Fated, A Timeless Series Novella (A Timeless Series Companion Novel) (23 page)

I rolled my phone between my hands, occasionally pressing a button to check the screen.
No new messages had arrived in
the last two minutes
since
I’d checked it
before
.
Sighing, I continued
fiddl
ing. Why hadn’t she called?

Colt,
cut it out.

I
glanced to my right. Callon had his hands in his pockets, staring at the drinks machine opposite
.
Though he looked bored, h
e must’ve been watching me
the whole time
.

What
? Have you heard something?

Without warning,
Cal
lon reached over and snatched my phone.

Hey!
I scrambled to get it back, but Callon held it away.

If you check this thing again
,
I’m going to throw it onto the runway.
His hazel eyes
narrowed.
Will you
quit being so twitchy?
I
told you I
got a message from John saying Gene and Alexis had passed his checkpoint about two hours ago.

But Cheyenne hasn’t texted me…

Callon rolled his eyes.

You’re her bodyguard
, not her boyfriend.
The others are at the house
anyway
, keeping an eye on her. They’ll
call if there
’s
an issue.
He switched off my phone and handed it back.
“She’s in good hands, Colt.
Don’t worry.
”

I grabbed the phone
back
gruffly.

“She
better be.”

As
I shoved
the phone
into
my
jeans
pocket
, the
terminal
speakers
chim
ed.
They were announcing our flight depa
r
ture.
I tensed. This was it. I wouldn’t have any cell
signal for a week.
My hand flew to my pocket again, but Callon’s scowl made me
pause.
Cheyenne was about to have a major bombshell dropped on her. Getting her confused with my own feelings would just make it worse. It wouldn’t be fair on her.
Better if I kept
my distance for the
time being
.

A
djust
ing
my bag over my shoulder
, I brought out my passport and boarding ticket and headed for the departure gate
. I’d not bothered packing much
since we’d only be gone a week,
t
hough
it
was
also
because
I wanted to
be prepared for
a quick getaway. Cheyenne
might need
me
at a moment’s notice
.

It was slow-going, and t
he
line
halt
ed as we entered the jet.
The economy passengers continued to fill up from the exit ahead, and I tapped my foot impatiently. What was taking so long at our end?

Finally the group moved, and I spotted the cause of the hold up. A
woman
with tied-back blonde hair was
trying to cram her oversized bag into the overhead compartment.
She was too short to reach, though. At last, a kind steward appeared
and relieved her of her luggage
.
Her cheeks flushed a little as she saw the line behind her, and she quickly slid into her seat. I raised an eyebrow. It was beside mine.

Callon nudged me.

Looks like you’ll have someone to t
alk to on the long flight.

I flashed him a sidelong glance.

Knowing my luck, she’ll prefer
a tall, rich doctor
with the personality of a scouring pad
.

Huh?

You know, abrasive.

Smirking,
I
ignored
his
irked
glare and moved
to my assigned
seat
beside the woman
.
Except, as I checked my ticket stub, I realized she was actually sitting in
my
seat.
Her g
reen eyes looked up
,
and color rose in her cheeks.

“
Um, e
xcuse me,” I said
,
as her
face
grew redder.
“But I think you’re sitting in my seat.”

The woman frowned, broken from her blushing, and fished in her purse for her ticket stub. Seconds later her eyes bulged.

“Oh my gosh!” She fumbled for her things
, throwing them into the seat beside
her
. “I’m so
so sorry.
But
I
felt so bad holding up the line and everyone
was waiting
for me
to move…”

“
Hey, i
t’s okay.” I gave a sympathetic smile.

She
moved over and
I
took my pl
ace. Callon raised an eyebrow
, taking his seat behind me.

“
I’m
Colt,
by the way,
” I
said
,
shov
ing
my bag under the seat
in front of me
.

“Hi, I’m Shelly.” She shook my hand.

Wow, we’ve not even taken off and you’ve got her name
,
Callon chimed in.
Can you get her number before we hit the Atlantic?

S
hut up back there
,
I shot back.

“This is my first time to Dublin,”
Shelly
said
, wringing her hands
. “What about you?”

“Just visiting,” I replied
, pulling my phone
out
and switching it on
again
.
Ha, Callon couldn’t see me here.
Still
,
there were
no new messages in the last half hour, either.
I sighed.
Maybe it
hadn’t
show
n
up. I scrolled through the
texts
, biting my lip
.

“
I
s this your first time?”

I caught Callon snort back a laugh behind
me
.

Depends on which context
she’s asking for
, Colt.

Quiet!
I snapped.
He was unusually
perky
today. Must’ve been his way of dealing with the stress
of going home
.

Turning my attention back to Shelly, I shook my head.

“
No, I’ve been before
.”

“Oh!
”
Shelly flicked her
ponytail
over her shoulder
. “Then you
must know your way around.
”

Suddenly my phone chimed.
Wit
h a polite smile to the woman,
I
scroll
ed
through
the messages
. Finally! I knew Cheyenne would…

Text ‘LOVE’ to 84500 to find a hot date
tonight in your area!

Angrily I deleted the junk text.
Great,
like I needed
something else to send my nerves over the edge
.
Rather than put the phone away, though, m
y fingers lingered on the keypad.
Maybe I should
text
her before I leave
,
to make sure
all was well
. I began
typing a message
, but t
hen the stewardess’s
voice broke through the cabin.

“
Welcome aboard everyone, and
I’d like to thank you for choosing…”

Colt, drop it.
Callon’s voice thundered in my head.
Damn, he had been watching me after all.
She’s fine. I didn’t just pick anyone to watch over her while we’re gone.
Anyway, y
ou need to give her some space
. Gene and Alexis are going to leave her with a lot of questions
and you’ll have plenty of time to explain yourself
then
.

“At this time,” the stewardess continued, “we’d like to ask you to turn off all electronic devices…”

My jaw tightened
.
Seemed I was too late anyway
.
I turned the phone
off
,
watching the screen
fade to
black. Why was this so hard for me? I’d had
so many
relationships in the past and never once felt like I
needed to stay close
. How was Cheyenne so different? She
was pretty enough, but not drop-
dead gorgeous.
She wasn’t particularly outgoing, either.
Then again, h
er smile
was
genuine,
and I always felt more at ease with her than anyone else
.

W
as it because
we got
along so well? She and I
talked
about
anything and
everything, and
laughed more than we argued. As a matter of fact
,
I’d never once heard her raise her voice or show any real anger
, to me or anyone
else
.
It was like we
could tell
what the other was feeling
without words
.
Something I’d never experienced before…

The in-flight movie screen beside me
flickered
, and I blinked
.
Shelly
sat back in her seat,
glanc
ing
at me sheepishly.

“S
orry,
just seeing what was available
.” She gave an embarrassed
smile.

I nodded and dropped my phone into
the side-pocket on
m
y bag. No use
holding
onto
it now.
I’d have to wait till we
landed
before I’d be able to check
for
any messages
again
.
If Cheyenne even sent any.

“I get a bit nervous watching planes take off,” Shelly added
, still jabbing her in-flight screen
. She was
trying
hard
to keep the conversation going. “I hope you don’t mind?”

I shrugged.

“
It’s fine.
It’
ll
be dark soon anyway
, you probably won’t see much
.” I adjusted
my seat,
trying to make my long legs fit.
Even in first class, I wasn’t a fan of
night flights, or any flights
at all
actually
.
E
xcept when Quinn was the pilot
, though he’d not taken us anywhere recently
.

Hey, w
hy didn’t y
ou ask Quinn to fly us, Callon?

Callon sighed.

It’s just the t
wo of us,
Colt.
Besides, he’s on vacation
.
And this isn’t exactly an emergency.

I sank back in my seat. Ha, I f
igured he’d say
that
.

A
nyway, a
ren’t
you
going to hold
Shelly’s
hand?
She said she was scared of take-off
s
.

I didn’t answer him.
He must’ve been really spooked about returning to the manor; I’d never seen him in such a teasing mood before.