Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Oh, gross!” she cried, looking horrified. “Not that!”
“Gross at the thought of me doing it… or gross at the thought of them?” I teased.
She mimed puking.
“My brothers are the best people in the world. I love them to death. But there are some things that I don’t want to think about, discuss, or even consider when it concerns them,” she winced.
“Amen,” I grumbled. “My sisters started to marry five years or so ago. There are things that I don’t like thinking about when it concerns them. Not to mention, they’ve all had babies, and their boobs are always hanging out as they feed their children… and there are just some things you can’t unsee.”
“Hello,” she waved her hands. “That’s normal!”
“It is not normal to see your sisters’ boobs,” I disagreed.
She snickered, and it struck me then how beautiful she really was.
She had dimples like me.
“You have dimples,” I said.
“Yep,” she nodded, then pointed at her chin. “I also have a cleft chin. My dad has dimples. My mom the cleft chin. I’m the only child that got both.”
“Not a bad thing,” I observed as I continued to study her.
“Carter?” we heard called from the counter.
Ande jumped up, and I followed, ready to help get all the food she was about to have to haul over here.
She’d used Shayne’s badge to get us a discount, but I was the one who paid.
Though she’d gracefully accepted me paying, I did have to tell her that she almost saved me a couple grand earlier.
Catching the overflowing tray, I led us back to our table and placed it all down.
We got to eating, and I found, over the next thirty minutes that it took for her to eat—my God did she eat slow and very little—that I liked her a lot.
“Want to check out the pilot’s lounge?” she asked.
The really bad thing was… I’d go anywhere with her.
Which was the beginning of our downfall.
CHAPTER 4
Therapist: What triggers your anxiety?
Me: Nouns
Therapist: Nouns?
Me: You know, people, places, or things.
ANDE
He followed me to the pilot’s lounge.
And, luck was on our side, because it was very, very empty.
I tugged my rolling suitcase—the only one I had since the company I was working for shipped the rest of my stuff via UPS last week—and put it in the most hidden corner of the room.
“This is my favorite place to be, because even if someone comes in, they’re not going to see you,” I said. “We officially have,” I looked at my watch, the one my dad bought me the day I was born, and said, “two hours and fifteen minutes until boarding.”
“Nice,” he said as he collapsed onto the couch, pretty much hidden from view now. “I could sleep for a year.”
I sat down on the seat next to him and slumped just like he was, only I had to do it a little bit farther to reach the ottoman that was across from the couch.
Noticing this, he used his hamstrings to pull the entire thing closer, allowing me easier access.
“Thanks,” I said as I pulled my arms into the sleeves of my sweatshirt and snuggled deeper. “Can you set an alarm for an hour and a half from now?”
He pulled out his phone, did just that, and then I said, “Wake me up when it’s time to go.”
“The alarm won’t wake you?” he wondered, grinning at me.
I blinked open my eye. “Probably not.”
I was a sound sleeper.
And I slept just about anywhere.
It started out because I was one of nine children, and it was just easier to learn how to sleep anywhere and everywhere or you’d never get any. But it turned into me needing to sleep when I could sleep thanks to my career choice.
So now I just slept.
Though, usually I didn’t do it with strangers directly next to me…
“Wake up.”
I blinked open my eyes and found myself staring into blue ones.
Breathtaking.
“What is?” he asked, letting me know I’d said the last bit aloud.
“Your eyes,” I admitted, seeing no point in lying.
He winked. “I could say the same for you.”
“We’d make some pretty babies.” I laughed as I dropped my feet. “Is it time to go?”
“I let you sleep a bit longer than you said, but that was only because I’ve tried to wake you up for the last twenty minutes,” he admitted.
I snickered. “I’m not the greatest at waking up.”
“I noticed,” he teased as he stood and stretched.
The move gave me a good look at his back, which was tattooed.
“What is the tattoo you have back there?” I asked as I walked to my bag and whirled it around.
“It’s a phoenix,” he answered. “Rise from the ashes.”
“What happened to make you want that?” I asked.
He caught up his black tactical backpack and shouldered it before gesturing at the door. “Ready?”
The boarding process went a lot better than expected, and soon we found ourselves in seats right up front.