Temporarily Yours(8)

Then he reached across her. His knuckles brushed against her lap as he tightened her seatbelt strap, perilously close to where she ached for him to touch. Teasing her, scandalizing her, before settling in his own seat as if nothing had happened.

What. The. Hell?

The flight attendant approached them, a pleasant expression on her face. Kayla searched for any signs of awareness that her two passengers just had their tongues in one another’s mouths, but saw nothing. “I’ll collect your drinks, and you’ll need to put your trays up. We’re about to take off.”

“Of course.” His voice even, he handed off his empty glass with a steady hand and then grabbed Kayla’s as well. “Once we’re in the air, we’d like another round—but a quarter of the strength.”

“Certainly.”

She headed off. When he turned to Kayla and looked at her with the unmistakable intention to reenact the make-out session from a few moments ago, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Are you trying to get me drunk so you can kiss me again?”

“Perhaps.” His lips quirked up a little bit. “Though, a more accurate description of what I’m trying to accomplish would be to get you drunk enough to forget about the flight, but not so drunk that I’m stuck cleaning vomit off my shoes. It’s a thin line I’m walking here.”

“You might have to clean it up anyway,” she muttered, looking out the window. Clinging to the armrests as if they would possibly save her in a crash, she closed her eyes. “Oh, God, we’re moving. Aren’t they supposed to do that stupid drill about floating aircraft seats and escaping out the emergency door to die in the ocean before we take off?”

“She’s about to start. See? Besides, we’re just getting in line on the tarmac.”

The attendant started her spiel about what to do in case of a crash, and it took all of Kayla’s control not to laugh hysterically. As if they stood a chance if they crashed.

Puh-lease.

The aircraft turned onto the runway, and she grabbed the armrest tighter. “Oh. God.”

The flight attendant stopped talking and went to sit down. She looked so calm. How could she be so freaking calm at a time like this?

“I’m here.” He grabbed her hand and pulled it into his lap, right above his knee. Instead of pulling away, she held on tight. As if he could keep her safe or something. “I’ll keep you safe.”

And he’d read her mind again. “Oh really?” She opened her eyes so she could glower at him. “Are you really Superman in disguise? You’re going to catch the plane as it plummets to the earth?”

He snapped the fingers of his free hand. “Yep. You figured out my secret. Underneath my sweater, I’m hiding spandex and a cape.”

“That’s kind of hot.” She pictured him in the Superman outfit, tight fabric hugging every muscle. “Okay, really hot.”

He snorted and squeezed her hand. “Talk to me. I’ll distract you as we climb.”

She let out a half-groan, half-laugh and looked out the window. Though they were only taxiing down the runway, they might as well have been going three hundred miles an hour from what she could see. “I heard once that almost all plane crashes occur on takeoff or landing, but they rarely occur in mid-flight.”

“Actually, only fourteen percent of accidents occur during takeoff. Fifty-seven percent happen while up in the air,” he said. “It’s a myth that takeoff is the most dangerous part. I know that for a fact.”

“What?” She shot him a surprised look. “Don’t tell me. Are you an actuary, too?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I’m an ex-Marine, currently on my way to my new job.”

“Oh.” She relaxed a little bit. “Okay. That makes me feel a little safer. I’ve always had a thing for a man in uniform.”

“Good.” He stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “I’ve always had a thing for pretty little actuaries.”

Her heart skipped a beat even though it was so clearly a pickup line. But he’d called her pretty. Her inner schoolgirl was totally squee-ing all over the place right now. “Have you ever met an actuary before me?”

“Nope.” He grinned. “But I don’t need to.”

“Is that so?”

“Mmhm. I now know I always had a thing for them. Especially ones who wear skirts and taste like heaven.” He leaned closer and brushed a soft kiss against her lips again. She barely had time to react before he pulled back, making a sound deep in his throat that was more erotic than she could ever explain. “Yep. Definitely heaven.”