Page 22 of Arse Over Irish Teacup
Terrific. Now Beth felt sorry for him. Now, if that didn’t piss a guy off!
“Do you feel okay? Your eye is twitching,” she said.
“No, no. I’m fine. That’s just something that happens …” Aidan took a long swallow of his drink, let the chilled whiskey burn down his throat, then leaned back into his roomy seat and clenched his eyes closed. Nothing was so bad when you were blind drunk and he was halfway there.
Beth, who was already halfway through her second champagne, lowered her glass. “I’ll be quiet and won’t bother you.” She stayed quiet for a few long seconds watching the other passengers pass by, looking at her spacious seat with envious eyes. Beth couldn’t blame them. Between the free drinks, and heated massaging chair that, after pressing a few buttons she learned extended into a full bed, first-class was growing on her. And she got to sit beside someone she already knew was nice. This flight would be a piece of cake. “Aidan?”
He didn’t open his eyes when he replied. “Spinner?”
“I’ll leave you alone, but I just wanted to say thank you.”
“What for?”
“Being so kind.”
His heart tugged his eyelids open. He hadn’t been kind. Not really. If she only knew what he’d really been thinking, she wouldn’t be thanking him. And yet, here she was doing exactly that. Well, if that wasn’t a kick in the keister. He looked at her face and kindly replied, “You’re welcome.”
“And I’m really sorry for crushing your foot and smacking you in the face.” She went quiet.
“What about for spilling your drink on me?”
“I forgot about that. Sorry.” She drank more of her champagne while looking out the window. Below, two men were loading the luggage onto the plane. And by loading what that really meant was they were heaving each suitcase—with the utmost care of course—onto the plane. Beth stared as each case was tossed like a bag of trash. That was, until they reached hers. One guy grabbed a hold of the red beast with both hands and swung, but the only thing that that flew through the air, with the greatest of ease, were his legs. He landed flat on his back on the pavement.
Beth quickly closed the shade over her window.
Aidan was about to close his eyes again when suddenly Beth’s backbone grew back and she had an outburst. “But you startled me! I was doing just fine until you got in the way!”
“Just fine?” He leaned forward in his seat. “You’re a walking disaster! I’ve never in my life met someone as clumsy as you! You should come with a warning label, sister!” Okay, that jag had flown out of his mouth at an alarmingly fast speed.
Beth’s face burned with embarrassment and she turned her head back to the covered window.
Way to go, Aidan. You really did it this time. Want to slap a baby too while you’re at it? I’m sure there’s one on the plane somewhere. Beth was facing the wall like a naughty child, apologizing for things that were accidents and what had he offered in return? Sarcasm and cruelty. And now, if he wasn’t mistaken, she had quickly wiped a tear from her eye. Just ignore it. She probably had an eyelash in her eye.
That must be a large eyelash because now she had the sniffles and her shoulders trembled. “Spinner, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it. I’m in a bad mood and taking it out on you.”
She continued looking at the wall, not turning her head. “No, you’re right. I am those things.”
He reached down into the seat pocket before him and drew out his bag of complimentary toiletries, found a package of tissues, and offered them to her. She looked at the small peace offering and thanked him as she pulled a tissue from the plastic and wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
For a moment, peace was restored.
Then the engines fired up, sending vibrations up her legs and panic to her brain. Beth began digging at her knee through her pants. If she didn’t stop, she would scratch a hole right through the fabric.
Aidan laid a hand over hers.
His hand had a mind of its own. He nearly snatched it back, but it soothed her digging so he left it there.
She looked down at his hand over hers and thought how comforting it was to have a friend beside her.
But he wasn’t her friend. He was just a stranger beside her on a plane. A stranger who, when he wasn’t Mr. Cranky Britches, made her laugh and offered comfort. And since she was stuck with him for the entire flight and would never see him again, she decided that temporary friendship was better than being alone. She stopped crying, but her lip still trembled. “Gram used to tease me saying I couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Then, one day I was walking down the sidewalk and I blew this enormous bubble the size of my face and tripped.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, I had a lot of gum stuck in my hair that day and a goose egg from the fall.” She drank the last of her champagne and looked past him staring at nothing in particular as she thought back on days gone by. “Gram used to say ‘Do one thing at a time and do it well.’”
“Wise words.”
“She was a wise woman. She died a couple weeks ago.”
