Page 5 of Decoded
As the real-life dream man stands, I realize he’s the perfect headrest height. You know, where your head can perfectly tilt and land on his shoulder? I can also smell his cologne of tobacco and vanilla, not too strong. Just fucking perfect. It’s an incredible blend and makes me want to curl up next to a fire. When I get home, I’m immediately going to the store and sniffing every damn candle at every single home goods store until I can find one that matches the delicious fragrance.
He steps out into the aisle and I shuffle my way into the seat next to the window. I quickly try to secretly latch the seat belt extender before he sits back down and look out the window soI can’t see his reaction just in case he did manage to catch a glimpse of the embarrassing action.
His smooth voice washes over me, “I’m sorry they made a scene like that earlier. You don’t deserve to be treated that way. It’s ridiculous and I truly hope this airline doesn’t condone that behavior. They shouldn’t have forced you to move seats. You should reach out to them, but I don’t mind speaking on your behalf and tell them what I witnessed.”
My legs squeeze together on their own accord, knowing that we do love a handsome, kind man with a touch of activist in him. I shake my head to get rid of the fantasy that a man this gorgeous could be interested in a girl like me. Especially a girl he pities.
“Oh, it was nothing, really. Besides, the man beside me smelled like ass.” I try to downplay the encounter with my horrible former seatmate.
“Farm animal or body part?”
I grin at him. “I’d say a mixture of both.”
“Well lucky for you I opted for Tom Ford instead of Eau de Jackass this morning.”
I huff out a laugh at his silly joke as we both settle into our seats. I go to resume my audiobook, and the man who made me smile again goes back to listening to whatever it was he was so concentrated on before I messed up his prior seating arrangement.
A few minutes later the flight attendants are in the middle of the aisle going over the safety procedures. I glance over at the distinguished gentleman beside me who has removed his earbuds and is now staring at Sheila intently. Go figure a man who looks that damn fine is transfixed by the tall, thin, and perky flight attendant who was fawning over him earlier. They were probably scheduling a rendezvous for later when she got interrupted to fetch me the extender. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I mutter.
“Do you not take airplane safety seriously?” He asks, his tone sharper than it was with me earlier.
“Oh, no, I do. I definitely do.” I assure him. He nods at me and goes back to watching Sheila, his brows furrowed and a determined look of concentration on his face. I keep my mouth closed and roll my eyes internally this time knowing this is the way the world works.
As the flight attendants finish their spiel, he speaks again. “I’m sorry I snipped at you. I just didn’t want to miss anything they said.” Mr. Sexy sucks in a large breath and exhales slowly. His hands are gripping his armrests so tight his knuckles are whitening. Could this big, strong man be afraid of flying?
“Umm, is this your first flight?” I ask.
He laughs and I can’t help but notice how lovely it sounds. It’s like a deep melody that could soothe you to sleep. “No, I actually have to fly fairly often. I just hate every minute of it.”
“I take it you travel for work?” I’m genuinely curious, finding myself wanting to learn as much as I possibly can about this attractive man with aerophobia.
“Mostly, yes. My brothers and I also fly out to a place we share down in the Caribbean every year. Deep sea fishing and mischief, mostly. But, the majority of my destinations are work related. Are you also flying for work?”
“Oh, no, I don’t get to travel much for my position. I would totally love that, though. I’m actually headed to Vegas for a girls’ trip. Every year some of my friends from college and I choose a destination. It’s my one trip a year and it’s seriously one of the things I look forward to the most.”
While his grip doesn’t loosen, he does smile at me, the sexy little dimple popping out on his left cheek. “That sounds like a lot of fun. My name is,” he interrupts himself with a gasp as the plane finally begins to ascend. We’ve been talking enough that I was able to distract him on our drive around the airstrip, butthe lift off has his whole body tensing up. I don’t know where the boldness comes from, but I reach over and swipe my thumb across his knuckles, trying to give him some comfort. I brush back and forth a few times, and as I go to take my hand away, he flips his over and grasps mine. The embrace feels so damn good and tiny flutters fill my chest. There’s an odd satisfaction in how perfect it feels for this complete stranger to be holding my hand.
Facing forward with his back aligned perfectly straight, he repeats his deep breathing exercise. Then he looks down at our hands wrapped together and quickly drops mine. “Sorry about that. I was trying to say that my name is Keaton.”
Though I miss the warmth and feel of his hand, I pop a smile on my face. “I’m Anna. And you have nothing to be sorry for Keaton.”
The precious dimple pops out again and it’s a good thing I’m sitting down, because my knees go weak. “So, where are you from?” He asks.
“Oh, born and raised in the city. Go Cats!” I pump my hands in the air, making him chuckle. “How about you?”
He runs his hand over his brown hair with the silver speckles, and I bite my lip to stifle my laugh. I wonder if the little spikes on his head poke his fingers. “I’m from a small town a couple hours south of you. But also, Go Cats.” He winks and my body heats, falling a little harder for the kind stranger with Daddy vibes.
Chapter four
Keaton
A
nna is animated as she tells a story about her and her college friends on their trip to Cancun last year. “She was so drunk, and we tried the best we could to rein her in, but she started dancing, flailing her entire body about, and fell right into a cactus. We had to haul the poor thing to the infirmary, where they pulled twelve of those dang needles out of her. Twelve!”
Her infectious laugh makes me do the same and I realize how easy it is to do that with her. We’ve been talking and laughing these past few hours of the flight and it’s really helped ease my fears. I’ve appreciated her sitting here with me to get my mind off things. Having the opportunity to look at her has been incredibly nice, too, especially when she laughs making those luscious tits of hers jiggle. “So, Cancun last year and Las Vegas this year. Y’all choose a different place every time?”
She nods. “Yeah, on the last day of each trip we have brunch and that’s when we decide where we are going next. We all put a destination on a slip of paper and put it in a glass. Then we pull the slips out one by one. Each one we pull out is where we willnotbe traveling to, so when we reach the last strip, that’s our destination.”
