Ainsley

As I watched Wyatt walk toward the tarmac, I felt sick to my stomach.

Weather was one thing a pilot couldn’t control.

Even my daddy, Noah Worthington, couldn’t control the weather.

Normally, he would have sent someone to pick me up. But with the storm coming in, it was out of his hands.

He told me to get a hotel room and wait it out.

Either the weather would clear and the part would come in or the weather would clear and he’d send someone for me.

Everything depended on the weather.

Already a few stray snowflakes were starting to fall.

Daddy had someone looking for a room in town for me, but so far everything was booked up.

Not only was it that time of the year when tourists flocked to leaf peeking, but the storm had people stranded.

And then I had this dog, so the hotel had to accept a pet.

I couldn’t stay here. Claire was closing the doors, kicking me out.

I could get transportation easy enough. A cab or an uber.

But then what?

This was not a good situation.

Wherever Wyatt was going, it was out of here. If I could get away from this storm, I could get home.

And it looked like he was my last ditch choice.

He turned as I called out to him. Looked at me with a smug little grin on his face.

I shrugged.

Beau was already headed toward Wyatt. I just followed along.

“We’ll come with you,” I said.

“Glad I was able to twist your arm,” he said, holding the door open for me.

I stepped through the door into air that colder than it had been when I’d come in.

It hadn’t been that long, had it?

“Do you have luggage?” he asked.

“No.”

“So no luggage.”

He wasn’t asking. Even though I know he wanted to.

Most people who flew had some type of luggage.

I had my satchel with my iPad and a change of clothes. I always had that with me.

But he didn’t need to know that.

And I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to tell him who I was.

I’m not quite sure why. Maybe it was people I was tired of guys thinking I’d be easy to hit on because I was a pilot.

Or maybe I wanted him to think I was just a regular girl with a dog.

And not the heiress to an aviation empire.

He didn’t know. And I saw no reason to tell him.

He was giving me a lift. That was all.

I had to admit though that he was good looking. He had that tall, dark, and handsome look that I was a sucker for.

He had a five o’clock shadow and a charming little sideways grin.

And those blue eyes. They seemed to just see right through me.

And on top of that, he’d come to my rescue in a time of need.

Wyatt was my knight in shining armor.

We walked across the tarmac toward a Phenom 300 private jet. I’d seen it earlier and assumed it belonged to a movie star or a corporate tycoon.

Daddy had been eyeing one of these for a while now, but there was a waiting list.

I glanced over at Wyatt.

We were definitely headed toward the Phenom.

“Are we the only ones flying?” I asked, unable to keep quiet any longer.

“Just us.” He adjusted the strap of his satchel.

“You don’t mind if Beau goes along?” I already knew the answer, but I was having trouble wrapping my head around getting to fly in this jet that went for millions of dollars and was hard to get.

“Why would I mind?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Not everyone likes dog hair.”

Beau was running ahead of us and it was all I could do to keep him from pulling out of my hands. It was like he knew where we were headed.

“I like dogs.”

He wasn’t giving me any answers.

We reached the jet and he used a remote to lower the steps.

As the steps lowered, I watched him. He seemed at ease with the plane.

“Is this your plane?” I asked. Since he wasn’t going to volunteer any information, I’d just have to ask.

Maybe he was like me. Maybe he figured he was giving me lift and I didn’t need to know any personal details about him.

“All mine,” he said.

I heard the undertone of pride that he was probably trying to hide.

He wouldn’t have any way to know that I knew how hard it was to get one of these.

“You first,” he said, holding out a hand toward the stairs.

It took a bit of encouragement to get Beau to go up the stairs behind me.

The plane smelled luxuriously new. Like leather and new fabric.

I wondered just how new it was. And wondered again why Wyatt was so easy about letting a stranger, much less a dog on board.

I watched as he secured the door.

“You can sit wherever you like,” he said.

“Oh. Right.” I’d just assumed I’d sit in the cockpit. With him.

But I wasn’t telling him that I was a pilot, so it was little bit harder to explain.

I looked around. There were so many places to sit. Not just chairs. But a sofa.

Daddy had some nice planes, but this one was nicer than anything even Noah Worthington owned.

Seems my knight in shining armor was not only a pilot, but a wealthy one.

Wyatt

My passenger seemed reluctant to take a seat.

She was asking a lot of questions, but I didn’t mind. She should ask. She was the one putting herself in a stranger’s hands.

“Can I sit in the cockpit?” she asked. “with you?”
That was an interesting request. Most people, especially the ladies, liked to sit in the back and enjoy a glass of champagne during their flight.

But I didn’t mind the company. In fact, I was happy to have it.

“Sure,” I said.

She smiled then. For the first time.

And her smile lit up her face.

I’d thought she was beautiful before, but that smile made her drop dead gorgeous.

“On one condition,” I said.

“What’s that?” The wariness had come back to her eyes.

I just smiled.

“Tell me your name.”

“Ainsley,” she said.

“Do you have a last name?”

“Ainsley Richards.”

“Well, Ainsley Richards. Welcome aboard. Unfortunately, we’re under a bit of a time crunch and have to get going.”

She nodded and followed me to the cockpit.

The dog, Beau, followed us.

Ainsley went straight to the copilot’s seat, sat down, and buckled herself in.

I looked at her questioningly.

“What?” she asked.

“You seem to know your way around a cockpit.”

“Oh,” she said. “I’ve spent some time in planes.”

I winked at her. “Good to know. You can let me know how I do.”

She smiled and there was something in that smile that caught me a little off-guard. It was a secretive, knowing smile. It made me wonder if she did know enough to critique my flying.

I shook off the feeling. I knew what I was doing anyway.

I put on my headset and spoke quietly to the control tower.

A minute later, we were approved for takeoff.

I wasn’t surprised since we seemed to be the last flight out of the airport.

It was irritating how quickly they’d closed everything down, but it was also impressive.

All indicators looked good, so I pushed the plane and we took off.

That moment when the wheels first left the ground was, for me, a magical time.

I glanced over at Ainsley to see how she was fairing.

She had her eyes closed and a blissful expression on her face. She looked like I felt.

Beau had laid down between us and put his head down. If I didn’t know better, I think the dog was a frequent flyer.

I took us into the air and we started a slow turn north. We’d get past the mountains, and the bad weather, then head northwest.

Ainsley was staring at the computer screen, her brow creased.

Then she looked up at me.

“Why are we going to Wyoming?” she asked.

Obviously, she could read a flight plan.

“Going around the bad weather,” I said.

She held up her hands and shrugged. Then pressed her button again. “Why not head south?”