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“Ah, Ms. Danforth. Sorry for the interruption. We’ll be boarding soon, and there’s been a change.”
My heart feels like it’s in my stomach. Are they bumping me to a later flight? Or a later day?
“You’ve been upgraded to first class.”
What?
“I’m sorry. I must not have heard you correctly.”
The attractive agent gives me a wry smile. “Oh, you heard me just fine. You’ve been upgraded to first class. If you could hand me your original boarding pass, I’ll give you the new one.”
Holy crap.This kind of thing never happens to me. “Oh. Of course.” Reaching into my purse, my hands shaking, I retrieve the thin slip of paper. “Here you go.”
“Have you ever flown first class?” he asks without judgment.
“No. This whole thing is a dream. I won a trip through my job. I haven’t done anything like this before.”
He stops typing, leans forward, and drops his voice. “I think this is your time to shine, beautiful.”
I can feel myself standing a little taller as my grin takes over my face. I’m a little overwhelmed by all of it, to be honest. “Thank you. I’m ready.”
He gives me a friendly smile and hands the new documents to me. “We’ll be boarding first class passengers soon. When you hear the announcement, come right on up and enjoy every moment of flying the friendly skies on your way to Jamaica.” He winks.
I can’t help but beam at him. “Thank you. I will.”
After hitting the lavatory quickly before the passengers are called to board, I’m barely back in my seat before the announcement is made. Collecting my carry-on luggage, I make my way back to the gate and hand the handsome agent my ticket. My eyes land on his nametag as he scans the slip of paper. “Thank you, Rashaun.”
“You’re most welcome, Ms. Danforth. Enjoy your trip.”
As I head down the gangway, I feel a little zeal of electricity over this start to my journey. Is this the way the billionaire boyfriends from my romance novels travel? Nah. They probably go by private jet. I laugh.
Daniel and I were blessed. We weren’t wealthy by any means. But we both had great jobs with limited debt. He’d had a small school loan, which we paid off rather quickly after we were married. My tuition had been paid for by money my father had left in a college fund before he passed away.
We tried to live within our means. We were careful about buying a home we could afford, didn’t eat out often, and the vacations we planned were budget friendly. While I drive a Lexus, it’s an older model I purchased several years ago from a patient at Hanover Haven. Jasmine said they were looking for someone to take it off of their hands as they no longer felt safe enough to drive. I managed to acquire it for well under Blue Book value. The owner only wanted what was left on the loan. The sale was handled through the patient’s attorney, so I’m not one-hundred-percent sure who it belonged to. However, I’ve always had my suspicions it was Agnes.
“Good morning, miss. May I see your boarding pass?” the pretty flight attendant asks.
“Oh, yes.” I extend it to her, and she directs me to my seat.
Wow. I don’t fly often, and when I do, I figure I’ve scored if I get an aisle seat. But these seats are plush, cream-colored leather with blankets wrapped in cellophane lying in wait. “Thank you.”
She assists me in placing my carry-on in the overhead bin before I take my seat. “I’ll be back once I get the rest of the first-class passengers settled. Would you like a glass of champagne?”
Is she for real? “Um, sure.” I mouth ‘Oh, my, god.’ as she walks away, unsure I believe my luck. Now, if only a scorching hot billionaire would sit down next to me, this trip would be almost perfect.
Lying back in my seat, I can’t help but think of the one man who could potentially fit that description. Had I made a colossal mistake turning him down? I’ve had a hard enough time going to work each day following Dan’s death. I don’t know if I could handle the anguish of seeing him there if he broke my heart. Which he undoubtedly would. I mean, we have nothing in common.
“Here you go.” I look over to see the flight attendant has returned with a flute of champagne. In a glass. No plastic cups here in first class.
“Thank you. Is everyone onboard? I thought it was a full flight, but no one’s sitting here.”
“The seat was purchased, but it appears they didn’t make it.”
“Oh.” I almost feel disappointed for this person I’ve never met. Now that I know what they’re missing out on. Who knows. Maybe they travel like this all the time and missing this flight is no big deal. “I hope they’re okay.”
“We’ll be taking off shortly. The flight to Jamaica is only about three hours. Plus, there’s a time change so you’ll gain an hour once you land.” Her eyes sparkle beneath her long, dark lashes. I wonder if they have to attend some type of flight attendant makeup training camp? Everyone I’ve ever met always looks flawless. It’s probably in the job description. I shrug, take a sip of my champagne, and giggle. And here I was, hoping I wasn’t going to be in a middle seat wedged between a crying baby and someone with body odor.
Pulling out one of several books I’ve packed, I excitedly open the mafia romance I’ve had on my shelf for far too long. I’m usually not into mafia books, but ‘Taken By My Best Friend’ sounds like a great read. And honestly, I need to take a bit of a break from the billionaire romances. I can’t help but picture Broadie Weston as the leading man in all of them. This can get awkward when you worry you’ll bump into him at work after getting off to thoughts of him between your legs the night before. Heat hits my cheeks at the memory of the last such occasion. I kept imagining how he felt behind me in the cafeteria that day. Except this time, he was naked and buried inside me.
