Playboy Pilot(88)
He gestured for me to sit. “Do you know what today is, Perky?”
I wracked my brain. “I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Two years ago today, Kendall.”
“It’s the two year anniversary of the day we met? How did I not know that?”
“Well, I’ll never forget it. July twenty-eighth.”
“So much can happen in two years, huh?”
“Yes. But some things stay the same. I’m still a man hopelessly smitten with a beautiful, braless blonde.”
“So, tell me, where are we going?”
“In keeping with tradition, that’s up to you to decide.” Pulling up the flight schedules on his phone, he said, “The world is at your fingertips, baby.”
“Are you serious? You’re gonna let me choose?”
“Yes. We’ll go wherever you want. But choose wisely. This is gonna be an important trip you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”
My body filled with adrenaline.
Oh my God.
He was going to propose to me there?
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Trust me.”
“I don’t know, Captain. The last time I did that, I ended up getting pissed on by a monkey, got arrested in Dubai, and turned myself into an Amsterdam whore.”
He closed his eyes. “That night in the Red Light District was so fucking hot. That was the first time you really shocked me.” Shaking it off, he said, “Okay, where to?”
Scrolling down the lineup of flight options, I said, “How about Australia?”
He smirked. “That reminds me of a girl I met once. Her name was Sydney. Sydney Opera House. She had amazing, supple tits.”
I smacked him playfully. “So, Sydney then?”
He took the phone. “Yes. Qantas Flight 853, leaving in two hours. Let’s do it.”
I SHOULD’VE KNOWN that nothing with Captain Carter Clynes was predictable.
We’d settled into our first-class seats as the aircraft cruised. It was nighttime, and the plane was dark. I’d dozed off and had woken up to the sight of Carter watching me.
“Were you watching me sleep?”
“I was.”
“And what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking about how easy it was to slip that ring on your finger while you were out.”
My heart seemed to jump. I straightened up in my seat and when I looked down, a massive cushion-cut rock sat wrapped around my ring finger.
Covering my mouth with my other hand, I said, “Oh my God.”
“Kendall Sparks, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife during our trip to Australia?” He’d whispered it, wanting to keep this a private moment between the two of us.
“Yes. Yes!” I shook my head over and over. “This wasn’t what I expected.”
“I know.” He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it. “Do you like the ring?”
“It’s phenomenal.”
“It’s Carter with an ‘I’ in the middle.” He winked.
It took me a few.
Oh!
Cartier.
We embraced each other for several minutes.
“I love you so much, Carter.”
“I love you, too, Mrs. Clynes.” He grinned. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Yes. Anything.”
“Will you still love me when I’m sixty-four?”
“That’s an odd age. Why did you pick that?”
He winked. “Beatles song, babe. When I’m Sixty-Four.”
”I should have known. Don’t ever change, you crazy man.” Puling him into a kiss, I spoke over his lips, “I love you so much! I can’t wait to marry you Down Under.”
We kissed for several minutes. The people around us seemed to be oblivious to our life-changing moment.
Carter broke the kiss. “You know…speaking of down under…I’d love to go there right now. I suddenly have to use the bathroom. Wanna come with?”
“After all this time, how are we only just now about to join the mile-high club together? You’re a pilot, and I was a stewardess for Christ’s sake!”
Carter beamed. “Never too late to start.”
“COME ON, PICK IT UP! You don’t want me to win the race, do you?” I looked back at my son, who trailed behind me. We were both wearing matching helmets as we scooted along the empty road. I was on my Segway, while he rode a traditional child’s scooter.
Days like these, I never regretted retiring from the airline. I couldn’t imagine missing out on these precious moments with Brucey.
Today, I took him to visit the old neighborhood at Silver Shores. We’d moved to a bigger house about two miles away when he was a year old but still came back to visit the residents all the time.