He closed her in, and she was suddenly ridiculously aware of how little space there was inside the aircraft.
She was within two inches of being outside.
Which meant she’d be within two inches of being outside once they were airborne.
“Breathe, Kaci,” she whispered to herself while she clutched the white barf bag.
The whole aircraft shuddered when Lance climbed inside. He tossed his jacket in the backseat and grinned at her.
She blew another breath out her nose and closed her eyes.
This thing was supposed to survive flying through the air.
Another shudder went through the plane.
He’d turned on the engine.
She was in an airplane. About to leave the ground.
“Here.” He passed her a set of headphones with a slender microphone. “Any questions, just ask. And trust me—this will be fun.”
Fun.
Right.
She forced a practiced beauty queen smile. She could do this. She could be brave.
He wouldn’t take her up in the air in a plane that wasn’t airworthy. He wouldn’t put her in danger. He wouldn’t push her if she couldn’t do this.
She could do this.
His lips spread in that heart-stopping grin. “That’s my girl.”
She clapped the headphones over her ears.
Too few minutes later, after he’d made a thousand notations in a notebook and flipped a half dozen switches and checked every last readout and gauge on the dash—telling her exactly what he was doing each time—they rolled away from the building and across the postage stamp-sized parking area to the edge of the runway.
She was going to be fine. Lance knew whathe was doing. They’d both survive.
But her breath rushed in and out too shallow and that pinch in her forehead was spreading into her brain and her fingertips were numb.
“With me, Kaci?” his voice said through the headphones.
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“Hey.”
Black dots danced in her vision.
No. No, she wouldn’t hyperventilate and pass out. Not again.
She wasdoingthis, dammit.
Her nails sliced into her palms.
A solid, steady hand cupped the back of her head.
But instead of pushing her forward, head between her knees in a classic get-over-yourself pose, he pulled her in to his waiting lips and devoured her mouth.
