Page 33 of Hers to Love
The pilot came over the intercom. “I’m sorry, folks, but we have to make an emergency landing.”
“What? We just got off the ground!” Jarod cried out.
Kori’s gaze was trained on the window behind Marshall’s head. “The engine is out! We’re going down!”
Marshall’s head whipped around. Kori was right. Thick, black smoke billowed past the window. The steward rushed past them toward the front of the plane, nearly crashing into a wall when the plane tilted again. Marshall strained to hear the pilot’s message over the intercom system. He’d said something about an engine, and then he was frantically speaking, probably to the control tower.
The plane shifted unexpectedly. Kori let out a yelp as she fell over and onto Marshall’s lap. The nose of the plane shifted up, and she fell back, taking Marshall with her. He quickly righted himself and readjusted his seatbelt.
“I think the pilot is trying to level her out,” Marshall said.
“Can’t wait,” Kori said sarcastically. She clung to Marshall, who gripped the armrest to his right side.
“Are you scared?”
Her gaze met his, her smile lopsided. “I’m fine. I like rollercoasters.”
Marshall grinned. “Same here. Although I haven’t been on one in years.”
“Me neither.” She rolled her eyes.
One incessant sound kept hitting Marshall’s ears and distracting his focus. When he found the source, he grimaced.
Jarod.
Jarod was yelling at the top of his lungs over the attendant who was yelling instructions through the intercom system.
“Shut up!” Kori cried out.
Jarod’s mouth snapped closed, and he stared wildly at Kori. She tightened her arm around Marshall’s and pressed herself as close to him as she possibly could. Marshall couldn’t stop the boost to his ego if he wanted to. If they weren’t going to make it, he was going to relish every bit of their last moments. Their last touches.
Marshall wrapped his right arm around her body and wrestled to keep them steady against the dip and shifts of the plane.
Kori looked outside the window. “I see water! I think it’s the ocean.”
They had made it over the forested area and the beach. The plane wasn’t in a nosedive, thankfully, and was descending at a fairly steady pace. They had a chance if they could land on the water.
“We’re doing great, everybody,” the pilot said over the intercom. “Attendants, prepare for a water landing.”
Kori and Marshall stared at each other. “Are you okay?” she said.
“Perfectly fine.” Half-truth. He was scared not for himself, but for her. If she got hurt, it would be his fault, and he’d never forgive himself. “You?”
She grinned. “Doing okay, all things considered. You did say this job would be an adventure. Marshall Buchanan, you don’t disappoint.”
Marshall’s eyes went to the ceiling. “Not the kind of adventure I meant.”
Kori laughed nervously. “Still, you could use it to leverage more time with the company. They put our lives in danger, after all. I hope it’s not insensitive to ask for another raise, or at least a one-time bonus.”
Marshall’s eyes narrowed. Kori’s lips widened into a Cheshire cat-like smile. “Devious. Absolutely diabolical.”
“I’m being paid to make you look good, sir. I take my job very seriously. I believe I’ve told you that.”
Marshall was in love. No doubt about it. Not because he could always count on this woman to stroke his ego, but because she could be a partner he could trust. He had a feeling she would be right here, by his side, even if she weren’t getting paid.
At least he hoped so.
A nagging thought of doubt emerged. She couldn’t possibly love him back. She was getting paid to make him look good. If she weren’t, he would be some over-forty guy she was clinging to because the plane was going down.
