Christa gasped. She couldn’t speak. Was he for real?
He chuckled. “I’ve shocked you. Just think about it. This thing between us is for real. It’s solid. I’m never letting you go. So, if there’s something you’d rather be doing than working for Open Skies, you can do it. Whatever you want.”
She blinked several times, still trying to absorb his suggestion. And then a tear fell without permission.
“Hey. Damn. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He wiped it with his thumb.
She grabbed his hand. “You’d do that for me?”
His head jerked back a few inches, and he frowned. “Of course. I’d do anything for you. I just wasn’t sure how or when to make the suggestion. Now seemed like a good time. Now while you have a few weeks to think about it and maybe do some research while you have the time.”
More tears fell. She swiped at them.
He pulled her against his chest and ran his hand up and down her back. “I made you cry.”
“Just because you’re being so nice,” she murmured against his chest, trying to avoid the full-on ugly bawling that was hovering close. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply several times before finally pulling back and meeting his gaze. “I haven’t thought about that in over two years. It’s a lot to consider.”
He nodded. “I know. That’s why I put it out there.”
“I love you,” she repeated.
“I love you too, baby.”
She leaned into him again and just rested against him for a long, long time while her mind ran over the possibilities.
Epilogue
Six months later…
* * *
“Surprise!”
Christa screamed in shock the moment she stepped into the house and heard God-knew-how-many voices shouting that one word. The kitchen and living room were filled with people. Balloons hung from the ceiling, and a giant banner that read “Congratulations” hung along the far wall. Somehow, her friends had pulled off a surprise party.
She was still breathing heavily from shock, a silly grin on her face, as Mack took her bag and purse from her and set them on the counter. He gave her a big hug and then kissed her soundly before meeting her gaze again. “Surprised?”
“Very. How did you manage this?”
“It wasn’t easy. It’s difficult to keep secrets from you.”
She let her gaze roam the room, falling on all of their friends. Jason, Bracken, and Jake from Westside Programmers. Libby, Bex, and Shayla from Open Skies. Destiny and Trent were even there. “I knew you were planning something,” she murmured, “but I didn’t think it was a surprise party.”
“Well, it’s not every day my woman gets into law school.” He kissed the top of her head and then released her. “Go. Make your rounds.”
Christa was excited. She was. What a nice surprise. There was nothing better than an evening with all her friends in one place. What an amazing group of people. She loved them all.
She was happy. So happy, she reminded herself.
Yep. Excited. Very.
Except maybe just a little disappointed. Dammit.
She’d heard Mack whispering on the phone a few times. She’d even known he’d called her friends. She had convinced herself that he was about to ask her to marry him. Every time she caught him sneaking around, she grew more excited than the last. Surely, he was about to pop the question.
And now this. This surprise party. All this time she’d been way off the mark. As she wandered around hugging her friends and pasting on the best smile in the world, she forced herself not to be so selfish. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to make this happen. Disappointment was inappropriate.
For the next hour, Christa nibbled on finger foods, drank fancy drinks, and moved from group to group, chatting with her friends about her plans. She’d gone back to work at Open Skies after six weeks, but she’d never resumed full-time, nor had she gone back to working the redeye every shift.
When she wasn’t working, she’d put all her spare time into studying for the LSAT and applying to schools.
Now that she would be starting school soon, she would cut her hours back even further. She was both excited and nervous.
Suddenly, a popping sound behind her made her jump, and she twisted around to find Jake holding up a bottle of champagne. “I’d like to make a toast.”
Mack whacked him on the back of the head and laughed. “How about you wait to make a toast after my speech.”
Jake laughed and set the champagne down on the counter. “Fine. All right,” he joked.
Mack wove through their friends until he reached Christa.
She was so confused, and she kept glancing at Jake, who was grinning from ear to ear.
When Mack dropped down onto one knee, Christa gasped. Oh my God. She flattened a palm over her heart.
He pulled a small jewelry box from his pocket and took her hand. “Christa Boyce, you’ve made me the happiest man alive for the past eight months. Until you came into my life, I was just shuffling along. Life was a bit boring. And then, there you were, a breath of fresh air, with your gorgeous blond hair and your baby blue eyes. You knocked me on my knees and took my breath away that very first night, and you’ve been doing so every time you walk through a door since then. I’m hoping you’ll consider spending the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me, baby?” He flipped open the box to reveal a large diamond solitaire.
Christa was full-on crying by the time he finished that speech, and she was grateful that at least four people seemed to be filming it from every angle because she wanted to watch the video again and again for the rest of her life.
There was a silent lull in the room, and she realized they were all waiting on her, especially Mack, who had both brows lifted and was starting to sweat.
“Yes,” she finally managed to respond. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Mack took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. And then he rose to his feet and kissed her as if no one else were in the room.
Christa wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She never wanted to let him go. She was vaguely aware of champagne being poured and all of their friends toasting, but she only had eyes for Mack.
I hope you’ve enjoyed Redeye. Please enjoy the following excerpt from Nonstop, the third book in the Open Skies series.
“I knew it was a bad idea to invite you over to watch the game with me.”
Bracken jerked his gaze from the cute brunette in the kitchen to find his friend Kraft smirking at him from the other end of the sectional. Bracken frowned. “What are you talking about.” He tipped his beer back, taking another swig.
“Do you know the score?” Kraft teased.
Bracken winced as he looked at the television. Shit. Commercial. He had no idea what the score was.
Kraft laughed. “That’s what I thought.”
Bracken ignored Kraft and turned his attention back toward the kitchen area where Kraft’s girlfriend Christa was making scones with her friend Rebekah—or Bex as she’d informed him. The two women were covered in flour, as was the kitchen island and even part of the floor.
Ordinarily the mess would make him crazy, but the scene was so domestic that he couldn’t stop grinning. Domestic? Since when did he give a shit about anything domestic?
“I knew you’d fall for her,” Kraft stated, keeping his voice low enough that the women couldn’t hear him.
Both Kraft and Hatch had mentioned Bex to Bracken several times. Ever since Hatch hooked up with his girlfriend Libby, her friends had been pairing off with Bracken’s friends. What were the chances Bracken would actually fall for one of the two remaining women—Bex. That left Shayla, the women’s fourth friend and coworker from Open Skies Airline. That also left Tank, the men’s fourth friend and coworker from Westside Programmers. The four of them had also been in the Army together.
Kraft chuckled.
Bracken returned his gaze to his friend, growling low. He leaned forward
, elbows on his knees, and kept his voice to a whisper. “First of all, you’re the one who set this up, so I don’t know why you’re being so smug and cocky about it. Second of all, I’ve exchanged only ten words of introduction with the woman so far. You can hardly call that falling for her.” He sat back and turned his gaze back to the television, seeing nothing.
His attention was on the soft giggle Bex made when Libby said something funny. Her thick brown waves of hair were pulled up into a messy bun that was beyond cute. He didn’t need to look at her again to picture it. It would probably be best if he didn’t.
He knew exactly what she was wearing too. Pink tank top, white shorts, pink flip flops. She was about five-five, tanned skin, and green eyes that reminded him of emeralds.
Yeah, she was cute and sweet and just as shy as Kraft had warned. She’d blushed and looked away from him at their introduction. In addition, her voice had been soft, barely above a whisper. The guys were not wrong about Bracken’s likelihood of falling for her. She was exactly the type of woman who made him do a double take.
There were red flags. Most importantly, her age. She was twenty-five. Bracken was thirty-nine. He’d already served twenty years in the Army and retired. He now worked part time for Tank who owned the computer programming consultant business. Bracken was good at it. It gave him something to do and kept him busy.
When Bracken made the commitment to the Army, he swore he’d never marry. He hadn’t wanted to have to worry about a woman while he was halfway around the world doing a very dangerous job. And he sure as shit hadn’t wanted someone worrying about him. He’d made that choice, and by the time he’d retired, he figured he’d missed his window of opportunity.
No one else seemed to agree with him, which was why he found himself sitting on Kraft’s sectional, glancing every few seconds at the pixie in the kitchen.
Jesus. This was a bad idea. Bex was fourteen years younger than him. She had her entire life ahead of her. She should find a nice man in his twenties and settle down. Why would she even entertain the idea of dating Bracken?
He knew she had though. While Tank, Kraft, Hatch, and sometimes another of their friends—Zip—conspired to hook Bracken up with Bex, the women—Libby, Christa, Shayla, and Zip’s wife, Destiny, had done the same thing. Bex surely knew a lot about Bracken, including his age.
It wasn’t as though they’d never met. They had in passing a few times, including at Zip and Destiny’s wedding. But they hadn’t spoken or spent any real time together.
Bracken didn’t realize he was once again staring directly at her until she glanced at him. For a moment, they locked eyes, and then she turned away abruptly, biting her lower lip as she resumed rolling out the dough for the scones.
Part of Bracken was itching to help with the baking. After all, his nickname wasn’t Sweets for no good reason. He loved baking. He’d made pastries in his down time in the Army to center himself after a tough mission. The guys had made fun of him for only a few months. Eventually, they learned to keep their mouths shut if they wanted to get a bite of his confections. From then on, they called him Sweets—a very goofy name for a man of his size.
As Christa opened the oven and removed the scones, the scent of blueberries and pastry filled the air, making Bracken groan.
Kraft chuckled, but didn’t say a word.
A few minutes later, both women wandered across the great room with plates of warm scones in their hands.
Christa laughed as she handed a plate to Kraft. “Not exactly afternoon baseball snacks, but I bet you won’t turn them down.”
Bracken’s chest tightened as Bex handed him a plate. “Now that I know you’re a baker yourself, I’m hesitant to let you try my scones,” she teased, her voice soft. He imagined her voice was always a bit soft, at least when she was in uncomfortable situations.
He brought the plate to his nose and inhaled, the steam still wafting off of the scones. “Smells delicious. They look amazing. I’m impressed.”
She chewed on the corner of her bottom lip for a moment and then released it. “Well, you haven’t tasted them yet.”
Bracken picked up one of the triangles and took a bite, hoping he didn’t burn his mouth. Luckily, they had cooled down enough to avoid that embarrassment. As soon as he bit into it, he moaned. Perfect. Possibly better than he’d ever had. “Wow. Those are amazing, Bex.”
She shrugged, not meeting his gaze. “My grandma’s recipe.”
He pushed to standing. “Gonna need a bottle of water.”
She followed him into the kitchen, just as he’d hoped. Christa had settled on the couch practically in Kraft’s lap.
While Bex began to clean up the mess, Bracken sat at the island with a water and his plate. “How have you been doing?” he asked, eyeing her closely, making sure she understood his meaning.
Christa and Bex had been responsible for stopping a human trafficking ring on one of their flights a few weeks ago. They were on leave right now, so neither of them was working. Christa had been taken hostage, so she technically suffered the brunt of the drama, but Bracken knew better than most people not to judge how people process intense situations in the aftermath.
Bex shrugged as she put the carton of eggs back in the fridge. “Okay.” She didn’t meet his gaze.
He knew she was not exactly okay. Word got around. She was struggling. He couldn’t be sure how traumatized she was, but he suspected more than she liked to admit to her friends.
He watched her move around the kitchen, putting things away, loading the dishwasher, wiping the counters. “You’re meeting with a counselor, right? Someone from the airline?”
She nodded. “Yep. It’s mandatory.”
“How much time do you get to take off?”
“Four more weeks.”
He wasn’t sure if she was avoiding his gaze because it was her natural inclination or if she didn’t like to discuss this subject. It was hard to read her, and he didn’t know her well enough to be sure. Or hell, maybe she didn’t really care for him.
He continued to watch her, pondering his options. Everything about her made his heart rate pick up. She was exactly the kind of woman he was attracted to. Cute, shy, petite. But damn, she was young. This was probably a bad idea, but he decided to go for it. “Have dinner with me.”
She flinched and then lifted her gaze. For a moment, he thought she might turn him down, but then she swallowed. “Okay. When?”
“Tonight.” He glanced over his shoulder at the lovebirds on the couch and then returned his gaze to Bex. “Now. They won’t even notice if we leave,” he joked.
Bex’s eyes got big and she glanced down at herself. “I’m not exactly dressed for a, um, date.”
“I think you look perfect. We can keep it casual. Do you like Mexican? I know a cute little place that’s totally laid back.” He wasn’t dressed any different from her. Jeans. Black T-shirt. Vans.
She chewed on that lower lip again, holding his gaze, thinking. “I guess I could do that.” She looked over his shoulder toward the living room. “They certainly won’t notice us missing, will they?” She smiled.
Damn, he loved her smile.
He slid off the bar stool and pulled his keys from his pocket, returning her smile as he dangled them from his fingers. “Bet we can walk right out the garage door and they won’t even flinch.”
She giggled. Even better than her smile. Her hands went to her hair. “I’m a mess, Bracken.”
The sound of his name coming from her lips was musical. “You look perfect.”
She turned around and grabbed a small purse from near the back door. “Give me two seconds.”
He watched her fantastic ass as she fled toward the bathroom.
When Kraft cleared his throat, Bracken begrudgingly faced his friend. “You two have fun,” he teased.
Christa was grinning. Her cheeks were red. Not surprising. Her skin was so fair that her cheeks were easily red. Bracken didn’t even want to think about where Kraft’s hands w
ere on his girlfriend. He couldn’t see well over the top of the couch.
“Don’t say a word,” Bracken warned, glancing toward the hallway.
“Wouldn’t dare.” Luckily the two of them went back to cuddling and pretended to be completely unaware as Bex reemerged from the bathroom.
Her hair was down now, the glossy waves brushed out. There was no longer any evidence of flour on her face or shirt. She took a deep breath as she approached. “Should I follow you in my car?” she whispered conspiratorially.
He shook his head. “We can come back for it later.”
“Okay.”
He set a hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the side door. He wouldn’t even be able to say who was playing in the baseball game he’d come to watch, let alone the score. Who the hell cared?
Please click here for links to continue reading Nonstop.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed the second book in the Open Skies series. So far the series has four books. If you’re wondering about Destiny and Trent’s story, you can read about them in Destiny’s Delta from Delta Team Three in Susan Stoker’s world.
Delta Team Three (Special Forces: Operation Alpha):
Destiny’s Delta
Open Skies:
Layover
Redeye
Nonstop
Standby
Also by Becca Jameson
Open Skies:
Layover
Redeye
Nonstop
Standby
* * *
Delta Team Three (Special Forces: Operation Alpha):
Destiny’s Delta
* * *
Canyon Springs:
Caleb’s Mate
Redeye Page 18
