Bound for Christmas (2 page)

“There’s nothing to worry about. Simple shifting in the wind pattern causes unpredictable changes in the atmosphere--jet stream. Think of it as the ocean and all the different currents that move through it. The same can be said about the sky. They are rarely dangerous just more unsettling.”  

It wasn’t his words that caused her to open her eyes and stare at the man beside her, but the feel of his hand covering hers on the armrest. The warm firm touch of his strong, large hand, almost restraining, became
unsettling
. Heat of a different sort was moving up her arm and bringing goose bumps along with it for the ride.

“Shifting wi-n-d?” she croaked through the tightness of her throat.

“Or I can tell you about jet wash, wingtip vortices, wind shear factors, wave turbulence or even how bad weather below and around the plane interfere with the flight path.” He gave her a half-smile. “Perhaps you want it given to you in technical terms and have me say things like fluid dynamic, momentum diffusion, kinetic energy and laminar flow.”

“Wow.” She glanced away from his appealing lips, the bottom slightly fuller than the top. “You sure know a lot about planes. A frequent flyer?” Her gaze lowered to the hand still resting on top of her own. His fingers had started to lightly brush hers as those large complex words tumbled easily from his sexy mouth. The sensible thing to do would be to pull her hand away, but in a weird way it was helping her focus on something other than the dropping plane.

“Sort of.” He must have noticed her looking, because he removed his hand placing it on his armrest, just an inch away. “I’m a pilot.”

Raising her head, she stared into his hazel eyes. “Why aren’t you flying the plane instead of sitting in the passenger section? Were you grounded for intoxication… drug use…sleeping on the job? I hear about those kinds of pilot errors all the time.”

He chuckled and she enjoyed it. The rough, husky sound made her think of a shot of whiskey; something that arrested all your senses and took your breath away, on impact.

“I’ve been away for a while. It’s part of the reason I’m headed to North Carolina. Its home and my hub. So, if you fly out in the next two weeks, I maybe the pilot on your flight.”

If his flying skills were as good as his “seat-side manner” than she would like to be on board, maybe she would stop hating flying.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Too bad this is my last flight for some time. I don’t travel much.”

Frowning, he asked, “You don’t travel?”

She wanted to laugh at his expression. He looked as if he thought her words were the most preposterous thing he’d ever heard. The desire to reach up and press her thumb against the lines creasing his forehead, marring his perfect masculine Euro features, assailed her. But, she kept her fingers to herself. “What can I say, I’m a homebody. I work long hours and don’t take a lot of vacation time. When I do have a day off, I just enjoy curling up with a good book or lunch with friends.”

“That’s a shame. Everyone needs to get away--recharge.” He waved Constance over and requested a glass of water for both of them.

When the attendant moved away, Zoey said, “I’m coming back from my week vacation time now, and I can honestly say it was
not
recharging.”

“Oh? Where did you go?”

Constance returned with the glasses of ice waters.

“Sorry for ordering for you. I thought you might need something cool.”

Handsome and considerate. Too bad men like him weren’t common in her life. Nope, she always ended up with handsome, selfish men who had no consideration for anyone but their own needs. Case in point, Winston. “Thanks.” She took a liberal drink and was very grateful for the refreshment. It was then she realized that the turbulence had ceased at some point.

“So, where was the vacation?”

“Home.” She placed the half empty glass down on her tray and licked the excess water from her top lip. “A family Thanksgiving reunion. One I probably should have avoided,” she mumbled.

His gaze rose from her mouth, a darker green than before. If she wasn’t mistaken, she could have sworn he had been watching the movement of her tongue.

He cleared his throat. “Bad blood?” He drank his water and looked at her over the rim.

“Bad relationship.”

A single eyebrow lifted as he set his drink down. She admitted to herself that she liked his face, it was very expressive; whether he was smiling or curious. She’d never want to see him angry; she figured he’d have blades shooting from his eyes.

“He’s not a part of the family I hope.”

“Good God, no.” She laughed. “I’m from Texas not West Virginia. One of my aunts, whose son is, or shall I say was, a good friend of Mr. Bad Relationship, still thinks there’s a chance and never hesitates to bring his name up when I’m in town. It’s all about status to her.”

“Nice aunt.”

“No, she isn’t.” Aunt Gertrude was anything but nice. “She’s pushy, overbearing and determined to have her way and selfish. That’s the reason her and Mr. Bad Relationship got along so well, they are cut from the same cloth.”

“Well, then you’re lucky to be rid of him.”

After a long, laborious week of dodging Gertie at every turn, she needed a neutral party to vent to. Her aunt had very old fashioned rules for love and marriage. She believed that a woman stayed by her husband’s side through anything; especially if that husband came from money. However, Winston didn’t understand the word commitment; not to a job, a residence and especially not one woman. Gertie very vocally believed that Zoey should attempt to locate Winston and beg for his forgiveness that she wasn’t more supportive. Yea, right, that was not going to happen. Her mother couldn’t even keep Gertie off a conversation; her aunt was a tornado in a trailer park, relentless and destructive.

“I agree. I’m very lucky he is out of my life.” She smiled at the strangers supportive words.

When the man beside her smiled back her heart skipped a beat. If it wasn’t enough that his eyes were amazing, he had a smile that could calm babies and woo women. It wasn’t that she had never been smiled at by an attractive man before, hell Winston was extremely good looking, but this guy’s smile struck her like an unexpected burst of cool wind on a summer day. Maybe it was because he looked as if he hadn’t smiled in a while and that his soulful hazel eyes were so clouded with emotions she just didn’t see a smile coming, but it did. She felt grateful to be the recipient of it.

She held her hand out to him. “If we’re going to finish this flight talking about my ruined relationships and family drama, we probably should be on a first name basis.”

She did something she never did, allowed her smile to expand wide over her mouth, lowered her lids just a little, tilted her head to the side and flirted. “I’m Zoey.”

His large hand slid along her palm as it engulfed her own, and gave it a gentle squeeze as his thumb brushed along the back of her hand. “Evan.”

Chapter Two

They sat that way for a moment, gripping hands and staring into each other’s eyes. She was the first to falter as her body began to respond to the heat of his touch. The firm, possessive grip caused her nipples to tighten and cream surrounded her clit. Good gracious, she’d never had a response to a man before with a simple touch. Even on Winston’s best night he didn’t cause a reaction in her body without a lot of pumping and priming. Since it was usually all about him and what he needed, she was frequently left wanting.

Pulling her hand from Evan’s, she inhaled deeply, filling her chest with much needed air and allowed it to seep slowly through her parted lips. “So, tell me, Evan, will North Carolina be a new home for you?”

“No. I’m born and bred there. Except for the last ten years, I’ve lived in and around Charlotte my whole life.”

“That’s how it was for me with Paris, Texas. All of my family lives right there and don’t have any plans or desire to move away.”

“Unlike you.”

“That’s right.” She looked down at her hands; her fingernails were perfectly manicured with airbrushed French tips. She’d gotten them done for the reunion, to show her family that she was doing fine without them, without Winston. Her job didn’t pay a lot, but she lived just fine and could afford to pay her bills and extra things.

“Why did you leave?”

She laughed. “Evidently, you’ve never been to Paris. There is nothing there. Now don’t get me wrong, I love small towns with close communities. I’ve never been a big city person, but after my personal life fe11 apart I just needed to get away. Start over new; especially when every major thing in that town was a product of
one
prominent family name.”

Winston had come from money, big small town money and history. He’d been used to a life of everything going his way, handed to him and he expected all around him to cater to his needs, solely. When things didn’t go exactly how he wanted them, he had no qualms about vocalizing it. The relationship had exhausted her and broke her down emotionally and financially as well.

“That’s understandable.” He drank some water and then returned the glass to his small table. “Have you found what you’re looking for in North Carolina?”

“Yes. I love my job and my life there.” She pulled a small ice cube out of her water and popped it in her mouth. “What about you? Happy to be going home?”

For a moment, he glanced away from her. Evan looked up the aisle towards the attendants that were talking in the side cabin. She wasn’t sure if he planned to answer her. Staring at his profile as she swallowed the minute piece of ice, she could plainly see the tension in his jaw line and emotions distorting his features. Without him saying it, she could tell that his feelings surrounding his homecoming weren’t all good.

 His sigh was heavy, before facing her again and saying, “Let’s just say I’m glad to be getting my life back.” The small smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth didn’t show joy or happiness.

“Mixed feelings. I can sympathize with that. So, what kept you away for…ten years did you say?”

Evan rotated his shoulders back as if tension suddenly rested in his muscles. “The military.”

“Wow.” One of her brothers had been in the military and then used the G.I. Bill for college, now he was an accountant with the city of Paris. “Thank you for your service.”

Glancing down, he thumped his thumb against the armrest as if he struggled with something internally, then he looked back at her, captured her in his hazel gaze that appeared more brown than green. She had the urge to cover his hand and lend her support as he’d done for her when she needed it. However, she wasn’t truly sure if he needed or for what reason so she doused the urge.

“Thank you.” His hand stilled and he lifted his glass and drained the contents.

Maybe he needed something stronger.

“If you’re going to be a commercial pilot, I can assume you’re out of the service.”

“Yes. I trained recruits during the last two years until my enlistment was complete.”

“Is that why you were flying out of Texas?”

“Yup. I was at Yuma, Arizona until four months ago when I moved to Dallas to do some flight training.”

“Were you a pilot in the military, too?”

“No.” Leaning towards her, he reached across her and lifted the shade up. “Sorry, you don’t mind do you?”

Her mind turned to mush. His citrus/woodsy blend wrapped around her like a warm blanket, snuggling her up in Evan’s maleness. It took several times for her to swallow in order to re-moisten her mouth. The man just was too sexy and appealing for his own good. Without touching her, he had her body on fire and her nipples and clit throbbing, begging for attention from a man she didn’t know.
Oh, God I’m a mess
. When she got back to North Carolina she was going to have to start dating again, it was time.

“It is okay, right?” He was still leaning towards her.

“Okay? What?” She tried to think and recall what he was asking about.

“The window? Are you all right if the shade is up? I like blue skies.” His eyes were back to that dark green color that made her panties wet. It didn’t help that his face was close enough for her just to raise her head a little and she could place her lips against his. Would his lips be firm and dominant or weak and relaxed expecting her to take the lead like Winston?

Shit. Get it together, Zoey.
“It’s fine.”

Smiling, one of his electric smiles again, he sat back in his seat. “Tell me about Paris.”

Zoey could tell he was changing the conversation away from his military career. She wondered if he was one of those warriors that suffered from PTSD and perhaps a dialogue about it brought up too many bad memories to talk about it.

“Only if you want to be put to sleep.” She laughed. “Instead, I’d love to hear about places you have flown to and visited. All those other blue skies.”

Lifting his right leg, he rested his ankle on his left knee and linked his hands together in his lap. Oh, yes, this new conversation was much more to his liking. “In the States or out?”

“Oh, you got to fly to other countries?” Now she was excited.

“You’ve never been out of America?”

“I’ve never been off this main chunk of the continent. No Hawaii, Alaska or Puerto Rico. Too far to fly. Hell, I’ve never even been further west than Texas.”

His eyelids stretched with shock. “Oh, the things you are missing, Zoey.”

She liked the way he said her name. There was a slight pause after the O before he said the EY. As if he were about to give her a nickname, but decided not to. Of course a nickname would be ridiculous; they didn’t know each other and wouldn’t know each other after the flight.

“Like what? What’s your favorite place you have gone?”

“Thailand.” She could hear the rapture in his voice as he stared ahead, as if he could see the country come alive before his eyes.

“Really?”

“White sand beaches, the exotic foods, the people are so humble and they have waterfalls and the most vibrant plant life that will take your breath away.” He rolled his head towards her and stared at her, in his eyes was such an infectious joy that she began to desire things that were not possible.