Fare Game

by Cade Haddock Strong

  “Nicholas, its Kay Corbett. I’m here with Greg.”

  Kay could almost hear him grimace on the other end. “To what do I owe this honor?”

  “Rumor has it you’ve fallen out of love with Concordia. That you’ve got some apprehension.”

  “Damn right I do. I want out.”

  “I think that would be terribly misguided, Nicholas.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you think, or Greg for that matter. It’s gotten completely out of control. This whole thing is going to blow up in our faces.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Come on, Kay. You know as well as I do, it’s only a matter of time—”

  “You do realize, Nicholas, straying from Concordia will hurt no one more than Zephyr. We’ll bury you.”

  “Are you threatening me Kay?”

  “We’re all in this together. You’re a fool if you think you can just walk away.”

  “I’m no fool, Kay. I see the writing on the wall, that’s all.”

  “If you leave, trust me, you’ll come crawling back.”

  There was a long pause before Nicholas responded. “I don’t know, Kay.”

  Kay glanced over at Greg and nodded. The tone of Nicholas’s voice had changed. Using well practiced Concordia code language, she did her best to reassure him the recent flurry of fare increases was nothing to be concerned about. It didn’t take much to change his mind and Kay was disappointed he acquiesced so easily. She ended the call and flung Greg’s phone back across the desk. “Happy?”

  “Well done, Kay. I knew you had it in you.”

  Asshole. She felt like she might get sick. She’d crossed a line, a serious line. Up until now, she’d considered herself a soldier in the Concordian army, but she’d just moved up the ranks. Worse, she’d successfully pulled Nicholas back to the dark side. He was no angel and had been a leading voice in Concordia since its inception, but that didn’t excuse what she’d done. She just hoped it was worth it. She hoped she’d finally secured Greg’s trust, that he would no longer doubt her. It would make it so much easier to take him down.

  She checked her watch as she walked back to her office. It was two o’clock on the dot. She was going to be late for the Kamadori debrief. After a quick pass by her office to grab a few documents, she rushed toward the elevators, tripping over a trashcan someone had carelessly left in the hallway, and nearly dropping all the files she was carrying in the process. “God fucking damn it.”

  “Sorry I’m late,” she huffed when she traipsed into the meeting. She sank into the last empty seat at the table and batted a few errant hairs away from her face. The room was silent as she shuffled through her papers to find the meeting agenda. When she looked up, nine sets of eyes were on her. “Well, what are you waiting for,” she barked. “Let’s get started.”

  An update from Finance was first on the agenda. Riley cleared her throat and clicked to the first slide in her presentation. All eyes turned toward the large screen at the front of the room. About halfway through Riley’s update, Kay interrupted with a slew of questions.

  Riley clicked back a few slides. “I, um, covered some of that here…”

  Kay felt her face get red. Obviously she hadn’t been paying very close attention. “Well, perhaps…never mind, carry on…” She’d almost remarked that maybe Riley hadn’t been very clear, but she doubted that was the case. Riley was probably the smartest person in the room, and she was excellent at describing complex financial models in laypersons terms. Kay sat back and tried to focus, but it was a lost cause. She was so goddamn angry about the whole fiasco with Zephyr.

  As Riley walked through the rest of her slides, she occasionally glanced at her. Each time, Kay diverted her eyes. She felt dirty and ashamed by what she’d just done. If Riley looked into her eyes, she might see it. She might see the turmoil boiling inside of her.

  When the meeting was over, Riley caught her by the conference room door. “Is everything okay, Kay?”

  “Of course. Why do you ask?”

  “You just seem, I don’t know, upset.”

  “I’m just under a lot of stress.” Kay looked down at her feet and then met Riley’s gaze. “I’m sorry I jumped on you during the presentation. It’s just, I had to deal with…an issue before the meeting and I’m frustrated. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

  Chapter Ten

  Riley cursed when her curling iron grazed her jawbone. “Ow, shit!” She dropped the hot wand on the counter and inspected the small singe mark on her skin. Satisfied that it didn’t look life-threatening, she went back to fixing her hair. In less than thirty minutes, Kay would be at her front door and she was nowhere near ready. After almost burning herself a second time, she gave up and ran a brush through her hair, perplexed as to why she was suddenly incapable of curling it, something she had done practically every day of her life since she was ten.

  Her hands were clammy; that must be it. She hadn’t seen or heard from Kay since the Kamadori debrief the day before. She assumed their dinner date was still on, but what if Kay had changed her mind? Surely, she would have called or texted to cancel, wouldn’t she? To just not show up would be downright rude… Maybe that was how Kay rolled. She’d been a downright bitch during the Kamadori meeting. Maybe she wasn’t that sweet, kind person Riley had spent time with in Tokyo.

  Riley tried to push those thoughts out of head. She glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes. She darted over to her closet. What the hell was she going to wear? Sundress? Too casual. Cocktail dress? Too formal. She groaned as she scanned her wardrobe. Everything she owned was girly and southern. Aside from her work clothes, nothing in her closet felt even remotely sophisticated. Finally, she settled on a flowery skirt and a light pink sleeveless silk top. It would have to do. She was out of time. She grabbed a navy cardigan off the back of a chair in the corner of her room and draped it over her shoulders. It was late October, and although the days were still fairly warm, it was starting to get cooler in the evenings.

  Her doorbell rang while she was rummaging around for a small purse to carry. It was seven o’clock on the dot. She took a deep breath, bounded down the stairs and opened the front door. There on her front porch, stood Kay, looking as stunning as ever in black jeans, black cowboy boots and black cotton blazer that looked like it was custom made to fit the curves of her body. Her intense dark eyes settled on Riley. “Hey,” she said, leaning in to give Riley a peck on the cheek.

  Riley almost had to pinch herself. This beautiful woman was here to take her to dinner. “Hi,” she said. Her earlier anxiety all but evaporated. Kay’s smile put her in a giddy trance.

  “Are you ready?” Kay asked.

  “Um, yeah, almost.” Riley held open the door. “Do you want to come in for a sec?”

  Kay stepped inside and said, “Wow, this place is really cute.”

  “Thanks.” She stuffed her phone and wallet into her purse and searched around for her keys. “I’m just renting but I love these old Craftsman houses.”

  “Yeah, me too. My house in Virginia Highland is a Craftsman. It was a dump when I bought it and I spent over a year gut renovating it.”

  “I bet it’s gorgeous. I’d love to see it sometime.” Riley felt her cheeks get warm. Be a little more forward, why don’t you?

  Kay skipped down Riley’s front steps and opened the passenger door to her Jeep, motioning for Riley to climb in.

  “I hope you like Italian?” Kay asked as she backed down the driveway. “I made reservations at Sotto-Sotto in Inman Park. I was actually surprised they had a table.”

  “Oh, I love that place. I mean, I’ve only been there once but I remember the food being delicious.”

  The drive to the restaurant took less than fifteen minutes, and Kay, who was normally cool as a cucumber, seemed really nervous. It was kind of cute.

  The hostess led them through the bar to the back of the narrow restaurant and seated them at a cozy table tucked against the wall. The lighting was dim, an
d two candles flickered on the table.

  “Yum, everything sounds so good.” Riley said. She peeked over her menu. “What are you thinking?”

  “Hmm, I think I’m going to start with a salad and then go with the mushroom risotto for my entree. What about you?”

  “I’m definitely going to start with the Buffalo mozzarella, and then, gosh, I can’t decide, either the tuna or the salmon.”

  “Ooh, tough choice.” Kay slowly licked her lips. Something about the way she did it was incredibly sexy, and Riley wanted to lean over and kiss her, but the waiter walked up before she got the chance. He rambled off the specials before asking, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

  Kay glanced at Riley. “Wine good for you?”

  “Twist my arm.”

  Kay pointed at a page in the wine list and looked up at the waiter. “We’ll have a bottle of the Nebbiolo.”

  “Excellent choice,” the waiter replied before rushing off. When he returned, he held the bottle up for Kay to examine, and once she nodded her approval, he effortlessly extracted its cork and poured her a splash to taste. She swirled the glass expertly, took a sip and signaled for the waiter to pour them each a glass.

  Once he was gone, Kay picked up her glass and smiled. “To Tokyo.”

  They clinked glasses. “To Tokyo,” Riley echoed, surprised at how comfortable she felt being there with Kay. She’d worried things might be awkward between them, given that they basically jumped in bed together, and since she was an expert at finding things to worry about, she’d wondered if things would be different between them now that they were back home in Atlanta. In Tokyo, something between them had just clicked, and she wondered if that would still be the case. When she looked across the table and into Kay’s sparkling eyes, her anxiety faded. Kay seemed completely at ease, so different than the persona she held at the office.

  “A penny for your thoughts,” Kay said.

  “My grandfather always used to say that.” Riley smiled. “I was actually thinking about how good it feels to be here with you.”

  Kay’s face lit up. “Oh really, cuz I was just thinking the same thing.”

  That sat there smiling goofily at each other until the waiter walked up with their appetizers.

  After she took a few bites of her mozzarella, Riley asked, “Have you been to a lot of places in Asia, I mean besides Tokyo? Given your dad was a pilot for Logan, I bet you’ve traveled all over the place.”

  Kay nodded. “Yeah, I’m lucky, I’ve been all over the world, seen so many amazing places.” She paused and sipped her wine. “It’s funny though, I feel like I haven’t taken the time to explore my own country. Sure, I’ve been to Singapore and Santiago, but I’ve never been to Seattle, if you can believe it. My dad always jokes that our family drinks jet fuel in the morning, but my dream is to take a big long road trip around the US.”

  Riley laughed. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  “Is that something you’ve always wanted to do?”

  “Yep, ever since high school. I read this book called Blue Highways—it was assigned as summer reading—about this guy who was a little down on his luck, and for lack of a better idea, decided to drive his dilapidated van around the US. The book was interesting because he avoided the major interstates and instead stuck to the old, secondary roads. He made the trip in the 70’s—way before Google maps or GPS—and apparently, the secondary roads were depicted in blue in the old road atlases, hence the name of the book.”

  “Wow, that actually sounds pretty cool.”

  “Yeah, and the best part is that, because he avoided the major highways, he drove through all these small quirky towns—the towns you blow past at seventy miles per hour today on the highway—and he met all these interesting people.”

  “In some ways, I’m in the same boat as you,” Riley said. “There’s so much of the US I haven’t seen. Sure, I’ve been to most of the major cities in the US, but I haven’t really explored some of the more rural areas and small towns.” She swirled the wine in her glass. “Do you still have the book?”

  Kay shook her head. “No, but I’d love to reread it someday.”

  The waiter swung by to top off their wine glasses and deliver their entrees.

  “So, what sorts of vacations did your family take when you were a kid?” Kay asked as they dug into their meals.

  “We always went to the beach. Beach and golf, those are the only two words my family knows when it comes to vacations.”

  “It doesn’t sound like you enjoyed the trips.”

  “Ah, they were fine. Just no variety. It just sort of got old after a while, although I know I shouldn’t complain. I’m lucky my family could afford to go on nice vacations.”

  If Kay thought she sounded like a spoiled brat, she didn’t show it. Instead she asked, “I assume you’ve traveled a lot since joining Logan?”

  Riley grinned. “Definitely, that’s one of the best things about working for the airline, the flight benefits. Growing up, I didn’t even know there was a big wide world outside of Georgia and Florida.”

  Conversation flowed easily over dinner and Riley was disappointed when the waiter came to clear their dinner plates. She didn’t want the night to end, and even though she wasn’t even remotely hungry, she quickly agreed to share a cheese plate with Kay for dessert.

  “Any coffee for you?” the waiter asked after he jotted down their dessert order.

  “None for me,” Riley said.

  Kay shook her head. “I can’t do caffeine this late at night. I’d never fall asleep.”

  Riley glanced at her watch, surprised to see that they’d been at the restaurant for nearly three hours. She couldn’t put her finger on it. There was a subtle intimacy between her and Kay and she felt so incredibly drawn to her. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever felt so utterly captivated by another human being.

  A tingle shot through her body as she watched Kay’s elegant fingers slip a piece of cheese into her mouth. Almost unconsciously, she reached over and grazed those long fingers with her own and was rewarded with a soft smile, and suddenly there they were again, staring goofily at one another.

  The waiter clearly realized he was interrupting a moment. He cleared his throat, slid the check on the table and scooted away. Riley snapped out of her Kay-induced daze and looked around the restaurant. All of the other tables were empty, save for one occupied by an older amorous couple in the opposite corner.

  The valet pulled up with Kay’s Jeep just as soon as they stepped out of the restaurant.

  “You all buckled in?” Kay asked before she pulled away from the curb.

  Riley thought it was cute of her to ask. “Yep.”

  Kay shifted the car in gear, made a quick U-turn and headed off in the direction of Kirkwood. It was late but Riley felt wide awake when they pulled into her driveway. After she put the Jeep in park, Kay smiled and said, “I had a wonderful time tonight. Thank you.”

  A nearby streetlight cast a soft glow over Kay’s face and Riley was desperate to kiss her. “I did too,” she croaked. “And thank you for dinner.”

  Kay shifted in the driver’s seat and ran her fingers over Riley’s cheek before leaning in to bring their lips together. The kiss was brief, almost chaste and it left Riley aching for more. She slid a hand into Kay’s hair and pulled her into another, deeper kiss.

  When they finally broke apart, Riley’s body was humming. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the seat. “Wow, kissing you is even better than I remember.”

  Kay chuckled. “Oh, really? Well I might say the same.”

  “Do you want to—”

  “Come inside?”

  Riley nodded.

  “As much as I’d love to,” Kay said, “I promised myself I’d behave tonight. I enjoyed spending time with you and getting to know you better and I want the evening to be about that.” She reached for one of Riley’s hands. “I want our relationship to be based on more than sex. Don’t g
et me wrong, I like sex, a lot, it’s just…”

  Riley smoothed her thumb over Kay’s hand. “No need to explain. I want nothing more than to take you to bed, but I respect what you’re saying. I like you, Kay, and I want to explore that too, a relationship that’s not merely about sex.” Riley smiled. “I just lack your resolve.”

  “Well, don’t give me too much credit.” Kay held her thumb and pointer finger up in the light. “My resolve is this close to cracking.”

  Riley gave her a quick peck on the lips and opened the passenger door. “Goodnight, Kay,” she said when her feet hit the ground.

  “Hey,” Kay called out before Riley shut the car door.

  Riley looked back into the car. “Yeah?”

  “Can I cook you dinner on Saturday night?”

  “I’d like that.”

  Chapter Eleven

  At three p.m. on Saturday, Kay decided to give up and go home. She’d come into the office that morning, under the guise of catching up on work in hopes of sneaking back into Greg’s office so she could go through his desk drawers. Unfortunately, an incredibly cheap fare had been erroneously filed the night before—forty-nine dollars round trip to London. Twitter had blown up about it and more than a thousand people snatched up the fare before Logan was able to pull it down. Now, a group from the transatlantic pricing team, the team whose cubicles occupied the area right outside Greg’s office, were at work trying to fix the mess.

  Kay kept hoping they’d finish and go home, but she couldn’t wait any longer. Riley was due at her house for dinner in three hours and fifty-three minutes, not that she was counting, and she still needed to swing by the grocery store. It just meant she’d have to come in to the office again the following day.

  Even though she was frustrated she hadn’t been able to get into Greg’s office, her mood shifted as soon as she stepped outside. She caught herself whistling as she walked out to her car in the Logan parking lot. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful woman was coming to dinner. Earlier she’d had some nagging doubts about pursuing something with Riley. She’d briefly considered cancelling their plans for tonight, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was too damn excited. Her heart won over her mind.