Page 62 of Come Fly with Me

Charlie exhales, uncrossing his arms and sticking his hands into his pockets. “When she does let you in,” he continues, “she loves hard.”

I swallow as I take in his words, at the insight he’s just given me on the woman I feel intoxicated by. I want her to let me in, to show me that side of her that no one else gets to see. I really want to know what being loved by her feels like.

“Anyway,” he says, smiling as he pushes off the plane and gestures to a pile of manuals on the table. “We’re up to chapter three,” he says, continuing on as if the previous conversation never took place. “You should be able to get through it in the hour. It’s all pretty straightforward, just take them through each section in the chapter, running through the questions at the end together. Try and get them to give you the answers first, rather than just telling them.”

He’s at the door of the hangar now, a hand up in a wave before I finally speak. “Thank you,” I call out. “For this and…” I trail off, not sure exactly what else I’m thanking him for.

Charlie turns to face me, nods once. “She never brings anyone here, you know?” he says, our eyes meeting before he turns and walks out the door.

I can’t stop the smile that breaks out.

The next day, I head to the airport early. After parking my car in the airline’s parking garage, I catch the crew bus into the terminal, heading straight for the lounge. My eyes search the space for my co-pilot on our flight to Singapore, but it’s practically empty, no captains here yet.

So, grabbing a coffee, I head over to one of the seats and wait, pulling my phone from my pocket. I smile when I see the message icon indicating I have a new text. Opening it, my smile widens when I see Taylor’s name next to it. We’d already had a good session of hot phone sex last night, but I was absolutely not against continuing that via text.

Taylor: Wish you were here with me.

She’s sent a photo of her lying in a bed, white sheets against her bare skin as she smiles up at the camera. There’s nothing revealing about it, just her beautiful face and bare shoulders, but it still makes my heart skip a beat, my body hum with electricity.

Me: Fuck, baby, me too…lower the sheet and take another pic for me ;)

The bubbles come up immediately, and I feel myself grinning as I wait for her response.

Taylor: Cheeky boy! Dirty texts, phone sex, and now you want naked pictures??

Me: What can I say, I’m a man who likes to have his woman in each and every way possible…

Taylor: Tell me how you’ll have me when you get back to L.A.?

I let out a hard exhale, my smile widening as I start to type out a lengthy response in very, very explicit detail.

Me: Well, I’m driving straight over to your house when I get in, you should know that. The second I get inside your house, I’m backing you up against your front door. I really hope you’ll be naked already so that when I fall to my knees and put my mouth against your…

“Jake Campbell?”

I look up quickly, turning my phone over so neither the picture of Taylor nor my message to her can be seen. “Yeah,” I reply, standing.

He holds out a hand. “Theo Jameson. I believe you’ll be flying with me today?”

I nod, shaking his hand as I slide my phone into my pocket. “Sounds good,” I say, offering him a smile. “I’ve got all the paperwork here and informed dispatch already,” I add, holding it out to him.

His eyes flick to the folder in my hand before he takes it, slipping it under his arm without bothering to look. Then he nods once with a curt, “See you onboard,” before turning and walking off.

“Dick,” I breathe out, grabbing my coffee and bag and heading out of the lounge. I follow behind him, not bothering to catch up and make conversation, instead pulling out my phone and finishing off my message to Taylor.

It’s long, filling the whole screen with all the things I want to do to her, and when she finally replies, it’s brief, but very much the response I was aiming for.

Taylor: Shit, I’m wet just reading this.

I smile, quickly typing out a message.

Me: I knew I had a way with words Just about to get my flight…gotta go for a while. I’ll call you when I land so we can discuss this in a lot more detail. BTW, do you know a Theo Jameson? I’m flying with him and he seems like a total prick.

The bubbles pop up and disappear for longer than feels necessary. When the message finally comes through, my heart sinks because I know exactly what she will be thinking right now, and I instantly regret asking her.

Taylor: Remember in Sydney when I tried to find the courage to come to your room, but shit happened down at the bar? Well…that shit was Theo Jameson.

“Fuck.”

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