Playboy Pilot(28)

I was fucking done for.





I WAS SOAKING IN THE TUB after a long nap when the hotel room phone rang. Conveniently, there was a corded phone in the bathroom, and all I had to do was reach over and pick it up.

“I had this dream you were next to me in the bed when I woke up.” Carter’s voice was still raspy from sleep. The sound traveled from the receiver, through my ears and straight down between my legs. “Disappointed when I reached over, and all I got was an empty bed.”

I sunk back down in the tub, leaving only my nipples above the warm water. Between the cool air and Carter’s voice, they were standing firmly erect. I splashed some water to warm them, but it didn’t help. “Are you saying you were dreaming about me?”

“Been dreaming about you since the minute I laid eyes on you at the airport lounge. Although not sure some of the things I’ve been thinking would be called dreams. Fantasies might be more like it.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

I cupped a handful of water and let it drip down onto my nipples as I spoke. “Did you have a good sleep, or did those dreams make it hard to rest?”

“Oh, it definitely made it hard. But I got a few hours shut eye at least. How about you?”

“I slept a little. I was achy from the long flight, so I thought taking a bath might help relax my muscles.”

“You’re in the bath right now?”

“Mmmm-hmmm.”

Carter made a noise that sounded like a groan. “You’re fucking killing me, Perky. I finally got my sail down, and now you tell me you’re lying naked in the bathtub talking to me?”

“It feels so good. You should try it.”

“You don’t have to ask twice. I’ll be right there.”

I laughed. “You have stress induced erectile dysfunction, remember?”

“I’ll show you how dysfunctional my erection is.”

“Be nice. I could have told them you had an STD, you know. Then you’d have trouble getting back in with the sky sluts, even after I’m gone.”

“Sky sluts, huh?”

I sighed. “Let’s talk about something else. I don’t like to think about you like that. You seem…so different when you’re with me.”

“I am different when I’m with you.”

I was quiet for a minute. Can one person be two different people? I didn’t think it was really possible. More than likely, one of the two personalities was an act. I couldn’t even let myself think about that…maybe I wasn’t the one seeing the real Carter.

“You went quiet on me. What are you thinking about?”

“To be honest, I’m wondering which Carter is the real you. The guy who slept on the floor in Rio without being asked because he knew I was uncomfortable. Or the guy who shacks up with a different flight attendant each week.”

“I’m sort of confused about that myself, too. But I know which one I like better. I like myself better when I’m with you. I think you bring out the best in me, Kendall—a side I haven’t seen for a really long time. Kinda forgot that part of me even existed anymore until you got on my plane.”

“I think that’s the sweetest, realest thing anyone’s ever said to me. I like you too, Carter Clynes.”

For the next few minutes, we just listened to each other breathe. Oddly, those minutes relaxed my muscles more than my nap and the warm tub had done combined.

“Are you still up for dancing tonight? I understand if you’re not. You flew a plane for fourteen hours and only took a nap, really.”

“I don’t require much sleep. I’ll be good to go in an hour.”

“I went through my suitcases before. I honestly don’t have much to go out in that covers all the parts that are required to be covered.”

“You have a light jacket?”

“I do.”

“Dress your sexiest. Throw the jacket over you to cover up. Rules don’t apply in licensed clubs, and I’m looking forward to seeing some skin.”

“Okay. Well then skin you shall see, Captain.”





FORGET DUBAI, there was a chance I could get a ticket in Texas with this outfit. I turned to my left, then to my right, modeling my dress in the mirror one last time to make sure all of my important parts were adequately covered. They were…barely. From the front, it looked like a simple little black dress, although it was really, really short. It wasn’t until I turned to the side that you could see that the entire sides were see-through. A strip of sheer fabric about eight inches wide held together the black material and showed off that it was impossible to wear anything at all underneath. Braless wasn’t unusual for me, but going without panties to a dance club was a first. It was why I hadn’t worn the dress even though I’d picked it up at a trunk sale four months ago.