Coffee and Cockpits

by Jade Hart

  “I’m an engineer. I flew here to work on a 747-400 that has issues with the electronics.”

  I cocked my head, reassessing him. He had brains, was a hell of a dancer, and I guessed was mid to late twenties. “Where are you from?”

  His gaze softened. “I’m Russian-American, but I moved to Middle Earth when I was younger. Mainly to study.”

  “To New Zealand?” The incredibility in my voice was loud. “Why would you move to New Zealand? Surely a large country like America has better universities for that sort of thing?”

  He shook his head, running a hand through his sweaty brown hair. “Not for gliding. The township of Omarama, New Zealand, holds the Guinness world record for the best wind thermals for gliding. That’s where I’ve been learning my PPL.” He smiled. “That’s a Private—”

  I interrupted. “I know what a PPL is. I have one myself.” I wanted to slap a hand over my mouth. Why did I tell him that? It was supposed to remain a secret. Instead, I blabbered about it like it wasn’t my soul I bared for judgement.

  His mouth fell open. “Seriously? You dance and fly? Where have you been all my life, you perfect woman?”

  He expected me to laugh. I could tell, but I wasn’t laughing. The tendrils of interest in my own heart hammered a warning gong. I’d been a flight attendant for one teeny-tiny day. I had no intention of getting to know a man who might jeopardise my career by making me so infatuated I’d quit and give up my dreams of being a pilot.

  I pulled my phone from my bag. “Oh, look at the time. I really must be going.”

  I stormed away. Hoping I looked mad, rather than flustered.

  “Call me!” Nikolai shouted.

  Ignoring him, I hopped into a taxi that pulled to the curb with the most perfect timing in the world.

  Sleep shattered like splintered glass. Where was I? What the hell was that noise?

  Comprehension dawned as the shrill ringing killed my ear drums. I wrenched the phone off the cradle, rubbing sleep from my eyes with my other hand. “Hello?”

  “Nina? Are you alright?” Liam’s voice rippled in my ear. Sounding crisp, masculine, and entirely too chipper for this time of the morning. Time! Shit, what was the time?

  I groaned, burrowing into my pillows. “I over slept. Didn’t I?”

  Liam chuckled. “Yep. The girls and Anderson left ten minutes ago.” His voice deepened apologetically. “I’m really sorry. I meant to arrange wakeup calls for all of us and forgot. It’s my fault you’re late, so I’ll wait for you.”

  Shooting upright, seeing stars, my heart rate kicked into panic mode. “Just let me throw on my uniform. I’ll be right down.”

  “Great. I’m in the lobby. See you soon.”

  I didn’t think an Olympic sprinter could’ve dressed as fast as I did. Lungs wheezing, body burning, I slapped clothes and make-up on, and crushed everything into my suitcase.

  My hotel room door slammed behind me as I charged down the corridor to the bank of elevators.

  Liam slouched against a marble pillar. His briefcase was on the floor next to a black duffel bag. He straightened and collected his belongings the moment he saw me.

  I darted over to him, careful not to slip on the glossy tiles in my heels. “God, I can’t tell you how sorry—”

  Liam shook his head. “Tell me in the taxi. Come on.” He jogged to the awaiting cab and threw our bags into the trunk. I dove into the back seat, expecting Liam to take the front again. My eyes widened as he slid into the back with me.

  Leaning forward, he said to the cabbie, “We’re running late so the quickest you can get us to the airport the better.”

  “Sure thing, Captain. Leave the driving to me.” The guy grinned.

  Liam threw me a look. “Everyone thinks I’m a captain when I’m not with Anderson.” Pointing to his shoulder embroidery, he said, “I don’t think people know how many epaulettes you need to be in charge.”

  I did. Four.

  Shyness and embarrassment smothered me as we screeched into traffic. How could I sleep in on my first overnight? How did I think I could earn the stripes decorating Liam’s shoulders if I couldn’t even set an alarm?

  Liam didn’t say anything for a few kilometres while he texted on his phone. No doubt telling the crew he’d collected the tardy flight attendant and to organise the paperwork to fire her.

  I shook my head at my stupidity. It seemed as if I were cursed. Everything I did landed me into trouble. For the first time in my life, I kinda wished I did have Mary Poppins’ skills and could step into a pastel painting and leave the endless embarrassment behind.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve over slept four times.” Liam turned his body to face me, smiling. “Don’t worry about it.”

  I swallowed, trying to keep my eyes away from the shirt clinging to his chest. “I am worried about it. If Ms. Klein finds out—”

  “Ms. Klein has gone back to the head office. She’ll never know.”

  My fists curled, hating that I came across as such a dopey airhead. I stared out the window, thought-kicking myself.

  * * * * *

  Joslyn and Samantha beamed and clapped when Liam and I appeared in the crew room at Sydney airport.

  I blushed and Liam whispered in my ear, “Don’t feel embarrassed. You’re not a shift worker unless you’ve been late multiple times. I’m sure next week it’ll be Joslyn’s turn.” He chuckled, raising his voice and shooting his step-sister a look. “Plus, at least you didn’t get frisky and try to hide the evidence with a scarf.”

  A smile broke over my face; I laughed.

  Joslyn threw a pen at Liam. “I thought you didn’t notice.”

  Liam rolled his eyes. “Come on, Jos. A scarf? Seriously? It’s a foghorn announcing you’ve got a hickey—especially seeing as you never wear them.”

  Anderson appeared from the small alcove where printers and computers were. “Ah, now that the crew is together, I have some news.”

  All eyes trained on the captain as he shuffled paperwork in his hands.

  “We’ve been reassigned. We aren’t flying back to New Zealand. We’re taking over for a crew who’ve become violently ill with food poisoning. We’re now flying to Samoa, before overnighting in Sydney again.” He looked at Liam. “We need to revise the flight plans and talk to operations.” Glancing at Sam, Jos, and I, he added, “We’ll see you on the plane. Head to gate fifty-seven.”

  Liam shrugged. “Work has begun, ladies. See you on the otherside.”

  The moment Liam rounded the corner, Joslyn pounced on me. “Oh my God, did you sleep with my brother?”

  “What? No! He saved me from being the latest hosty in history. That’s all.”

  Samantha rested her head on my shoulder. “But he’s so dreamy… you weren’t tempted to sneak a kiss in the taxi at least?”

  Snorting, I stretched. My corset was extremely tight. I hadn’t had time to eat last night after dancing, and with my mad rush this morning, I hadn’t had breakfast either. I’d pulled the boning tight in the hopes the laces would squeeze my stomach into thinking it was smaller and therefore full.

  “No, there was no temptation. He’s a colleague. A pilot. Also known as a ‘no touching zone’.”

  Samantha rolled her dark eyes. “As much as I want to talk about boys, we better head to the plane.”

  Joslyn pranced to the door. “You chickies ready to serve coffee at ten thousand feet?”

  Samantha grinned, lugging her baggage behind her. “Yep. You girls are my minions to boss around, seeing as I’m the senior attendant. Let’s hope you’re fully-fledged flighties and qualified to serve hot drinks in the sky.”

  I squeezed her, trepidation swimming in my veins. “When do we find out if we passed the line exam or not?”

  “Maybe on the flight?” Sam shrugged and the three of us hurried through the terminal and toward our aircraft. Why an airport was called a terminal I had no idea. The word conjured death in my mind—like terminal cancer or illness. The air
port should be called ‘escaping your real life building’ or something more upbeat.

  I was struck with a sudden thought. “Hey, Sam? Where did you get to last night?”

  Joslyn answered for her. “Oh, you don’t know? Sam has a friend in the city. She stayed with him.” She made kissing noises and ducked Sam’s cat-swipe.

  “He’s gay, Joslyn. And a childhood friend.”

  Joslyn nodded. “Uh huh. Sure… gay.”

  We laughed as we entered the air bridge. It reeked of disinfectant, and a pretty Asian woman in an airport uniform smiled when we crossed the threshold of the aircraft. “You have one hundred and thirty-seven passengers today. No VIP’s or UM’S.

  Thank God for that. I didn’t feel like sucking up to any VIP, and I definitely couldn’t face an unaccompanied minor—also known as unaccompanied monster.

  Samantha took the manifest while Joslyn and I stowed our bags. I smoothed my roughly-done ponytail as the pilots arrived on board. Both Anderson and Liam wore their blazers and hats. The gold thread glinted expensively from the midnight fabric. My mouth dried up, unable to tear my eyes away from the resplendent vision of Liam in his uniform.

  Anderson smiled at us before disappearing into the cockpit.

  Liam paused. “Nina. Can I have a word?”

  My heart kick-started, but I remained unruffled, which was hard against his manly, piloty perfection. Again my heart did a stupid swoon and I straightened. A piece of corset boning dug into my side, and I used it as a distraction against his deliciousness.

  I was turning into a tramp. My attraction to Nikolai last night wasn’t normal and the moment I was around Liam my body took over to become a tightly wound Liam-awareness fanatic. I really needed to get it under control.

  “Sure. What about?” My voice was professional and warm. I silently praised myself for my composure.

  “Can we go down to the rear galley?”

  My eyes shot down the aisle. There was no one in the rear galley. Why did he want to talk to me alone? “Is this about my exam results?” Panic took hold. “I passed, didn’t I?”

  He didn’t answer, instead gave me a stern look and cocked his head in the direction of the back of the plane.

  Choking back my disappointment, I traipsed down the aisle and spun to face him the second we were obscured from the others. “I know I was terribly unorganised this morning and let everyone down, but I really want this job.” My eyes dropped. “Did I fail the exam? Am I fired?” Oh God, I sucked even before I started.

  Liam kept an unreadable look in his eyes. “It isn’t good.”

  I covered my face with my hands. How could I be so cocky and think I passed? I wanted to scream. Instead, a whimpering noise escaped my throat.

  Liam’s hand rested on my shoulder, blazing with heat.

  I froze.

  He laughed. “Nina, I’m sorry. That was cruel. You’re not fired. We’ve just found out you earned the highest results. Ms. Klein was very impressed. As am I.”

  I peeked through my fingers, rolling my shoulders to loosen his hold on me. “So—this was all a joke?”

  His lips curled. “No, I did want to talk to you, but you left yourself wide open on that one.”

  No wonder Joslyn gave him grief. What a horrid joke to pull! I slapped his chest. “That was low.” I struggled to stay mad, but his glowing grin was hard to ignore.

  He grunted, rubbing his shirt with a fake-wounded expression. “That’s what I get for hauling your butt out of bed this morning? Beaten up?”

  Images of him in bed turned my thoughts to goo. I blinked. “Um—” Then fear chilled me. I really didn’t want people to think there was something going on with us. Showing up to work together, late. Talking at the back of the plane, alone. The rumour mill would be rife with misleading information. My career would be ruined. “Look, Co-pilot Mikin.”

  Liam’s eyebrows shot up at the use of his last name.

  “I know I’m new, and you’re related to a good friend of mine, so the lines are slightly blurred, but I’m not new to the whole ‘being swept away by the pilot’s charms’. Whatever you’re doing,” I waved at his tempting physique, “it won’t work. Go flirt with Samantha…”

  Liam reclined against the trolleys. “I’m not trying to get you into bed, you know.”

  I crossed my arms. “Uh huh. I’ve heard the reputation you have.”

  He frowned. “You also heard Jos tell the truth. You even said it yourself—I’m not a man-slut.” His icy eyes glittered. “Don’t believe everything you hear. The reason I’m trying to be your friend is because I saw you around a lot in your training and wanted to say how happy I am you’re part of our crew.”

  Why did that sound like a big spiel?

  He leaned in, brushing a stand of hair that had come loose from my ponytail.

  “That’s hardly appropriate,” I whispered, even as my skin shivered under his touch. Dammit all to hell; he dripped delicious temptation.

  He pulled back. Taking his hat off, he ran hands through his blue-black locks. “Look, I don’t want you getting the wrong idea... but I want to help you.”

  My mouth fell open. “Help me as in sleep with me?” I saw now where Joslyn got all her sexual banter from.

  Shaking his head, he gave me an exasperated look. “No. I don’t want to sleep with you. ”

  A pang of hurt lanced me. Why didn’t he want to sleep with me? Was I not attractive enough? Holy crap, Nina. You don’t want to sleep with him. Who cares?

  Liam sighed and reclined further against the trolley, crossing his ankles. It was an undeniable sexy pose and drew my eyes down to his trousers. I looked straight back up again the minute I realised what I was looking at.

  “I guess I’ll come right out and say it,” he said.

  “Yes, please do as I have no clue what is going on here.” Heat flushed my cheeks from embarrassment as much as an unbearable awareness of him. The plane wasn’t big enough for the two of us. I had to stop looking at his trousers.

  “I know your flying instructor. Theo and I go way back. We trained together, and we even did a one year contract in the Gulf.”

  That was totally not what I expected, and I was strangely annoyed this pilot knew my flying instructor. Did he know everyone around me? First Joslyn, now my flying coach. I wasn’t a jealous person, and I didn’t think of Theo that way—but in a way he was mine. He was the one who gave me my wings, who bought me a drink to celebrate passing my theory exam.

  Liam’s eyes delved into mine. “Theo mentioned he had a tenacious young woman who wanted to be a Captain of a 747 one day, and I became intrigued. He’s been mentioning your progress on and off while you studied.”

  Brilliant. So my every move was reported back to this guy. A guy who belonged in the cockpit more than I could—for one reason—he had a cock. Do not think about his cock. Crap, now it was all I could think about.

  When I didn’t speak, Liam cleared his throat. “Anyway, to cut a long story short, when I found out it was you Theo had talked about for the past year, working on my jet, I knew I had to know you. It’s not every day I meet a woman who’s as passionate about flying as I am.”

  Swallowing back all my emotions, I said as nice as I could manage, “Theo shouldn’t have told you what my goals were. I don’t want any of the other crew knowing.”

  He frowned. “Why not? I think it’s very cool.”

  “It’s not. Don’t you see? I’ll be ostracised for having lofty dreams. They won’t understand that working the aisles won’t be enough for me. That I’m just using the job as a stepping stone to get up to the front.”

  Liam’s eyebrows drew closer together, framing his snowy eyes. “I don’t get what you mean?”

  I sighed. “Look, I like my job. I love that I’m employed to fly everywhere, but I want to fly. I don’t want to serve coffee and travel. Do you understand? I don’t want to be a flight attendant. I want… more.” I fiddled with my ponytail. “I don’t want to come across as a bitch who
isn’t satisfied. All I’m asking is to keep this between us. Okay?”

  Liam shook his head, mouth twisting in amusement. “So Joslyn doesn’t know about you holding your pilot’s license?”

  I sucked in a gasp. “No. And I don’t want her to. It’s my secret.” I stuck out my hand. “Shake on it. Promise me this stays between us. Not even Captain Anderson will know. Deal?”

  He rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Fine.” His hand interlocked with mine, and my heart pounded. His skin was soft and warm. He tugged me forward with barely any effort.

  I struggled to breathe as his eyes hooded. “All I was going to offer is to help you gain your CPL. I don’t know why you made it such a big deal.” He laughed, letting go of my hand.

  Stumbling backward to breathe air that wasn’t contaminated by Liam’s wonderful scent of spicy cinnamon, I squeaked, “My commercial license? Why would you do that?” I couldn’t understand. I had years to go before I would have the money for the exams and lessons. Even saving as much as I could from my salary and over-night cash envelopes.

  “I see the same fire in you that was in me when I started. I didn’t have the money either, but someone else helped me.” He shrugged. “Call it paying my debt to karma. I want to return the favour.”

  I stood there dumbfounded. I got him all wrong. Here I was thinking he was as horny as his step-sister, but he wasn’t—he genuinely wanted to help me. I didn’t know what to say.

  “Nina. We need you up here,” Joslyn called.

  Her shout was followed by a gruff request from Captain Anderson. “Mikin, get your ass up here and stop fraternising with the flighty.”

  We both laughed, and I stopped in surprise at the camaraderie springing between us. Liam’s smile faded a little as we stared at each other, riveted.

  “What the hell are you up to?” Joslyn appeared behind me. Her mouth hung open, staring at Liam.

  I wanted to groan. Brilliant.

  Liam’s face shuttered to impassive and he placed his hat back on his head. “Nothing, Jos.” His eyes settled on mine. “Talk to you later?”