Page 6 of Irresistible Temptation

“I promise. Now let’s go eat,” I say once I’m finished. When we get back on the plane, I’ll have to sneak into the bathroom and brush my teeth again since we’re eating, and no one wants stinky breath when they’re up close and personal with strangers.

“Let’s.” Samuel hooks his arm through mine, whether that’s because he’s worried or this is him naturally, I’m not sure. What I do know is, it’s nice to have a friend in a new place where everyone is a stranger. Is it too early to think he’ll be my best friend in no time?

4

TYSEN

“Don’t do what I did. Don’t wait too long and lose years because you’re being a stubborn dumbass.” Johnny’s words from last night play in my head over and over again. I could have gone to any of the guys to talk to them about this situation; they’d all probably give me the same damn advice. Trent and Jude would probably have her found in a matter of minutes, then I’d go down the list of what the fuck am I doing. This woman didn’t leave one single iota of wanting this to go any further.

“Hey, Tys. You’re here earlier than I thought,” Jude greets me when I step on the plane. I’m not technically due to be at the private airfield for another hour, but staying at home, looking at my surroundings, and pacing the floors held little fucking appeal. How one woman has me so wrapped up, I have not one single clue.

“Yeah, had to come in and do some paperwork with the big guys upstairs.” While I can usually get it done in a matter of minutes, I took the time to do a pre-flight briefing and planning. This time, we’re headed overseas, taking a wealthy individual to London, dropping him off, and then heading right back to Florida. The Gulfstream G650ER can range over three thousand miles. Part of the reason I decided to go as big as I did is for this very reason, plus the amount of money I’m making off this trip alone helps put us even more in the black.

“Bummer. I’m almost done here. I’ll need your tablet to download the software in a few minutes, and then I’ll be out of your hair.” Jude goes back to messing with a camera, a piece of candy in his mouth like normal. Apparently, he’s doing more than creating apps. The job for the government goes well beyond the normal scope of his work. Usually, he sticks to creating some kind of learning app for Sebastian, a security one for all of us, and then whatever he’s contracted to do by other businesses.

“When did you get into doing it all top to bottom?” I ask, not worried about him being done at any given time; we’ve still got time before my clients make their entrance.

“Since taking this job. Part of the stipulation is I’m the only one handling it. I can’t even have an assistant. They can void it for any little infraction, and I like the money they’re handing out too much to screw it up.” Jude has his hand up in the air, sliding the camera on its base and locking it in. I’m about to ask him about potentially finding Maci when my co-pilot, Liam, clears the doorway.

“Whoa, you’re here before me. This never happens. Do we have the FAA after us or something?” He locked in once I had my shit in order, didn’t even so much as blink when I told him that I’d be looking for a co-pilot and I’d want no one else than him. It came with a few contingencies; him not having a health insurance plan for his family was the main concern. It wasn’t money. It wasn’t the time away from his wife and child. It was making sure he could provide for them. It was a given to do the research, figure out what I’d need to make this more viable for not only him but myself, too. I now have the two of us covered and will have to add more as we bring in more employees. Johnny, Jagger, and Matthew being business owners gave me an agent to talk to, and we went from there. Now Liam is on board full-time, and for the most part, he’s home every night with his family, unless we have a client like today. Round trip, it’s going to be a full twenty-four hours, a little more once we go through our shut-down procedures. That’s if there aren’t delays from weather or with air control. There’s always one thing or another, but it’s nothing compared to what we dealt with when we worked at the commercial airline.

“Nope,” Jude says but doesn’t elaborate. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in his contract about keeping quiet. Suffice it to say, he’s got no problem letting me tell Liam what’s going on.

“Nah, not today at least. Jude is working with the government on a facial recognition software deal. He’s trying the prototype on the plane as well as Johnny’s club in order to iron out all the kinks before he hands the software over to the big wigs.” I place my hand in my pocket, thankful to be able to wear clothes that don’t constrict me. No more jackets, no more hat, no more always looking put together no matter where you are in an airport. Except for the night with Maci, I’d had enough. Liam and I both were over the proprietary bullshit. He’d known for a long time I was looking to get out of the corporate field, and that day solidified it more than ever.

I got my ass verbally handed to me after leaving the hotel room. I’d been in my full uniform, so it wasn’t then they’d decide to give me shit. It was from the night before when I’d had enough, delay after delay, a plane that should have been retired, yet they kept Band-Aiding the damn thing. It got so bad the plug door wouldn’t close. I’d had enough. I called it in, and then the storms got heavier, which grounded us for the night. I’d been working fourteen days straight, only taking the required time off, and the clothes became tighter with each pressing minute. The tie came off, the buttons came undone, and the jacket was abandoned and stuffed in my bag.

When they wrote me up, I saidfuck itand gave them my two weeks’ notice. They in turn told me it wasn’t necessary, and my marching orders were delivered. Goes to show you what a corporation truly feels about you. You’re a dime a dozen, and it doesn’t matter how much you give, they’ll take until you’re all used up.

“Cool, I’ll do the exterior walk-around if you haven’t yet?” he asks.

“Hadn’t gotten that far. Everything is good at the control tower. After we do our pre-checks, we’re good.” I need to talk to the guys at our next round table meeting about potentially bringing Liam in as a business partner instead of a co-pilot; it would be worth-fucking-while. There would be some red tape with how to deal with the financial aspect, but I’m thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have him when there are times I’m not available, so he can make the day-to-day decisions, too. The only bad part about this being a just me and him endeavor is not having a second for the other when we need to have a life outside of work. A subject I brought up last night and one I really want to sit down and look at the books to see what we can do to make it happen.

Which means we’re going to have to look at adding a third into the business once we have a few more months under our belt and a staff that doesn’t come from an agency. You never know what you’ll get with that direction, and there have been times we’ve received a few attendants who were less than desirable. Fuck, one was an absolute disaster. I thought for sure we’d lose our paying customers after the flight attendant decided to sit down and do nothing for the entirety of the trip. It was like the woman was an ornament piece. She didn’t tell them a damn thing, didn’t offer so much as a drink. Needless to say, I let Liam take the controls and helped out where I could, and the minute we were on the tarmac, she was relieved of her duties and the hiring agency heard a fucking earful.

“I’ll do that now. Good to see you, Jude.” Liam gives him a wave and then heads outside.

“Later, Liam.” Jude finishes tightening the screw and steps off the stool he must have brought with him. I wait a beat until the coast is clear, watching as he puts his tools away in his bag and wondering how he was able to seamlessly tap into the plane’s wiring without making a mess out of shit. While Jude helps out with Jagged Edge Constructions, he usually doesn’t fuck with the electrical side of things. Unless he has recently in order to help solidify this contract; it would definitely make sense, and Jude is known for crossing his t’s and dotting his i’s.

“Hey, Jude, got a question,” I state after the coast is clear. I don’t want anyone to hear about me essentially stalking the woman I can’t stop thinking about. Do you know how many variations of the name Maci there are, not to mention the amount? Believe me, I’ve searched just about every social media with all the ones I can come up with and still couldn’t find her. It pissed me off that she’s this elusive, and after sitting on this for weeks too long, I’m finally ready to ask for help.

“Got an answer.” I laugh at Jude’s classic smart-ass response.

“Hopefully, you do.” I run my hand down my face, trying to figure out a way to word this in a way it doesn’t make me seem desperate, when in fact, I am.

I’m desperate to lay my eyes on Maci.

I’m desperate for the feel of Maci.

And I’m desperate to know how we had such a good night and how she could leave without so much of a hint of her.

“Can’t give you a response if you don’t ask and stare off like a lovesick fool.” My gaze snaps to his.

“Fuck, you already know.” I shake my head.

“After Winnie came back, I started tracking everyone’s movements. How do you think I was able to get the contract I have? I didn’t run the woman through the system, but I can if you want.” Jude shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal that he’s got details on us at all times.

“How long will that take?” I’ll circle back to the bombshell he dropped, probably the next time all nine of us are sitting around the table at Undercover Lovers. I don’t know how far we’d want to drag this, and Jude is one hundred percent coming from a good place; everyone would agree with that. The women, though, they might be well and truly pissed.

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