Page 1 of Red Rabbit
1
KAELIN
“I told you I didn’t want you wearing that dress last night Kaelin.”
I regretted having my phone on speaker but my hands were full with my purse and suitcase as I rolled it across the tarmac. I stopped a few yards from the toy-sized plane I was about to board and squinted at it. When it didn’t immediately turn into a standard size airliner, I frowned and shoved my sunglasses to the top of my head.
“It looked like you were asking for it,” Tyler continued, drawing me back to the conversation. Here we go again. I attempted to jam my finger on the speaker button to stop the other people milling about from listening but my fingers slipped and my phone fell out of my hand and clattered onto the ground.
“Fuck—” I hissed and quickly bent to pick it up. I slammed my finger down on the speaker button, still hearing Tyler speaking indistinctly as I shoved the phone to my shoulder.
“Did you fuck someone last night?” Was the first thing I heard when I got the phone situated.
“What? No!” I exclaimed.
I hated when he talked down to me like I was a child and not a thirty something adult with a career as a highly accredited military tech developer who could run my life just fine without his condescension. Thank you very much.
“Then why were you hiding your engagement ring in that photo you posted?”
“Ty, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, trying to keep the exasperation to a minimum in my tone. “I was wearing it, my hand was just around a glass.”
I looked over to see the pilot talking to the only other passengers waiting to board the bush plane. A US Marshal? My eyes went to the other man and a chill rushed through me.
He was in handcuffs.
That couldn’t be good. My eyes traveled up his body, lingering on his chest—which was filling out a black t-shirt under a flannel very nicely—until I reached his eyes which were fixed on me. I could feel a blush creep across my cheeks at being caught staring. His eyes were bright blue, nearly the color of the glaciers I saw hiking the other day. There was something wild and almost feral about him. My mouth went dry and I was so distracted I didn’t hear what Tyler said.
“I’m sorry babe, what?” I dragged my eyes away from him and yanked my suitcase closer to the plane.
“I said, I don’t like when you disrespect me like that. It makes me look bad.”
I could feel a headache coming on and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying very hard to keep my frustration in check.
“I’m sorry,” I said flatly. “But do you think we could talk about this when I get home? We’re about to board.”
“Sure. Whatever.”
I heard the line go dead without even so much as an ‘I love you.’ I should have felt upset about it but I just couldn’t find the energy.
“Yeah…Love you too.” I said sarcastically.
At first glance, Tyler was the ultimate catch—lawyer who made partner a few months ago, Yale alumnus, blond, blue-eyed stunner who turned heads in his tailored suits. After three years together he proposed to me on a trip to Cabo—I didn’t even like Cabo—and then immediately went golfing with his bros, got hammered and went to the strip club.
Not that I cared about the strip club, hell, if he would have asked I would have gone with him but he expected me to be the wife who wore cardigans and stayed at home in my diamonds baking bread and popping out little mini Tylers. That just wasn’t me and I was slowly realizing the future I saw with him wasn't what I wanted. I thought maybe this trip would help but it only solidified my resolve that we needed to break up. I planned on doing it first thing when I got back.
“Kaelin Bennet?” The pilot came over and shook my hand, taking my suitcase. “You’ll be up front with me. Let’s get you loaded up.”
I was fine until I climbed into the passenger seat of the small plane and then my flying anxiety crept up. The large windows in front of me did nothing to ease the feeling of being claustrophobic. I felt the other two men sit down in the seats behind me and I wondered briefly if I should ask why we were transporting a criminal.
Ding. I looked down at my phone and saw a text.
Brooke:Have a safe flight! Thanks for coming to see me in the middle of nowhere. Text me when you land. Love you babe! xo
I typed out a quick reply, a small smile on my lips. Brooke was one of my oldest and dearest friends. We roomed together in college before going our separate ways in our careers. She went off to study polar bears in the arctic circle and I went off to New York to sit behind a desk all day. Despite how differentour lives were now, it always felt like we picked up right where we left off. When she asked me to come visit her, I was hesitant at first because of the remoteness but she insisted it would be the break I needed and she was right. The city Brooke lived in was surprisingly modern and the nightlife was a blast. I told her I expected her to live in a tent in the snow and she laughed and said only sometimes.
The pilot crammed himself into the seat and tossed a headset to me. I put it on and then hit send on the reply. The plane sputtered to life and as the pilot drove the plane down the runway, the shaking did nothing to ease my nerves.
I gripped the seat cushion in a death grip as I tried to remember my meditation breathing. My stomach dipped as we took to the air and the large breakfast from earlier was threatening to come back up as the wind tipped the plane back and forth.
