“Nope. They hold the conference here every year, so it’s become a little vacation, I guess.”
“That must be nice. Every conference I went to for my old job was in places like Columbus, Ohio and Raleigh, North Carolina. Not terrible places at all, but not what I would consider vacation spots.”
“How are you liking this job compared to your last one? I know it was quite the change, and we’ve never really discussed it.” His tone is all business, but I get the sense he’s trying to subtly dig into my past to learn more about me.
“Honestly?” I take a sip of wine as he nods, looking more serious than he’s been all day.
“I didn’t know if I would like this job. It’s so different from what I’ve been doing, what I thought I would always do. But … I love it. It’s much less stress. There’s more freedom, and I like seeing happy clients every single day. I love getting emails about how great of a job you did and seeing firsthand how happy you make people.”
“It’s not a solo endeavor. You make clients just as happy as I do.”
“I don’t know about that. All I do is answer emails or forward them.” I shake my head.
“You do much more thanthat,” he says quietly.
The serious shift in conversation has me feeling on my back foot again. I’m not sure I want to delve into anything this deeply with him, but I also love the conversation.
Before I can say anything else, he checks his phone and downs the last of his drink.
“Boarding is about to start. You ready?”
I sigh in relief and finish the last sip of my wine. Standing up, I follow Ledger to our gate, where we wait for our group to be called.
It’s only when I realize we’re Group One that I begin to question a whole lot of things.
When we take our seatsin first class,I stare a hole through Ledger’s head.
The man has explaining to do.
Chapter 17
Ledger
Did I fuck up?
No, splurging for first class isn’t a fuck-up, no matter how much of a death-stare Ainsley sends me from her seat beside me.
I try to hide my small smile, but this day has gone nothing like I thought it would, and I’m kind of loving putting her on her back foot for a change.
The spilled wine was unfortunate, but having her eyes on me as I wiped some of it off my face and body was well worth it.
“Ledger.” A little growl in her voice makes my lower stomach tighten.
“Ainsley,” I parrot.
“What in the fuck is this?” She doesn’t look angry, more like genuinely confused and trying to figure out what my plan is here.
“This is what most people call first class.” I go for casual. Maybe if I can get her to laugh or not be so focused on first class, she can get out of her head enough to enjoy it.
“Thank you. I can see that, smartass.” Her response draws my eyes, and I can’t help the smile that takes over my face because she’s smirking back at me.
We hold each other’s eyes for a minute before she shakes her head and bends down to dig through her bag.
Okay, that’s better than being angry with me.
She pulls out a bag of Twizzlers and sits back in her chair. Carefully opening the bag so it doesn’t rip down the side, she gets settled in before taking a deep breath and looking over at me again.
“Why are we in first class, Ledger?”
