The bar was empty.
Sleek marble countertops, soft lighting with the cabin lights dimmed, a handful of bolted-down leather stools that wouldn’t fall over in turbulence.
I gave the bartender a nod, and he snapped into motion like I’d ordered it.
“Do you do this often?” Sienna asked, hoisting herself up onto the barstool half with grace and half with the kind of chaos that made me glad the stools were bolted down.
“Invite women to drink with me on flights?” I asked, leaning against the barstool on her right.
“No. Charm them into ignoring their better judgment,” she clarified, shooting me a glare as she looked at the little leather-bound cocktail menu.
I chuckled. “Only when they look like they could use it.”
She leaned onto the bar as she hooked one leg over the other.
Her bare foot nearly collided with my thigh without a hint of remorse.
No shoes, no fucks given.
I’d seen heiresses and influencers try to command attention with far more effort and far less effect.
The bartender slid over without a word, looking between us expectantly.
Sienna glanced at me before meeting his gaze.
“In the first-class lounge, they had these… elderflower and gin things,” she said, setting the menu down like it had personally offended her. “Can you make one of those?”
“Of course,” he smiled, then turned to me, opening his mouth to—what I could only imagine—address me formally.
I didn’t need to have theI own the airlineconversation right now if she inevitably asked about thewhy.
So I cut him off before he could even speak.
“Lagavulin 88,” I said. “Double. Neat.”
“Of course, Mr.—”
“You’re not what I expected,” I said to her, cutting off the bartender before he could say another word.
She looked at me like I’d grown another head, a little crease forming between her brows. “You said that like it’s a threat.”
I reeled back a little. “Did I?”
She hesitated. “People don’t usually say that like it’s a good thing,” she said. “At least not in my experience.”
A second of quiet fell over us, nothing but the sound of the drinks cart rattling as we hit the smallest bit of turbulence.
Then her drink arrived in a highball glass with a sprig of mint on top, and mine appeared beside it, and she lifted hers to her mouth.
I opened my mouth to change the topic?—
Her tongue darted out to catch a stray drop from the rim of her glass without even thinking.
I felt heat crawl down my spine like a warm, lightly tanned hand.
She caught me staring and tilted her head. “What?”
I blinked. “Nothing,” I said, willing myself to put the lingering image away. “Just thinking you wearvacationwell.”
