I glance at the attractive guy with graying temples who’s shaking hands with Vincent and Nathan as if he knows them. I guess being a Seattle crew, they’ve probably crossed paths before. But is this the guy she was talking about dating? He seems a little old for her. Like someone my mom might have had a crush on back in high school.
Angel squeezes my arm before pulling away. “I’ll tell you more later.”
“Okay. But wait.” I don’t release my grip on her shoulder just yet. “I worked aft for the first time on the way here, and I didn’t know where anything went. So I simply shoved it all back into carts. I’m very sorry.”
She waves a hand to erase my concern. “Don’t worry. We get catered in Denver. All those carts are going to be replaced anyway.”
I exhale in relief. And I look forward to the day when I’ve got it all together the way Angel does.
Her pilots board the plane. She bounces after them, then pauses to wave, and catches sight of Nathan. Her smile grows. She points—with two fingers because we’re trained to never point with only one. “Hey.”
Nathan steps beside me. “Hey, you recognize me?” he asks Angel.
They evidently remember each other, though Nathan doesn’t know her theory that he’s attracted to me. My shoulders bunch, and I bulge my eyes to warn her from saying anything embarrassing.
“Yes, we rode the shuttle together once.” She catches my look. “You should go down to the crew lounge on your layover. They’ve got a chili feed going on for Halloween this month. Pumpkin cake and everything.”
My shoulders sag. “Thanks.” I thank her for more than simply telling us about the cake in the crew lounge. To keep Nathan from sensing my double meaning, I add, “I hope it has cream cheese frosting. I love cream cheese.”
“It does,” she calls back.
“Perfect.” Nathan grins down at me. “Looks like you’re getting your birthday cake after all.”
Chapter Sixteen
Nathan
Ifyouwant tobecome abetter pilot, flywith someone whoisbetter than youare.
—ANONYMOUS
Ican’t believe Claire’s boyfriend canceled on her birthday. Though I am delighted that she chose to spend the day with me. Okay, she may have picked up the trip because it’s a local, but she wasn’t surprised to see me on it. That counts for something, right?
It’s not exactly that I want Claire to dump her boyfriend for me, but it sounds as if he needs to be dumped. She deserves better. She deserves a celebration.
I realize she didn’t let me buy her the birthday latte, so she’s not going to willingly let me buy her cake. And I respect her for it. She set boundaries to be faithful. But now that I know there’s free dessert in the crew lounge, I can make sure she gets her cake.
I lead the way up the jet bridge. “You guys coming to the crew lounge?” I ask Vincent and Larry.
Larry snorts. “Too sketchy for me.” Then he studies me like he suspects I’m going to be dealing drugs or hiring a hit man while there.
Claire pauses once we reach the gate. “Sketchy?”
I chuckle. “Have you never been in a crew lounge before?”
She shakes her head.
Larry turns right. “I’m getting an empanada.”
Vincent turns left, as if joining us. “Not all crew lounges are created equal. This one is in a dungeon.”
He makes it sound as sketchy as Larry warned. So I sweeten the deal. “But there’s cake.”
“Not sure I need cake that badly.” Claire wrinkles her nose. “Though I am curious. How do you know where to find each of the different crew lounges?”
While Vincent strides ahead, I pull my phone out of my pocket and log into our employee website. I type “domicile” into the search bar and show her. “It’s under the information for each domicile.”
A list of Premier Air domiciles pop up. I tap my thumb on Denver. The Denver page opens to display information on everything from the administration based here to employee parking. Right in the middle are directions for accessing the crew lounge.
