AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He picked up her headset and extended it to her, smiling when she yanked it from his hands.
Jax started the plane and slowly circled around to the end of the runway. Once they were beyond the crucial period of takeoff, he’d get his thoughts all out.
“Can I do it?”
Her abrupt question caught him off guard and he turned to her.
She met his gaze. “If I’m going to be leaving, I’d like to fly once more before I go.”
Oh, of course. She was leaving. Because she hadn’t thrown that around enough since she arrived. Jax gave a clipped nod and watched as she checked her gauges, the wings, and pulled in a deep breath. She gripped the controls and started them forward.
Jax didn’t know the last time he’d been in a plane piloted by someone else, but he had to admit, seeing Livie at the controls was a hell of a turn-on . . . which was the last thing he needed.
She took off with the ease of a seasoned professional. Jax couldn’t help but think Paul was smiling down on his prodigal daughter.
“I’ll fly, you talk,” she told him once they’d reached the desired altitude.
He had to admit, he loved hearing her voice come through the headset. He wanted to get used to this, but he also had to be realistic.
“I want a timeline of when you’re leaving and a projected time of when things will get started on the airport.”
Livie’s grip tightened on the controls, her knuckles turned white, and he had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from smiling. He’d purposely thrown her off. She expected him to discuss their rocky relationship. Not going to happen. The second she took those controls he knew how to make her think, make her want. She hadn’t lost the love of flying. The temptation had been too great for her to avoid.
“Well, um, I’m leaving in two weeks and the outline Jade had drawn up indicated that the process should take about a year to fully develop.”
A year. Sweet mercy, that seemed like a lifetime. He couldn’t even imagine how his tiny piece of real estate would grow. But he honestly didn’t want to go through this process without her. They were a team whether she wanted to admit it or not.
“I’m going to need to give my renters some information,” he went on. “Is their rent staying the same? Will there be a time the hangars are out of commission while the renovations are going on? My customers are going to have to be—”
“I get it,” she demanded. “I know. There’s a lot to take in.”
“We’re partners in this,” he reminded her.
She eased the plane a little to the west and headed farther away from Haven. Surprisingly, he figured she’d get uncomfortable with the topic and take them back to the airport. That would so be a Livie move.
“Are Jade and Melanie leaving when you do?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. We haven’t really discussed that. I’m sure they’d rather stay behind. They’re facing their own issues in Atlanta, so they’re not as eager to get back. Jade quit her job and Melanie can technically work from anywhere since she has a successful online business.”
As if she needed to twist that knife deeper.
“You think things are going to be neat and tidy, Livie?”
She glanced his way for the briefest of moments before she focused her attention back to the darkening sky. The timing of this flight couldn’t be any better. Livie loved being in the sky at night and he wanted to drive home the fact that all of this could be hers—was hers—if she would just reach out and take it.
For years he wondered what would happen if she ever came back and now she was here . . . but her temporary status had hung over their heads the entire time. He wasn’t nearly finished with her. She’d have to come back at some point and each time he had to deal with her whether by phone or in person, he’d be reminding her exactly what she was missing.
Was that fair? Not at all, considering she’d worked damn hard to get that promotion. And if he thought she was stoked about starting, he’d leave her be. But his Livie was torn, she was confused, and he knew if she listened to her heart she’d have the right answer.
They flew in silence and Jax was perfectly fine with that. He wanted her to be thinking, and he needed to do some evaluating himself. Even though his heart was crushed, he had to remain strong because he would live. He’d go on and do what he loved, which was flying and raising Piper.
“Will you see Piper before you go?”
“I’m not leaving for two weeks.”
“Will you see her?” he repeated. “Because I don’t want you just disappearing. She’s grown pretty fond of you.”
Livie’s deep sigh resonated through the headphones and had his entire body tightening. No, he’d never have enough of Livie Daniels. Not if they lived for another hundred years. She was it for him and he hoped like hell she’d come to some quick conclusion.
