Page 5 of Angel In Armani

So. First order of the business was to get back to the airfield, get Sara to fire up that infernal helicopter—his stomach swooped a little at the thought of flying through a storm of all things—and hopefully they could get back to the city.

There, a plan. Everything was just fine.

Mind made up, he went to find his host, say his good-byes, and make a getaway.

“Not going to happen,” Sara said bluntly. She’d been waiting for him at the tiny terminal, had even come out to the car with an umbrella for him when he’d pulled up outside the main doors. She looked cute slightly damp, the moisture making the ends of her hair curl even more, her eyes taking on some of the storm in the odd glow coming from the lights outside the terminal. He’d been taken for a second by the sight of her, braced against the wind that lifted her hair, but that was only until he’d asked her how long it would be before they could get in the air and she’d looked first apologetic and then determined as she delivered the bad news. Cute apparently came packaged with uncompromising.

Lucas blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Angelo,” Sara said. “And we will, of course, refund you the return flight.” Her expression turned vaguely regretful as she said this before it went back to being resolute. “But I can’t fly you back tonight.”

“The weather isn’t that bad, is it?” he asked hopefully. As if in answer, thunder rumbled overhead. A few seconds later the terminal—which was only half lit—brightened considerably as a flash of lightning followed on its heels.

“Trust me, you do not want to be in a helicopter that’s struck by lightning,” Sara said.

He tried to ignore the mental image that conjured up. “Couldn’t we get ahead of the storm?”

Thunder rumbled again, and she started a little. Then jerked her head toward the window and the rain pouring from the sky. “The storm’s already here,” she said. “So no.”

“I have to be back in the city in the morning,” Lucas said.

Her determined expression didn’t alter. “I’m sorry but I can’t fly you. Not until the weather clears.”

Lucas scowled out at the storm. He had patients who needed surgery. So he needed to get home. “When is that likely to be?”

“Best-case scenario is somewhere close to first light. More likely to be midmorning, though, looking at the size of the storm.”

Sunrise. At this time of year, that was about seven thirty. So he wouldn’t be at the hospital until nine, depending on the traffic from the heliport. Two hours after his first surgery was scheduled to start. Meaning a screwed-up schedule and guaranteed chaos. And if the storm didn’t lift until midmorning, things would be even worse. He didn’t do chaos.

Crap. Though, as lightning flared across the sky again, he decided that he couldn’t argue with her about the fact that flying through an electrical storm wasn’t the smart solution to his problem. Which meant he needed another way.

Like the car waiting outside the terminal.

It was a long drive back to Manhattan, and it would be longer given the weather and the fact it was already getting late. He scrubbed a hand over his face and wished he’d had more coffee at the party.

He needed to be alert.

He turned to Sara, who was staring out at the sky, a mix of irritation and wariness in her frown.

“I need to get back. I’m going to drive.”

Her eyebrows lifted.

“My weather app doesn’t show the storm being so bad in that direction. So here’s my proposition. Keep me company so I stay awake. And keep my return fare, of course.”

She stared at him for a moment. “But my helo is here.”

“I’ll pay for a car to bring you back down here tomorrow morning, and you can fly back. You said it yourself, you can’t fly anywhere tonight. So what do you think?”

Thunder boomed suddenly and he thought he saw her flinch, though it was difficult to tell in the darkness. But as the sound rumbled on, her shoulders squared and she nodded. “Okay,” she said. “It’s a deal.”

This might have been the stupidest thing she’d ever done, Sara thought as she climbed into the Mercedes and sank into a leather seat that curved around her invitingly. The car was low and sleek, and Lucas was an uncomfortably large presence beside her. She would have felt better if they were in an SUV or something built for bad weather.

Who was she kidding? She would have felt better anywhere but in such a small space with Lucas Angelo. Because then she would have been able to maintain her denial about just how gorgeous the man was. Gorgeous enough to talk her into driving for hours through a storm.

Of course, the money didn’t hurt, either. If there was one thing she needed, it was cold hard cash. And after this evening’s debacle, no doubt Dr. Gorgeous would be finding a chopper pilot who was more willing to do his bidding and fly him into a hurricane if need be, so there went the likelihood that he’d become what she’d been hoping was her first new regular client since she’d taken the reins of Charles Air.

It was hard to get new clients when the first thing that came up in any Google search about your company was a chopper crash.

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