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Hayden’s eyes flickered down and for a moment, I thought he was checking out my chest. I was about to get angry, but then I realized he was looking at the name tag pinned to my shirt.
“That’s an interesting spelling of your name,” he commented with a charismatic smile that made my heart flutter despite my dislike for the man.
He was undeniably handsome with his thick dark hair and strong jawline. I could see why he and his brothers were considered to be the “sex appeal of the upper class” according to a magazine that featured Hayden’s older brother, Dylan, on the cover just last month. They were all unfairly good-looking, with the most captivating blue eyes, which almost didn’t seem fair, considering how lucky they were in all other areas of life.
“My mom chose it,” I said, feeling like an idiot as the words came out of my mouth.
Hayden chuckled. “Thatisthe way it usually goes.”
Not surprisingly, he was already flirting with me, but I remained professional, refusing to let down my guard. “So…would you care for a drink?”
“Sure. I’ll take a gin and tonic,” he said, his voice smooth and deep. “And why don’t you make one for yourself too?”
He gestured to the empty seat beside him, and I shook my head. “Sorry, I can’t. It’s against regulations.”
He arched a dark brow, a playful light dancing in his eyes. “Rules are made to be broken.”
His words were followed by a shameless wink that was probably supposed to be charming, but I wasn’t going to fall for that. I knew better. “Not by me,” I said, offering him a tight smile.
Heading to the back of the plane, I made him his drink and delivered it just as the pilot turned on the signal to fasten seatbelts. I wordlessly pointed it out to Hayden, who rolled his eyes, but complied.
I had a seat in the back of the aircraft that folded down from the wall, so I sat there while we took off. Once we were in the air, I was free to move around again, but I didn’t have much to do since Hayden was on a phone call and still had a nearly full drink.
The flight was supposed to be about three hours, so I pulled out a magazine from my bag and flipped through it to pass the time. I couldn’t help catching snippets of Hayden’s conversation, and I gathered that whatever this meeting we were headed to was about, it was going to result in the Reid’s company making even more money.
Figures.How much wealth did one family need?
The flight was normal for the first hour. I refilled Hayden’s drink when he finished the first one and checked in with the pilots to see if they needed anything. When Hayden wasn’t talking on the phone, the device still had his full attention as he sent text messages or whatever he was doing. I was just glad that he wasn’t being flirty with me anymore. I didn’t like that I found him attractive enough to enjoy it a little.
Then, the inside of the plane gradually seemed to grow dark. I frowned and moved to one of the windows, peering out. The bright sunshine that had been streaming into the fuselage through the round windows on both sides of the plane was now being blocked by clouds. The ones nearest to us were white, but thick.
Ahead, they were dark and ominous.
I didn’t check the weather forecast for this particular flight, but I wasn’t immediately concerned, even when everything outside became even darker and it started to rain.
Bad weather was a part of flying. We just had to get through it and weather the storm, so to speak. These planes were designed to handle this sort of thing.
But it didn’t take long to realize that this storm was severe. The rain was coming down so hard that I could hear it over the plane’s engine, hitting the outside of the aircraft. I made my way to the front of the plane, holding onto the backs of the seats as I went in order to keep my balance while the harsh wind buffeted the plane around.
“Whoa, this looks serious,” Hayden said as I passed him. He moved out of his seat and went to the other side of the plane to look out and see that the same thing was going on over there.
“I need you to stay in your seat and buckle up while we’re experiencing this much turbulence,” I said, still heading to the cockpit.
“It’s just some wind.”
“Yeah, that’s whatturbulenceis,” I snapped.
I knew that harsh tone was unprofessional of me, but I was scared. I’d never flown in such violent weather before, and the way the plane was lurching and shaking turned my stomach.
When I reached the cockpit, I knocked on the door before opening it. When Dale glanced back at me, I immediately knew that I had every reason to be afraid. The worry in his eyes spoke volumes and increased my anxiety.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
The moment the question left my mouth, I saw a flash of lightning in the sky directly in front us.Way too close. Thunder followed, and the deep rumble of it rattled the plane and made my knees feel weak.
“It’s bad,” Sandra replied without turning to look at me. Even though she didn’t sound as panicked as I felt, I could see that she was tense. “Our visibility is impaired.”
I could see that for myself. Staring out the front window, I could barely make out anything beyond the heavy rain hammering against the glass.
