Page 7 of Irresistible Temptation

“Depends on if she’s been in the system before. Give me a day or two, and I should have your girl. What’s her name?” Jude is doing something on his tablet before dropping it to the couch and reaching for mine. I had it in my hand when I walked in after going over everything with the tower, plus it holds my schedule, another app Jude developed and tailored to what I needed it for.

“Maci. I have no idea how you spell it or what her last name is.” Not enough to go off, or I could have done it myself.

“I’ll get it sorted out. On the least likely possibility, I can always use my hacker skills.” He cracks his knuckles like it’s not against the law and that it might not backfire on him with the contract he currently has.

“Don’t do all that. You can’t find her, I’ll cut my losses.” That’s a damn lie, and it tastes bitter coming off my lips. I’d probably ask Trent next and go down the line.

“You ever known me to not be able to find someone or something? I’m like a dog with a bone. Might take a bit of time, but I’ll find her. Now, let’s go about showing you how this works. Then I’m going to finagle my way up to the tower and see if they want to be a part of this demo, too.” Jude’s fucking mind, it goes a million miles an hour. He’s working on one thing while thinking about the next and developing another in the background. We go over everything that needs to be gone through—how to disable them and enable them, where all of them are located, which is everywhere except the bathrooms. There’s even one in the bedroom, but it’s currently turned off, and it will stay that way if I have anything to say about it. It’s quick and fast because that’s how Jude rolls. When everything is said and done, Liam is back on the plane with us, and Jude is heading out the door to find his next culprit to work his magic on. As for me, the knot in my gut settles down a bit now that I’ve got someone helping me find the woman whose taste still lingers on my lips.

5

MACI

“Ithink I’m going to need to find different shoes,” I tell Samuel in the middle of our last flight of the day. We’re sitting down since we caught some headwind, and the captain decided to turn on the seatbelt light, which meant all of us are in our seats. I’m ready to take them off, find a pair of sneakers, and saythe hell with it. Except I think it’d be frowned upon doing so my very first day on the job.

“Oh, honey, those are the absolute worst. Like, yes, when you’re out with friends having a drink, total baddie move. Here you need the barest of a heel, and while it pains me to say it, more of a shoe something a grandmother would wear. We’ll fix that before your next shift.” I mentally calculate how much a pair of shoes will put me back and realize that even though it’s adding another charge to my already too-high-for-me credit card, this is a must.

“I know. I should have scavenged something from my mom’s closet. Except she wears the same style of shoes I do.” I shrug. We have a similar style, and growing up, you could find me pilfering her closest for shoes, clothes, and makeup. Mom would pretend like it was a big deal, but Dad later informed me she’d buy certain things with me in mind. Especially when I became a teenager, my parents instilled on me the importance of having a job and paying for the extra wants, including helping pay for my car insurance and gas. I also developed a penchant for clothing. We’d do back-to-school and summer type of shopping, but if I wanted anything extra throughout the year, it was on me. Birthdays and Christmases only go so far when you’re kind of a clothes and shoe whore. And believe me, I wanted more.

The several boxes that keep piling in day after day are proof of that. I’d like to say I’ll go through them, donate what I no longer wear, sell the nicer designer items, and pair myself down significantly. Except I also know myself and realize that task will overwhelm and overstimulate me. I’ll end up a mess on the floor, and then I’ll stuff everything back in the boxes and save it for another day. Therefore, I’m keeping them in boxes and only taking out what I need a couple of days at a time. My theory for the time being is, ignorance is bliss.

“Well, that won’t do. Not at all,” Samuel replies before going back to looking down at his tablet. In moments like these, we’re allowed to have time to ourselves, with either a book or a tablet. As long as it’s discreet and doesn’t take our attention away from our passengers, we’re good to go.

“Nope, I’ll make a pit stop before coming back for my next shift.” I reach into my bag, which thankfully, I didn’t need to really use except to grab my own tablet to do a puzzle until we’re closer to landing or until the seatbelt light goes off.

“Hey, Maci,” Samuel interrupts me right as I pull out the pencil to start dragging the pieces into their rightful place.

“Hey, Samuel,” I say, looking in his direction.

“I know this is kind of sudden, and hand to all things holy, I would not suggest this if I thought you weren’t capable. Plus, I’m the one who trained you, so of course, you’re utterly amazing.” He flicks the pen from his tablet my way. While this is all great and an ego boost as well as a confidence boost, I’m left wondering where he’s going with this sort of praise.

“Thank you. I like to say I learned from the best.” I send him a smile. He throws his head back and laughs, somehow managing to keep it on the quieter side. I’m sure since he’s been with this airline for almost ten years, he’s learned a lot of tricks and how to stay behind the scenes.

“From the moment I met you, I knew we’d be friends in work and out of work. Anyways,” he exaggerates the last word in a whisper-like hiss.

“What? I only speak the truth.” I go ahead and put my pen back in the case, not wanting to lose it if we hit a bout of turbulence. I only hope if that does happen, my stomach doesn’t decide to go topsy turvy again. Sadly, the incident during our lunch break hit again after eating. I popped into the store, grabbed some anti-nausea medicine, and everything has been good so far.

“Now who’s being good to whose ego,” Samuel tacks on. “Okay, like I was saying, I may or may not have put your name in the system I do side work for. The agency only helps exclusive private jets, and what we make is a lot, likea lot, a lot. Enough to help pay off those pesky bills you’ve been paying the minimum on.” I perk up at the thought of making extra money. This job is paying the bills. It’s also helping that I live at home and my parents aren’t asking for any sort of payment in the form of rent.

“Tell me more.” I cross my legs, place my elbows on my knees, and move in closer to hear the rest of the conversation. Silently hoping along with crossing my fingers that this isn’t too good to be true.

“Well, they emailed me and asked if I knew anyone available. Seeing as how you’re on my schedule…” Samuel gives me a pointed look like he made that happen. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He has a lot of pull with him working here for nearly ten years. Call it hypocritical of me, but I really hope he stays after instead of retiring like he mentioned during a training session. He’s been my built-in best friend. I even told him about Tysen and our night together, and that was after I glazed over Chad the chode. Obviously, the saying to get over someone, you should get under someone else really hit home. It also proved to me that I’d been with Chad out of comfort and not love. I mean, we’d been together for years, yet he never proposed, and I never suggested it. Still, I didn’t like finding him with his dick in someone else. Along with everything else happening, I had to schedule an emergency gynecologist appointment for a full blood panel plus a pap smear. The last because it had been too long. I’d told the doctor I’d be leaving town within the next coming days, and she rushed my orders over, having me come back a day later to tell me the results face-to-face, a standard operating procedure. I breathed a sigh of relief and let the waterworks free when she told me I was in the clear and everything came back negative.

“Okay.”

“Well, I threw your name in the hat. They responded and said they looked up your credentials. Everything is a go. So, as long as you don’t mind working three or four days straight at a time, you’re in with me.” My mouth opens and closes, trying to come up with the right words to say. Samuel has no idea what this means to me. Even if I’m only able to do this once a month, the extra cash will help significantly. I must not say anything fast enough because he starts going into more details. “This is a transcontinental flight. We’ll leave from Florida, fly to New York to pick up the passengers, and then head to California, where we’ll have a five-hour layover. The company we’re working for caters to a lot of the higher-ups in the political world. We’re seen and not heard. We have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, too. The benefits far outweigh the cons, I promise. Especially since we each receive a grand for the trip. I mean, it’s taxed, but not the bonus type of tax where they take more than half.” With that, Samuel sits back, drops his tablet in his bag, and further waits me out.

“I’m in. All I need is the location, the time, and where I need to sign.” I’m really going to have to start taking my car and leaving it in the airport parking lot. It was a great thought at first, but in instances like these, we had zero delays even with the turbulence and wind. Dad essentially brought me to work for no other reason except he wanted to, and since they’ve done literally everything for me, I couldn’t say no. Plus, he did bring up great points. My car sitting in a parking lot when it could be in the detached garage at my parents’ house, protecting it from the sun and sometimes a hailstorm, were in the plus column.

“I’ve already air dropped it to your phone, which should also be on your tablet,” Samuel says as if he knew the answer already. He’s really gone out on a limb and helped me more than the so-called friends I had in Vegas ever did. Looking back, I stayed when I truly wasn’t welcome, an outsider looking in, lost in a world that wasn’t meant for me. I’ve learned a lot about myself, that I didn’t truly love Chad the chode, I’d become comfortable and didn’t want to see it. I also learned that I’m beyond butt hurt that Tysen never used my phone number and now I’m the one looking for him at every corner I turn. Life is a bitch that way.

“Perfect.” I unlock the screen, see the document is waiting for me to accept. The airline allows us to have full use of the wi-fi package, and from what I’m told, that’s a very rare opportunity. It’s slow as molasses, but free is free, and you won’t find me complaining.

I should absolutely do a more thorough read through of the document, but do I? Nope, I don’t. The money is too good, and I can keep my mouth shut. Besides, the only person other than my parents who I talk to is sitting beside me. I do a quick peruse of the contract, quickly scrolling to the bottom, then pen my name. I press the done button and close down my tablet before dropping it back into my bag.

“You’ll do great. You can call me the fairy gay-mother here to sprinkle magic dust in the form of dollar bills. Now, let’s get this flight done. We’ll work out the logistics once the passengers disembark.” Samuel unclips his seatbelt. I follow his lead, trying not to laugh at the vision he just described. It’s only because the light goes off to allow passengers to take their seatbelt off that has me remaining composed. He must have felt the plane even out, or maybe his Spidey senses told him we’d be getting back to work. Either way, we both do. I’ll ask him any other questions once we’re through for the day.

“Attention passengers, you are now free to move about the cabin. We’re set to land on time, and the rest of the way should be smooth sailing,” the pilot comes across the speaker, and that puts us in action. A lot of passengers are scurrying to the restroom, some are standing up to stretch, others are sleeping, and then some are distracted by a device of some sort of the other. Luckily, we’ve already been through the drink and snack part of our flight. All that’s left is to see if they have any trash along with anything else that arises.

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