He drew in a big breath. He had to stop this self-contradicting stream of thoughts. He knew his limitations. He knew what he’d proposed to Ginny and why. It was his moment to suck it up like an adult should and act as if he could make it.
And then, perhaps, he really could.
“Thank you, Ginny. Good night, now.”
A few tossing moves and a murmur from her side. “Good night, Nick.”
Chapter 19
Ginny gaped at Nick. Was he kidding?
Her eyes flicked to the white vehicle with red stripes on its wings.
“I thought you said you were an airplane pilot and that you would take me flying in one of them,” she squeaked.
Nick furrowed his brows, exchanging a confused look with the two young fellows he’d introduced to Ginny as his flying assistants.
Nick turned back to her. “Yes, that’s what I said. This”—he pointed at the machine—“is my glider. I’m a glider pilot.”
Ginny’s throat thickened. In her vocabulary, anything without an engine didn’t qualify for the word plane. “This is like a paper draft thing. If I had a large enough sheet, I could origami it for you. You don’t seriously think we’re going to get up there…” she pointed at the sky, her index finger trembling slightly, “…in that?”
The two assistants stifled a laugh, and Nick snorted amusedly.
He motioned her closer to the glider. “Ginny, you’re being irrational. Gliders, if you know how to fly them, are perfectly safe. But your comparison with the paper plane isn’t that off. Imagine swaying among the clouds without the bothersome noise of an engine. You did say you like the experience of flying, didn’t you?”
Ginny shrugged. She did, but she shouldn’t have. Not when her stupid request had resulted in this. “How would you even get this glider up? I don’t see any other aircraft that can tow us.”
“With this little baby here, miss.” The guy with the beard and checkered shirt patted something that looked like a giant cage with a massive wheel in it.
Ginny narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?”
Nick smiled at her. “It’s a winch. It pulls a long cable that we’ll attach to the glider. It will then pull us up with a short, steep ride. Today is perfect because we have a strong headwind; it’ll result in a higher launch.”
Ginny observed the winch with a frown. What if that steel wire attached to the plane wasn’t long enough? Wouldn’t it pull and crash them to the ground?
As if Nick read her thoughts, he added, “Don’t worry, the cable rolls out to only one-third of its total length. I’ll release it then, catch some nice thermals, and we’ll be on our way to the clouds.”
The assistant who was patting the winch explained. “Thermals are updrafts caused by the sun heating the earth and making air pockets rise.” He seemed satisfied to make his knowledge shine.
Nick flashed a glance at him. “Thanks, Steve. Now would you and Ronnie get on with the set-up? I’d love to use this beautiful weather for a nice trip.”
The two men nodded and pulled the winch away from the hangar.
As they disappeared, Nick stepped closer to Ginny. He put his hands on her arms and rubbed them. “You look very pale. Are you that afraid? If you want I can cancel this. It’s your choice of activity for today, so I thought—”
Ginny bit her lip. Nick was right. She’d been the one insisting that he take her flying. She just didn’t expect to have to do it without the safety net of a fuel-powered engine.
Nick’s fingers working on her skin were making her head dizzy. If he kept on like this, he could mold her resistance into anything he wanted.
She peeked up at him. “You swear it’s not dangerous?”
He took one hand from her shoulder and crossed his fingers. “I do. The only two moments with risk involved are landing and takeoff. But I can manage those with the guys. And up there, if you like, I can even give you control so that you can drive Dorothy.”
“Dorothy?”
Despite her fear, Ginny smiled. Who named his glider Dorothy?
Nick smacked his lips. “What can I say? I was a fan of The Wizard of Oz growing up.”
Ginny didn’t know if it was the fact that Nick named his plane after one of her own favorite tales or that his eyes stared at her with such intense expectation, as if he genuinely wanted to show her what it was like to fly in a glider, but a sudden wave of courage overcame her.
Her gaze drifted over to the cockpit. “Okay, so where shall I sit?”
Nick’s face lit up like she’d announced that he should have a birthday every day. “You wanna try it?”
Ginny nodded. “Well, we did drive like two hours to get here. And I want to see the Napa Valley from up above.”
Nick clapped his hands. “Perfect. Come, let’s get you sorted with a parachute.”
As Ginny’s jaw dropped, he shook his head. “No alarm needed. It’s a routine safety measure. You’re just going to sit on it and you won’t even notice it’s there, okay.”
That would hardly be possible.
Ginny didn’t want to break his enthusiasm, so she nodded, keeping her teeth clenched. This way, no scared groan could escape.
Nick continued his joyful blabber about his aircraft as he stepped over to the wing. “It’s a special side-by-side, two-seat model. In most gliders, the pilots sit one behind the other. I got this one with Jacob in mind. I thought that when he’s older and wants to fly with me, it would be easier if he can watch what I do.”
Ginny gulped. “Yes, I think being close to you would also make me feel safer.”
Nick paused and turned to her. His eyes bore an unreadable expression. “I’m glad I make you feel safe.”
Oh, not just safe. You make me feel so many things, I sometimes think I’m a blistering ball of emotions.
Instead, she smiled at him. “Yes, you do.”
Nick’s lips moved into a lopsided grin, and he grabbed Ginny’s hand. “Come, I’ll help you with the gear and belt you in.”
After a few minutes, they were sitting in the cockpit, ready to depart. Steve and Ronnie had transported the winch into its parking position and attached the cable securely.
Steve gave a thumbs up to Nick. “All set, boss.”
Ginny tried to sit still on her parachute, while Nick performed the last controls.
“Airbrakes closed and locked. Canopy closed and locked. Rope checked—all good for the hookup.” He murmured to himself, then he threw a side-glance at Ginny. “Everything set to go. Ready?”
Ginny nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Nick gave the signal to Steve, and the cable of the winch stretched. The airplane in front of Ginny moved down the runway. It was a quick drive, with a steep climb after only a few seconds.
Ginny gripped the sides of her seat, her eyes fixed on the window. The ground was getting farther from them, and they were still inclined at a steep angle.
“When are you releasing us?” she asked, hoping the despair in her voice wasn’t as evident to Nick as it was to her.
A loud click and the plane drifted toward a more horizontal position.
Nick blinked at her. “It’s done. From now on we’re officially at the whim of the wind. I’ll try to catch some good lift to drive us higher.”
Ginny raised her brows. “So you need to search for that?”
Nick laughed. “Of course. I meant what I said. We need to play along with the caprices of the wind, try to use it to our advantage. It’s a bit like playing chess with the sky.”
Ginny snapped her head to him.
Nick truly had a way with words. Picturing their travel as a strategy game to figure out what the weather would throw at them, trying to think several moves ahead, made the whole experience seem more like fun instead of a gamble with their lives.
Ginny relaxed and asked questions about the ridge winds and wave lifts that Nick pointed out to her, as they continued whirling higher and higher. The vineyards of the Napa Valley stretched beneat
h them majestically.
As they moved beneath a thick, cirrus cloud that looked like a fluffy pillow, Ginny asked, “Can we fly into that?”
Nick wrinkled his forehead. “You want to fly inside the cloud? Why?”
Ginny shrugged. “Not sure, but it looks so inviting, creamy and soft. Also, I’ve never done it so… Why what’s the problem with it?”
Nick steered the wheel slightly to the right to catch an uplift. “Normally, pilots try to avoid flying into clouds such as that. While you’re getting through it, your vision is blinded, and you get easily disoriented. The currents keep pushing you, but since you have no reference of where the ground is, you might end up with the plane turned.”
Ginny scratched her head. That didn’t sound good. “Okay, never mind. It was just this childish fantasy of sitting on top of a cloud.”
Nick turned to her. “I would love to help all your fantasies become a reality. Give me your hand.”
“What?”
“Your hand,” he repeated. “We’ll do this together. So you can say that you have climbed on top of the cloud…and not that you were only carried to it.”
When Ginny hesitated, he fetched her hand and drew it to his wheel. “We’ll steer it gently and then raise it. That’s good.”
The plane slowly circled toward the cloud of Ginny’s choosing. As they reached it, Nick adjusted the wheel further. His fingers pressed on her hand firmly, sending delicious shivers up her arm. Suddenly it wasn’t just the milky fog descending around them that inebriated her senses.
When the window on all sides became white, a weird eerie atmosphere settled in the cockpit. Nick’s eyes moved to her, and she could swear she saw his irises shrink.
They were suspended in the air, in a cloud. A more romantic setting for a kiss couldn’t have been invented, but Ginny bit her inner cheeks to stop herself from leaning in.
Last night’s refusal still burned too vividly in her mind. Nick had been right, of course, to deflect her advances. But she didn’t want to relive his rejection once more.
But to her surprise, it was Nick, who bent forward. His gaze stayed interlocked with hers and his mouth approached hers at a dangerous speed.
Move away, don’t let him kiss—
Too late.
His lips were on hers before she could convince her brain to do the right thing. As soon as his skin brushed against hers, she couldn’t resist. A fire ignited in her veins, and her lips opened to receive him.
His kiss was bone-tingling. Ginny didn’t know if it was the fact that they were gliding in the sky, or that she’d been dreaming about touching Nick the whole night, but she didn’t hold anything back this time. She felt the walls of resistance crumble with each nibble of Nick’s teeth on her lower lip.
What did Nick say about getting into a cloud? One could lose sight of the ground?
Ginny didn’t only lose sight of that, but also of reason. Because the feeling emerging in her chest couldn’t have been the fruit of anything else. Only of sheer stupidity.
She felt her beats align with Nick’s as if he was controlling her heart. As if it existed only because he did. Only a fool in love would think such…oh, no!
Love.
Could she be falling for Nick? The thought abashed her so much that her lips froze and she jerked back.
Nick opened his eyes.
The plane twisted to the side, and a streak of blue light appeared on their windows. They were out of the cloud, and they’d made it without jumbling their direction.
If only the same could be said about Ginny’s heart.
A strong current hit the plane from the side, lifting one of the wings upward with a violent push. Nick snapped his head forward and grabbed at the wheel, turning them back around. Ginny’s stomach jumped to her throat, then plummeted to her knees.
Was it due to the abrupt maneuver or the startling realization she’d just made?
She was irrevocably starting to fall for Nick. A man who had made clear that his heart was broken.
“Sorry for that,” Nick mumbled when the plane resumed its original orientation.
“For the kiss or for getting us nearly killed?”
“Both.”
He didn’t look at her but stared directly out of the window.
Of course he was sorry. Did he notice the passion with which Ginny molded herself to him? He must have, and it’d frightened him.
Ginny sighed, lifting a finger to her lips. They were still tender from his mouth.
Nick cleared his throat. “Maybe I’ll initiate our descent.”
“Yes, you do that.” Ginny’s voice was tiny, but she was glad she had at least managed to master a sound.
The glider drifted smoothly downward. Nick led it toward the same runway from which they had taken off. As they rolled to the ground and came to a complete stop, the plane’s wings were still hovering above the ground.
Steve and Ronnie waited for them.
“Look at that, boss.” Ronnie pointed at the wings. “The sign of perfect balance.”
Steve helped them out of the cockpit. “You two had a good flight?”
Nick’s jaw clenched. “It was good, yes.”
He avoided Ginny’s glance as he strolled toward the hangar.
Ginny followed him, asking herself how she was to survive the upcoming weeks pretending to be in love with Nick. She’d been such a fool for trusting herself around him.
Fake it till you make it. That was her father’s advice when they had difficulty accomplishing something as children. Well, Ginny had become a master of that.
Only making it wasn’t ever going to happen for her. She was never going to be with Nick once this farce went down.
Nick lifted his bag from the ground, his shoulders slouching forward, and his neck muscles tense.
Ginny shuddered and hugged herself. Somehow she needed to find a way to forget about what had just happened. There was still the most challenging part of her job to be done—the hearing.
And it was going to be even more difficult now. She had to convince the others that she was Nick’s girlfriend, but she also had to ensure that Nick never found out the depth of the emotions she’d built up for him.
Chapter 20
Nick adjusted his tie and looked himself over in the mirror. He looked smooth and well-composed, like a man in control of his life and his future. Only what he saw didn’t correspond at all with the way he felt.
His mind was a turmoil of contradicting thoughts, and his heart like a beast in a cage. It hammered in his chest as if trying to fight for a way out without truly understanding what abandoning captivity would mean.
This whole idea about a short vacation as a fake family had been a mistake. He’d hoped it would create some shared memories for them to show during today’s hearing, but instead, it had managed to confuse Nick completely.
He stepped closer to his bed and bent down. The shoes he was going to wear were squeaky-clean thanks to Marcia, but he decided to polish them once more just to keep his hands busy. The monotonous rubbing motions, however, didn’t succeed in occupying his brain.
It was already on its way of conjuring the image of Ginny sitting beside him in the cockpit. Her eyes had been glistening with desire, and then they were invaded by a distant look that pierced his soul.
He dumped the cloth he used for shining the black leather and scoffed.
It was all his fault, without a doubt. Wasn’t he the one who’d decided they needed to spend time together to get to know each other better?
The one who had insisted on sharing one bedroom?
The one who had kissed Ginny in the plane?
Oh, that kiss.
He remembered Ginny’s breath uniting with his and the glow of desire he’d tried to suppress turned into a bonfire of lust that threatened to consume him.
Why did he long so much to touch her?
She was a beautiful woman, by all measures, but Nick, given his fame and money, had a wide pick of females
offering themselves. Some were even remarkably pretty. But none had ever awoken the kind of yearning that being around Ginny unleashed in him.
Could it be that I’m…no, that’s not possible.
It would be madness, and it went against everything Nick wanted. He wished for a safe, risk-free life for Jacob and himself. Introducing an unknown third person into their stable bond could have disastrous consequences.
The only reason it seemed like paradise when all three of them were together was that it was all pretend on Ginny’s part. She liked Jacob and had agreed to help Nick. So she was doing her best to make the role of his girlfriend believable.
But if it ever turned real, she would probably realize that being with a man who had his life all figured out with a son would be limiting. Just like Heather said.
Nick recalled the enthusiasm with which Ginny spoke about teaching. Her career was, in this moment, the most important aspect of her life. And Nick had promised to help her get her dream job.
There was a knock on the door.
Nick slipped on his shoes and called, “I’m ready.”
When it opened, Ginny stood in the doorway. His throat turned parched as he took her in.
She ran her hands on her sides and blinked at him. “Will this do, you think?”
She wore a grey pencil skirt and a light summer blouse with blue flowers that almost matched her eye color. A look that was sophisticated but casual at the same time.
Perfect to dazzle the judge. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Nick nodded, trying to keep his eyeballs fixed on her slender waist. “Yes, absolutely.”
A smile conquered her lips, and Nick’s heart slammed in his chest.
In the past two days seeing her smile had been only a rare treat. At least when she was around Nick. He’d seen her giggle with Jacob, but every time he came close to her, she acted serious as though his proximity disturbed her.
“I’m glad. Jacob would also love to come, but I told him he should stay with Marcia. Was I right?”
“Yes, you were,” he said.
Way to go with these few syllable answers. If he kept on like this, the judge wouldn’t wonder whether he was suited to be Jacob’s full-time guardian as a result of his relationship status but because of his lack of linguistic skills.
Fake-Dating The Single Dad (Gems 0f Love Book 3) Page 11