“I hope you don’t mind, but while you were out, I texted a guy named Kade.”
“Jesus H. Christ. Why?” As if things aren’t bad enough. Now, my ex is coming and will think I asked for him. Jeesh, I finally got him to understand I’m not interested, and now, his hopes will rise again.
“You were mumbling his name, over and over. I assumed he was important to you.”
I should confess, but I don’t. In my drugged-up haze, I’d mixed up the two men. I may’ve called out Kade, but I’d wanted this Brit.”
“Fuck.” I close my eyes. “Just fuck.”
He frowns, tone defensive. “Hey, give me a break. You were all alone and I didn’t know what to do. I put your fingertip to your phone, opened it, and after reading a few texts, guessed you two were a thing.”
“Well, you should’ve minded your own business.”Who the hell spies at other people’s messages?
“I apologized. What more do you want?” His glare makes me realize I’m being a real bitch, so I take it down a notch.
“Sorry. Would you help me fill in the gaps?”
He sighs. “I hired you to take me to Atlantic City. My dad wanted a view of Little Egg Harbor where he’s interested in property. We had just taken off and were about to veer south. All at once, everything started shaking. You managed to lower our altitude before we crashed. Your quick thinking saved our lives.”
Mayday, mayday.Another memory bursts into my brain. I’m floating in an upside-down helicopter. I push the older gent to his son. The rest of the images are too murky to make sense and as I shake them off, another thought comes to mind.
“You’ve trained at Survival Systems or someplace similar.” It’s not a guess. Percentages are infinitesimal he would’ve lived through the ordeal unless he’d taken a safety course.
His dark head nods. “I went after a close call in Dubai. How about you?”
“Paid in full by Uncle Sam.”
“Lucky you.”
“Would’ve been luckier not to have needed it.” Our momentary truce is blown apart when I recall the questions asked by New York’s finest. “Who does your maintenance?”
“My guys are top notch.” His prickliness irks me and my fists clench.
“Apparently not, or we wouldn’t’ve fucking crashed.”I am not taking the fall for his shit team.
“It still remains to be seen.” His brows raise and if I felt better, I would deck him.
“You think this was my fault?” My screech should be embarrassing but I’m too full of fury to care.
He, on the other hand, stays calm as he opens his palms and shrugs. “I honestly don’t know.”
“You should go.” Pissed as fuck, I point to the door.
~Chapter3~
Dash
Needing a friendly face, I walk down the hallway, smiling at the grade school art, taped to the wall. At my dad’s, I knock, and pace the length of the small private room while explaining how the fiery pilot blew up at me.
He laughs. “No wonder you’re still single, son.”
It figures he’d take her side. “What’s wrong with the bachelor-life? There’s a reason why women are called ball-and-chains.”
“Riiight. That’s why you spent the whole night in her room and bothered the nurses and doctors every time she moaned.” At his raised eyebrows, I almost apologize like I did as a kid.
A grown-ass man, it’s none of his business if I have feelings for her. “She saved your life, you ungrateful old goat. The least I could do was make sure she was comfortable.”
“Hey, I paid for her room and for a private nurse.” As he sits upright and grimaces, I place a pillow behind his back.
