“Yes, Forrest Gump, it is. By me. Now, sit.”
He lowered his tall body into his seat. “Um, no. My bodyguard—”
“Paid me two hundred bucks to come sit up here with you.”
His mouth fell opened and closed several times before he finally exclaimed, “He did what?”
Ignoring his outburst, I searched for my seat belt. “Better buckle up,” I suggested. “Wouldn’t want anything to happen to a superstar like you in the air.” I winked, knowing good and damn well it was going to set him off.
“Where’s Carter?” he seethed. Then he suddenly paused the anger to flash a kind smile at the flight attendant as she walked past.
“Hey, look at you, fast learner,” I praised with a wide grin.
As he settled deeper into his seat, his piercing, blue eyes dropped to my mouth, lingering for a beat too long.
My smile wavered under his scrutiny, and for the briefest of seconds, I swear I saw a victorious twitch pull at the corner of his lips.
“Who the hell are you anyway? Air marshal who pulled the short straw on babysitting?” he asked quietly—as if he suddenly gave a damn about the dozen passengers who had been watching his hissy fit.
I narrowed my eyes. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” he bit back. His gaze stayed locked on mine as he tipped his empty glass to his lips, sucking back nothing more than a drop of melted ice before passing it to me. “Take care of that.”
I rolled my eyes and then signaled to the flight attendant.
She gave Henry a wary glance before retrieving the glass, switching it for a cup of ice water. “Everything good?”
“Perfection,” Henry replied with a saccharine smile. He then held her gaze and tossed back the water as a show of good faith. When she was out of earshot, he grumbled a curse. “Anyway…who are you?”
Tugging my hat off, I ran a hand through my thick, dark hair before rocking it back on. “Evan Roth. Your pilot. We met yesterday.”
The muscles in his jaw ticked as he gave me a quick head-to-toe appraisal. “Oh. Right. You broke my plane.”
“I didn’t break your plane. It had—”
Suddenly, ice flew from his glass, landing in his lap when an air wrench sounded outside the plane. His free hand slapped down on my forearm before gripping impossibly tight.
“Shit! What the fuck are they doing out there?”
Lifting my arm with his fingers painfully biting into my skin, I pinched the bridge of my nose.
Deep breath, Roth.
Deep fucking breath.
I pointed out the window. “That’s a good sound. You want to hear two of those, actually.” I cupped my hand to my ear just as the second one sounded. “See.”
His tense posture momentarily relaxed. “Why are you here?”
“I told you. Two hundred bucks. Given the company, I’m not so sure it’s worth it anymore. But I’ve heard there might be some free drinks to sweeten up the deal.” I clapped my hands and rubbed them together.
“I’ll buy you whatever drink you want if you go get Carter before we take off,” he replied with attitude, but it barely masked the shake of vulnerability in his voice.
I actually felt bad for him.
“Look,” I said. “He thought it might help if you had a professional to answer your questions. Why don’t you just sit back and chill. I’ll let you know if there’s anything to worry about.”
His gaze met mine, a mixture of hope and relief filling his face only to transform into terror when the ding of a passenger assistance button sounded.
Leaning toward him, I smiled playfully and whispered, “Relax. Some rich prick just wants a second blanket. She’ll tell him no. He’ll pout.” I sat up and straightened my invisible tie. “In my professional opinion, I don’t believe the repercussions of his pouting will be catastrophic.”
His eyes lit in relief for a fraction of a second before dropping to my smiling mouth again. I witnessed his stare, but I could have been blind and I still would have felt it gliding over my skin.
“So, there you go,” I said uncomfortably. “What other question do you have for me? Come on. Fire away. Knowing is half the battle, my friend.”
“Awesome. Carter sent me Optimus Prime,” he mumbled to himself.
“Optimus Prime?”
He waved off my question. “That ‘knowing is half the battle’ shit. It’s from Transformers.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, and his nervous gaze flew to mine.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Please, God, tell me you’re kidding. Transformers?”
“Is that wrong?” He took the safety booklet out and started flipping through it when the flight attendant began her preflight announcements.
“That is so far past wrong, wrong isn’t even visible anymore,” I whispered. “I’m actually embarrassed for you right now. For a man your age, you should be ashamed.”
He gasped, slowly swinging a scowl my way. “A man my age? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”