Page 57 of Come Fly with Me

I check my watch before I look up and smile at her. “Might be a good idea,” I say. “I’ve got a busy night ahead of me when I get back,” I add, winking at her.

When she’s back in her seat and ready to take over, I get up, handing her the logbook. I turn to leave, but stop myself; leaning down, I cup her face in my hands and press a deep kiss to her mouth.

Then without a word, I walk out and go and get some sleep.

By the time we touch down in L.A. the sun is rising on a new day. Taylor and I do the usual run through before grabbing our bags and heading out of the cockpit. When we reach the doors to the outside of the terminal and the crew bus that’s waiting to take us to the crew parking lot, I turn to face her.

“So,” I say, smiling as I rock on my heels. “You want me to come over now or later?”

Nineteen

Taylor

Sometimes perfection can be perfect hell and right now as I look into Jake’s eyes, our perfection is about to end. Even though I want him to come home with me, I’m back on a plane tomorrow. This is the life of a pilot and when there are two of us it makes for complete hell.

“Do you need to go home and get anything?” I ask him, wanting to just admit to him that I want him to come home with me now.

He shrugs his shoulders, playing it casual and I give him a cocky smirk. If he can play this game of nonchalance, so can I. We stare at each other, a silence lingering between us, but a playfulness dancing in our eyes, a battle of glances before I finally speak.

“Well, then, if you don’t know, I’m just going to get going.” I toss a thumb in the direction of the waiting bus, my eyes flicking that way too. I start to walk over, but within seconds, Jake’s trotting up behind me, his hand snaking around my waist as he pulls me into him.

With the packed crew bus watching, he kisses me. He kisses me with fervor and lust, without a care who’s watching, and my knees go weak. It’s a kiss that ignites passion, it’s a kiss that promises reality, and it screams that there’s no hiding. He embraces what we’ve created over the last few weeks, no expectations, no romantic ideals, just a pure and honest connection.

Pulling back, his forehead rests against mine, my eyes closed as the rest of the world comes back into focus. His kiss says so much, comforting and telling in ways that words could never be.

“I’m coming home with you, cheeky girl, because there’s no other place I’d rather be.”

“See that. I figured you’d rather be inside me.”

He chuckles, and it’s breathy, the warm air from his mouth tickling my neck as he exhales hard.

“Or do we just save that for expensive hotel rooms and tropical islands?” I add, kissing the tip of his nose, my vulnerability shining through.

“God, I hope not or we’re going to go broke.”

Jake grabs my bag and his, toting them to the bus, and as we climb aboard, the humming of conversation halts. All eyes are on us, and it suddenly feels like we’re in high school again. Everyone was talking about us, watching us outside the bus, and now they’re judging us. Or at least they’re judging Jake for hooking up with me.

He could do so much better.

He’s just the next Trent.

She hooks up with everyone.

But none of it fazes Jake, his hand on the small of my back as he guides me to the first empty seats and practically forces me to sit down. Scooting me over to the window as he slides in next to me as if he’s protecting me from the prying eyes and their nosiness.

The conversations start up again as the bus pulls away, a quiet buzzing of whispers, and I can’t help but wonder if they’re talking about Jake and me. It’s stupid, and there’s no reason why I should care, but I care about Jake and his reputation. Being seen with me can only be a big solid negative strike against him.

I’m quiet, but not in that needy girl way. I never have been, and long before Jake, claimed that’s what drew him to me. It turns out, though that’s not what most guys want. They want the needy girl, the desperate-for-attention girl, and while most would label me as attention-seeking based on my past behavior, that’s far from it. I do what I do because it makes me happy. I chase my dreams with fearlessness, and I live outside the norms of a comfort zone.

I’m lost in my own thoughts, wondering how I recover from my bad girl reputation when I realize that I don’t. I don’t ever recover because I like my lack of subservience. I’m the kindred of the untamable, the protective and the loving, but I wasn’t wired to be codependent. These are the things I love about myself, and people can get fucked if they think gossiping about me is going to beat these qualities out of me.

It’s with Jake sitting next to me that my imperfections suddenly become not so imperfect after all. My head falls to his shoulder, my body relaxing as I take in my revelations, a calm coming over me.

This is where I was always meant to be.

Jake’s phone falls in my lap, the screen open to my contact information.

“Put your address in. Getting out of the parking garage is always crazy. This way I can put it into my GPS and meet you at your house.”

---