Flight Risk

by Karen Ann Dell

  A few minutes later, Luke McBain entered through the side door and went directly back to the offices. No doubt he had things to discuss with Lacey. The rest of her morning was taken up with more mundane requests for Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World passes, fishing and scuba diving rentals, and the like. She caught a glimpse of Hank and his “girlfriend”, along with her mother and brother, entering Junonia for lunch. Three older men, one of whom Miranda assumed to be the girl’s father, left in a black Escalade with deeply tinted windows.

  After lunch, Lacey Walker stopped by her desk. “How are things going, Miranda?”

  “Fine, Lacey. The Jansen family plus Hank rented a charter to go fishing tomorrow.”

  Lacey glanced around the lobby. “I trust you used …”

  “I did. And I already called the contact number Mr. Rossman gave me to let them know. Don’t worry, Lacey, I can handle this.” She couldn’t keep all of the excitement out of her voice, and Lacey glanced at her with a frown.

  “Don’t do anything risky, Miranda. This whole operation makes me nervous. But Casa Blanca’s reputation is my highest priority. I want not even a hint of any criminal activity associated with us.”

  Miranda saw the slight shiver her boss couldn’t hide. “Don’t worry, Lacey, I won’t do anything foolish.”

  “Good. If you’re not sure about something … anything at all, really … you call Luke or me right away. Got it?”

  “Got it.” Miranda nodded decisively.

  Lacey left her and did her usual stroll around the premises, stopping at a few tables on the deck to chat with familiar guests and making sure everything ran smoothly in the restaurant, bars, Eucalyptus Spa, and on-site boutique. Miranda had nothing but admiration for her boss, who could keep a facility this large at the top of its game without micromanaging any of her trusted employees.

  At 3, her phone rang, and Owen’s voice sent a thrill through her entire body. “Hello, Miss Leighton, how has your day gone so far?”

  Miranda had to smile at the formality in his delivery. “Quite well, Mr. Ziegfeld. I’ve been chatting with several guests about your charter services. Two couples wished to make reservations on the spot, but you told me you weren’t ready to begin the local flights quite yet. They were terribly disappointed.” She grinned into the phone like a three-year-old who’d been promised an ice cream cone.

  “I called to tell you that I’ve sent an order to my printer for more brochures. I gave all the information we gathered last night to my marketers and told them I needed more promo stuff ASAP. I’ve also placed ads for pilots in the trades and newspapers as well as online, but who knows how long it will take to find, vet, and train them. It may be a while before Argosy can handle multiple reservations.”

  “I, um, wondered if you would be able to do some of that,” she whispered, doing her best to sound professional instead of like a sixteen-year-old chatting with her first boyfriend.

  “I intend to. But there are other flights already on our books that I’m in the left seat for. And I’ll want to get the Arrow down here temporarily, as well as check out another Aztec fitted with air-sea landing capabilities. So I’ll have to be in and out of Mimosa Key for the next few weeks.” This time, his voice dropped to a murmur as he finished, “To say nothing about all this smoke and mirror business with Mark.”

  “That’s moving along. Hank chartered a fishing boat for tomorrow morning, with his girlfriend and her family.”

  “Good. I want that business over and done with. I don’t like the idea of you in the middle of things.”

  “Why is everyone so worried about me? I can take care of myself.”

  “You can. I have the bruise to prove it. You’re a regular martial arts powerhouse—unless someone decides to drug you. Be careful, Miranda.”

  “Yes, Dad, I’ll be good,” she answered sarcastically.

  His voice came back, deep and warm. “I don’t want to be your dad, babe, and I don’t want you to be good either. At least not when I’m nearby.”

  She glanced around to make sure nobody could see her reaction. Her face flushed, her heartbeat doubled, her nipples pebbled, and the muscles between her thighs clenched and heated. Oh, boy, even over the phone, he could make her want to jump his bones. She was in serious trouble.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Hey, bro, you gonna take the plunge and help me out tonight?” Mike administered his usual slap on the back.

  Owen figured out that the ladies’ self-defense class was the reason Miranda had turned him down for dinner, so he decided to see just what his brother was teaching the women in his class. If that meant he had to volunteer as a crash-test dummy, then so be it. He could handle anything the ladies could dish out, since he’d be anticipating their attacks. He had skipped dinner just in case someone landed a lucky punch or kick to his solar plexus … or lower. “Yeah, let’s see what your class is up to.”

  “Okay, O. Let me get you some equipment.” Mike herded him back to the locker room.

  Owen held up his bag. “I’m all set, Mike. No worries.”

  “Hah. I’m not talking about clothes. I’m talking about protection. You’ve got to wear a cup at the very least. Shin pads would be a good idea, too.”

  Owen scoffed at his brother’s concern. “I’ll be fine, Mike.”

  “You don’t wear a cup, you don’t play. I’m not going to be responsible for your inability to procreate.” Mike folded his arms across his chest. “I realize you think these ladies are marshmallows, but when you find out differently, it’ll be too late.”

  “Okay, okay. You win. Give me the damn cup.” He tossed his bag onto the bench and accepted the protective gear from Mike.

  “Wait in here until I warm them up with some exercises. I want to surprise them and see how they handle you without any forewarning. I’ll give Kelly a signal, and she’ll come get you, all right?”

  Owen shrugged. “You’re the boss. I’ll do some sit-ups and pushups in here to loosen up.”

  Mike gave him an evil grin. “Great. This should be good.”

  He left humming “The Boys Are Back in Town.” And Owen had his first inkling that he may have bitten off more than he could chew. He changed clothes and began his fifty pushups.

  “Okay, ladies, I have managed to recruit someone to play bad guy today to test how well you’ve practiced the moves I’ve shown you over the past few weeks.” Kelly quietly opened the door and Owen slipped into the back of the room. “He’ll act as your assailant, and I emphasize the term act, so that you will dial down the force you use in your defense. He hasn’t been told about, nor has he witnessed one of our classes, so like the usual bad guy, he won’t be expecting your trained resistance maneuvers. I’ve told him to play the part of an abductor and subdue you to the best of his ability without causing serious injury. You may wind up with a few bruises,” again his evil grin was directed toward Owen, “but nothing you didn’t sign up for.”

  Mike waved Owen to the front of the room and winked at the appreciative murmurs from the women as he passed. Owen merely rolled his eyes at his brother as he turned to face the group, who stood in a semi-circle. The audible gasp from Miranda brought a smile to his face until her narrowed eyes and clenched fists wiped it away. She was not happy.

  “This guy happens to be my brother, so I have no problem with you kicking his butt. His name is Owen, and he has foolishly agreed to be what I call my crash-test dummy. Try not to hurt him too badly.” He pounded Owen on the back with his usual enthusiasm.

  Owen began to have a bad feeling about this whole deal.

  “Now, before we begin, what is the primary directive in self-defense for women?” Mike scanned the group.

  In unison, they replied, “Escape.”

  “Exactly. Unless you’ve achieved advanced martial arts training, you won’t be able to fight your attacker long enough to subdue him. Your goal is to disable him, then run like hell. No heroics. Just get yourself as far as possible from your assailan
t and …?”

  Two women answered his unspoken question. “Yell for help.”

  “Right,” Mike confirmed. “In fact, as soon as a stranger approaches you with what you see as dangerous intent, you need to get vocal. So. Let’s hear it.”

  Together, the women shouted, “Back off! Get away from me. Stop right there!”

  Owen was impressed with the volume and ferocity with which they delivered their ultimatums. Miranda arched a brow and delivered a replica of Mike’s evil grin.

  Yeah? Well this time I’m expecting your attack and, more importantly, you have all of your clothes on, gorgeous.

  Mike pointed to one of the women and waved her to the center of the space. “Molly, you’ve shopped too long at the mall. It’s dark, and you’re carrying several packages. You’re a perfect target for Owen to rob. Owen, this is a direct frontal assault.” He gestured for Owen to start.

  Owen tried to look as menacing as possible and stalked toward the woman.

  She immediately began to yell at him, but he ignored her and reached for her purse. “Shut up and give me your money,” he added for more realism.

  “The hell I will,” she screamed and tried to kick him.

  He easily side-stepped her kick and fake-punched her in the nose, took her purse and “ran” away.

  “That didn’t work out so well,” Mike critiqued. “Anyone else want to give this scenario a try?”

  A plump woman in her mid-fifties stepped forward. Owen returned to his starting point and stalked toward her. Again, the woman screamed at him to back off, but this time when he demanded her purse, she dropped her packages, threw her purse behind him, turned and ran in the other direction.

  “Good work.” Mike patted her on the shoulder when she took her place in the semi-circle. He drilled Molly, particularly, with, “What’s the main goal of self-defense for women?”

  Again the chorus, “Escape!” resounded, and Molly looked embarrassed.

  “Okay, Judy, you’re next.” Mike dragged a folding chair into the space and sat her down. “You are at a bus stop. A deserted bus stop. Our perp,” he signaled Owen, “comes up behind you for a little dirty talk and a quick feel.”

  Owen shot Mike a look that said he’d pay for this later. He came up behind Judy, leaned over and murmured against her ear, “Remember, this is an act.” Then he put his arms around her and put his hands on her breasts. Busy lecturing himself for getting into this mess, he was completely unprepared when Judy reached up, grabbed his head and pulled him over her shoulder, bringing her knee up to meet his face. He saw stars and lost his balance, while Judy jumped up and ran.

  “Perfect, Judy. You’ve been practicing, I see.” Mike turned to Owen. “You all right, O?”

  He swiped his nose to check for blood. “Fine.”

  Judy returned and tentatively touched him on the arm. “I’m so sorry. I tried not to hurt you, but that one’s kind of hard to control.”

  “No problem, Judy.”

  They ran through several more scenarios until Miranda was the only woman he hadn’t “interacted” with. Mike addressed the group. “You all know that Miranda has a good deal more training than the rest of you, but that still doesn’t mean she gets to pick fight instead of flight. This will be a scenario I hope none of you ever experience for real.” He waved Miranda over. “Okay, Miranda, you’re on your early morning jog through the park. As you pass some bushes, this guy jumps out behind you and pushes you to the ground. I’m not going to have him knock you down here. We’ll start with you on the ground and him over you with obvious intentions.”

  “Mike, I’m not—” Owen shook his head, as Mike interrupted him.

  “This is an act, bro. We all know you’d never do something like this for real, but they’ve got to learn how to react, you know?”

  Owen gave a curt nod. Miranda lay on the floor on her back, and screamed at him to back off as he forced her legs apart. She shot both arms up and caught his shoulders, her elbows locked, all the while saying, “help. Help me. Rape. Someone call the police,” in a conversational tone. Owen almost smiled until she squirmed beneath him and suddenly one heel was on his hip while her stiff-armed grip on his shoulders kept him from closing the distance between them. Two seconds later, her other foot was in place, and she shoved him away using strong leg muscles. At this point, Owen actually tried hard to resist her efforts and was surprised that he couldn’t. Her hands slid down to his wrists as she pushed him back, and as soon as there was room between them, she mimicked kicking him in the chest and face several times. Then she leapt up and ran like a gazelle. Owen was more than a little shocked at the ease of her escape.

  “Great job, Miranda.” Mike gave her two thumbs up.

  Miranda shot Owen a look from under her lashes and smiled sheepishly. “I’m not sure Owen really had his heart in this scenario.” She spoke to the rest of the women, “Remember, in real life, If your assailant was drunk or on drugs, he would be rough, ready to go, and probably trying to punch or strangle you into submission. Those kicks I pulled at the end are designed to help you escape. If you can land one under the chin, great, but keep kicking until he falls or backs away then—”

  “Run!” the women joined in.

  “You saw Miranda use the ‘shrimp’ maneuver to get her legs in place,” Mike said. “It’s a jiu-jitsu move that is very effective in this situation. For the few minutes we have left, I want you to pair off and practice it. Find someone at home, your husband, boyfriend, brother, and practice it there, too. You need to have the muscle memory so ingrained that in a real situation, when you want to freak out, you can do it without thinking.” He turned an clapped Owen on the shoulder. “Thanks for your help today, bro.”

  The rest of the class echoed Mike’s thanks, then split into couples and began to practice.

  “Get Kelly to put some ice on that lip, O,” Mike murmured, then returned to critiquing his class.

  Owen headed for the door. As he passed Miranda, she blew him a kiss and grinned. He grinned back and realized he did have swollen lip that hadn’t registered until now. Kelly met him outside the door and scanned him with a critical eye.

  “Hail the conquering hero,” she joked.

  “I’m pretty sure I was the one who was conquered. You got an ice pack nearby?”

  “Poor baby. Did Miranda give you that?”

  “No. It was … Judy, I think. Miranda was more careful with her kicks, thank God. She already nailed me for real once.”

  “What!”

  “Never mind. Forget I even mentioned that. Ice pack. Please.”

  “Sooner or later, I’ll worm that story out of you.” She giggled.

  “Not a chance, Kel.”

  ~~~

  Miranda showered and changed, thinking all the while about Owen’s surprise visit to the gym. So he was Mike’s brother, huh? Not much family resemblance between those two. Mike was the TD&H variety, while Owen was the blue-eyed blond Thor lookalike. She’d always thought she was more the tall, dark and handsome type, but Owen had changed her tune. Lying on the floor beneath him for the practice escape from a rapist had gotten her hot as hell. She’d like to follow Mike’s advice to practice that scenario more at home.

  Only this time Owen would be her seducer, not her attacker.

  And she would find out what it would be like not to escape.

  She picked up her gym bag and turned in her locker key. “See you next time, Kelly.”

  “Think I should invite Owen back for another round?” Kelly asked, mouth twitching up in a grin.

  “I’m not so sure he’ll come back for seconds after Judy clocked him in the mouth.” She’d seen the hit and had a good look at his swollen lip while he loomed over her on the floor.

  “He’s tougher than you might think.” Kelly eyed her closely. “I get the impression you two have met before tonight.”

  “Oh, yeah, we have. Didn’t he tell you about the cross-promo deal he’s working on with Lacey Walker at Casa Blanca? I�
��ve been appointed his primary contact to arrange charters and tourist flights around the area.” No need to mention our disastrous first meeting, since I could hardly explain the circumstances.

  “Owen’s pretty closed-mouthed. He hasn’t said a word about knowing you.”

  “Guess I didn’t make a big impression.” Miranda shrugged as though it hardly mattered. “See you soon, Kel.”

  She found Owen leaning against her car in the parking lot, and the relief that surged through her put a lie to her act with Kelly. “Don’t tell me you wanted to make sure I got home safely.”

  “Hell, no. I figured you could protect me from the rest of your classmates.” He grinned, then winced as the smile stretched his injured lip.

  Miranda sighed. They were having dinner tomorrow night. It seemed a long way away right now. She put her bag down and stepped closer, touching his lip with a tender finger. “I could kiss that and make it better, you know,” she whispered.

  His arms slid around her waist. “Why do you think I’m waiting here?”

  She lifted her mouth to his and gently kissed the swollen side.

  “Mmm. Much better. I can already feel it healing. Maybe one more treatment, though …” He bent and returned her kiss more thoroughly.

  She felt desire hum through her body, like a plucked violin string. She settled herself more firmly against him, the bulge in his jeans pressing against her belly. Tomorrow night was definitely too long to wait. “Follow me home?”

  “My thoughts exactly.” He kissed her again.

  She trailed her fingers down his zipper as she retrieved her bag. The bulge grew larger.

  “Damn, woman. Keep that up, and we won’t make it out of the parking lot.”

  She shook her head. “What I’m interested in is not a spectator sport.” She got into her car and peeled out of the lot, checking her rear view mirror to see how fast he followed her.

  Ten seconds.

  She barely made it inside before she heard Owen pull into her driveway. She couldn’t believe she’d been so forward in front of the fitness center. She’d never done anything like that before. But he was sweet and hot and so sexy. And he loved to fly.