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“Is there ice in there?” She gestured to the miniature fridge in the kitchen area behind me. “Take ice cubes and put them down your shirt.”
I fluttered my lips, rose, and opened the freezer door. My hand delved into the frigid cubes. After retrieving a handful of ice from within the freezer, I faced the two women.
Adelie chewed her lip and watched me eagerly, while Ella’s brow was skeptically raised.
The smart aleck in me considered takingoffmy shirt, letting them ogle while my muscles flexed, and then dropping the cubes in the fabric as I held it away from me.
I was out to make Ella squirm, yes, but I also wanted that smile.
She’d barely talk to me with my shirt on. If I took it off, she’d probably open the plane’s side door and shove me out of it without a parachute.
I pulled back my shirt collar and then let the ice slide down my chest. The cold cubes were stark and sharp, trailing goosebumps down my skin.
One lodged at the top of my pants, making me squirm. The two women laughed as I danced around to keep it from invading—and soon the ice was on the carpet. I bent for the cubes, tossed them into the sink,and sat again.
“Not a bad start,” I said, still feeling the arctic trail on my chest.
She lifted her chin, smug, but still didn’t crack her lips.
Payback time.
“Ella, truth or dare?”
I hoped she picked Dare. That ice was cold.
“Truth.”
“Coward.”
Her brows raised, and she met me stare for stare. Eye contact was good. A smile would be easy now that she was loosening up and giving me her attention.
I linked my fingers together and twined my hands. Pushing them away from me, I tried to think of the most random question I could.
“If you were suddenly arrested for no reason, what would your family and friends assume you did?”
Adelie snorted. At least the question had made her laugh.
Ella’s mouth twitched again. Was that a sign of amusement?
“I don’t know,” she said. “Theft, maybe.”
This surprised me. “Do you often steal things?”
“Not once.”
“Really? Not even candy bars or small toys as a kid or something?”
I mean—okay. I’d stolen a candy bar once.
What can I say, I’ve always had a thing for Twix bars. My company had a knockoff that was better, if I said so myself.
“Not once,” she repeated, lifting that pert nose.
“Then why would your family assume you were a thief?”
She raised a single shoulder and glanced at Adelie, who, for some reason, gave her a sympathetic glance. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past them.”
Was there some kind of issue between her and her family? Before I could ask, the pilot’s voice came over the speaker.
