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“No. Please, leave it open.”
He eyes me for a minute and then lowers his arm.
“Are you sure?” he asks, his voice laced with concern.
I give him a reassuring smile. “Yes.”
With a short nod, he places his arm back on the armrest.
As scared as I am of flying, I have this uncontrollable urge to look out the window. Turning my head from Asher’s probing gaze, I take my first look out the window and gasp in shock at what I see. I would have never thought it would look so uniform. I’m totally mesmerized by it and forget the fear I was feeling moments ago. Everything looks so small from up here. It’s amazing to watch the tiny cars glide along the roads and see the tops of trees and buildings float by. I literally feel like I’m on top of the world.
I’m captivated by the scenery for a good ten minutes, then it starts to fade into fog. A smile breaks across my face when I realize we’re flying through the clouds, but it fades seconds later when I feel a bump, followed by several more. My hands fly back to the armrests, and I grip them tight. This has got to be the dreaded turbulence you always hear about. I look around the cabin to see Asher still watching me. He doesn’t seem to be worried about the jerks and bumps of the jet. Seraphina unbuckles her seatbelt and stands. Shouldn’t she stay in her seat? This is my first flight, so I have nothing to compare it to, but neither Asher nor Seraphina seems to be fazed by it, so it can’t be bad, right?
My death grip on the armrests get tighter as my stomach plummets to my feet. Seraphina walks in her tall heels toward us like we’re back on the ground, her gait steady. How is she not freaking out right now? And how can she walk so easily without grabbing the seats as she walks by them?
She stops next to Asher, her sugary smile in place. The look she gives him turns my stomach even more. Why in the hell do I care if she looks at him like she wants to devour him whole? It’s not like I have any say over who he sees or what he does. It’s stupid to feel this dislike toward her, especially when I have Sterling. It’s Sterling that I want.
“Can I get either of you anything?” she asks, not bothering to mask the husky tone in her voice. It grates on my nerves.
What the hell is wrong with me? Am I jealous? That would be idiotic, but at least it’s distracting me from the unsteadiness of the jet.
I’m just about to order a water, when Asher says, “Two Johnny Walkers, neat. Make one a double.”
I open my mouth to say something, but Asher turns his attention back to me, effectively dismissing Seraphina. My eyes flicker up to hers, and I catch her sneer before she walks off.
“She doesn’t like me,” I mutter, watching her retreating back.
“It doesn’t matter. This will be her last trip.” Asher’s words have me looking back at him.
“Why’s that?” I ask, tipping my head curiously.
“Because as soon as we get to Texas, I’m firing her,” he says, not an ounce of remorse in his voice.
“What? But why?”
“Because she deliberately went against my wishes. She wasn’t just informed by an employee on where you sit, I told her myself, not even five minutes before you boarded.”
It still seems kind of harsh to fire her over something so unimportant as not sitting me where he wanted me. I may not care for her, but that doesn’t mean I want her fired.
“Isn’t that a little extreme?”
“No. I’ve had problems with her before. She has a knack for flirting with clients and disregarding rules. She damn near lost me a client when his wife traveled with him on a business trip. She had him cornered in the bathroom when his wife walked up. Luckily, he was able to convince his wife that nothing happened. She was warned that if there were any more issues, she would be let go.”
My mouth opens in shock, but I’m not sure why I’m surprised. I’m normally not one to judge, but the vibe I’ve gotten off her and the looks she’s sent my way proves she’s not against using her body to get what she wants. I like that Asher can see past her fake beauty to the person she is inside. But I’m also sad that she feels like she needs to use herself like that. It will get her nowhere, and will only end up hurting her. Point in fact, she’s being fired because she broke the rules and thought she wouldn’t be reprimanded for it because of her looks.
She walks back to us carrying a small tray with two glasses on it. Leaning forward, Asher unlocks the tray in front of me so it lays flat before reaching for the glasses Seraphina holds out for him. He doesn’t even look her way, and I can see the deflated look on her face when she notices.
Instead of handing me the glass with the smaller portion, he gives me the double. I gawk at it for several seconds before trying to hand it back to him.
“I can’t drink this.”
It’s not that I can’t drink it, it’s that I don’t want to. I don’t drink often, and when I do, it’s only Moscato, or some type of fruity drink.
He doesn’t even look at the glass as I hold it out to him.
“It’ll help calm your nerves,” he replies.
He doesn’t even get the words out of his mouth before there’s a particularly rough patch of turbulence. I’m sure my eyes are as wide as saucers, and I quickly bring the glass to my lips. It burns, but it’s not as harsh as I thought it would. I guess the more expensive the whiskey, the easier it goes down. Before I know it, the glass is tipped all the way back and I’m gulping air. I frown and glance down at it.
