Nanny Makes Three(26)
“I’ve never traveled with a client before.” She wasn’t demonstrating the resistance he’d expected. “Are you sure there will be room for us?”
“The house is quite large. There are seven bedrooms. Ivy is coordinating the trip and said you should let her know about anything you think Maggie might need. She is already making arrangements for a crib.”
“When would we leave?”
“We’ll fly up in two days. I like to get in a day early to make sure everything is in place. Is that enough time for you to get what you’ll need?”
“Sure.” But she was frowning as she said it.
“Is something wrong?”
She laughed self-consciously. “I’ve never seen snow before. What will I need to buy besides a warm coat?”
“You’ve never seen snow?” Liam was excited at the thought of being there when Hadley experienced the beauty of a winter day in the mountains.
“For someone as well traveled as you are, that must seem pretty unsophisticated.”
Liam considered her comment. “You said you’d never traveled with your clients. Is that because you didn’t want to?”
“It’s mostly been due to school and timing. I always figured there’d be plenty of time to travel after I graduated and settled into a job with regular hours and paid vacation time.”
Her wistful smile gave him some notion of how long and arduous a journey it had been toward finishing her master’s degree.
He felt a little hesitant to ask his next question. “Have you flown in a small plane before?”
“No.” She drew the word out, her gaze finding and holding his. Anxiety and eagerness pulled at the corners of her mouth. “How small is small?”
Small turned out to be forty feet in length with a forty-three-foot wingspan. Hadley’s heart gave a little bump as she approached the elegant six-seat jet with three tiny oval windows. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, maybe a single-prop plane with fixed wheels like the ones used by desperate movie heroes to escape or chase bad guys.
“This doesn’t look so scary, does it?” She whispered the question to a sleepy Maggie.
Hadley stopped at the steps leading up to the plane. Liam had gone ahead with her luggage and overnight bag carrying all of Maggie’s things. Now he emerged from the plane and reached down to take Maggie’s carrier.
“Come on in.” Liam’s irresistible grin pulled Hadley forward.
She almost floated up the stairs. His charm banished her nervousness, allowing her to focus only on the excitement of visiting Colorado for the first time. Not that she’d see much of it. Her job was to take care of Maggie. But even to glimpse the town of Vail covered in snow as they drove past would be thrill enough.
The plane’s interior was luxurious, with room enough for a pilot and five passengers. There were six beige leather seats, two facing forward and two backward as well as the two in the cockpit. She knew nothing about aviation equipment, but the instrument panel placed in front of the pilot and copilot seats had three large screens filled with data as well as an abundance of switches and buttons and looked very sophisticated.
“I set up Maggie’s car seat here because I thought you’d prefer to face forward. You’ll find bottles of water and ice over there.” He pointed to the narrow cabinet behind the cockpit. “There’s also a thermos of hot water to make Maggie’s bottle.”
“Thank you. I made one before we left because it helps babies to adjust to altitudes if they’re sucking on something.”
“Great. We should be set then.”
Hadley settled into her seat and buckled herself in. She looked up in time to see Liam closing the airplane’s door.
“Wait,” she called. “What about the pilot?”
The grin he turned on her was wolfish. “I am the pilot.” With a wink, he slid into the left cockpit seat and began going through a preflight check.
Surprise held her immobile for several minutes before her skin heated and her breath rushed out. For almost two weeks now his actions and the things he’d revealed about himself kept knocking askew her preconceived notions about him. It was distracting. And dangerous.
To avoid fretting over her deepening attraction to Liam, Hadley pulled out Maggie’s bottle and a bib. As the plane taxied she had a hard time ignoring the man at the controls, and surrendered to the anxiety rising in her.
What was she doing? Falling for Liam was a stupid thing to do. The man charmed everyone without even trying.
As the plane lifted off, her stomach dipped and her adrenaline surged. Hadley offered Maggie the bottle and the infant sucked greedily at it. Out the window, land fell away, and the small craft bounced a little on the air currents. To keep her nervousness at bay, Hadley focused all her attention on Maggie. The baby was not the least bit disturbed by the plane’s movements. In fact, her eyes were wide and staring as if it was one big adventure.