suit flexed with his muscles, and Meg stood to come around the desk, her arms crossed in front of her.

“I did. I regret it, and I take responsibility for not coming clean, especially when…” Sam stepped closer to her. “When I knew I felt things for you I’ve never felt before.”

Meg’s bottom lip quivered, but Callie knew her friend wouldn’t break. She never cried.

“I’m sorry, Meg. If you give me another chance, I swear I’ll never lie to you again.” Sam’s fingers swooped across her cheek to collect a long drip of a single tear and a long shiver rocked Callie’s body. “Please, give me another chance. I want to see where this can go. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Meg whispered as he wrapped her up in his arms.

Callie walked away. She’d hire Sam after they finished making up. His credentials and the fact that his girlfriend worked for Hera Aviation sold her.

And the fact was he wasn’t all that bad, after all.

She leaned back against the edge of the hangar door.

“Callie?”

She wouldn’t turn around. Her heart crashed against her chest like a bass drum, forcing her to close her eyes to stay upright.

Shoes padded softly toward her, almost shuffling. His cologne tickled her nose as the wind did a quick brush over her body.

“Can we talk?”

“You can talk. I know what to say, Liam.” She needed to hear him first and then she would decide what she thought. She knew what she felt. She still had her eyes closed, but it wasn’t stopping them from pooling with wetness.

“Callie Laurel, I never meant to hurt you, but I know I did and I’m sorry for that. Like sorry to the deepest crack inside of my heart. But I put the crack there. I did this to us. I can’t imagine why you’d consider starting over, but I’m here to tell you a few things and ask you to try to forgive me.”

Liam wasn’t standing close, but she could feel him. She could sense his heat and his breaths. They intoxicated her until her head felt like a balloon waiting to burst. She kept her eyes closed. She knew what would happen if she opened them.

“I turned Young & Associates over to Trent. Trent lives to work his ass off, and his passion is law. For me, it was a job and an exhausting one at that. I needed to get away from the toxic culture. I’d always been trying to impress my father, a man who didn’t care no matter what I did, but he’s gone now.”

“Your father died?” She cracked one eye to see him, but when he was rubbing his hand over his face and she couldn’t really see him, she closed them tight again.

“No, no. He’s in Arizona with his money and his gambling. He’ll live for years to make sure Trent hears how he’s not doing anything right at the company.”

“You know I really don’t want to hear about Trent.”

“Yeah, I figured. Please know that I don’t support what he did, but I’m not here to talk about him. I want to talk about you … and me.”

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