Page 34 of Until It Was Real

“Plenty of time.”

My knee bounces underneath the table as I watch him eat another helping of food. We can’t miss our flight. If we miss our flight, we’ll miss our meeting. If we miss our meeting, we’ll screw up the deal with Velvet Blossom. If we screw up the deal, Eli will fire me.

My chest tightens, and I struggle to breathe. I can’t lose this job. The motel gig doesn’t offer health insurance. And I can’t afford my medicine without health insurance.

Rhett pats my hand. “You okay?”

“Yea. I just don’t want to be late,” I squeak. I clear my throat and try again. “I hate being late.”

“I noticed. You’re the first one at the office most mornings. Besides Eli. But he’s a machine.”

I’m not at the office because I worry about being late. I’m at the office because I worry about falling asleep and the alarm not waking me after working all night. I go straight to the brewery after my night shift to avoid it.

Rhett stands. “Let’s go before you have a heart attack.”

Thank the food gods. He’s finally finished eating.

We walk to the gate and Rhett passes all of the waiting passengers and aims straight for the front.

“What are you doing?” I hiss.

“There’s no need to wait.”

“Everyone has to wait their turn.”

He smirks. “Lucky for us, it’s our turn.”

“But…”

My words trail off when he scans our boarding passes and the agent motions him forward.

“I don’t understand.”

“First class passengers never wait,” he says.

I screech to a halt. “First class? You said business.” Which was bad enough. First class?

He shrugs. “You were freaked out about business class. I figured first class would be worse.”

He noticed how I freaked out? He wasn’t supposed to notice. And definitely not remark upon it. Party foul! My cheeks warm. I’m probably fifty shades of red now.

I concentrate on the ground and follow him down the jetway to the plane. The flight attendant shows him to his seat. I didn’t realize flight attendants showed people to their seats. My previous experience flying involved people shoving past me, elbows being thrown, and a fight for the armrest since I got stuck in a middle seat.

“Do you want the window or the aisle?” Rhett nudges me. “Window or the aisle, Dakota?”

“Can I have the window?” I whisper.

He motions me into the row. “Go for it.”

There are only two seats on our side of the aisle. I sit down and nearly moan at the feeling of comfortable leather. Usually, I struggle to fit into the seat, but this one is plenty wide for me.

“Ma’am.”

Rhett chuckles. “The flight attendant is talking to you.”

“I’m sorry.” I blink up at her. “How can I help?”

She hands me a package. “This is your amenity package.”

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