Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
I also watched as she took my hoodie and shrugged it on over her own.
Lips tipping up in laughter, I turned to the attendant who was once again staring at me with a flush on her face.
“Hi,” I said. “I’d like for you to switch the tickets around for me. My fiancée, over there is deathly afraid of flying and she does better where there are fewer people to watch her freak out. That, and she tends to pass out due to the medication she takes to keep her calm. Would it be possible to switch my ticket over for hers? Can she have my first-class seat?”
The woman’s face went to Piper in the corner, who was doing a good impression of being really upset, then back at me.
Her entire demeanor changed.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she said. “Give me a second.”
She went to typing away on the computer, her lip going between her teeth in concentration.
About five minutes later, she smiled, turned her head up to look at me, and grinned.
“Success,” she said, the printer whirring.
I grinned back. “Thank you so much.”
But instead of handing me a new ticket for both Piper and me, she just handed me one.
“I got her seated right next to you,” she said. “We had a pilot that was going to ride with us, and we were going to put him in the first-class seat next to you, but we’ll switch some more stuff around.”
With that, she handed me Piper’s first-class ticket.
Holy shit. Nice!
“Thank you again,” I smiled. “Have a good day.”
“You, too, Mr. Crew.”
With that, I walked over to my seat, handed the jacket back to the man next to me with a muttered ‘thank you,’ then sat down next to the still pissy Piper, and handed her the new ticket. “Welcome to first class, Ms. Mackenzie.”
She took the ticket with hesitant hands.
“I’m sorry, Jonah,” she whispered. “I’m just…nervous.”
I knew she was.
I also knew she wasn’t trying to be a little shit.
“No worries,” I said. “Now you get to sit next to me and hold my hand again.”
She looked at me gratefully.
“At least this time I have some meds to keep me calm,” she sighed. “I stole them from my mom.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m fairly sure you’re not supposed to tell a cop that you’re doing drugs that aren’t yours.”
She tilted her head. “I didn’t think you were a stickler for the rules, Jonah Crew.”
I shrugged. “I’m not.”
“I also learned why you sound so familiar,” she continued. “I didn’t realize you were related to Downy, the SWAT officer.”
“Downy, the retired SWAT officer,” I corrected her.
“Downy, the retired SWAT officer,” she agreed. “The different last names threw me off.”
Giving her the condensed version of the truth, I said, “Downy and I grew up years apart. He’s thirteen years older than me and was already out of the house by the time I came around. We had different fathers.”
“Ahhh,” she said in understanding.
Though, that wasn’t technically true.
We’d grown up with what we assumed were different fathers when, in actuality, Aspen, my sister, and I also shared the same father that Downy had. Only, we didn’t know that at the time.
Without going into the lurid details with her as to why my childhood had been a shit show, I left it simple so she wouldn’t pry and ask questions.
“Now boarding group one.”
“That’s us,” I said, standing up. “Let’s go.”
Piper stood and gathered her belongings, throwing the hood of her sweatshirt backward so it no longer covered her head.
“I noticed you procured a new article of clothing,” I teased.
She looked down at the sweatshirt.
“I was cold,” she admitted. “In fact, I’m freezing my ass off.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Medicine,” she answered. “It does strange things to me.”
I could imagine it did.
“Interesting,” I said. “Well, if you feel like doing anything weird later, let me know.”
Chapter 5
I don’t get offered drugs anywhere near as much as the DARE officer said I would.
-Piper’s secret thoughts
Piper
He held my hand the entire hour and a half flight. He’d never let go, not even when the flight attendant had handed him his drink or his complimentary meal.
He’d eaten one-handed. Then, when he was done, he’d wiped his hand one-handed.
I was honestly on cloud nine.
I didn’t know how the hell I’d lucked out getting the man on my flight again, but I was thanking my lucky stars.
We were seconds away from deplaning, waiting on the hacking lady who’d coughed the entire goddamn flight to move her ass, when Jonah muttered something under his breath.
“What?” I asked, hoping he’d repeat himself.
“I feel like I need to scrub myself with disinfectant wipes,” he said, much louder this time.
The woman with the hacking cough looked back at him, and Jonah didn’t try to hide the fact that he was disgusted.
“My daughter is getting married,” she said. “I couldn’t miss it.”