Page 12 of Arrogant Arrival

“Jim, we need you to take a flight tomorrow morning.”

“Where to?”

“One of our executives needs to be in New Orleans by nine A.M. Then, they need to be back here by noon.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Can you do another flight tomorrow?”

“Most likely. What do you need?”

“This one is personal. My son has a game in Oxford. I need to leave after work.”

“You got it.” I remember him telling me his son plays college football.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“No problem. I’ll keep an eye on the weather.”

I end the call and find Jolene standing behind me. Shit, I quickly go over the phone conversation trying to think if I said anything flight related. I wave my phone and offer a sheepish smile. “Work. I’ll use the restroom real quick and we should be good to go.”

I sit my phone on the table and hurry off to the restroom before she can ask me again what it is I do for work. Even though I most likely won’t ever see her again, I still would rather she didn’t know I’m a pilot.

Jolene

Smiling as Jim walks to the restroom, I can’t help but feel giddy and sad at the same time. I really like Jim. He’s so playful, fun, and sweet. A little cocky, well, actually, a lot cocky, but it’s part of his charm. Plus, that cockiness definitely comes with a guarantee in the bedroom. At least he’s not a pilot. I can’t believe the first guy I sleep with who’s not a pilot could be someone I share a potential future relationship. Just goes to show I was right all along, I just need to avoid pilots. I’m not sure what I’m feeling right now, though. Sad, maybe, because I’m not ready to lose him. Maybe we could keep in touch and this all works out? Why not? I’m terrified of getting my heart broken, but I know it’ll break the moment we part ways without exchanging numbers. Then I’ll know I’ve lost him for good. At least this way, there might be a chance of something more, as crazy as that sounds.

Jim’s phone lights up with an incoming text. I shouldn’t even bother, it’s not my place to take him his phone and he’ll be out any moment. But he said he’d just gotten off with a work call. This might be important. I pick up the phone to quickly take it to him, but stop when I glance down.

DEX: Need a flight, man. Is your schedule clear for next Tuesday? I just had something come up and need to go to FL to visit my dad. Think you can fly me?

Why is someone asking Jim if he can fly them?I feel the palpations in my chest and a feeling of dread forms in the pit of my stomach. What have I done? Did this entire encounter begin as a lie? I told him I didn’t want to get involved with a pilot again. I specifically told him no pilots.

I hear the sink turn off and quickly place the phone back down. Jim walks out smiling at me. “Ready.”

“Jim?” I try to keep my voice calm.

“Yeah?”

“I think we can both agree that we had an incredible night–”

He comes to me and wraps his hands around my back. “Hell yeah, we did. I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s a relief to hear you say that because I was hoping we could possibly see where this goes?”

I ease out of his grip so I can look into his eyes. “Possibly. I want to get to know you better, and see where do we go from here and is there an opportunity for us to reconnect in the future? Also, you know that my job allows me to be in multiple cities and countries throughout any given week. But what does Jim the Greek do for a living? And would your job allow our paths to cross as easily in the future?”

He falters and then smiles, “How about Jimmy the Great? Or I guess I could be Jimmy the Greek god of sexiness?”

“Sure, if that’s what you need to feel better about yourself. But what I need to know is what does his greatness do for a living?”

I don’t miss how his body stiffens, how his eyes shift to the side. “I’m self-employed.”

“Doing what?” I grit out. I’m struggling to control my temper when he is clearly deflecting.

“Okay. Listen, and hear me out before you get upset.” He places his hands on my shoulders.

I can’t believe this! I can’t believe he lied to me! I fell for it again!I jerk out of his touch and shove him away. “You lied to me!”

“I haven’t even said anything… How do you know I lied?”

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