Page 83 of Mountain Grump
I lower my hands to my lap and fidget with the glasses case.
This isn’t asuperlow-cut dress, but it is low. And the V-neck, along with the way the cut pushes my girls up, means my cleavage is on full display.
Had I known I was going to be climbing into a tiny little plane, I probably would’ve worn something else. Perhaps a denim jumpsuit. But I didn’t know. And I dressed for confidence.
Remembering why we’re flying to Vegas doubles my anxiety.
Fingers grip my chin.
I focus on my reflection in Ethan’s glasses.
“It’s going to be fine.” His words are soft against my ears. “Say it back to me.”
I pull in a slow breath through parted lips. “It’s going to be fine.”
Ethan drags his thumb across my jawline before he lowers his hand.
Then he pulls the glasses case free from my grip and puts it back, somewhere behind my seat.
There’s a crackle in my headphones, then a new voice comes through. “Clear for takeoff.”
Ethan steers the plane into a turn, and my stomach sinks into my butt when I see the runway stretch out before us.
The engine gets louder.
Or I think it gets louder.
Maybe that’s my heartbeat.
Maybe this is all a dream.
Please be a dream.
We start to roll forward.
Faster.
Faster.
I wrap my fingers around my seat belt, holding it as tight as I can.
A warm hand gently grips my wrist. The one closest to Ethan.
He pulls my hand down, setting it on his thigh. “You want to know why I call you Firecracker?”
Swallowing down my panic, I look away from the runway to Ethan’s profile. “Because I’m fun?”
He looks at me. “Because you’re a threat to the natural order.”
My jaw drops.
And Ethan grins.
Actuallygrins.
This—
Before I can think of an insult, Ethan pulls the controls back, the nose of the plane lifts, and the ground drops away below us.
