“Let me sweeten the deal,” he said.
She looked at him expectantly.
“I’ll throw in an endless supply of Dr Pepper.”
Well, that made her laugh. “How can I possibly pass that up?”
His eyes gleamed as his gaze dipped to her mouth. “You can’t.”
CHAPTER 10
Nick
Nick cued the mic. “November triple-five X-ray Mike, checking in.”
“November 555 X-ray Mike, climb to level four one zero.”
“November triple-five X-ray Mike, climbing to four one zero.”
Nick replaced the mic, adjusted his headset, and brought the plane to altitude, acutely aware of Jannie’s presence beside him. He’d offered her the right seat, not expecting her to take it. But she surprised him by climbing into the first officer spot as if she’d done it all her life.
She behaved nothing like a passenger granted access to a pilot’s view. She was used to this; it was evident in her relaxed demeanor. When they leveled off at forty-one thousand feet, he turned to smile at her. “You look good in that seat.”
An understatement. Even though she’d lost weight and had shadows under her beautiful blue eyes, she still radiated that vibrant beauty that had captured him so long ago.
Her lips curved into a little smile. “You think?”
“I don’t think; I know. It’s obvious to me it’s not your first time sitting there.”
A little smile. “Maybe I’ve sat in this seat once or twice.”
“How old were you when you started flying?”
“You want the official number or the real one?”
Nick chuckled. “That young, huh?”
Jannie nodded. “Dad started us all as soon as we could reach the pedals and controls. He said flying was a life skill.”
“I wholeheartedly agree.”
His eyes drank her in. Nick couldn’t believe it: Jannie Larssen, in the right seat of his CJ4. Well, this version of Jannie Larssen. She wasn’t herself; he could see the underlying sadness, and it made something turn over in his chest.
He looked out at the fluffy clouds edged golden by the sun. It was a perfect VFR day: smooth air, clear visibility, allowing him to see for miles. This was his favorite part of flying, and he couldn’t think of anyone with whom he’d rather share this perfect day up here. The sun shone on her hair at just the right angle to make it look like spun gold, and the intense light made her irises look huge.
She squinted and tugged on the visor. He reached to his left for one of the two cupholders, extracting a sunglass case from it.
He flicked it open. “Here.”
She took the Ray-Bans out and slipped them on. “Much better. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He hated to see those expressive eyes disappear behind dark lenses, but they were needed. He slid his own sunglasses off his head and onto his nose.
“So, how far did you go?”
A slight frown. “How do you mean?”
“With the flying.”
