He just said words.
“What?”
“The pilot.”
It takes ten full seconds for the meaning to penetrate the lust fog.
“You’reflying this thing?”
“I am.”
A shriek tears out of me, bouncing off the cabin walls like the Grim Reaper just tapped on the glass.
“Sorry, hang on.What?Have you… done this before?”
One eyebrow lifts. “Once or twice.”
“Once or…? You’re not serious, are you? This is a joke. There’s a real pilot somewhere, right?”
“Arealpilot?” His voice drops. “I’ve been flying for fifteen years.”
“Oh! I didn’t mean—I wasn’t suggesting you’re incompetent or a terrible pilot or anything. I’m just completely blindsided here! Jake never mentioned this.”
I’m furious, though I can’t pinpoint exactly why.
At HR for not warning me?
At Jake for keeping this terrifying detail secret?
At Patrick for wanting to do things that could kill us both?
He ignores my meltdown and checks his watch. He shuts my door, circles the nose of the helicopter, and climbs into the cockpit.
I amnotokay with this. I’m the person who reads airline safety cards three times and memorizes the brace position. I don’t do surprise helicopter rides with CEOs who picked up flying as a hobby.
“But wait,” I blurt. “What if something happens to you mid-flight?”
He doesn’t even glance over. Just keeps flicking switches. “Such as?”
“I don’t know… you could swallow your tongue.”
His hands pause mid-switch flip. “The odds of that happening are extremely low.”
“But not zero!” I lean forward as far as the harness allows, eyes wide. “Not. Zero.”
That finally gets his attention. He turns, giving me the full weight of his gaze. The look saysI’ve flown through worsestorms than you, sweetheart, and you’re still not in my top ten most dramatic passengers.
Oh, theaudacityof this man.
“You think I’m going to spontaneously self-destruct at four thousand feet?”
Somewhere between his bulletproof confidence and my looming obituary, my self-preservation instinct finally shoves my people-pleasing tendencies aside.
“But you lost a toe on one of your adventures!” The accusation bursts from me. “You can’t tell me you’re invincible. You have fewer toes than you started with. That’s concrete evidence that youdohave accidents.”
An unguarded laugh rumbles out of his chest and fills the entire cabin. It’s the first time in my life I’ve made Patrick laugh, and instead of basking in it, I’m busy calculating the odds of us plummeting into a loch.
“I’ve got nine left. And it was only the tip.”
