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A rush of excitement bubbled up in her chest. “Then it’s only fair to tell you that I’ll look forward to that.”
He laughed. “That’s even better to know. But you changed the subject. I asked what the problem was.”
“Oh.” Her smile faded. “It’s nothing. Really.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak and then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. She could tell he was weighing his words carefully. “If I guess, will you tell me if I’m right or wrong?”
She had to think about that. She didn’t want to get Jamie into trouble if she was just being too sensitive, but if Jacob guessed that he was the problem, then he must have reason to, and it would mean that it wasn’t just her. “Okay.”
Jacob leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. He clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them. “Come closer.”
She hadn’t fastened her seatbelt yet – she hadn’t even noticed if there was one. So, she scooted to the edge of the seat and leaned forward.
Jacob was smiling, but his eyes were serious – and a deep, stormy gray. “It’s Jamie, isn’t it? He creeps you out.”
She swallowed and glanced out the window. She could see him out there greeting Trick.
“Trick seems awesome,” she offered.
Jacob let out a short laugh. “He is. But Jamie isn’t.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t want …”
Jacob reached out and rested his hand on her knee. “It’s okay. You’re not landing him in anything. I got a bad feeling about him from the first day I met him. There’s something … I don’t know. I don’t trust him. And if he makes you uncomfortable …”
“I don’t matter!”
His hand tightened on her knee. “Becca.”
He used that stern tone again, and with his hand on her leg, she knew damned well that she would do absolutely anything he asked – or told – her to when he talked like that.
He smiled through pursed lips. “I didn’t even use that tone on purpose. It’s just that I don’t like hearing you say things that aren’t true.”
She inhaled sharply. “What did I …?”
“You said that you don’t matter. And that’s just not true. You do matter, Becca. You matter a whole lot.”
~ ~ ~
Jacob withdrew his hand and sat back when he saw through the window that the pilots were starting up the steps. He didn’t want Becca to feel like he was pawing at her in front of people – he’d learned his lesson there. And it was for the best that he stopped talking before he told her just how much she was starting to matter to him.
What he’d told her was true – he had gotten a bad feeling about Jamie the very first time he met him. He was filling in for Elliott, who was the other company pilot, while he’d taken some time off to spend with his parents. His father was dying. Jacob swallowed. He couldn’t imagine how that would feel. His own parents had been laughing and joking as they went out for an evening – and they never came home. He’d taken the call from the hospital, but they’d both gone by the time he got there. He’d always wished that he’d had the chance to say goodbye – to tell them so many things. But knowing what Elliott had gone through over the last year of his father’s drawn-out fight against a brain tumor had made him wonder. Would it be any easier to have all that time and know that the inevitable end drew closer every day?
He forced himself back into the moment when Trick came to give them the mandatory safety briefing. He knew that a lot of private jet owners didn’t bother to do it. It might be mandatory, but it wasn’t like anyone outside the cabin would ever know. But he liked the ritual of it. Trick was a stickler for detail, just like he was. That need to attend to all the details, even when they might seem superfluous, was part of what made him so good at what he did – and it was part of what made Trick an excellent pilot.
He couldn’t help watching Becca as she listened to Trick and followed closely everything he pointed out. He might have second-guessed himself on the way here, but right now, having come to Oakland to get her felt like one of the best decisions he’d ever made.
She gripped the arm of the seat so tightly when they took off that her knuckles turned white.
It made him feel bad. Made him wish that they’d sat on the sofa in the back so that he could put his arm around her – even though he’d deliberately decided against doing that when they boarded.
“Hey.”
She gave him a big smile. “This is awesome!”
He had to laugh. “Are you sure? Are you a nervous flyer? I’m sorry I didn’t even think to ask.”
“Oh!” She looked down at her hand, and her cheeks turned pink as she released her death grip on the arm of the seat. “No. Not really. Not normally. But then …” she chuckled, “… this isn’t normal for me. The smallest plane I’ve ever been on before was one of those 28 seaters. I thought that was tiny, but this …”
