Cort nodded, reluctant sympathy burning off the majority of his bad mood. Grief was a bitch and it welled up at the weirdest times, Cort knew only toowell.
Cam licked his lips and moved toward one of the chairs across from Cort. He sat himself down gingerly on the edge, as if he might stand up and run away at any moment, then darted an anxious glance atCort.
Was Cam afraid of him? “What’s going on with you, Cam?” Cortdemanded.
Cam ignored him. “You’ve got two phones?” Cam remarked, as though casting around for something to talk about. “One for work and one forhome?”
Cort wanted to shut down this topic immediately. “One for work, and the other for thisweekend.”
Cam’s attention was caught. “Is this weekend not work?” His eyes sought Cort’s. “I thought that was the wholepoint?”
Cort set his teeth. “It’s a sideline investigation, and I’m waiting for contact on this phone. No more questions about that.”Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you nolies.
Cam pressed a hand to his stomach as though sickened by the whole exchange. Cortfrowned.
The captain, a stocky, olive-skinned guy about fifty years old, emerged from thecockpit.
“Mr. Seaver, we’re ready to depart,” he told Cam in lightly-accented English. “Looks like clear skies all the way to St. Brigitte, and we should make it there by sixteen hundred hours. Andres will bring you refreshments if you call, but otherwise he won’tintrude.”
The man looked back and forth from Cam to Cort, as if imagining they might need their privacy. Cam blushed, and Cort fought the urge to snicker. God, Cam wasadorable.
“Great. Thank you, Stavros,” Cam said, running a hand through his short, thick brown hair. Then he added, “It’s, ah, nice to see youagain.”
“Same to you, sir,” the captain said with a broad smile. “You’ve beenmissed.”
Cam nodded jerkily, then sat back, found the seatbelt attached to the chair and buckled himselfin.
“Must be nice,” Cort said, as another uniformed attendant - Andres, probably - slid the plane doorclosed.
Cam sucked in a breath at the hollowthunk.“What’snice?” he snapped. His hands were tense against the chair arms, like he was really pissed. “Are you going to buckle yourseatbelt?”
“Settle down, Cam, I only meantthis.” Cort gestured all around, at the furnishings, the privacy, the luxury, theprivilege,and ignored the second half of Cam’s question. “I’ve got to admit, I’m gonna be disappointed if there’s not a hot tub in thebathroom.”
“Prepare for disappointment,” Cam ground out. “Maybe next time you blackmail someone into giving you a ride in their plane, you’ll make inquiriesfirst.”
Whoa. So, they were back toblackmail?
“What’s wrong with you?” Cort demanded again as the engine began to whine loudly and the plane rocked into motion. “I’m just saying, you’re probably used to the fact that you can fly wherever, whenever, and you never have to have your knees tucked up to your chest when youdo.”
“No.” A single, terse word, like Cam couldn’t be bothered with the wholeconversation.
“No? No, you’re not used to it? Or no, you don’t take a private plane when you travel? I’d think most people who have private planes would use them,right?”
Cam’s eyes flew open, and they spat pale blue fire. “Most people? Most people haven’t had their parents die in a plane crash,Cort.”
Cort’s jaw dropped as understanding, immediate and horrifying, washed over him in a wave. Cam wasn’t angry, Cam was afraid. Absolutely, totally petrified. And he’d been so determined to keep his distance from the man that he’d completely failed to notice it. Oh,fuck.
Pissed off, resentful and, yeah,guilty, as he was, Cort hadn’t considered this possibility at all, but now it seemed beyondobvious.
Without hesitation, Cort levered himself off the sofa and went to kneel in front of Cam. “You don’t like tofly?”
“I don’t fly at all. I hateflying.”
“Not at all? Not since theaccident?”
Another wordless shake of the head, and then Cam’s hands were on his face, his palms scrubbing at his eyes. He sucked in air, something between a sob and a laugh. “I’ve tried, but I usually can’t even get on the plane, and now we’re already on andmoving.”
Cort grabbed Cam’s hands with his own, forcing them down from his face. Cam’s eyes were bleak, and Cort’s stomach cramped painfully at thesight.
