I rub my jaw. Desiree’s meddling isn’t all bad. “How long do I wait to ask her out?”
Vincent shrugs. “Next year should be long enough.”
Any other night, that answer would have given me some breathing room. Tonight it threatens to cause hyperventilation.
I glance at my watch. “In two hours?”
“We’re crossing a couple of time zones, so you’ve got four hours. Unless you want to celebrate when the ball drops in New York.”
That moment is only one hour away. “We’ll still be flying.”
“Exactly.”
I slide my gaze toward Vincent. The man has been watching too many Hallmark Christmas movies with Desiree. “You want me to ask her out over the PA system?”
Vincent gives a deep chuckle. “Or I could take a strategic bathroom break.”
My lips part to suck in more oxygen as understanding dawns. If Vincent leaves the flight deck, a certain flight attendant will have to step in.
“Imagine the sky at night.” Vincent waves a hand, as if painting a picture on the windshield. “You don’t want to waste such a perfect moment.”
The stars do shine particularly brightly over an inky ocean. And Claire hardly gets to see them through the tiny window in the aircraft door.
“Plus I’d get to give my wife a New Year’s kiss.”
My heart lurches like a Boeing on a bad landing. I’d been so caught up in the fear of confessing my feelings that I haven’t even considered kissing.
No, I’m not going to think of it. I’ll move slowly and give her time to take our relationship to the next level. If it even takes off.
Otherwise, I might crash-land and lose one of my best friends.
Vincent slaps me on the shoulder. “You didn’t really want to spend your New Year’s with me, did ya?”
I don’t care about New Year’s so much as I care about forever. Might as well find out whether that’s even a possibility.
Vincent swings the door open, and I roll my shoulders back to force myself to relax. I’ve been alone in the flight deck with Claire before. This is nothing different.
Except now she’s a single woman. Which means everything is different.
What would she think if she knew this is what I’d really wanted when I told her I’d pray for everything to work out for her? Either God’s got my back, or I’m about to have my heart broken all over again.
I twist and smile to welcome Claire, and I read her expression. Not much more than her profile can be made out in the red lights from the control panel. Her eyes widen more than usual, yet somehow lack their normal expressiveness. In fact, they stare straight ahead as she squats next to my seat. She thrusts a leftover meal plate and a soda my way.
“Where’s the sock?” I joke, taking the drink and stashing it to the side with the tray since I have no appetite for anything but her.
“Why do you ask?” She challenges without missing a beat. “Did you do something wrong?”
“More than I want to admit.”
She’s again ignoring the jump seat in favor of squeezing beside me for a better view of the bright stars peeking out from the turquoise horizon. And once again her position surrounds me with the alluring scent of cherry blossoms.
If only she weren’t staring straight ahead. So much for having her full attention in order to share my feelings.
“The stars are pretty ridiculous, aren’t they?” I ask.
She takes a deep breath and sighs. “So romantic.” Her spine straightens, and her profile snaps my way. She’s as close as she had been after I’d put her luggage in the overhead bin. Only this time she seems tense with awareness. “I don’t mean ... Not to say ... I’m not talking about for us.”
Except she is. And it embarrasses her. Which makes this the opening I need. She’s never been so adorable.
