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My heart dropped, and I straightened up. “What? What do you mean? Has it been canceled?”
“No… no it just doesn’t appear to be on the system at all.” She was a short woman with her blonde hair pulled into a tight bun and a pair of wire spectacles balanced on the end of her button nose. “Can I ask where you got this ticket?”
Slowly my heart began to pound like a drum. “It was given to me,” I said carefully, “through e-mail. From my uh… my employer.”
“I’m sorry,” the clerk apologized and shot me a weak smile. “I haven’t been here long, I might be missing something. Let me just call upstairs.”
As she stepped away to make the call, a cavern suddenly split open in my chest, and all the anxieties I had ignored in my determination to get out of the city spilled forth.
This was too good to be true. I had known that in the back of my mind. Gorgeous fathers wanting to give me an all-expenses paid trip to go with them for the holiday and provide extra childcare while paying me an obscene amount of money; it was a dream, some sort of scam, surely. The noise of the airport rose up around me, the crowds swelling in an uncomfortable heat, and the overhead voices calling gates and passengers became deafening.
Sweat pulsed down my spine, and my heart pounded harder. I watched her talk in a hushed tone when suddenly a grounding, warm hand landed on the small of my back, and a tall, heated presence loomed over me.
“It’s a private flight,” a deep voice rumbled behind me, “so it won’t be on this system.”
Every instinct to flinch burst through me like a rocket, and I spun around, bracing back against the desk as I came face-to-face with a tall, handsome man. Light brown hair gathered in a quiff on top of his head, accentuated by the shaved sides. Deep blue eyes stared at me from a handsome, tanned face, and his jaw was covered in a short, well-maintained beard. His lips pulled into a small, warm smile, crinkling the edges of his eyes.
“Summer, right? I wasn’t sure I would recognize you.”
“Who are you?” I snapped harsher than I intended, giving some of my building anxiety an outlet.
The man chuckled softly and held out one large hand. Peeking through the sleeve of his puffer jacket was a colorful flower tattoo, and it caught my eye immediately.
“I’m Theo, Theo Moore. CEO of Helix. I had to take care of some stuff at the office, so I booked myself one when I saw you’d requested a later flight.”
“Oh!” Foolishness swept through me, and my cheeks flushed as I grasped his hand. His palm was warm, his grip firm, and the flush that swept across my cheeks continued south, settling in my core. “Your son is…?”
“Kane,” Theo replied, and his smile widened. “Testing me?”
“Sort of,” I laughed. After all, I had never met Theo. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Theo said, dropping his hand back to the rucksack on his shoulder. “That’s the kind of cautiousness I want from the person looking after my son.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” came the clerk’s voice. I turned to face her, trying to quiet the racing thumps of my heart. “Your ticket is for a private charter which isn’t located on this system, but I’ve called security, and they’ll happily escort you to the gate.”
“Thank you so much!” I accepted my ticket back and the clerk’s gaze drifted behind me to Theo, her cheeks flushing pink. “Have a safe flight. Can I help you, sir?”
“No, thank you,” Theo replied, “I’m with her.”
“Oh.” Her eyes darted between the two of us, then she pushed her glasses up her nose and turned back to the line. “Next, please!”
I leaned down to grab my suitcase, but Theo got there first, picking it up with such ease that I couldn’t stop myself from wondering just what kind of muscles were hidden underneath that jacket. Why were all three of these men so fucking hot?
“Ever been to the Alps before?” Theo asked as we stepped to the side to wait on the escort.
“Nope.” I shook my head, fighting to keep my gaze on the crowds and the sickeningly bright lights so I didn’t gawk at Theo like a teenager. “Never.”
“Ohh,” Theo chuckled deeply, the sound warm like honey. “You are in for a treat.”
* * *
No one had toldme thatprivate charterwas just another word for obscene luxury. The jet’s inside was so large it hardly qualified forplanestatus. Inside, the walls were lined with marbled wood, with thick curtains gracing each window. The soft carpet looked far too rich to be stepped on, and just a glimpse of it gave me the urge to tiptoe to my seat. The rows were minimal, with a few luxurious cream leather seats dotted between white and black tables. Each was graced with an attached glass display filled with small flowers, ornate eggs, and foliage. They were quite beautiful.
The steward had taken my jacket upon entering and sat me in one of the incredible chairs, then listed off a series of meals that were so fancy I had no idea what I ended up ordering, much to Theo’s amusement. The next hour was a blur of safety instructions, belts, and a take-off that was so smooth I didn’t realize we were even in the air until I looked outside and saw the twinkling city that we were leaving behind.
LeavingFelixbehind.
In the air, the steward took me through the several entertainment systems on board while Theo busied himself with a laptop, commenting that sometimes the work was never-ending. To occupy myself, I stuck on a channel showingHallmarkChristmas movies and relaxed back into the seat, my mind racing.
