by Nova Rain
My proud pilot had come back to me. I was redeemed for what I had done to him. He had punished my betrayal, but that punishment had only lasted a few weeks. Breaking up with him in his hour of need could—and would—follow him for the rest of his life. Yet, these were just things of the past. Jake and I were back together. We could start fresh. We could rebuild what my selfishness had destroyed. This time, I would make sure to take better care of the gift that had been given to me. Because that’s what this man was: A gift. My very own, gorgeous man: thoughtful; loving; eager to cater to my needs; able to take my breath away with a single kiss; most of all, willing to show me how to love. He had been doing that from the very beginning. I hadn’t been a fast learner, but I was determined to change that now. Not with a random guy, but with him. Jake Turner. The mountain of a man I fell in love with, one night in Vermont. A hero that saved the passengers of flight one-fifteen; the hero of my heart.
THE END
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Free Flight: A Secret Bad Boy Romance (Hate To Love You Book 2)
Chapter One
Michael
The gigantic object of Mount Logan loomed out of a thick blanket of clouds, posing a hurdle in the path of my Airbus Beluga. Standing at almost 20,000 feet, snow gracing slopes and peak alike, it would intimidate any young and inexperienced pilots.
Not me. Not Jake.
Flying in this remote part of the world had become routine. Gaining altitude to avoid the highest peaks in Canada and the Northern US was one of our most common actions in the cockpit. We’d ease back on the controls to increase power, hear the engines spin faster and that was it. In a couple of minutes, the altimeters would tell us we were in the clear. No proximity warnings were heard whatsoever. As far as the onboard computers were concerned, everything was fine.
The same could be said about Jake and Penny. After my friend’s crazy stunt, where he faked his own death, those two were now happy. They saw each other a lot more than they used to. Our new job allowed us to stay in New York for two or three days between flights. So, Jake was taking full advantage of this new reality. I couldn’t blame him. The man lost pretty much everything that mattered to him when United Airlines announced their intentions to sue us. His breakup with Penny had given his sanity a tremendous blow; a blow that few people could ever recover from. It didn’t kill him, though. Now, he was enjoying his new life as a cargo plane pilot. The problem was, I wasn’t.
First of all, we had changed our names. He wasn’t Jake Turner and I wasn’t Michael Compton anymore. He was John Williams and I was Michael Smith.
We were both ghosts to the general public. We showed up at small airport hangars, picked up cargo manifests from shift supervisors and took off. Our beards insured that no one recognized the pilots of flight one-fifteen that once landed on a levee just outside New Orleans. In the two months we had been working for “Swift Cargo,” we couldn’t have been seen by more than twenty people. There was no terminal buzz. There were no ladies waiting to meet with the crew at the end of the flight. Instead of these, we found ancient, smelly buses waiting to take us to whatever town where we’d be spending the night. One could say that we could always go out for a drink after our shift. But, when you’re staying at a place in the middle of God’s nowhere, with a population of two or three hundred, there’s not much you can do. Any bars in the area closed by midnight, but even if they didn’t, they were not to my taste. Being in the same room with loud hillbillies listening to country music was not my idea of fun.
I wished I could say things got better whenever we returned to New York. They didn’t. My new identity required that I keep a low profile. Getting together with old friends from the industry could cost me. Of course, the chances of me being sued by United Airlines were minimal because I wasn’t flying that triple seven down in New Orleans. Yet, those people were ruthless. No one could stop them from going after me. Going to court with them would be a disaster. That battle could drag on for years, and it would bankrupt me in the process. I could go to bars and clubs, but I had to forget about all of my favorite places. As for my company, my options were limited. I could either go out with Jake and Penny, go by myself, or not go out at all.
That Saturday night was no exception. I was waiting for them outside of the “Purple Iguana”, a club on the outskirts of Brooklyn, wearing a blue cap to hide my face from prying eyes. I buried my nose into my jacket, while loud music from the club caused the ground to vibrate underneath my feet. My cell phone buzzed with an incoming message as a small group of people passed me by.
“I got a flat tire on Bedford Avenue. Major embarrassment. I just contacted Ava. Penny says you can go over to Ava’s until we get there. She lives at 363 of the street you’re on, 2nd floor, apartment 21.”
I hated to impose on anyone, much less a woman I’d seen three or four times. However, it was a much better alternative than waiting for them alone in a club or out in the cold. So, I started off from the “Purple Iguana,” hoping that it wouldn’t take Jake long to change the tire on his car.
What a great reality…
This thought was born in my mind during my short walk to Ava’s apartment building. I was used to much better things than frequenting tiny places, hidden away in rural neighborhoods like this. So was Jake for that matter. Not long ago, the two of us would eat at the best restaurants and have drinks at the finest bars. Location didn’t matter. We could be in Miami, Indianapolis, Chicago, or New York, and we would enjoy the little time we had to ourselves. Jake wasn’t a fan of noise, but, being the good friend that he was, he never let me go out alone. Still, this was the price I had to pay for being part of that flight. Being a hero—or friends with one in my case—had sent me into the shadows.
A sense of confusion hit me when I reached my destination. I was expecting to find a shut entry door and a dark hall. I doubted the tenants of this apartment building wanted any strangers in there. For some reason though, the door was wide open, and the staircase lights were on. To add to my confusion, there was a red sweater on the bottom landing. Three steps over from that, was a pair of faded jeans. Amazingly, there were more clothes on those stairs. As I climbed them, I noticed a brownish shirt, a number of t-shirts and even boxer shorts. Reaching the second floor, my eyes searched for the number 21. On the left of the hallway, the numbers 19 and 20 were on each closed door. Right outside the last one, Ava Briggs had settled her gaze on a pair of black pants, splayed out over the floor.
“Oh God…” she muttered, an expression of panic spreading across her face as our eyes met. “Michael, I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you caught me at a really bad time. Sorry.”
At that, she turned around and walked back into her apartment, slamming the door shut behind her.
Bad time? That had to have been the understatement of the year. Men’s clothes all over a staircase could only mean one thing: a nasty breakup. I wasn’t there to witness all the screaming and the tears that had come along with it, but I didn’t have to be. It didn’t take an Einstein to realize that Ava had just kicked a man out of her life. Whatever had transpired between them, I could not go back out into the freezing cold. Sucking in a deep breath, I rang her doorbell.
“Go away, Michael! What the hell are you doing here anyway?” Her shouts didn’t deter me one bit.
“Jake and Penny stood me up because they had a flat tire,” I addressed her in a relaxed voice. “She thought it’d be a good idea for me to wait for them here until they arrived at the club where we were supposed to meet.”
“Penny?” I heard her exclaiming her friend’s name, catching the sound of her footsteps. She swung her front door back open, surprise written all over her face. “This was her idea?”
“That’s what I said.” I gave a soft nod. “Your ex had a weird taste in boxers. I mean, who wears boxers with teddy bears on them?”
“How did you…?”
“Come on, girl,” I interrupted her, lowering my tone. “Why else would you throw his clothes out? I’m just wondering how they ended up on your stairs. Did you just…” I paused. “Run downstairs throwing them everywhere?”
“No, I, um…” she faltered, holding her forehead. “I ripped a hole in the bottom of his suitcase before handing it to him and didn’t tell him about it.”
“Nice,” I praised, flashing her a smile of approval. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” she said with a nod, taking a step back. “So, how have you been? I haven’t seen you in…”
“Six, seven weeks maybe.” I finished her sentence. “I’m not going to lie to you, Ava. I’ve been better: a lot better.”
“You don’t like your new job?” She asked, moving around her living room counter.
“It’s not the job I don’t like,” I claimed, seating myself on one of the two stools behind the counter. “It’s everything else. I miss walking through busy terminals. I miss flying to cities. All I’ve been flying to these past couple of months is a bunch of tiny towns and villages I didn’t know existed. It gets so cold up there that you think your hands are going to fall off or something. And did I mention the lousy money I make?”
“Well, your friend doesn’t seem to mind any of that,” Ava remarked. “He’s thrilled about his new job.”
“He’s thrilled he’s got Penny back,” I corrected her. “Trust me, Jake wouldn’t mind flipping burgers if he knew he’d be with her. He loves your friend a lot.”
“Can you please not mention their relationship?” she requested, as she filled up a glass of whiskey.
“Why?”
She sighed, setting the bottle down. “Because I’m jealous of what they have. I thought I had it, too, but…” She shook her head and squeezed her lips together. “I was wrong.”
“Let me guess,” I suggested, putting some force in my voice. “He cheated on you.”
“You are very perceptive, Captain Compton.” She assumed a colder tone, adding ice to both glasses. “How did you figure it out?”
“You’re really pissed at him,” I explained. “I’ve seen what an angry woman can do when she’s furious.”
“How come? Have you cheated on someone?” She posed the question, sliding one of the glasses over to me.
“Nope,” I uttered, dragging my gaze away from her. “My cousin Jill snapped when she found out her little sister had leukemia. She used to be religious; she went to church every week. I’d never even heard her curse at anyone, until Caitlyn passed away. That night, Jill gathered every book and every icon she had, took them out to her backyard and tried to burn them. Her folks wouldn’t have that, so, they got in the way. I’ve never seen so much rage in my whole life. Jill’s father is a big man. I’m talking about 6’5,” two hundred-and-fifty pounds, and she just shoved him away like he was nothing. She would have burned all that stuff if I hadn’t stepped in.”
“Why did you do that?” Curiosity sent Ava’s voice an octave up. “Are you religious?”
“No.” I shook my head lightly. “I mean, I believe in God; I’m just not as pious as she was. This wasn’t about books and icons. She could have tried to set fire to her bed for all I cared, but it wasn’t going to make any difference. Caitlyn was still gone. Burning stuff wasn’t going to bring her back.”
“If you handled the situation like that, you’re a lot more level-headed than I am,” Ava concluded, whiskey wetting her lips.
“Because you ruined the guy’s suitcase? Nah.” I waved my hand in front of my face. “You could have thrown the damn thing out the window.”
“I did that tonight,” she pointed out. “I caught him in bed with a coed, three days go. I screamed at him, punched him… And her. God, I’ve never been so humiliated. He…” All of a sudden, her voice lost its nerve. Her gaze stopped at the granite in front of her, her eyes filling with tears.
“Hey…” I whispered, patting her wrist. “Don’t do this to yourself. A guy that treats you like that isn’t worth remembering. You can find tons of those dicks out there.”
“Michael, I’m sorry,” she spoke in a wobbly voice, shifting her gaze back down to me. “Look at me. You’ve never been to my house, and all I’ve done is whine about my failed romance. I didn’t even ask if you wanted whiskey. I just…”
“I like whiskey,” I assured her with a smile. “Anyway, you look like you could use a break. I’m flying to Ontario tomorrow afternoon, and I’m coming back to New York on Monday night. Take a day off from work and come fly with me.”
“In a cargo plane? How?” she wondered, a smile of curiosity bursting upon her lips. “Is that even possible? And are civilians allowed on these sort of flights?”
“Yes, it is possible,” I affirmed. “Technically, civilians aren’t allowed, but if anyone asks, we’ll say you’re my fiancée. There are a few seats between the cockpit and the cargo bay, but you won’t be needing them. You’ll be in the cockpit with me and Jake. What do you think?”
“I like it,” Ava admitted, and then downed the rest of her drink. “I’ve never been to Ontario. What time is the flight leaving?”
“It leaves at 3:45pm, Kingston-Ulster Airport.” My response was sharp. “It’s about a hundred miles to Kingston, so, I suggest you leave New York by one o’clock, tops. Thanks for the whiskey. I’d better go. Jake and Penny will be at the club soon.”
I slid the glass over to her and got off the stool, before heading back to her front door.
“Michael…?” Her feminine voice compelled me to stop. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” I said, looking back at her. I walked out of her apartment, spotting the trail of clothes her ex had left. What a loser… He’d been dating a tall, sexy blonde like her, and had chosen to screw around with someone else. My guess was he hadn’t been thinking with his head, but that was irrelevant. Ava Briggs had agreed to fly up to Ontario with me. Being in a whole new place would help her put aside the memories and relax.
Chapter Two
Ava
Damn you, Curtis…
Despite Michael’s kind offer, the ugliness of my breakup with that bastard came back to haunt me the minute Compton disappeared from view. I couldn’t conceive of the mind of the man who had thrown away three years of his life because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Because that’s what he had done. Curtis had forgotten his promises, and our plans for a life together, for a piece of ass. I knew of a few women, like Laura Foyth from work, who would forgive infidelity. In their minds, infidelity was just a moment of weakness. They would let this go, as long as this mistake didn’t mean anything to their boyfriend.
Nonsense.
To me, this was betrayal of the worst kind. Curtis could say he was sorry a million times, he could buy me twenty presents and offer me a hundred baskets of flowers, but none of those gestures would be able to change my mind. I just couldn’t shake the thought of their sweaty bodies in bed, writhing against each other. Each of the things he would do to help me forget, would bring that disgusting picture back into my mind. Worse still, I couldn’t trust him anymore. I would always carry that fear of him giving into the same temptation. He had done it once. I had every reason to believe he would do it again.
To top it all off, I had Penny making plans for me without bothering to call me. What in the world was sending Michael over to my apartment all about? She knew everything about my breakup with Curtis. She even knew that he would drop by that afternoon for his things. What was the purpose of having Michael visit me? I could suspect a couple of reasons, and frankly, neither sounded appealing.
One: Penny believed that Michael’s presence would prevent me from breaking down in tears. We were almost perfect strangers. It would be difficult for me to collapse in front of a man I wasn’t comfortable with. I would just be too embarrassed to do so.
Two: This was much worse than the first. Penny thought I would attempt to seek comfort in Michael
’s arms. My vulnerability was undeniable. With a tall, handsome man in my apartment, I would resort to pity sex, in order to feel better. Still, my friend’s theory had a flaw.
Me.
Perhaps Penny would do that, but I wasn’t her. I was well-aware of the fact that men would jump into bed with a stranger given the chance. To them, sex is pure instinct, the means to enjoy themselves. I enjoyed it but giving myself away to anyone required a lot more than a broken heart. I had to be interested in them. Attracted by their personality, as well as their looks. Michael was indeed gorgeous. He was 6’3”, had blue-green eyes, with a V-shaped back, a strong jaw and a pair of succulent lips that triggered my imagination. His character on the other hand, was a total mystery to me. Therefore, I wouldn’t dare seduce him.
I set off for Kingston-Ulster Airport that Sunday, a shred of hope disrupting the darkness within me. I was going to experience something few people unrelated to and outside the airline industry had. Unlike Penny, airplanes used to fascinate me. The prospect of being inside the cockpit for the duration of the flight was enough to put a smile on my face.
My destination was a surprise to me. Its surrounding roads weren’t jammed. No buses were coming in or going out of the area. Unless one looked at the horizon, they wouldn’t be able to tell that an actual airport was there. There was a tiny terminal just beyond the gate. Dozens of small aircraft were parked close to one another. To the right, a large hangar towered over terminal and planes alike.
Michael had the courtesy of picking me up at the gate. He introduced me to the guard as his fiancée and drove me to the hangar in a minibus. As we approached, a massive truck emerged from the hangar and turned left and in our direction.
“We’re good to go,” Michael stated, the nose of the airplane heaving into view. For a minute, I thought he was playing a joke on me. The nose in question looked more like a mouth. It wasn’t at all pointed. Instead, it resembled the head of a whale. Its body was much wider than any airplane I had ever laid eyes on, its yellow color in sharp contrast to the darkness of the hangar.