Page 78 of Fly Boy
I freeze. “I can’t.”
She rears back, “Why? Don’t—?”
“I have to fly your father to Chicago on Tuesday.”
“Wednesday then?”
“Pippa,” I warn, not sure this is a good idea.
She reaches up, biting my jaw. “Don’t make me use the boss card.”
“Brat,” I murmur, finding her lips again. I’m unable to do anything but kiss this girl. “Fine. For one night, though.”
“Where have I heard that before?” she teases. Reaching behind her, Pippa pauses before she unlocks the door. Trailing a hand down my tie, she fidgets with the end as her expression turns serious before she says, “I meant to ask earlier, but between training and the Championship, things got a little…crazy.” She winces as if she’s not sure she should continue. “But I wanted to check if you were okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I ask, trying not to bristle.
She sighs. “I mean, with everything going on with Fiona.”
I close my eyes, knowing that sooner or later she’d want to talk about my meltdown. “I’m fine.”
Frowning, she reaches up and cups my cheek. “Don’t shut me out, Wyatt. Let me be there for you.”
I turn my head and place a kiss to the inside of her hand. “I know, and I appreciate it, but there isn’t anything to talk about.” She gives me a disbelieving look. “I promise, I’m okay,” I assure her.
She nods, but her eyebrows are still pinched together.
Smiling softly, I prod at the lines. “Be careful, you’ll get wrinkles.”
She huffs a laugh, smacking my hand. “You ass.”
With one last kiss, she slips back into the cabin. I inhale, long and deep, into my lungs, counting to sixty in my head before returning to the front of the plane to finish the flight.
By the time we land, Mr. Cartwright is bleary-eyed, still half asleep as he trudges off the plane, Nancy following. Like every time we land, I stand at the front door, telling them goodbye with Liam beside me. My gaze lands on Pippa as she walks toward me, the forbidden pull unbearable. She looks up, hergray eyes shining as my heart thuds so powerfully I’m surprised Liam can’t hear it.
“Will I be seeing you tomorrow, Liam?” she asks as she approaches us.
He smiles, but shakes his head. “No, ma’am. The Bombardier is ready and waiting for its first solo flight to Colorado with Captain Grant.”
“That’s a shame,” she replies, almost sounding disappointed. She angles her body toward him and almost shuts me out as they continue to talk. But then she pushes the boundaries, dares to reveal our secret as her hand brushes mine, a soft and fleeting touch, the tips of our fingers sending sparks between them. She lingers longer than she should, each beat of time slowing, reduced to this stolen moment in front of my co-pilot, just a few feet away, oblivious to everything.
“See you tomorrow, Wyatt,” she says, my hand feeling cold as she breaks the contact and walks to the door. She glances over her shoulder, the tension electric, every nerve in my body on high alert. Her smile is just for me as she faces the front, descending the stairs, both pretending that nothing happens when we’re alone and knowing that if we were caught, it would be a plane crash.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
February
“Do not leave me hanging, you beautiful human being,” Evan says, holding out his hands as soon as I walk out to the rink on Wednesday morning. I smack my palms against his, his smile contagious as I grin back. “Gold, baby. We got gold.”
Hearing that never gets old.
“We can’t become complacent. We’ve got six weeks until Worlds. That’s not a lot of time,” I tell him as we step onto the ice to do some light stretches. “For all we know, that was a fluke.”
“Pfft,”he snorts. “There is no way that was a fluke. We fucking rocked, Pippa. I’ve been assessing that footage since we wonand cannot see anything wrong with our performance. Coach Camille agrees.”
“She didn’t have anything to say about me?” I ask skeptically.
“Nope.”
