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Chapter One
Courtney
“Flight two-twelve to Dallas boarding at gate forty-six.”
The loudspeakers cut through the din of the airport and intrude on the goodbye kiss I’m trying to have with my husband.
“Damn it,” Leon mutters as he pulls his full lips away from mine. Everything about him is big in the most delicious way. “That’s me, babe. I gotta go.” “I know,” I say with a sigh. “Just one more. I’m not going to see you for a week.” I pout a little—very adult of me, I know—and lift my face to his again, my tongue darting out to lick at his lower lip. My arms wrap around his thick neck and I push against him. It’s going to be days before I’m able to touch him again.
“Last call for boarding flight two-twelve to Dallas.”
Leon pulls back, leans down to kiss my forehead, and murmurs, “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Call me as soon as you land?”
“Promise. Don’t forget about the contractor coming by this week. I’ll miss you.” He throws the words over his shoulder as he drags his carry-on toward the gate. I watch as the attendant checks Leon in, and I give Leon a smile and a wave when he turns to look at me before he heads down the jetway.
He’s the last passenger, and the gates shut behind him.
With a sigh, I pull up the handle on my own carry-on and make my way from his gate to mine. My gate is in a different terminal, and while I could take inter-terminal transportation, I decide to walk.
This has been our life for the past six months. It seems like every time I see Leon, it’s in a fluorescent-lit airport terminal and one or both of us is either coming or going. When we first got married, we knew we’d have to spend some time apart—I work as a flight attendant—but then Leon got a huge promotion at work and now he’s gone pretty much every other week.
It sucks.
Itreallysucks.
But I don’t want Leon to know that I’m struggling with our situation. I want him to do what he loves, and I know he loves his job just as much as I love mine. He’s a commercial real estate developer, and he gets to buy and sell all these huge, amazing properties. And I won’t lie—the money is pretty damn good.
But I also don’t want to sacrifice my marriage for a paycheck.
I shake off my thoughts as I reach my gate and say hi to the attendant at the desk. He pulls open the accordion gate and I drag myself and my bag down the jetway. Ugh. I’m not feeling this today. I love my job, and I love all the travel and the people…but it’s hard to be excited about work when my marriage is suffering because of it.
On the plane, I store my bag and greet the perky blonde attendant who will be working the flight with me. “Hey, Summer.”
“Hey, girl! Orlando, woohoo!” Summer grins and nudges me in the ribs as I pass her. “You ready for a wild night out tonight?”
“I dunno, girl. I’m already tired and the flight hasn’t even started. Think I might just go straight to the hotel and sleep until it’s time to head out.”
“Wow, you’re boring now that you’re a married woman,” Summer says with a smirk.
I force a laugh.
“I’m just giving you a hard time,” she says. “Hey, maybe we can do some spa time instead of going out.”
“Yeah. Maybe we can do that.”
The flight is uneventful, except for the lady in 2B who demands sparkling water in a champagne glass for her emotional support chihuahua. I catch myself before I roll my eyes in front of her, then bring the dog his drink.
His tiny tail wags furiously as he laps the sparkling water out of the glass.
After we land and all the passengers disembark, I check my phone to see if Leon has texted or called, but he hasn’t. I grab my carry-on and head up the jetway behind Summer and the pilots, who are giggling about something.
Summer looks over her shoulder at me. “You still want to hang out tonight, Courtney? Do facials or something?”
The co-pilot snorts and Summer shoots him a dirty look.
I shake my head. “No, you should go out and have fun. I’m going to take a bath and head to bed early.”
