I perk up. “Oh?”
“Unless you want to stay with your group?”
I look over my shoulder at them. Leah is in the middle of the waiting area sobbing with cheap mascara running down her cheeks like she’s about to star in the next Crow movie, Taint and his buddies are arguing with a mother and father from another family, and my dad looks like he’s ready to jump through the window and escape on foot down the runway.
“No, I’ll take the first class ticket,” I say, nodding.
Dad is so jealous when I tell him. “Please take me with you,” he begs.
The boarding is chaotic and loud with these people, and Leah is crying the whole time. I should try to comfort her, this being her wedding and all, but she’s drunk and it’s too early and I’m not in the mood, so I just let them all go in first.
When I finally slip into the huge leather seat that feels like a cloud and the stewardess closes the curtain, locking out my embarrassing family, I’m in heaven.
I’ve never experienced first class before. I work at a non-profit, so extravagant indulgences like this don’t occur in my life. The non-profit I work for—a charity that pays for low income inner city kids to go to summer camp—barely has enough funds to pay me my meagre salary, so this isn’t even a question. I could barely scrounge together the four hundred and forty-nine dollars for the basic seat in the back of the plane.
“Hot towelette?” one of the flight attendants asks, offering me one with a pair of tongs.
“Yes, please,” I say as I take it, wiping my hands and face.
This is so nice. I’m next to the window and the seat beside me is empty. I’ll get good food and drinks and I won’t have to hear Taint and his buddies hollering like orangutans throughout the whole flight.
I sink into the comfy seat and gaze out the window, watching the ground crew working as everyone gets settled. Everyone is boarded, so I guess I have both seats to myself. I put my book on the seat when a gorgeous man turns the corner and catches my eye.
“Whoa…”
He moves down the aisle with the kind of quiet confidence that makes the air shift. I feel it in my bones. My breath catches in my throat as I duck down a little, peeking out behind the seats.
This man haspresence. He radiates authority and strength. He’s definitely in first class. He looks so at home here. I can’t imagine that man in the back with Taint and his friends. He would look more out of place than even my dad did.
The flight attendant rushes over to help him, thrusting her chest out as she gives him a radiant smile and some sultry eyes.
“Can I help you, sir?” she asks in a flirty tone that she didn’t have when she offered me the hot towel.
I can’t blame her for laying it on thick.
He’s so hot. Wildly hot.
I can’t take my eyes off him. His bright blue eyes are mesmerizing.
He’s so tall with broad shoulders and a muscular body—the kind that comes from doing physical activities like rock climbing or surfing rather than spending hours in the gym. His white shirt is clinging to him in all the right places, sleeves rolled up his thick forearms, a few buttons undone to reveal the sun-bronzed skin on his chest. His trousers are navy blue, tailored but comfortable, the kind worn by a man who can afford to look casual in thousand-dollar clothes.
He has dark blond hair that’s a little longer than you’d expect from a businessman, but it suits him so well. It’s streaked with the faintest threads of silver. I think about what it would be like to slide my hands into that hair as I gaze into those stunning blue eyes.
He shows the flight attendant his ticket and she points right at me.
I suck in a sharp breath as I duck down, hiding behind the seat. My cheeks turn hot as I blush with embarrassment.Did he see that?
What am I doing?
I try to calm the nerves rippling through my body as I rifle through my bag pretending that I’m looking for something.
A few agonizing seconds later, he arrives at my aisle, towering over the seat. I keep my eyes on my bag as my hand moves around inside. I’m too shy to look at him.
He opens the compartment over his head and reaches up to put his bag inside. I sneak a peek at his stomach and gulp. His white shirt pulls up a little, revealing tanned skin on adelicious six-pack. My mouth waters as my hungry eyes slide down to his belt buckle and then to his pants.
I hear the compartment door slam closed and I jerk my attention back onto my bag. Geez, where are these… headphones.
I grab my AirPods and pull them out of my bag like I was totally looking for them the whole time and not avoiding the gaze of this gorgeous man.
