Page 8 of In Flight

“Not directly, no. But you do a lot of silent speaking with your smug expressions and your condescending tone. That can’t be a surprise to you.”

His mouth twitches just slightly before he turns back to his laptop.

It makes me want to smile.

I don’t. He would surely see that as a victory, and there’s no sense in giving him one of those.

“So you have one sister?” he asks after a while, still typing something into a document while he speaks. “Do you have any others?”

“No. It’s just the two of us.”

“She’s younger?”

“How did you know that?”

He lifts one shoulder in a half shrug. “Deduction.”

I roll my eyes at that and give an exaggerated groan.

He does another one of those huff-laughs. “She’s what? Twenty-eight?”

“Yes. How on earth—” I break off my own question at his expression. “Don’t you dare saydeductionbecause there’s no way you could have deduced that specifically.”

“It was a guess,” he admits, almost smiling down at his screen. “But an educated one.”

“But an educated one,” I repeat, trying to mimic his arrogant tone.

It looks like he might want to laugh, but he doesn’t. “She’s what? Two or three years younger than you?”

“Three. I’m thirty-one.”

He nods.

I wait, and when he doesn’t immediately follow up with another question, I say, “So you’re an only child?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Just a guess. Aneducatedone.”

He makes a weird burst of sound that I take for an abrupt, stifled laugh. “Yes. I’m an only child.”

“I figured. You’re clearly used to getting all the attention and having your parents fawn over all your brilliant insights.”

“You might be surprised. They didn’t do much fawning.”

I frown. “Are they not good parents?”

“They’re good parents. They’re just not the fawning kind. My dad works hard, and he’s all about responsibility. My mom is softer, but she’s always had a sarcastic sense of humor that keeps me on my toes.”

“Oh. Interesting.”

“Why is it interesting?”

“I don’t know. It just is. Did your mom work outside the home?”

“No. They have a fairly traditional marriage. At least outwardly. My mom cooks and cleans and helps out in the community and makes sure my dad never strays too far out of the lines.”

“Is your dad inclined to do that?”

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