Page 61 of Finding You

My pilot? What the fuck? Dallas’s ears began to ring as he turned and saw a similar look on Kylen’s face. They knew each other. And from the tension, it was probably well. Oh Christ.

Dallas hadn’t thought to ask if Kylen was seeing someone else casually. He knew he wasn’t committed, but he hadn’t thought that Kylen might be having fun with other people. He felt the sudden urge to run, but he couldn’t make himself move.

There was another beat of silence, and then Kylen walked up and set his hand on Dallas’s shoulder. “Well. This is unexpected.”

Monty let out a soft laugh. “It is. I was meaning to call you, but I don’t have another flight scheduled.”

Flight scheduled? Was that some kind of euphemism?

“It’s okay. I had to take time off. My gran got out of the hospital, and I just had her transferred to a care home. It’s been a shitshow.” Kylen sank down to the chair beside Dallas and took his hand.

What was happening?

Monty’s gaze followed the movement, and then his lips stretched. “Ah. The secret boyfriend.”

Dallas swallowed heavily. “Someone fill me in, please?”

Kylen glanced over at him carefully. “Montez is one of my private clients.”

“For flying,” Dallas said, not quite a question.

“No, for my escort service,” Kylen said flatly, then rolled his eyes and squeezed his hand. “Yes, for flying. I do private jobs so I can pay my mortgage in between my commercial flights. Especially lately.”

Dallas felt like an ass, but only a little. There was obvious tension between them, and it made his stomach hurt because Monty was incredibly attractive. He was also charismatic, funny, and sweet. He was definitely a better match, and it was clear he liked Kylen because of course he did. Why wouldn’t he?

“It’s even nicer to meet you now, Mr. Reed,” Monty said.

Dallas strained to hear challenge or resentment in his tone, but there was none. This was way outside of his social skill set. Fuck, why couldn’t Adele have been free for this?

“Tell you what I’m going to do,” Monty said, jolting Dallas out of his spiral. “I’m going to have a look at your file and your court records. We’ll make another appointment for next week, and I should have a plan of how to go forward.”

Dallas wasn’t sure if he was being politely asked to leave or if this was standard procedure. “Uh…how much of my retainer is that going to take up?”

“None,” Monty said.

Dallas started at him. “But you’ll be doing work.”

“And I’ve been compensated for my time already. For the entire case,” Monty said.

It felt like something had sucked all the air from Dallas’s lungs. “I don’t want pity?—”

“This isn’t about pity. I take cases pro bono or for a severely reduced fee because I can. Because I’m not going to lose my house or my ability to pay my bills, and I want clients who deserve to have their day in court to not face those risks either.”

“But I haven’t paid anything.”

“Someone else has. They asked to remain anonymous.”

Dallas rubbed the back of his neck. “Fucking Adele.”

Monty laughed, and his smile confirmed it, even though he didn’t with words. “Not everyone has a support system the way you do. I understand it can be difficult to accept help, even when you need it most. But I don’t think the donation was made out of pity either, Mr. Reed. I think it was made out of love.”

Monty was right. And once again, Dallas couldn’t help but think that the wonderful, lovely man beside him would be so much better off with someone who could give him everything he needed. And Monty seemed more than well equipped.

“Call me Dallas, if you don’t mind.”

Monty’s smile softened. “Dallas. I think my pilot made a very good choice in partners.”

My pilot. There it was again. He was starting to wonder if maybe it was just a language thing because Kylen didn’t seem bothered or defensive. He didn’t seem flirty or distant. He was just himself.

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