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“All right, so within the year, I get to take you up again, and hand over the controls to you.”
“Yup!” Just thinking about it made her stomach do a loop-de-loop. Good thing she had zero intention of flying with Lachlan ever again, not after this trip, no matter how beautifully he landed. Unless her bestie had a job for her, in a little more than two weeks, she’d be headed back to the States, she’d never see him again, and no way would he hunt her down just to claim his so-called prize. She’d bet her non-existent savings he’d forget all about their agreement as soon as he found someone else to charm the socks off.
“You’re on, Ladybug.”
Her heart rate was almost back to normal when he pointed to the air control tower jutting up in the near distance. “That’s us. You ready? I’m going to start our descent.”
The second he asked, her pulse revved up and her hands went back to her thighs. “I’ll never be readier.” Her mouth felt like she’d swallowed cotton or dust.
“You need something to grab onto, you know where to find me.”
She told herself she was going to be tough, but the plane juddered and that was it: her hand was back on his thigh. It was way too familiar to be touching him like that, but she needed the steady strength of him, the solid warmth under her palm. The reality of him brought her comfort. For a fleeting second, anyway. Then Lachlan banked the plane to the right, and seeing the left wing jutting up into the sky and the right one pointing down to the ground meant she had to squeeze her eyes shut.
She could feel the plane slowing, and her ears popped, letting her know they were getting lower, but it seemed like they were hovering forever, trapped in that space beneath the sky and above the earth, the engine roaring. She could hardly stand the limbo any longer. “Tell me when it’s over.”
“I guess I won then?” He had to be joking, or else trying to trick her into opening her eyes.
“Very cute. You can’t be declared the winner before you’ve even landed.”
“Open your eyes, woman. We already touched down.”
Her eyes flew open and—she couldn’t believe it. He’d landed so smoothly, she would’ve sworn they were still flying. She hadn’t felt a thing except the unshakeable sturdiness of him beside her: he hadn’t so much as twitched.
“I guess you did. Congratulations! You’ve won yourself the delightful company of an aerophobic.”
“We’ll get you cured of that in no time.”
She drew her hand from his leg and slid it back to her own lap, but the prickling awareness of him didn’t go away. And neither did her embarrassment when she saw she’d left finger marks on his bare skin, just below where his shorts stopped.
4
DASH AWAY
Either there’d been a mistake or Lachlan had misunderstood—which seemed to be the theme of the day. Lena already had her luggage, but the security officer had ducked into the back room and was searching for something else.
“Oh, hooray!” Carissa let go of the purple roller bag the officer had brought her and clapped excitedly as the burly bloke wheeled out another carry-on sized bag and a full-sized suitcase.
Her smile as she grabbed hold of the second carry-on was a revelation. One because he’d drastically underestimated the amount of luggage she’d brought and two because it was the first time he’d seen her face without a trace of worry or anxiety or concern on it. He was glad her tension was finally starting to unwind. She was pretty all the time, but when she was relaxed and happy enough to smile like that?Beautiful.That was the only way to describe her.
He’d thought she was pretty when he’d first caught sight of her sleeping at Bankstown, and the longer he spent with her, the more glimpses he got of who she was when she let her guard down, the more attractive she was. He liked every version of herself she’d shown him so far—when she was ribbing him, when she was nervous, and definitely when she was happy. But it was a mistake for him to be thinking about her in that way. If he was smart, there’d be no more of him holding her hand or her grabbing his thigh. In the first place, trauma bonding wasn’t his thing, and if they were going to touch, he’d rather it be under positive circumstances, because they wanted to, not because someone was panicked or upset. But as much as he’d like to explore the idea of positive touching with her, ‘it was an ill bird that foul’s its own nest.’
She was his best friend’s girlfriend’s bestie and Lachlan had already gathered from the way Lena talked about Carissa that she was as good as a sister. There was too much at stake if he messed things up, which meant he needed to keep her in the friend zone.
“Earth to Big Nick…” Carissa’s tone snapped him back to the present moment and alerted him to the fact that the security officer had set thethirdbag in front of Carissa. Either lots of people’s luggage had been tagged as Carissa’s or… “A little help here, maybe?” She angled the largest of the bags in his direction.
Three bags weren’t a revelation, they were a problem.
“Lena didn’t say you were moving in.” In fact, when Lena had told him about her bestie, and shown him her picture so he’d be sure to recognise her, he was certain she’d said Carissa was just coming to visit; yet another reason to keep her in the friend zone.
His comment made her narrow her eyes and glare at him. “I’m not—I’m visiting until New Year’s.”
“That’s it? Two weeks? But…” He looked between her and the bags and she scowled at the unspoken implication.
“You think I overpacked?”
“I don’tthinkso, Iknowit.”
Her hand was back on her hip. “Did you forget it’s Christmas? It’s not like I can very well show up without a single gift. I didn’t know what I’d find here.” She gestured as if to encompass the entire airport and the expanse of open land outside it.
