Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
And that surprised the hell out of me, because generally that wasn’t something I would forget.
I was very much aware of where my body was at all times.
I made damn sure that I was never close to a man that I didn’t know.
Stomach now in knots due to the closeness I’d inadvertently put myself in, I pulled away quickly, dropping the fork from Audric’s tray into Cakes’ lap.
“Sorry,” I said, not going to reach for it.
Cakes picked it up and handed it to me. “Glad he at least licked it clean.”
Yeah…
I walked away with the tray and put it into the storage case.
Thirty minutes later, everything was picked up, including the dessert plates, and I had to steel myself to do what I had to do next.
Blockade myself in to get the pilots fed.
It was the worst part of my day.
Rolling the food cart into the space that would block the passengers from using the bathroom, I got on the phone and called to the pilots.
The one that answered, the co-pilot, I actually liked.
His name was Danial Kim. He was a Chinese immigrant and talked all about his life and his hopes and goals, making him easy to like.
His captain, though?
Well, Kory Banks was an utter dickbag.
I couldn’t stand him, and he couldn’t read the damn room.
He always tried to push my boundaries, and every time I had to go on a flight with him, I felt like throwing up the entire time.
Today, likely, would be no different.
Drawing in three calming breaths, I hung up the phone and waited for it to open.
I knew it wouldn’t be Danial coming out, and I was proved right a few seconds later.
“Well, hello there, princess,” Kory drawled.
I had to suppress the urge to vomit.
This was exactly the situation I never wanted to be in, yet I’d willingly put myself into it.
“Please don’t call me that,” I said quietly.
“Oh, sorry. You don’t like being called princess. I forgot,” he lied.
I gritted my teeth and stepped out of the way, allowing Kory to get his own food.
“Oh, lasagna. My favorite,” he cooed, batting his eyes at me. “Did you save me the best one?”
I barely contained the urge to curl my lip at him. “Actually, you can thank the big biker in the front row staring at you right now.”
Thank god for Audric’s attention, because he was the only thing making my skin feel like it wasn’t about to start crawling.
I wasn’t sure how I knew he was staring, but I could somehow feel it in my bones.
Then again, my “Audric Meter” had always been fully functioning.
“Who’s he?” He sounded jealous.
I wasn’t sure why.
Probably, I had a bit of a brain aneurysm, but the words came out of my mouth and even I couldn’t believe them as they spilled forth.
“That’s my boyfriend,” I lied, not believing the words that were slipping from my lips. “His name is Audric.”
The man that I’d knowingly and openly hated for the last how many ever years being my boyfriend? That was almost laughable.
Yet, somehow, I knew that I could make this work.
I knew I could.
Kory turned, his gaze going into the rows of first class, and I saw the moment he caught Audric’s eyes.
His shoulders stiffened and he said, “The one with the death glare and the look that he’ll kill me with just a thought?”
“That’s the one.” I forced myself to laugh.
“Bring him here. I’d like to meet him,” he ordered.
Here goes nothing…
“Audi.” I blinked, hoping the SOS I was giving with my eyelids by blinking my eyes would make him react normally. “Could you come here for a second?”
His eyes took me in for a few long moments then he got up and walked to the cart that was dividing him from us after Cakes got up and moved out of his way. “Haven’t heard that nickname in a while.”
No, he hadn’t.
I hadn’t used it since the day he’d walked in and walked right back out of the worst night of my life.
“Audi, I’d like you to meet Kory,” I said, purposefully not using his ‘captain’ title.
“Oh.” Audric held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Kory took Audric’s hand, and I saw the two men size each other up.
“So you’re her boyfriend, eh?” Kory asked, sounding like he was in on some kind of joke. “How’d you crack the frost queen?”
I winced.
I knew what I was known as.
It didn’t make the name any better, though.
“She’s not a frost queen with me,” Audric replied. “And never has been.”
That was sort of true.
I’d always been kind of fiery with him.
Antagonistic.
Bitchy.
Never frosty, though.
The man deserved my ire, not my cold shoulder.
“Ahh, like that is it?” he asked. “How long have you known Creole?”
Audric’s eyes flicked to mine before he said, “Since we were fifteen.”
“Ahh, so you knew her son!”
And everything inside of me died all over again.