This time it was her own bark of laughter that bounced off the walls.
That seemed to make Slater relax a bit. “Seriously, Evie. You didn’t do anything wrong. Every word out of that guy’s mouth makes him a walking red flag. You’re better off without him.”
“I appreciate you saying that, but…” She sighed. “It’s turning into the story of my life.”
He didn’t push her to elaborate.
“I’m just so tired of…I don’t know. Everything,” she admitted.
“Sounds to me like you need to maybe…get away? Take a break from life here in the Emerald City.”
As much as she hated to admit it, he was right.
And that’s when it hit her.
The answer was right there in front of her.
Literally.
Smiling up at him, she asked, “Is there still room for one more on your flight back to the resort?”
His smile grew so wide it dazzled her. “Sweetheart, I’d make room for you, even if it meant throwing someone else off.”
Her heart fluttered at his words. “Then I guess I’m flying home with you. When do we leave?”
Chapter Two
They left Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, a little later in the day than planned, but Milo nearly had to be dragged away because he kept finding “one more thing” to do before he felt confident in leaving.
When they finally took off, Slater was more than ready to get them in the air. Meanwhile, poor Evie had been nervous about the whole thing, but in the cutest way. When they picked her up this morning, she apologized profusely for her three suitcases.
Three.
And not three large ones, but a complete set—small, medium, and large.
“Stop apologizing,” he’d told her. “You’re going to be gone for a month. I’m sure there’s more you could have packed with you.”
“I know, but then I reasoned that I could go shopping if there was anything I couldn’t live without.”
“Exactly.”
That was three hours ago and every time he caught sight of her—which he did a lot because he decided to keep the door between the cockpit and main cabin open—he could still see that she wasn’t fully comfortable with the whole situation yet.
Although, that could have more to do with Milo and Nora and the fact that they were practically all over each other—like they wanted to join the mile-high club and seemed to forget that Evie was sitting right there beside them. He’d distracted them multiple times by reminding them of where all the food and drinks were and rambling random facts about flying, but as soon as he was done speaking, they were back to cooing at each other.
Whatever.
At some point, Evie took out a book and moved up a few rows—not that there were many to choose from—but she was clearly trying to put some distance between them.
Poor kid.
Slater had settled into the easy rhythm of cruising altitude when there was a light knock on the cockpit door.
He didn’t need to turn around to know it was Evie. He’d already clocked Milo and Nora’s escalating situation in the rearview mirror—hands everywhere, foreheads pressed together, that whisper-laugh cadence that meant they’d forgotten the existence of other humans entirely. It was escalating by the second.
“Hey,” Evie said gently, hovering in the doorway. “Is it okay if I hide up here for a little while? I love them, but they’re… a lot.”
He smiled before he could stop himself. “You’re safe here. Come on in.”
